Attendants to the king, those who were in his presence were
never to be sad in his presence, that alone was supposed to be a source of
joy. Nehemiah is immediately afraid when
the king suggests that what is wrong is a sadness of heart. His reaction is to provide a quick and true
explanation for his sadness, that it is nothing to do with the king. The Lord gave him the favor he had requested
and he set off for Jerusalem. When he
arrives he gives the kings letters to the leaders and also there is immediate
opposition to him in Sanballat and Tobiah.
Nehemiah remains three days among those returned exiles and does not
tell anyone his business or his mission.
After three days he rises at night when the city is asleep and rides
around the walls and inspects the situation and forms a plan but still tells no
one what he has done or is planning until the time is right. Only then, when he knows first-hand what the
extent of the work is does he speak to the officials about rebuilding and when
he does he tells how the Lord has already been with him. The people respond with willingness but the
opposition immediately speaks as well.
Nehemiah's rebuke is stern and leaves no room for debate, he is focused
on the task not debating or defending himself.
The parable of the weeds again revisits an agrarian theme of
sowing. A farmer has done his sowing and
an enemy comes and sows tares into the same field. These would grow like wheat and be
indistinguishable from it until the time for grain-bearing has come. It would not be possible to know which was
which until harvest, so the field would be overgrown. The only real solution would be to pull it
all up and replant the field but by this time it was too late to take such
action. The farmer is willing to allow
this mess to continue lest he lose any of the good crop. His patience and his concern for the good
wheat is certainly admirable when it seems that action now would be
preferable. God seems willing to do the
same in the church, allowing false prophets and teachers into the church at
this time rather than taking them down in order that in the end no wheat is
lost.
The sixth seal is the overthrow of creation, sun, moon,
stars, earthquakes on the dry land, sky rolling up, mountains crumbling. What was not seemingly involved was what was
dealt with in the flood, the sea and life.
The leaders begged the earth to hide them from the dread judge of
all. Their fear was great but not great
enough to repent and call on Him for mercy.
We can preach the Gospel all we like but some, no matter what the
circumstance, will never understand Him as merciful and forgiving and will
never move past fear to love and worship.
In chapter seven we see that those things destroyed in the flood are not
to be released until the sealing of those who will be saved, a complete
reversal of that first judgment on the earth.
Let us not be ignorant of the reality of the situation in which we serve,
let us be wise and discerning like Nehemiah in sizing up the task ahead of us.
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