Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words they and their.
Reading
Nehemiah 4:1-6—What are these Feeble Jews Doing?
Keys for kids
- God’s people’s enemies got angry at their work for God.
- They also made fun of their work.
- But God’s people kept working hard.
Questions
- What did Sanballat do?
- What did God’s people pray?
- What did God’s people keep doing?
Notes
(Today’s notes are from a commentary on Nehemiah by Wallace P. Benn) If you read Ezra and Nehemiah consecutively, you will no doubt have a sense of deja vu when you get to these chapters as they parallel the opposition that the Jewish people faced in rebuilding the temple (Ezra 4–7). As the people of God set about the work God had called them to do, opposition mounted. The book of Ezra makes the important point that this opposition will reappear in different ways in each generation; we must expect it and by God’s grace overcome it. Nehemiah’s point is equally important: the opposition can get very intense indeed, but with God’s help we can overcome that too.
Notice how opposition mounted as the people of God set about the task and refused to give up. … Nehemiah 4:6 tells us that the wall was already half built because “the people had a mind to work,” or as the NLT puts it, “the people had worked with enthusiasm.” It was an impossible job and would have remained an incomplete vision unless everyone played their part. But they had responded well to the task and to the enemies’ challenges.
We see the people united in their task and pulling together. We should all seek to fulfill the advice of Paul to live a life “worthy” of the gospel, “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3).
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 127a, 133a
Prayer
- Pray that the opposition of God’s enemies won’t stop you.
- Pray for a specific application from yesterday's sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.