More lessons from Nehemiah
Every good story has a protagonist (the hero) and an antagonist (the bad guy). Sometimes, there are several "bad guys," many different groups of people that come against the hero or heroine. As we read on in Nehemiah, we don't have to read too far into it to come upon Nehemiah's opposition. Chapter three lists all of the workers and their various jobs in simply repairing the wall. They haven't even started the rebuilding process yet. Then, in chapter four, the fun begins! We read about all the ways the Jews' enemies try to thwart their work. 4:2 The opposition belittled the Jews' work. 4:3 They were sarcastic toward them. 4:5 They demoralized them. But then, after Nehemiah cried out to the Lord to save them from their enemies, for the Lord to bring them down instead of letting their enemies bring them down, we see... 4:6 The Jews continued their work and started rebuilding the wall, after repairing it. 4:6 This angered their enemies because their