When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city, the workers were mocked and threatened by their enemies (Nehemiah 4:1-3, 7-8). Nehemiah and the Jews needed to address these threats without neglecting their rebuilding project. So a solution was found.

“From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, ‘The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall from one another. At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.’

“So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. At that time I also said to the people, ‘Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.’ So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water” (Nehemiah 4:16-23).

There are several lessons for us to learn from Nehemiah’s plan. Today we are part of a spiritual kingdom (John 18:36) engaged in a spiritual war (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). But although the nature of the conflict is different from the one which Nehemiah and his countrymen faced, the following points will apply to us and our spiritual battles just as they did with the Jews and their physical battles.
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