When the Jews Came - Nehemiah 4:12

In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “So built we the wall; … and Judah said, the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease”, and in chapter four and verse twelve of Nehemiah, Nehemiah shared what happened, “when the Jews which dwelt by them came”, where we read,

And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, 

From all places where you shall return unto us they will be upon you.

The verse reads, “And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, ...”Nehemiah began with the words, “and it came to pass” or “and the following happened and occurred”, “that when the Jews” which means “that at the time and moment the Jehudites or Judaites” “which dwelt by them came” or “who lived, abided and remained beside Nehemiah and the people of Judah entered”, “they said unto us ten times” which means “they, the Jews who lived near Nehemiah and the people of Judah, uttered, declared and proclaimed ten repetitive times to us, Nehemiah and the people of Judah, the following words”. Nehemiah shared how the Jewish people who lived near to him and the people of Judah said the following words to them ten different times.

The verse goes on to say, “... from all places where you shall return unto us they will be upon you.” Nehemiah continued with the words, “from all places” or “separate and apart from each, every, the whole and everyone of the locations” “where you shall return unto us” which means “that you, Nehemiah and the people of Judah, will come back to us, the Jewish people” “they will be upon you” or “they, the adversaries and foes, shall exist among you, Nehemiah and the people of Judah”. Nehemiah shared how the Jewish people told him that no matter in what place he and the people Judah came back to them, their adversaries would follow and exist among them. (See Ephesians 6:12) 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah how these adversaries of the Jewish people were relentless. Even the Jewish people who lived near to Nehemiah and the people of Judah warned them that these adversaries would not stop following them. God knows we will have opposition and adversaries in this world, (See John 16:33; Revelation 2:10) and because He loves us, He sent His Son Jesus to be crucified on the cross and resurrected from the dead so we could have a personal relationship with Him. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and equip us to fight against the enemies of our souls all our lives until we go to be with Him in Heaven some day. (See 1 Peter 5:8) 

Next time Nehemiah says, “therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".