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Nehemiah 4

 

[Nehemiah] FOUR: Opposition from the outside_

Nehemiah 4

 

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me” is a phrase that many of us were taught as children… but it’s not true.
Words can be way more destructive!

 

[Discussion starter] When have you seen a person or a group of people crumble under the pressure of opposition to ministry?

 

The enemies of Israel started out at the “sticks and stones” level, but moved quickly to things like slander, intimidation and threats.
Israel faced possible disappointment, distraction and discouragement.
Our enemy will always oppose the work God.
We need to expect and be able to fight opposition if we are to do God’s work.

 

[Read Nehemiah 4]

 

In verses 1-6 what is the progression of Sanballat and Tobiah’s threats?

 

 

What is usually your response to opposition aimed at you and what you’re doing?

 

 

How does Nehemiah respond to these different forms of opposition?

 

 

In verses 4-5 what is Nehemiah doing and why?

 

 

How do you think that the attitude of the people, in verse 6, affected the outcome of the work?

 

In verses 7-12 the enemies come up with many threats.
How many different kinds of threats can you find in these verses?

 

 

Sanballat appears to have some ‘inside help’ when it comes to intimidating the Jews.
In verse 10 and 12 what is that help and why might this have happened?

 

 

In verses 13-20, how does Nehemiah handle these threats?

 

 

Can you think of a situation where you have seen a creative solution keep the work moving forward?

 

 

In verses 9, 14 and 20, what was Nehemiah trusting in to get the work done?

 

 

In your life, does opposition make you want to quit a task or does it challenge you to work harder to complete it?
Explain.

 

 

What kinds of opposition do you face today?

 

 

How can you learn from Nehemiah’s example in handling opposition?

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