"I am doing a great work," says Nehemiah, "so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" (Nehemiah 6:3).
Yahuwah's people should not relax their watchfulness, or their vigilance,
for one moment. Satan is upon our track. He is determined to overcome
Yahuwah's commandment-keeping people with his temptations. If we give no
place to the Devil, but resist his devices, steadfast in the faith, we
shall have strength to depart from all iniquity. Those who keep the
commandments of Yahuwah will be a power in the land, if they live up to
their light and their privileges.
They may be patterns of piety, holy in
heart and in conversation. We shall not have ease, that we may cease
watchfulness and prayer. As the time draws near for Yahushua to be revealed
in the clouds of heaven, Satan's temptations will be brought to bear with
greater power upon those who keep Yahuwah's commandments; for he knows that
his time is short.
The work of Satan will be carried on through agents. Ministers who hate the
law of Yahuwah will employ any means to lead souls from their loyalty.
Their hearts are fully determined to make war against those who keep the
commandments of Yahuwah and have the faith of Yahushua. This class feel
that it is a virtue to talk, to write, and to act out, the most bitter
hatred against us. We need not look for fair dealing, or for justice, at
their hands. Many of them are inspired by Satan with insane madness against
those who are keeping the commandments of Yahuwah. We will be maligned and
misrepresented, all our motives and actions will be misjudged, and our
characters will be attacked. The wrath of the dragon will be manifested in
this manner. But we should not be in the least discouraged. Our strength is
in Yahushua, our advocate. If we, in humility and humble trust, hold fast
to Yahuwah, he will give us grace and heavenly wisdom to withstand all the
wiles of Satan, and to come off victors.
It
will not increase our influence, or bring us into favor with Yahuwah, to
retaliate or come down from our great work to their level in meeting their
slanders. There are those who will resort to any species of deception and
gross falsehood, to gain their object and deceive souls, and to cast stigma
upon the law of Yahuwah and those who love to obey his commandments. They
will repeat the most inconsistent and vile falsehoods, over and over, until
they make themselves believe that they are truth. These are the strongest
arguments they have to use against the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
We should not allow our feelings to control us, and divert us from the work
of warning the world.
The case of Nehemiah is presented before us. He was engaged in building the
walls of Jerusalem, and the enemies of Yahuwah were determined that the
walls should not be built. "But it
came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the
Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made
up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem,
and to hinder it" (Nehemiah 4:7-9).
In
this case, a spirit of hatred and opposition to the Hebrews formed the bond
of union, and created the mutual sympathy among different bodies of men,
who otherwise might have warred against each other. This will illustrate
what we frequently witness in our day in the existing union of men of
different denominations to oppose the present truth, whose only bond seems
to be that which is dragonic in its nature, manifesting hatred and
bitterness against the remnant who keep the commandments of Yahuwah. "Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our Yahuwah, and
set a watch against them day and night, because of them"
(Nehemiah 4:9).
We are in constant danger of becoming
self-sufficient, relying upon our own wisdom, and not making Yahuwah our
strength. Nothing disturbs Satan so much as our not being ignorant of his
devices. If we feel our dangers, we shall feel the need of prayer as did
Nehemiah, and, like him, we shall obtain that sure defense that will give
us security in peril. If we are careless and indifferent, we shall surely
be overcome by Satan's devices. We must be vigilant. While, like Nehemiah,
we resort to prayer, taking all our perplexities and burdens to Yahuwah, we
should not feel that we have nothing to do. We are to watch as well as
pray. We should watch the work of our adversaries, lest they gain advantage
in deceiving souls. We should, in the wisdom of Yahushua, make efforts to
defeat their purposes, while, at the same time, we do not suffer them to
call us from our great work. Truth is stronger than error. Righteousness
will prevail over wrong.
The Master's people are seeking to heal the breach which has been made in
the law of Yahuwah."And they that shall be of thee
shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of
many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The
restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,
from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the
holy of the Master, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own
ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then
shalt thou delight thyself in the Master; and I will cause thee to ride
upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob
thy father; for the mouth of the Master hath spoken it" (Isaiah 58:12-14).
This disturbs the enemies of our faith, and every means is employed to
hinder us in our work. And yet the broken down wall is going steadily up.
The world is being warned, and many are turning away from trampling under
their feet the Sabbath of Jehovah. Yahuwah is in this work, and man cannot
stop it. The angels of Yahuwah are working with the efforts of Yahuwah's
faithful servants, and steadily the work advances.
We
shall meet with opposition of every description, as did the builders of the
walls of Jerusalem; but if we watch and pray, and work as they did, Yahuwah
will fight our battles for us, and give us precious victories.
Nehemiah "clave to the Master, and departed not from following him,
but kept his commandments, which the Master commanded Moses. And the Master
was with him" (2
Kings 18:6).
Messengers were sent repeatedly, soliciting a conference with Nehemiah; but
he refused to meet them. Bold threats were made of what they proposed to
do, and messengers were sent to harangue the people engaged in the work of
building. They presented flattering inducements, and promised them a
freedom from restraint, and wonderful privileges, if they would unite their
interest with them, and cease their work of building the walls of
Jerusalem.
But the people were commanded not to engage in controversy with their
enemies, and to answer them not a word, that no advantage of words might be
given them. Threatenings and ridicule were resorted to. They said, "Even that
which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone
wall." (Nehemiah 4:6)
Sanballat "was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the
Jews" (Nehemaih
4:1). Nehemiah prays,"Hear, O our Yahuwah; for we
are despised; and turn their reproach upon their own
head." (Nehemiah 4:4).
"And I sent
messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot
come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to
you? Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them
after the same manner. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like
manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand." (Nehemiah 6:3).
We shall receive the most fierce opposition from
those who oppose the law of Yahuwah. But, like the builders of the walls of
Jerusalem, we should not be diverted and hindered from our work by reports,
by messengers desiring discussion or controversy, or by intimidating
threats, the publication of falsehoods, or any of the devices Satan may
instigate. Our answer should be, We are engaged in a great work, and we
cannot come down. We shall sometimes be perplexed to know what course we
should pursue, to preserve the honor of the cause of Yahuwah, and to
vindicate his truth.
The course of Nehemiah should have a strong bearing upon our minds, as to
the manner of meeting this kind of opponents. We should take all these
things to the Master in prayer, as Nehemiah made his supplication to
Yahuwah while his own spirit was humbled. He clung to Yahuwah with
unwavering faith. This is the course we should pursue. Time is too precious
for the servants of Yahuwah to devote to vindicating their character
blackened by those who hate the Sabbath of the Master. We should move
forward with unwavering confidence, believing that Yahuwah will give to his
truth great and precious victories. In humility, meekness, and purity of
life, relying upon Yahushua, we shall carry a convincing power with us that
we have the truth.
We
do not understand the faith and confidence we may have in Yahuwah, the
great blessings which faith will give us, as is our privilege. An important
work is before us. We are to obtain a moral fitness for heaven. Our words
and our example are to tell upon the world. Angels of Yahuwah are actively
engaged in ministering to the children of Yahuwah. Precious promises are
upon record on condition of our obedience to Yahuwah's requirements. Heaven
is full of the richest of blessings, all waiting to be communicated to us.
If we feel our need, and come to Yahuwah in sincerity and earnest faith, we
shall be brought into close connection with Heaven, and shall be channels
of light to the world.
The warning needs to be often sounded, "Be
sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter
5:8).
By: Ellen
White Review & Herald
July 6, 1886
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