The Challenge of Taunting Opposition

Scripture — Nehemiah 4:1-5 (NRSV)

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews. He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish—and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “That stone wall they are building—any fox going up on it would break it down!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight; for they have hurled insults in the face of the builders.

Devotion

Under Nehemiah’s leadership and organization, the Jews in and around Jerusalem began to rebuild the wall that had been destroyed decades ago. Not surprisingly, this upset Nehemiah’s opponents, Sanballat and Tobiah, whom we met in chapter 2. These Gentile leaders recognized that a rebuilt Jerusalem would diminish or even threaten their own power. So, in their displeasure, they ridiculed and misrepresented the efforts of Nehemiah and his collaborators (2:10, 19).

But when the wall-building project advanced, Nehemiah’s opponents became enraged. They sought to discourage and impede the wall-builders, not with physical threats, but with taunting. Sanballat said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish – and burned ones at that?” (4:2). Tobiah added his mockery, “That stone wall they are building – any fox going up on it would break it down!” (4:3).

Nehemiah responded to the taunts of his opponents by praying, lamenting to God, “We are despised” (4:4). Then he added, “[T]urn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight; for they have hurled insults in the face of the builders” (4:4).

What do you think about this prayer? I must confess it makes me feel uneasy. Though I certainly understand why Nehemiah would pray this way, I have mixed feelings about whether we ought to imitate him or not.

But before I get to these mixed feelings, I want to note what Nehemiah did not do in response to the taunting from his opponents. He did not, as far as we know, respond directly to them. He didn’t defend himself, his workers, or their project. Rather, he stayed focused on the work.

Moreover, Nehemiah did not attack his opponents with words or weapons. Rather, he laid before the Lord his displeasure and asked the Lord to punish those who were mocking him and his fellow laborers. Nehemiah did not assume he had the authority to do such punishing. Rather, he recognized God’s authority and turned over to God his desire for retribution.

In many ways, Nehemiah is a fine example of godly leadership. But we are not compelled to believe that he always did and said the right thing. Scripture is full of examples of godly leaders getting it wrong. Moreover, Scripture also gives us an example that is always right, and always worthy of imitation. I’m speaking, of course, about Jesus.

Jesus was often mocked by his opponents. At times he confronted them directly (for example, Matt 23:27). But his behavior on the cross is strikingly non-combative. In Matthew 27, for example, Jesus was derided (27:30), mocked (27:41), and taunted (27:44). This happened as he was being tortured to death on a cross by Roman soldiers. Yet Jesus did not curse those who were mistreating him so horribly. Nor did he cry out to God for their punishment. On the contrary, in the Gospel of Luke Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). This is a very different prayer than what we see in Nehemiah 4 (and, for that matter, in many of the Psalms).

Nehemiah shows us that when our opponents attack us and taunt us, we mustn’t respond in kind, with counterattacks or defensive measures. Rather, we must focus on the work and bring our desire for retribution to God. When we do this, we put it in God’s hands, thus letting go of our own right for revenge.

Jesus shows us that there is another way to respond to those who oppose us and mistreat us. We can ask the Lord to forgive them. To be sure, this is not easy. In fact, it can be one of the hardest things we’ll ever do. Thus, there is no way for us to imitate the forgiveness of Jesus apart from the power of Jesus living in us through the Spirit. When we wish for retribution or revenge, we can cry out to Jesus to help us imitate his example of forgiveness.

Moreover, we can also cry out for the discipline and resilience to stay focused on the task at hand. Rather than being distracted from what is most important, the Lord will help us to work and lead in faithfulness to God’s own guidance. Like Nehemiah, and like Jesus, we will faithfully fulfill that to which we have been called, for God’s purpose and glory.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Jesus’ Death and Resurrection (Matthew 27-28).