Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight .
Let's sharpen up up this week by wrapping up Nehemiah 4 . So up to this point we've seen a lot of drama and opposition , from the overwhelming sadness while in King Artaxerxes' presence to the violent opposition in Jerusalem . This has not been a smooth process for Nehemiah by any stretch of the imagination .
Right However , with God's assistance and guidance , the work has resumed and continued . So let's go back to the text . Let's go to Nehemiah 4 , starting in verse 15 . When our enemies heard that it was known to us that God had frustrated their plan , we all returned to the wall , each to his work .
From that day on , half of my servants worked on construction and half held spears , shields , bows and coats of mail , and the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah who were building on the wall .
Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other , and each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built .
The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me and I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people the work is great and widely spread and we are separated on the wall , far from one another In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet rally to us . There Our God will fight for us .
So we labored at the work , and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out . I also said to the people at the time Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem , that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day .
Now , guys , this is a very interesting passage , and it's interesting because of how inconvenient it is for pacifist Christians and Christians that have a warped sense of violence .
You see , in our modern age , there is a growing movement of people that think that it is not just icky for Christians to participate in violence , but that it's actually a sin in every circumstance to participate in violence . But what these people fail to understand is that the type of violence makes a huge difference .
So , violently attacking someone because you don't like the color of the shirt that they're wearing is obviously sinful and immoral . But using violence to defend someone that is in the process of being physically harmed by someone or that is being threatened by someone is not only not sinful , but it is righteous and necessary .
So , believe me , I would love to live in a world where wolves were not prowling around looking to take advantage of and devour sheep . But that's just not the world that we live in . This last part of Nehemiah 4 is a full-throated biblical defense of self-defense violence . There is really no other way to read it .
These men stood ready not only to get the work of rebuilding the wall done , but they were ready and willing to deliver self-defense violence to anyone that tried to stand between them and the work God assigned to them . And let's be clear about one thing Bad guys don't stop themselves . You realize that right ?
Bad guys that are actively in the process of doing physical harm to people don't just stop themselves and go gosh , I think I'll just not hurt these people . Actually , bad guys must be stopped by good guys . That may seem rather elementary , but isn't it the truth ? I mean , don't like it . You don't want to live in a world like that .
Well , you need to get busy acquainting yourself with the real world , because that's the one you're in , buddy . So here's my question for you Do you stand ready to violently push back darkness if necessary ? Are you trained in a way where you could stop an image bearer of god from being violated or harmed .
And I guess , furthermore , with that , do you possess the willingness and mental readiness to bring righteous violence in order to protect a sheep from a wolf .
Because here's the thing , though many men completely overestimate two things as it pertains to this subject One , their actual fighting ability and two , their willingness to engage in righteous violence without hesitation . Guys , listen to me If you are not trained in a real fighting style , you will not just see red and then the bodies will start dropping .
You will see red and then you'll see nothing , because you'll likely be taken out of the fight against your will . Also , if you have not pre-decided that you would use violence to defend an image bearer of God , when the time comes to actually do it , the odds are better that you will falter than that you will rise to the occasion .
If God tasks you with a job , you must stand ready to do the work and defend the work being done .
Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .