Change Always Has Opposition - Nehemiah 1-4

 Nehemiah 2:9-10 (ESV Strong's)

9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

Change Always Has Opposition

Perhaps the only know through change and/or a change process is the presence of opposition.   No matter the change you can count on pushback from someone or someplace.  In the above passage, Nehemiah has been granted special permission by the Persian King Artaxerxes, to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the city.   Nehemiah prayed for five months before asking Artaxerxes for this permission to change the condition of Jerusalem, that sat in ruins for 70 years.   Not only did Artaxerxes give him permission, he gave him authoritative letters to travel and to cut down tress in the King’s forest to rebuild the city.   Yet, as in all change, there were those who were more than eager to hang on to the status quo.  Two men, Sanballat and Tobiah, we be constant thorns in Nehemiah, the-change-agent’s, side (2:19; 4:1; 6:1-14).   Throughout history there has been almost no great work done for God or man without these self-appointed-watchtower-powers, who are set on preventing positive change.   A great leader has to recognize the opposition and be prepared to meet it with both the power of God in their hearts and the resolve of purpose in their minds.   If you read the rest of Nehemiah, that is what you will see.  Note what Nehemiah says to these two road blocks, later in this chapter:

Nehemiah 2:17-20 (ESV Strong's)

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah made sure:

1. That he was walking in and toward God’s purpose for his life.

2. That those around him, doing the work, knew about God’s power and presence in the work. 

3. That those who opposed knew that the authority he had for the work was not only of this world (King Artaxerxes) but of God’s world as well. 

4. That those who opposed had to be confronted and corrected.   

Good change will always have bad opposition.  Change enacted by God will always overcome that opposition.