“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:14, NIV
Read: Nehemiah 4:9-23
“Fight for your family!” A few years ago, this simple phrase became the mantra for my husband and me as parents of soon to be teenagers.
We face so many temptations to live a life grounded on secular values rather than God’s rules for living well. How can we help our families defend themselves against the attacks of the Enemy? Well, the context of the story of Nehemiah is important to understanding the full implications of this phrase– fight for your family!
In 605 B.C. when the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom, they destroyed Solomon’s Temple. However, the Persian Empire eventually rose to power, overthrew the Babylonians and became the world superpower of that time. The children of God were now able to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. But there was a problem. The walls of the city had been broken down. A city without a wall of protection was open to attack.
This is where Nehemiah entered into the scene. Nehemiah was living comfortably as a cupbearer serving the King of Persia. Then he learned about the sad state of the walls around Jerusalem. Nehemiah prayed and fasted for four months before he went and asked the King if he could return home to help rebuild the walls around the city.
Upon arrival into the city, he got to work. But he faced a lot of naysayers and people who would not support his plans. He was mocked and threatened. The threat was so great from outside the city, that Nehemiah set up guards along the walls to protect the city until the work was done. Men stood armed and ready to fight while they kept on working to build the wall. And Nehemiah told them to “fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes” (Nehemiah 4:14, NIV).
They stood ready to defend themselves even while they worked. This image of rebuilding a wall of protection around what we value has become dear to us.
There is a war that threatens us as Christians, but it is not a physical fight as it was in the time of Nehemiah. It is a fight for the hearts and minds of our “sons and our daughters’ and “our families”. It is a battle to cultivate in us a love for God OR a love for the things of this world and the prince of this world-the devil!
We’ve got to heed the call of Nehemiah to the people as they were rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem: “Fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes.”
Are you prepared to fight?
REFLECT: In very practical terms, what does it mean to “fight for your family”?
Live deep; laugh much.
I help individuals create space and develop habits and strategies to live a flourishing life — one goal at a time.