In a section of Nehemiah aptly titled “The Work Resumes” by many Bible scholars, there is some lessons we can apply in our digital age. The walls around Jerusalem was being constructed and things were going well, UNTIL opposition formed and started messing with morale and productivity.
That opposition created fear and anxiety around achieving the goal of rebuilding the wall. The opposition was so great that it separated people from each other. It caused people to become more distant from one another, not being able to make contact because of the potential repercussions. Think “social distancing” amid our COVID-19 health mandates.
Let’s read how Nehemiah handles the situation:
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.”
Nehemiah 4:19-20 ESV
Nehemiah’s leadership gives us two actions and a promise from God as a result of taking those actions today.
Action 1: Blow the trumpet
In Nehemiah’s day, it was a literal trumpet that was blown to alert people that the enemy is near. There needed to be a way for people to communicate that the enemy was near and that they should be ready for that enemy to attack. That was done through the blowing of the trumpet so people who were far apart from each other could hear and react to the sound of it.
The enemy in Nehemiah’s time was known. It was an enemy that afflicted people socio-economically, mentally, emotionally, and physically. The enemy in our 21st century world is: anxiety, fear, emotional distress, physical ailments, mental exhaustion, doubt, and sin.
If you want to apply how we can blow the trumpet in this season of social distancing, then go no further than social media (facebook, instagram, snapchat, etc), phone, or text. Blowing the trumpet that the enemy is near is as simple as reaching out digitall. The vehicle of communication doesn’t matter. Blowing the trumpet is being loud and intentional about letting people know.
We already know that each of us have our own independent lives and that this separation between friends and households keeps us apart. But that shouldn’t stop us from blowing the trumpet when the enemy is near us and is about to consume us.
Action 2: Rally toward the sound of the trumpet
When you hear the sound of trumpets, do not ignore it. We have so many channels right now to respond. You need to rally toward the sound of trumpets. Drop what you are doing and prioritize people calling for help rather than being deaf to the people who you are supposed to do life with.
This is why we are here in the midst of a global pandemic– to rally around people who are fighting evil and join them in their fight by praying over them and making spiritual declarations in the name of Jesus. Moreover, it is to encourage people when there is nothing new in their lives that can sustain them.
Promise for doing action 1 and 2: God will fight for us
When we live in community, albeit not a physical community, but a digital community, and we willingly sound the trumpets in our lives and also rally around the trumpet calls of others we are doing life with, no matter how far away we may feel, God will fight for us. Nehemiah tells us that the condition for God fighting for us is by blowing the trumpet and rallying toward the sound of that trumpet.
How awesome is it that the condition God places for his intervening on our behalf is by simply sounding the alert and rallying with the very people he placed around us?
My challenge to us is: how are we blowing the trumpet and rallying toward the sound of the trumpet? Are we praying and encouraging our brothers and sisters through this season of social distancing and isolation? Have we leveraged the technological toolsets we’ve been born with to give God a space to fight for us against our enemy?
Prayer: God, give us the bravery to blow the trumpets and be vulnerable with people through a distance. We know the enemy is near, we can feel his presence through the fear and anxiety that consumes the quiet of our days and nights. Allow us the ability to blow so loudly that the people you placed around us, to do life with us, can rally with us. Likewise, allow others around us blow their trumpets so we can rally around them. Through this act of rallying together, Father, show us how you fight on our behalf. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.
No responses yet