Nehemiah was warned, and took steps to guard against them. Half of the people were on the watch, and the other half held a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other. There was
NO EIGHT-HOUR WORKING DAY
then; they were on duty from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. They did not take off their clothes except to wash them. Fancy, this man who came from the Persian court with all its luxury, living and sleeping in his clothes for those fifty-two days! But he was in earnest. Ah, that is what we want! men who will set themselves to do one thing, and keep at it day and night.
All the people were bidden to lodge within the city, so that they should always be on hand to work and fight. Would to God that we could get all who belong inside the church to come in and do their share. “Happy is the church,” says one, “whose workers are well skilled in the use of the Scripture, so that while strenuously building the Gospel Wall, they can fight too, if occasion require it.” We ought all be ready to use the Sword of the Spirit.
By and by the men wrote a friendly letter, and wanted Nehemiah to go down on the plain of Ono and have a friendly discussion. It is
A MASTERPIECE OF THE DEVIL
to get men into friendly discussions. I don’t know whether Nehemiah had a typewriter in those days or not; I don’t know whether he had a printed form of letters, but he always sent back the same reply:
“I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.”
How many a church has turned aside for years to discuss “questions of the day,” and has neglected the salvation of the world because they must go down to the “plain of Ono” and have a friendly discussion! Nehemiah struck a good keynote—“I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.” If God has sent you to build the walls of Jerusalem, you go and do it.
They sent him another letter, and again he sent word back, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.” He did not believe in “coming down.” They sent him another, and he sent back the same word. They sent him a fourth letter, with the same result. They could not get him down; they wanted to slay him on the way.