The context:

Nehemiah was among the Jews in captivity in Babylon, and the king of Babylon allowed him to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and the city. But it reads like today’s newspaper: Satan had planted enemies there waiting to thwart the work. You can always count on Satan to wage war against whatever God is doing.

“So I answered them, and said to them,’
“The God of heaven himself will prosper us,
therefore we his servants WILL arise and build,
but you have NO heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem!’”
Nehemiah 2:20

Would that the present leaders of Israel would have the courage to speak to Israel’s enemies like this and tell them they have NO heritage, NO rights in Jerusalem, which always was and always will be the city of the God of Israel.

Israel is a tiny country in the midst of a multitude of vast Muslim countries all around her. It makes absolutely no sense that those Muslims would contend with tiny Israel over her tiny area. If you look at a map of the Middle East, it becomes SO OBVIOUS that it isn’t about land.

So what IS it about?

It’s about God’s program – the restoration of Israel as he promised.

Two reasons Satan is so violently opposing it:

1. Satan hates and opposes all that God loves.
2. Satan knows that while Israel is being restored, the Messiah will come – and that will be the end of Satan’s reign of terror.

Why hasn’t God stopped this in the first place?

Obviously it’s not because he can’t.

It’s because through the Israel story God is revealing HIMSELF. It’s more effective to SHOW something, rather than let people just read about it.

God has given Satan a timetable. When the time is up – all will know who is the God over the whole earth.


More About God’s Covenant With Israel