Nehemiah and the enemies. Nehemiah had left a comfortable position in order to assist the Jews who had gone to Jerusalem to build the Temple of God. Nehemiah was sincerely interested in promoting the welfare of his people. He soon found that when anyone rises up to build the house of the Lord he will be set upon by tares.

"Come down, come down, stop building, listen to us, you take too much on yourself, you are making yourself a king, they are going to kill you, come into my chambers and listen to me." On and on the accusations and threats continued. He was even prophesied against.

Nehemiah found that some of these adversaries were friends of the very Jews Nehemiah was endeavoring to assist.

And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me. (Nehemiah 13:28)

Every true man of God who is moved by the Lord to build the Kingdom of God is confronted with those who are calling him down from the wall. He is to ignore them and continue. If he serves God faithfully he will prevail, and those who would have stopped him will go down in history as the tares that they are. They shall be removed from the Kingdom in the Day of the Lord.

The Pharisees and Jesus. The Lord Jesus does nothing except as the Father directs Him. His thoughts, words, and actions are of the Father. He has no sins to confess but if He did He would be quick to confess them. The Lord Jesus has perfect understanding of the Father and His ways. The Lord Jesus is humble of heart and meek in Spirit.

The Pharisees did not hear from God. They would never confess to any wrongdoing. They had little understanding of God and His ways. They were proud and spiritually ambitious.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:24)

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. (Acts 7:51)

The Lord Jesus has all understanding of God and His ways. The Pharisees had little understanding of God and His ways.

Here we see the Son of the Kingdom and the sons of the wicked one. Yet all were of Israel.

The Pharisees murdered Christ. But they did not do so because of their love of the world or their desire for pleasure. They murdered Christ because of personal ambition leading to envy.

Pilate, an ambitious man himself, recognized clearly the motive of the chief priests and elders.

For he knew for envy they had delivered him. (Matthew 27:18)

To be continued.