PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE PART 3
SUNDAY 17TH, MARCH 2019
Matt 6:5-15, 1 Chr 29:10-12, Ps 22:28, Ps 47:2,8; Dan 4:17,25,32
Ps 140:4-5 NIV
NEHEMIAH – CLASSICAL EXAMPLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
Every project, assignment, career, marriage or business that is worth prosecuting must be perceived from a spiritual angle because everything in life is war. Nehemiah received a burden to repair the broken-down walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 1 and he sought the Lord in prayers and found favor with his boss the King Artaxerxes & Queen. He obtained letters from the King to the various provinces to obtain thoroughfare as he embarked on the journey of destiny to re-build the walls of Jerusalem. The King sent captains of the army and horsemen with Nehemiah for his protection.
The devil will never be pleased that you as a child of God is making progress and imparting your world – Sanballat and Tobiah were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel and they decided to wage a series of psychological warfare with Nehemiah and his building team in order to frustrate the vision.
God’s definition of prosperity from Nehemiah’s answer to his adversaries – Sanballat and Tobiah.
Neh 2:20 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.”
Prosperity is obtaining the help of God in executing successfully the assignment He has assigned to you. With the concept of prosperity in view, all hands must be on deck for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.
Neh 3:10 Jedaiah built the wall in front of his own house
Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem in today’s context implies that there must be collective effort in re-building God’s original brand of Christianity and to keep the saints under the atmosphere of God’s presence. Rebuilding the walls could also be likened to the re-building of our nation, Nigeria. In each case, great success can be achieved when everyone helps to build and restore the wall in their own spheres of influence, in their trade floors, marketplaces, homes, schools, families, so that the Nigeria of our dream can emerge.
Re-building project is serious business
Neh 4:1 But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that HE WAS FURIOUS AND VERY INDIGNANT, and mocked the Jews.
- Anger is often the world’s response to God’s works and project and to any assignment that challenges worldly views and values and/or seeks to restore the broken walls of our nation or the church. A strong church projecting godly standards, values, virtues and kingdom agenda would definitely lessen and diminish the value of sin.
- Sanballat means “Sin gives life” Sanballat knew that a restored Jerusalem would lessen his influence and cut him off completely hence, he tried all he could to stop the project because he wanted to remain relevant.
- Standing for the right thing and kicking against the status quo in any environment will diminish the value of sin and earn you enemies. This will generate anger and name calling – be prepared to stand for righteousness.
- Sanballat used mockery and ridicule as weapons of propaganda in the psychological war during the rebuilding of the wall.
- The devil’s aim is to render you idle and useless to the society. When Sanballat noticed that Nehemiah and his team refused to budge or give in to his furious fire that he created with the intent to demoralize them, he resorted to mockery and ridicule. But despite being mocked and ridiculed, Nehemiah was building and the walls were going up.
Neh 4:2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”
- Sanballat loaded his propaganda machine and decided to use some biased truth to intimidate and further demoralize them.
- What are these feeble jews doing?
The propaganda was true because the Jews can be considered feeble in terms of numbers (white propaganda) – What he didn’t realize is that the God they carry on their inside is greater than all the worldly armies combined together 1st John 4:4.
- Will they fortify themselves?
- Sanballat further questioned the wisdom behind the project making them look like fools all in an attempt to put an abrupt end to the project that he knows will not benefit his rulership. He used biased truth as his weapon of propaganda to make them to doubt the veracity of the project and lose faith in their resolve to rebuild the wall despite the conditions they might find themselves.
- Will they offer sacrifices?
- This was asked to ridicule their supposed trust in God. He knew that Yahweh was their God and he was trying to puncture their trust in God. He asked if their prayer, fasting and sacrifices can make the walls grow?
- They built physically and added these acts of faith to their works of physical construction.
- Will they revive the stones from the heap of rubbish – stones that are burned?
- He employed black propaganda (fake news, total falsehood) to destabilize them and bring confusion. The stones are not all burned, but only in heaps of rubbish but not all burned. They cleared the rubbish and continued to build. They were not overwhelmed with the work.
Whenever the devil comes with any form of his propaganda to render you demoralized, disheartened or to bamboozle you like Sanballat did to Nehemiah, respond to Sanballat (devil) with the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 8:35-39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The devil does not always come with horn and with a scary look as depicted by books, magazines and other drawings. Sometimes the devil manifests as an angel of light all made up to deceive. You should be sensitive and alert in the spirit to decode the schemings of the devil.
- Conspiracy with Tobiah – deflating, dispiriting, disheartening news
After Sanballat was done with his propaganda theory and trying to stop the rebuilding of the wall, Tobiah took over with black propaganda.
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “WHATEVER THEY BUILD, IF EVEN A FOX GOES UP ON IT, HE WILL BREAK DOWN THEIR STONE WALL.”
This was a false statement meant to demoralize the builders. Archaeology tells us the wall of Jerusalem reconstructed by Nehemiah and his team was 4kmL x 12mtrsH x 2.5mtrW so it is impossible for a fox to break it down!!
The three categories of propaganda (white, grey and black) have been affirmed in this psychological warfare by Sanballat and his own team!! There was a combination of some biased truths, half-truths and total falsehood – used as weapons against Nehemiah and his building team.
The battle is not over
6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
While Nehemiah was winning and the objectives were being achieved, the wall was growing and 50% success (the walls were all joined together up to half its height) has been achieved; yet Sanballat, Tobiah and their cohorts were also gaining ground and recruiting disciples.
10 Then Judah said, “The STRENGTH OF THE LABORERS IS FAILING, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”
The psychological warfare was already working and crippling some of the members of Nehemiah’s building team – some children of Judah. The devil will do all he wants to do but you must overcome. You must refuse to be confused, intimidated or disheartened.
7 Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry,
8 And all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion
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They conspired together to attack Jerusalem and create confusion because they’ve become very angry. When the wall was half to completion, grey propaganda was still used assisted with boasting and threats. The inhabitants of the land were used to further the course of confusion among the inhabitants of Jerusalem because they’ve already been defeated in their minds.
11 And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”
12 So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”
Note that external pressure amplifies internal weakness as this was the experience of some of the Jews!! Because of the pressure from the evil conspiracy of Sanballat, Tobiah and Gershem the Arab, their psychological warfare succeeded in causing the Jews to believe that the enemy had filled the entire Jerusalem and would crush the Jews building!! Friend, you must guard your heart with all diligence.
Those at the border town were sore afraid and were beginning to spread the fear among the inhabitants.
9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
Nehemiah never allowed the opposition to push him to a stage where he ever doubted God. He kept loving God and encouraging the people to work harder. As a Christian, when faced with difficult moments you should watch and pray, trust in God and also take precautions. Faith without works is dead.
13 Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, THAT ALL OF US RETURNED TO THE WALL, EVERYONE TO HIS WORK.
16 So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.
17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.
18 Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
See you at the TOP!!