The Voice of the Adversaries (Part 2 of 3)

4.  Our Adversaries

What is after your brother could be after you, too.  It may be only a matter of time before you know it.  In our text, the objects of concern were “OUR adversaries,” not “MY adversaries.”  Not only the speaker was under threat; everybody was.  If anyone supposed that Nehemiah alone was the target, because he was the leader, they were tragically mistaken.

In the early Church, Herod stretched forth his hand to slay James.  Everyone seemed quiet. Maybe someone dismissed it as “the problem of James, after all.”  Maybe James did not ‘pray enough’ to avert that evil sword, or it was his deserved karma for boasting, sometime ago in his proud and stupid ambition for elevated political positions, with John his brother, that he could drink of the ‘cup’ of the Lord and be baptised with any baptism (Matthew 20:22).

After James, the adversary proceeded to take “Peter also.”  Then everyone woke up.  What was after James had caught up with Peter.  They could be next (Acts 12:1-5).  In Nigeria today, what is after the brothers in one end of the country is after their brothers and sisters in the other end.  With the danger beginning to spread to the rest of the land, everyone seems alerted, but not all, especially not the traders in blood who are often fed by the fattened killers.  The threatened Mordecai at the strategic gates once warned the complacent Esther in her opulent palace: “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place … and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

What is after your brother could be after you, too.  It could be just a matter of time before you know it.  Nehemiah might be the immediate target, but none is safer when they have got him.

5.  The Two Forces

There were two forces at conflict in Project Nehemiah: the force that wanted all the workers dead, thereby to “cause the work to cease,” and the other that was going to defend them, so that the work would not be stopped.  Alas, how many works have been ‘caused’ to cease because the workers were slain – some physically slain, others slain by scandals (true or false) until they could raise their voices no longer. Whatever threatens your brother threatens you, too, and whatever threatens you ultimately threatens what you do.

It will appear, sometimes, that our adversaries understand our worth better than we do, for which they are prepared to put any price on just one head.  What is at stake in the present season is not merely a death threat, it is kingdoms at war; two opposing forces in a territorial conflict of domination.  So, the pernicious voices we hear are simply the audible echoes of an invisible foe.

6.  The Middle Pillars

Terrified at the prospect of a mighty restoration through the workers at Project Nehemiah, the “adversaries” plotted death against them.  The plotters were unconcerned about similar workers in Babylon or about idling Jews in Judah.  Their interest was the rebuilders in Judah.  Check deaths and disasters that often come to those who are central to “the work”; they might not be ordinary disasters after all.  Some of them are ‘guided missiles’ from ‘adversaries’ intent on crippling the feared ‘rebuilding’ project in the hands of those strategic casualties.

In his last battle against the Philistines, the blinded Samson did not waste his time and energy trying to pull down every pillar in the temple where the enemies had gathered to mock his fall.  He chose to focus his last strength on “the pillars whereupon the house standeth … the two middle pillars upon which the house stood” (Judges 16:26, 29).  The fall of those “middle pillars,” those few but specific pillars, became the fall of all the other strong pillars, and the fall of the entire edifice.  In the end, it was said that Samson’s strategy had been so effective that those he killed that day were more than all that he had killed in his entire lifetime of campaigns against those enemies (vv. 29-30).

The disaster that targets our “middle pillars” does not mean well for other pillars or the entire house.  Guard especially your ‘middle pillars.’

When Satan would kill the children of Job, he sent a strange wind against the house in which they were partying.  That devil-wind had a strange name: “wind from the wilderness.”  It was a very intelligent wild wind.  It did not blow indiscriminately upon the house or upon every house.   It specifically attacked the four cardinal “corners” of the house in which those children sat secure.  The fall of those specific “corners” became the fall of the house and the tragedy of everyone in it (Job 1:19).  In Project Nehemiah, those marked to be killed were not random Jews but the rebuilders; people whose killing would mean the end of their works.  It is an ancient battle strategy: target the shepherd and scatter the flock (Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:31).

When Herod tried to stop the early Church, he targeted the leaders. First, he killed James.  When he saw how it pleased the enemies, he “proceeded” to attack the next strong pillar upon which the house stood – Peter (Matthew 16:18).  Only then did the Church wake up to pray (Acts 12:1-5).

In Project Nehemiah, the adversaries didn’t care about the loafers.  They cared about those who were making an impact with their time and their skills, with their heart and their hands.  When you see disasters that seem to be taking out one strategic builder or rebuilder after the other, it’s not the time to merely mourn their loss or rejoice that it is their deserved lot as soiled saints.  It may be that the enemy is at work and has already infiltrated our ranks.

7.  Infiltration for Destruction

The adversaries did not “hide their mouth,” as we would say in Nigerian pidgin. They were vocal about their goal and the means to their evil end.  Or maybe the people of God got the discovery through spiritual discernment, because such wicked plots of international proportions are not carelessly left in the open for everyone to find them.

The plan was to infiltrate the workers; to “come in the midst among them, and slay them.”  They were going to ‘peacefully’ join them initially (not confront them), then kill them, ultimately, when no one was watching.  It wouldn’t matter how they came, but they would “come” – as pretended helpers, as friends, as colleagues at church or work, as family members, or even as casual servants – “in the midst AMONG them.”  Own goals are usually more painful.  Brutus’ dagger kills with a different kind of instant venom.  The sedating romantic brutality of a Delilah can be legendary … “in the midst…” of the fooled and blinded.

No matter how innocently they ‘came,’ the goal would still be to kill in the end.  The process might take time, “till” they have been able to “come.”  They would wait patiently, hoping that their targets would remain dull and blind all that while.  Alas, how tragically long for anyone to remain oblivious of near danger, “till” everyone is infiltrated and contaminated or killed!

While “in the midst among them,” they would be ready to take any ‘shit,’ if only to achieve their aim in the end.  They would speak respectful and right words; they would seek and take up strategic positions on the Project Board and around the Construction Site; they wouldn’t mind menial jobs, so long as it is around the targeted ‘middle pillars.’  They would observe all the protocols of dressing and other appearances, just to slay in the end and stop the work.

Infiltrators or double agents do not carry a sign on their foreheads announcing who they are.  Sometimes they strike everyone as the most loyal, the hardest working, the most spiritual.  They do not stay at the fringes; they do not take a back seat; they come “in the midst” of their target, very subtly, like a snake.

Check it when someone suddenly and desperately wants to ‘help,’ especially when you have not previously asked for their assistance or expressed a need.  Check it when someone appears overly interested in prime and strategic “in the midsts” offices or positions, ignoring proper starting points from the outer court.  No one enters the holy of holies without passing through the outer court, then the holy place. Be cautious of those who often seem interested in being around the ‘middle pillars’ on whom or on which your house stands – middle pillars that may be men or materials. They may have the wrong agenda.

Except in AI videos, even plants don’t flower and fruit on the day they are planted. Based on the scriptural pattern, to grow to the “uttermost part of the earth,” disciples should begin at Jerusalem, then grow through Judea next to it, then into and out of Samaria, before adventuring ‘abroad’ to the ends of the earth.  Jerusalem → Judea → Samaria → ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  When someone suddenly desires to reach there without starting from here, they may not truly be a disciple of the Lord.

Infiltrators may sometimes be loud admirers.  Paul and Silas met that kind on their mission in Philippi.  She was regular for “many days” at Paul’s meetings – apparent discipline and dedication; she was particularly present at prayer times and places – deceptive spirituality; she boldly praised the men of God – support, partnership, commitment; she “followed” no less a man of God than Paul, with Silas – false discipleship, securing validation; she was a “damsel” – attractive, seductive; she was loud enough for everyone to hear her daily – popularity, unsolicited publicity; but she was false, dangerously so.  She had other “masters,” not the Lord.  She was an agent of the dark underworld, trying to infiltrate the ranks of those rebuilders for God.  The day she was exposed, all hell literally broke loose against the same preachers she had been ‘following’ faithfully, “till” she should “come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease” (Acts 16:16-24).

From The Preacher’s diary,

October 18, 2025.