I've decided the Bible is layered. Not a new revelation, but one that has been becoming more and more apparent the more I read lately.

What I mean by layers is that one passage or chapter or book can have more than one meaning or point to it. Well, obviously - six people could read the same Psalm and come away with six different things that have impacted them through it. Though I think that's cool, I wasn't actually thinking of the personal side of the impact of the scriptures, but rather the way that any given chunk can be one of four things: the actual story that is being told, whether it's of Esther's dealing with the king or Ezekiel laying on his side; the larger picture of what that means for Israel (or the Christian church) at the time and how it is a prophetic message for them; the even larger picture of the message of the Messiah, and how it is a prophetic picture of the one plan of redemption for each person ever created; or the parallel of what message that passage is giving to us in our day and age, and our spiritual journey.

I've been reading Nehemiah this week, and I noticed one of the deeper layers again, even through the story of Nehemiah and the Jews rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. There's of course the story of their own journey to 'get the job done,' and there's also the way that this story tells the story of redemption and God's plan for us to be reconciled to him.

But there's also a really cool picture of spiritual attack, and how, by God's grace and power, Nehemiah overcomes it.

In Nehemiah chapter four, after everyone has started working on their own part of the wall next to his brother or sister, the real fun begins. People started mocking the Jews and saying things like, "Even what they are building - if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!" (Nehemiah 4:3) And so on. Nehemiah's response? Well, better than mine, which would have been to either jump on them or burst into tears (possibly both). No, he did two things: he prayed, and asked God to return their reproach on their own heads, and he kept on working, being true to what God had commanded.

It's too bad that this wasn't the end of the enemies - they continued and the Jews were forced to work with one hand and carry weapons in the other. Or one would work while the other kept watch for the enemy. They set up guards, and they did not let that guard down for anything.

As I read this chapter, I was SO struck by how that is what our own spiritual journey should look. We're at war! That's not just Salvation Army lingo - that's the plain truth. We are at war with an enemy who is nasty enough and subtle enough to mock and spread lies. And powerful enough to attack physically, morally, emotionally and spiritually. And so our response has to be to ask God to be our defense and to keep on working. To carry a weapon in one hand and to work with the other. To partner with spiritual watchmen who will intercede to God on our behalf and watch for the attack of the enemy to be able to thwart it. To have faith in God's protection and to be able to say with confidence, "Our God will fight for us." (Nehemiah 4:20) To be willing to even 'go to gather water' (4:23) with our weapons at our sides.

And to remember Nehemiah's words to his own people:

When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses." (Nehemiah 4:14)