Angels on the Walls 天使保护
Dexu Xia
We prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. Nehemiah 4:9
When Wallace and Mary Brown moved to an impoverished part of Birmingham, England, to pastor a dying church, they didn’t know that a gang had made the grounds of their church and home its headquarters. The Browns had bricks thrown through their windows, their fences set on fire, and their children threatened. The abuse continued for months; the police were unable to stop it.
The book of Nehemiah recounts how the Israelites rebuilt Jerusalem’s broken walls. When locals set out to “stir up trouble,” threatening them with violence (Nehemiah 4:8), the Israelites “prayed to . . . God and posted a guard” (v. 9). Feeling God used this passage to direct them, the Browns, their children, and a few others walked around their church’s walls, praying that He would install angels as guards to protect them. The gang jeered, but the next day, only half of them showed up. The day after that, only five were there, and the day after, no one came. The Browns later heard the gang had given up terrorizing people.
This miraculous answer to prayer isn’t a formula for our own protection, but it’s a reminder that opposition to God’s work will come and must be fought with the weapon of prayer. “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome,” Nehemiah told the Israelites (v. 14). He can even set violent hearts free.
By: Sheridan Voysey
What would you have done in the Browns’ situation? Who needs your prayers for deliverance today?
Awesome God, protect Your people by Your powerful angels, and set the hearts of Your enemies free.
我们祷告我们的上帝，又因他们的缘故，就派人看守，昼夜防备。—尼希米记4章9节
有一对夫妇搬到英国伯明罕的一个贫民区，牧养一间即将关闭的教会。刚开始，他们并不知道已有帮派分子将这间教会和牧师宿舍做为黑帮总部。宿舍的窗户不时会被砖头砸破，围篱被人放火焚烧，孩子们的安全受到威胁。这些骚扰行为持续了好几个月，就连警察也无力阻止。
尼希米记讲述以色列人如何重建耶路撒冷毁坏的城墙。当一些人用暴力威胁以色列人，“使城内扰乱”（4章8节），以色列人就向上帝祷告并“派人看守，昼夜防备”（9节）。这对夫妻觉得上帝以这段经文引领他们，就带着孩子们和几位同工，一边绕着教会的围墙行走，一边祈求上帝派驻天使在此护卫他们。起初，那些帮派分子讥笑他们；隔天，只有一半的流氓来闹事；第三天，只有五个人；第四天，没有任何人出现。后来，这对夫妇听说，那些帮派分子已不再恐吓民众。
他们的祷告得到奇妙的回应，但这不是我们祈求保护的公式，而是提醒我们，上帝的工作会遇到拦阻，但一定要用祷告做为抵挡的武器。尼希米告诉以色列人：“要记得主是伟大可畏的”（14节，新译本），上帝甚至能消弭人们心中的凶狠与残暴。作者： 霍薛顿
假设你面对这对夫妇的处境，你会怎么做呢？
今天，你会祈求上帝让谁能蒙恩得救？
大而可畏的上帝，求祢差遣大能的天使保护祢的百姓，并化解祢的仇敌内心的仇恨