Learn to fight. Learn to build.
This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is January 14, 2025 and this episode of Scripture for Students is called On Daggers and Diggers. Grab your Bible and let’s get started.
Our readings for today are Genesis 15, Matthew 14, and Nehemiah 4. Please open your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 4.
In 1865, the famous British preacher Charles Spurgeon founded a magazine called The Sword and the Trowel. The magazine was sent around the world to keep people up to date about what was happening at Spurgeon’s church in London, which was called The Metropolitan Tabernacle. If Spurgeon had started The Sword and the Trowel today, he would probably make a podcast, but what is most significant about the title of this publication is what a great metaphor it is for the Chirsian life.
Think about it. I know you already know what a sword is. Not to overstate the obvious, but it is a tool for fighting. Do you know what a trowel is? Its flat metal triangle, about the size of your hand, with a handle attached to it. A brickmason would use it to spread mortar between bricks as he built a foundation or a wall or something. So if a sword is a tool for fighting, a trowel is a tool for building.
Our Scripture for Students today is the source for these images. Since you’re reading along, you already know what’s happening here. Nehemiah and his fellow returned exiles are rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but they’re meeting some pretty serious opposition along the way.
Follow along with me as I read Nehemiah 4:15–23,
15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.
16 From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah,
17 who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.
18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
19 And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.”
23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
I want to focus on this passage today because I think that Nehemiah gives us an amazing metaphor for the Christian life. Spurgeon picked up on when he named his magazine The Sword and the Trowel. The idea here is that in the Christian life, we’re going to need to be prepared to fight and to build. Let’s talk about the sword and the trowel here.
First, the sword. We live in a dangerous world. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 to, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Revelation 12 describes the enemy as a great fiery red dragon who has set himself to make war on the offspring of the woman—meaning the church.
While Nehemiah was concerned about physical enemies with real swords, Paul explains that this warfare is spiritual. 2 Corinthians 10:3–4 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
He also says in Ephesians 6:12–13, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
This spiritual fight is coming at us all the time. It might be through music or movies that encourage an ungodly worldview, advertising that tempts us to materialism, or philosophies that cast doubt on the truth of the gospel. We take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God and fight back when we read our Bibles, listen to sermons, and commit ourselves to believe what is true and obey God’s word in all things. If you would like to learn more about spiritual warfare is like, we did a series of Sunday classes on Spiritual Warfare at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville not long ago. I’ll include a link in the episode notes.
Next comes the trowel. I think for a lot of young people, the thought of the Christian life being a call to fight is a kind of foreign idea. But the Christian life being a call to build might be even more foreign. Maybe this is easier to see when you get older: Lord willing, you’ll get married and have kids. You will build a marriage and a family. Young men will build a career; young women will build a culture in their homes. Together, you’ll help to build a church.
Now, some of you might remember that just last week, we talked about the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. You might ask, how is this different? Motives are everything here. The people in Genesis 11 built a squatty little tower that God had to stoop down to see because they wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted to be great and they saw themselves as rivals to God.
Nehemiah built walls to protect the city and especially the temple. He was building in order to safeguard worship. If you come at these things with the right motives, young people can be builders right now: like Nehemiah, you, too, can build to safeguard worship.
When you study your Bible, pray, learn theology, take notes on sermons, attend your youth group, you are building a worldview, which—if it a biblically-informed Christian worldview—is a wall against enemy invaders. It will safeguard worship in your soul by helping you resist falsehoods, lies, and ungodliness.
Your academics or athletics can be building. If you do them with the right motives, both can shape within you the kind of Christian character that will prepare you for a lifetime of serving God in your family, in the church, and in the world. These are habits of self-denial, perseverance, humility, and concern for others.
This would be a great discussion around the dinner table tonight. Talk about: what are ways that God is calling you to fight and to build? Where are temptations and enemies you need to fight against? And where are there opportunities for you to build? In other words, how can you invest in godliness now that will pay off for your godliness later? Enjoy that conversation!
Finally, be like Mr. Spurgeon, who was like Nehemiah. Take up your sword and your trowel. Fight and build. For the glory of God.
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!