Nehemiah 2:17

AND THEY SAID, "LET US RISE UP AND BUILD"

"Then said I unto them, Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Gershem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing which ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem."

"Ye see the evil case we are in" (Nehemiah 2:17). Not merely the physical state of ruin of the city, but the shameful subservience they suffered under the Samaritan governor, the constant reproach and hatred of their neighbors, and their current low estate compared to their former glory - all of these things oppressed and discouraged the people. What a surge of new hope and joy must have energized and excited the people with the sudden appearance of Nehemiah, and his challenge to Rise Up and Build!

"And I told them ..." (Nehemiah 2:18). Having carefully laid his plans, and being then ready to act, Nehemiah explained to the people his full power and permission of the king to rebuild the wall and fortify the city. The response of the people was spontaneous and jubilant, "Let us rise up and build," they said.

Sanballat and Tobiah responded to the situation with scornful laughter, taunting and spiteful remarks, and accusations of rebellion against the king. Nehemiah had not told them of his full authority and power to rebuild and fortify Jerusalem. However Nehemiah did not tell them, even then, that he was acting with the king's full support and permission, saying rather that, "The God of heaven, he will prosper us." We may well suppose that Sanballat and Tobiah at once dispatched messengers to Artaxerxes; and we may only imagine their consternation and disgust when they got the bad news from the king himself.