December 9 Daily Discovery - Read Nehemiah Chapter 6

This passage below is from the King James Version (ekjv.org).  

Remarks from the Berean Fellowship follow the passage below.

[1] Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
[2] That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
[3] And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
[4] Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.
[5] Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;
[6] Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.
[7] And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.
[8] Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.
[9] For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.
[10] Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.
[11] And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.
[12] And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
[13] Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
[14] My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.
[15] So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
[16] And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.
[17] Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.
[18] For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.
[19] Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.

The Fear Trap

Nehemiah had been give a charge by God to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem and he was doing so with the blessing of King Artaxerxes of Persia.

He had enemies without and enemies within that wanted to see this work stopped.  They did their best and could not prevail because Nehemiah responded with faith instead of fear, and therefore they were forced to acknowledge that Nehemiah's success was a result of the blessing of their God.

Enemies Without

Nehemiah's (and God's) enemies sent a message to Nehemiah four times (Neh. 6:4) that included an invitation to meet with them.

We can meet in one of the villages in the plain of Ono, they said.

Nehemiah sent a message back to them. I'm too busy, you know working on this wall.  It is a great work, very important, and I cannot come down to meet with you now.  Sorry.

Nehemiah knew that they were not being friendly to him.  "Let's do lunch" was understood by Nehemiah as "Let's do him in."

Of course, he refused.

Next, Sanballat sent his servant to Nehemiah with a more forceful invitation.

It's been reported by this fellow, Gashmu, that you are building this wall because it is your intent to rebel against the king and become king yourself.  It has also been reported that you have hired prophets to proclaim the same in order to get all the Jews behind you.  Let's get together so we can sort this out before this word gets back to the king.

Nehemiah replied with a direct, "This is not true, you have made it all up."

Nehemiah knew that they were trying to make him afraid so they would stop working on the wall.

He prayed to God that He would strengthen his hands.  

So, the enemy without was stopped by having faith in God and courage, rather than responding in fear.

But their attacks were not over ...

Enemies Within

The enemies without had team members on the inside, too.  There were Jews within the city that were conspiring with the enemy on the outside.  Even prophets!  The enemy was able to hire them to pretend to have received a message from God to get Nehemiah to respond in fear.

What would be the tactic of the enemies within?

The made up a story to tell to Nehemiah that the enemies without were going to come into the city that night in order to kill Nehemiah.

Come on, let's hide in God's house within the temple.  You'll be safe there.

But Nehemiah perceived that the message they delivered to him was NOT from God.  This one was too easy.  He was NOT a priest and he was NOT serving in the temple.  It would have been a great transgression for him to run in there and hide.

Should such a man as I flee? he asked.  No one in my position in his right mind would hide in the temple to save his life.  I will not go in!

Then he prayed that God would deal with Tobiah and Sanballat as well as the prophets that had conspired with them to put him in fear.

Faith won out over fear again.

We also discover that these were only the tip of the iceberg.  There were MANY of the nobles of Judah that were in league with the enemy.

Anytime you are attempting to do something for the glory of God the enemy is going to try to stop you.

Read Eph. 6:10-20 and 1 Tim. 6:12

We are in a spiritual battle.  Keep your armor on, stand and fight the good fight of faith. 

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Do you see any: Commands to Obey, Warnings to Heed, Promises to Claim, Examples to Follow, Vices to Avoid, Praises to Emulate, Prayers to Use, Principles by which to Live, Questions to Ask or Actions to Take?

See: Berean Fellowship Bible Study Method