NEHEMIAH 6: 1-16 Laboring with Discernment Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem

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1 Over the past couple of months we have been making our way verse by verse through the Book of Nehemiah. As we have done so, I have attempted to track a number of different themes in the Book. Some of those are: The symbolism of a restored wall representing those borders of protection and exclusion that we erect in our lives to secure and protect us from the attack of the enemy. A second theme has been the many and diverse ways the enemy will seek to trip us up and knock us off of the path that God has for us as we seek to accomplish His will. And then finally, a third theme that we have been considering is the consistent and steady example of leadership that Nehemiah demonstrates as he deals with this noble task and the ignoble opposition. As we have seen, Nehemiah has had to deal with mocking and jeering. He has had to deal with accusations and veiled threats. He has encountered the scheming of the enemy to launch surprise attacks. In addition to these, he was trying to lead a people that had grown weary and discouraged and others that though meaning well was giving him poor counsel and advice about stopping the work and preserving himself. As I said, the attacks were many and diverse. Last week as we studied chapter 5, we took notice that with none of his initial attempts working, the enemy instead resorted to the sly tactic of If you can t beat em, join em. As we saw, nowhere in the chapter are the enemies of Nehemiah even mentioned (Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem). Sadly, however, nowhere in the chapter is mention of building the wall either. Nehemiah and these people were commissioned by God to erect this wall that had been broken down for nearly 100 years. With a secure wall in place, the people would be protected from attack; they would be preserved from compromise. Never wanting good for the people of God, the enemy of God (Satan) must do everything in his power to prevent that from happening. Seeing that things like taunts, and threats and fear were ineffective the enemy of God and His people (Satan) instead turns to the tactic of dividing the people of God through by feeding into their own selfishness and disobedience. Enemies like Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem were having no effect in their efforts to cause the work of God stop, so instead Satan tempts the Jews to sin against one another by taking advantage of one another. Brother begins to sin against brother and the people of God descend to the condition of only being interested in themselves and their own gain. 1 P a g e

2 What Satan was unable to do through his initial schemes of outside attack, he is now able to accomplish by attacking from within and appealing to the Jewish people s selfishness and sin. And again, what is the result of all of this the work of the Lord ceases. (no mention of the work is made in chapter 5). The Devil doesn t care how he trips us up only that he does. Well, as we saw last week, Nehemiah catches wind of what was happening. He receives the report of how brother was ripping off brother even to the point where parents had to sell their children into slavery and he deals with it. He hears the great outcry of the people and he confronts those taking part in this sin. He does so by: Calling their behavior sin (What you are doing is not good). The thing you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God. Challenging them to repent Let us abandon this Nehemiah 5:9 Nehemiah 5:10b And then demanding that they take steps of repentance, that is wherever possible making things right. Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards.. Nehemiah 5:11a Happily, the people took the necessary steps of repentance and the people could once again get back to the work that God had called them to do build the wall. So, there is a word of encouragement for us. Perhaps you have been sidetracked in one way or another perhaps even as a result of your own doing. The hope we can receive from Nehemiah 5 is that we can repent and get back to doing that which God has called us to be doing. That s good news, isn t it? Now we come to chapter 6 and once again the enemies of Nehemiah return to distract him and the others from building the wall of the city. They ve tried various methods, this time they 2 P a g e

3 come to him with three more. We will look at them more closely, but quickly, take notice of each of these. The first is in verse 2, Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm. Nehemiah 6:2 Come let us meet together. - A truce. Let s let bygones be bygones. Let s meet together and put past us all that negative stuff from before. The second is down in verse 5, an open letter In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. Nehemiah 6:5 Sort of a letter to the editor, which, as we will see, wasn t very positive in its description of Nehemiah and his intentions. And then the third is found in verse 12. And I understood and saw that God had not sent him (Shemiah the prophet), but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Nehemiah 6:12 A hired false prophet paid off to publicly denounce and discredit Nehemiah.If we could say anything about Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, we must admit these guys are persistent.they just won t quit. And neither will the enemy of your soul which is why we must keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus if we have any hope of accomplishing that which the Lord has put us here to accomplish. Let s read through the first fourteen verses to give ourselves a sense of the full story and then we will go back and look at each verse. If you have your Bible, please follow along beginning in verse 1 of chapter 6. 3 P a g e

4 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, There is a king in Judah. And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together. Then I sent to him, saying, No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done. But now, O God, strengthen my hands. Now when I went into the house of Shemiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night. But I said, Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in. And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. Nehemiah 6: P a g e

5 Well, as I said, in this new barrage of attacks, Sanballat and the others approach Nehemiah with an extended hand. They say, Come let us meet together. Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono. Nehemiah 6:2 Now, remember that all along their goal was to get Nehemiah to stop working on the wall and now that they are getting close to completing the wall, they are desperate to try anything even a truce. Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), Nehemiah 6:1 Now, of course if Nehemiah is to accept their offer of a truce, he will have to do so by leaving Jerusalem and going out to Hakkephrim in the plain of Ono. Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono. Nehemiah 6:2 How cunning of the enemy to try and trick Nehemiah and get him to do what he has been trying to get him to do all along. And notice also how this appeals directly to Nehemiah s flesh: Take a break from the grind and come on out to the plains. You deserve a break; Let s put an end to all this fighting and tension. Let s shake hands and let bygones be bygones. Nehemiah is too wise to be tricked into going. Did a little break appeal to him? Probably. Would he have liked to finally be able to take a deep breath and not have to worry if someone was plotting to attack him at any moment? It is not hard to imagine so. Nehemiah had been 5 P a g e

6 called by the LORD to build the wall and until the LORD told him not to, that is what he was going to do. And notice also, Nehemiah discerns their real intention when they extend the hand of reconciliation was actually to lure him out into the field where they can harm, and perhaps even kill, him. Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm. Nehemiah 6:2 Committed to the work and discerning of their ill intent, Nehemiah responds by verse 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? Nehemiah 6:3 He says essentially, I see what you re trying to do and it s not going to work. I m staying here. Notice the enemy s persistence in verse 4, And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. Nehemiah 6:4 This is at least the sixth time these guys harass Nehemiah and this time they do so four separate times. We saw last week some well-meaning Jews tried to dissuade Nehemiah and convince him to run to safety ten times. Once or twice you can deal with it, after 5, 10, 15 times it begins to get a little annoying. Frustrating enough to cause you to snap and either give in, or lose your witness. Nehemiah doesn t allow it to. He continues on. Let s continue. Verse 5, In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. Nehemiah 6:5 6 P a g e

7 Sanaballat returns a fifth time (actually he sends a servant to represent him), and I m sure Nehemiah is already prepared with his answer Look man, I m not meeting with you. Except, as we see in verse 5, this servant isn t inviting Nehemiah to a weekend retreat in the plain of Ono, but instead presenting to him an open letter. In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. Nehemiah 6:5 An open letter was sort of like a letter to the editor or a facebook/twitter post or some other means of slandering Nehemiah publicly. Perhaps this was done by posting the letter on telephone poles around the city or as a form of direct mail sent to each of the homes. I wouldn t be surprised if Sanballat s servant marched around the city walls and read the open letter again and again to any that might be within ear shot. Here is what the letter said, starting in verse 6, In it was written, It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, There is a king in Judah. And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together. Nehemiah 6:6-7 Oh, you don t want to meet, huh? Well then we will just have to accuse you of treachery and deception and that you are seeking to set yourself up as king. It wasn t true, but what s that matter. Once the rumors got out there, many would believe it regardless of the facts. Here they are questioning his integrity. Many of us can deal with a lot of things, but not the questioning of our integrity. Say I m not that smart or that I am unlearned. Say I m not that talented, or skilled in a particular area. But don t say I can t be trusted. Our good name is something we earn and it is not earned easily. It takes a lifetime to build a good name and a moment to destroy it. So the temptation for Nehemiah to respond to these false accusations is no doubt very strong here in verse 6 and 7. 7 P a g e

8 But notice how he does respond, Then I sent to him, saying, No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. Nehemiah 6:8 I remember when my kids were young and one of them would come crying to me saying, So and so called me big face. Big face? I would say. And then I would ask them, Do you have a big face? To which they would say, No. Leading me to then respond, Then what do you care what they say. We had that sort of conversation many times in the early years. It seems to me Nehemiah is using this sort of reasoning when he responds, No such things as you say have been done. You re making things up. Then I sent to him, saying, No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. Nehemiah 6:8 Nehemiah could rest in his integrity. He knew that he hadn t done these things. He knew it wasn t even his intention to do these things. And so, he could simply ignore the accusations and go on with what he was supposed to be doing. He does, observe, ask God for strength to keep on. For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done. But now, O God, strengthen my hands. Nehemiah 6:9 He knew that any attempt to defend himself is going to fall on deaf ears anyway, so he simply prays God help me to do what you have called me to do. Don t allow me to get distracted. And, as we saw earlier, Nehemiah discerns their real intentions behind their latest scheme. We see this here in verse 9, For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done. But now, O God, strengthen my hands. 8 P a g e

9 Nehemiah 6:9 Nehemiah discerns that they want to exacerbate him with one more hassle to just give up the work. The enemy cannot make them stop. They can only entice them to stop. The decision to give up the work that God has called them to do will be theirs alone. In the same way, we learn in the New Testament that the enemy the Devil is powerless against us as well. He can tempt. He can taunt. He can harass. But he can t compel us to sin. The decision to sin lies in our own hands. You say, Yes, but I am a sinful person. Sometimes my flesh just comes out. I can t help it. Ah, but you can. That is the glorious promise of Romans 6:6 where the Apostle Paul says, We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6 There is a wonderfully descriptive picture in the term Paul chose to use here when he says brought to nothing. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6 It s a term which means to render idle or powerless. We could say paralyzed. That is to say, Our enemy (whether that be the Devil, one of his minions, some persistent annoyance like a Sanaballat, or even our own flesh), can talk a good game, but have no power against you. If you are in Christ that is, a follower of His then you are a new creation, and the only one that has the power to quit and give up the work that God has called you to do is you. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. II Corinthians 5:17 9 P a g e

10 This is the second time that Nehemiah has discerned their intentions and saw through their schemes. He discerned their intentions in verse 2, when he saw through their invite to come out to the plain of Ono to their real objective to cause him harm. Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm. And now he sees through their schemes again, Nehemiah 6:2 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done. But now, O God, strengthen my hands. Nehemiah 6:9 Discernment is the ability to judge matters according to God s view of them, and not according to their outward appearance. And we know that discernment is as much a skill as it is a gift. We learn from the Word that discernment is a spiritual gift. Paul says, given through the Spirit is the ability to distinguish between the spirits To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. I Corinthians 12:8-10 That phrase is the same word translated from the Greek as discernment in many of our versions throughout the scripture. So discernment is a spiritual gift to judge matters according to how God sees those matters. For good or for evil. To be discerning is to see the positive just as much as the negative. To be discerning is to see the good that others might miss just as much as seeing the evil that is not so readily apparent. Sadly, some folks with discernment ministries are really just negative and cynical that can t find any good in anything. 10 P a g e

11 In addition to being a spiritual gift, discernment is also a spiritual skill that is, something that can be developed (and should be developed) in each of us. As a skill, it is something that can be developed and grown in us. The definition still remains the same seeing things as God sees them. You can develop this by: One Getting to know God s Word. You want to know what God thinks. Read and study His Word. He tells us what He thinks right there. Get to know His Word and you will know the mind of the Lord. Second grow in spiritual maturity. Learn what He says and exercise your spiritual muscles by putting those things into practice so that they begin to become second nature. Third ask Him for the gift. Spiritual discernment is really important for the Church and for the individual members that make up the church. Many Christians today suffer from a real lack of discernment. We follow leaders and teachers that give a good appearance, but don t walk in the nature of Christ. We accept things blindly without comparing them with the whole counsel of God s Word. Failure on our parts to exercise discernment can do real spiritual damage to the work of the Lord. Nehemiah repeatedly in this chapter and the Book as a whole exercises discernment to see through the schemes of these enemies and thus is able to stay on task doing that which God has called him to do. Well, as we observed, the enemy is persistent. So notice again in verse 10 they come again. Verse 10, Now when I went into the house of Shemiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night. Nehemiah 6:10 The next scheme is to send an old prophet to Nehemiah with counsel for him to run to safety to avoid being murdered. (I assume he is old based on the fact that he is confined to his home.) 11 P a g e

12 Now when I went into the house of Shemiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night. Nehemiah 6:10 Perhaps he is actually a young fellow that is confined to his home for another reason. Whatever the reason for his confinement, he summons Nehemiah to come so that he can share with him what verse 12 will refer to as a prophecy. They re coming to kill you. Now when I went into the house of Shemiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night. You must get yourself to safety. Run and hide in the temple. Nehemiah 6:10 Now when I went into the house of Shemiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night. Come on we will go there together. Nehemiah 6:10 Now when I went into the house of Shemiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night. Nehemiah 6:10 12 P a g e

13 This all sounds reasonable. You can t lead if you are dead. Plus, this is a prophet of God presumably sent to Him with a message from God. Who is Nehemiah to reject this prophecy and advice? Nehemiah does however reject this offer, saying But I said, Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in. Nehemiah 6:11 This sounds like he is being a hard guy, but he is not. His point is that he is just a regular guy (such a man as I). Going into the Temple was reserved of for the priests. Nehemiah may have been a leader, but he was not a spiritual leader. He was not a priest. Nehemiah was not authorized to enter into the temple. Additionally, Nehemiah knows that running and hiding in this way would stop the work of God from progressing. Shemiah comes to him essentially saying, You got to do what you got to do. Forget all of that and preserve yourself. But Nehemiah sees through the scheme. He must reason, Why would God have me stop the work now? And why would He have me violate His law (by entering into the Temple) in doing so? This isn t from God. So, He says, (verse 12) And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Nehemiah 6:12 What Nehemiah perceives is that if he did go into the Temple, Shemiah and the others would use it against him and give him the reputation of a law breaker thus ruining his good name. I picture the plot would have gone something like this: Nehemiah and Shemiah arrive at the Temple and Shemiah politely says, After you. Then when Nehemiah enters he steps in, looks around at all the ornate carvings on the wall and then hears Nehemiah only to turn and have his picture taken a picture which will soon be plastered all over the National Inquirer or TMZ with the headline LAWBREAKER!!! 13 P a g e

14 Nehemiah is too discerning for that and so he declines Shemiah s invite. He instead again turns to the LORD in prayer saying, Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. Nehemiah 6:14 He doesn t get mad at all these folks coming against him. He doesn t begin plotting how he can get even with him or even how he can defend himself with words or actions. He simply gives it to the LORD saying, Jesus. You take care of this. Nehemiah is a great example for us of a regular guy, dealing with all sorts of distractions, just looking to serve the LORD. I m so grateful for his faithful witness and testimony that it can be done. You and I can discern the attempts of the enemy to sidetrack us. We can keep our eyes on the LORD and commit our ways to Him. And, like Nehemiah we can see fruit in our endeavors. We can accomplish that which God has called us to accomplish. Let s continue in verse 15, So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 6:15 What was unable to be accomplished for 100 years, was now completed in only 52 days. Because the LORD was with them and they had a mind to work. I also think it is significant to remind ourselves that Nehemiah prayed for four months for a work that took less than two. Oh how important it is that we bathe our efforts in prayer. A completed work in only 52 days. What a testimony that there is indeed in Jerusalem a God that lives and reigns. We see in verse 16, And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. Nehemiah 6:16 14 P a g e

15 When something has the fingerprints of God on it, the enemy takes notice. Also, notice that the enemy takes notice that the work was accomplished because God was in this. Not because of the committed men that served and labored on the wall. Not because of Nehemiah s great leadership. Not because of the ingenious plans to both work and defend - though certainly each of these contributed to the success of the project. But because God was in this. The point is this: Nehemiah and the others labored in such a way so that people saw the hand of God in their work and not their own hands. He was the One that was magnified and thus He was the One that was now glorified. May all of our labor for the LORD being done in the same way. 15 P a g e