Here we have another instance of the enemy trying to coerce us into friendship with an ulterior motive.
When the walls were completed, the only gaps being the doors not yet hung in the gates. (v1-4) Sanballat and Geshem the Arab sent a message saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.”
Sounded innocent enough, but we are told that they thought to do them harm. Nehemiah answered as he did before that he was busy doing a great work. They were persistent and sent the message four times and four times Nehemiah answered in the same way.
The work was almost completed, and their enemies were getting desperate. They hadn’t stopped it so far; they were trying anything now.
“…. Whatever your position may be in Christian leadership, let me say that there will always be those who are friendly to your face, but plan your downfall behind your back. Beware of the fawning, flattering Christian who is always fluttering around you, and who behind your back will be the first to rejoice when you go down.” (Alan Redpath)
We need to have discernment and ask God for it, “For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). We can be so easily deceived by so-called Christian teachers and leaders and even Christian friends as well as enemies. We must not be distracted from the work The Lord has given us to do. Even their persistence could make us think it is genuine, but we must seek God’s will.
Sanballat was not going to give up, a fifth time and this time he sent a letter in the hand of his servant and this time his true nature comes out, it said (v5-9), “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumours, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.”
Nehemiah discerned what they were trying to do – “For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.” Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.”
He knew they were false reports and no doubt it enraged Nehemiah, and he replied, plainly, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”
They were quite clearly rumours and however many were saying it Nehemiah wasn’t going to be taken in and distracted by it. Rumours can be destructive if we let them enter our minds. We can’t stop people talking but we can ignore them and carry on the work. We might be low in the popularity stakes, but so long as we are doing God’s will, and fully trust Him, we can ignore the wagging tongues.
We then see that Nehemiah went to the house of Shemaiah, a secret informer, who had said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.” Shemaiah was a false prophet (v10-14) and Nehemiah saw through it –
“And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
He realised that Shemaiah had been hired to make him and the people afraid, so that they could spread an evil report. Nehemiah brought the matter to God as usual and prayed, “My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.”
It is thought that the invitation was to enter the Holy Place in the temple, but Nehemiah knew, that as he wasn’t a priest, he could not do that. Maybe that helped him to see through the subterfuge and that it was a trap. If Nehemiah had gone and done what was requested, his reputation and character would have been scarred by committing sin. It may have seemed innocent, but the devil is a past master at suggesting such things, he did it to Eve and Adam in the garden of Eden. He did it to Jesus on cross, ‘If you are The Son of God, come down, save yourself.’
The wall is completed (v15,16) in 52 days. Some have said that it was impossible to complete in such a short time, but remember, the people had a mind to work, and God was with them. It would cause great rejoicing except in the enemy camps, “…. when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.”
God had put it in the heart of one man, who was faithful. ‘One with God is a majority.’ This a spiritual battle as well as physical battle. Nehemiah took it all to God and God faithfully answered and enabled them to complete the wall in such a short time.
What thrilling comment that their enemies were disheartened when they saw the wall was finished. They had done their best to stop it but what a gratifying feeling when it was done, and the enemies were sad. Even they perceived that the work was done by God. It would be great for that to be our experience when those who oppose us are disheartened because they see God at work.
At the end of this chapter, we learn a bit more about Tobiah. He was married to a Jew’s daughter, and his son Jehohanan likewise. (v17-19) Tobiah had many friends amongst the people and letters had been exchanged. He was making out that Nehemiah was the bad guy but in fact it was Tobiah. They clearly didn’t know him.
