Why should the work cease? - Nehemiah 6:1-14

Nehemiah 6:1–14 KJV 1900

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.

Introduction

I have tried to avoid preaching out of Nehemiah throughout this whole lead up to building.

It’s seemed kind of cliche.

Cliche’s don’t get that way by accident.

A few weeks ago i was dealing with some things and I don’t even remember why this verse came across my life, but it did, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

In verse 3, Nehemiah says “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?”

Tonight I want to share this passage with you, because I believe the lessons that I learned from it are applicable to all of us.

We all may know the backstory of how Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem to build the wall.

He wasn’t a builder.

He wasn’t a politician.

He was an exile.

He was the king of Persia’s cup bearer.

God blessed Nehemiah’s efforts and the wall began to go up.

Nehemiah was a man of conviction.

Decisions based on opinion change.

Decisions based on conviction do not.

Decision becomes indecision.

Turns a leader from a guide post to a weather vane.

Whenever you set out to do a great work for God, you will inevitably face opposition.

And Nehemiah and the people faced intense opposition.

3 men, whose names live on in infamy, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem sought to put a halt to the construction.

When they failed in their attempts, they turned their focused instead on taking out Nehemiah.

That’s where our passage opens today.

Three attacks to try and stop the progress.

Three attacks that we must be ready for as well.

First, we see an attempt to distract from the work. 1-4

The work is almost finished.

The walls are shored up.

Only the gates need to be hung.

This is when the enemies start sending letters to Nehemiah requesting a meeting.

They offer to meet him halfway.

The city of Ono was about on the border with Judah and Samaria.

Some commentators believe that this letter was an attempt to deceive Nehemiah into thinking that his former enemies were now willing to help.

Nehemiah sense, though that they mean to do him mischief.

Mischief=imprison or assassinate

How did he know that?

Discernment.

Holy Spirit?

Nehemiah refused to be distracted by their repeated offers.

Ono was not safe.

Two day trip.

He responds to their letters and tells them that he cannot come down.

The work is to important for him to leave.

Why should the important task that he is working on stop so that he can come down to meet with them?

4x they ask.

4x he answers I cannot leave so great a work.

So they try a different approach and attempt to slander Nehemiah. 5-9

Distraction failed, so now they turn to slander.

They send an open letter to cause people to turn on Nehemiah.

Unsealed correspondence.

Letters in those days were sealed with wax to prevent or expose tampering.

They were also then put in a container to prevent anyone from snooping.

An open letter, however was meant to be read and shared with anyone who would listen.

Can you imagine the servants of Israel’s enemies going from town to town reading this letter.

Then, in Jerusalem they read it to the workers, to the families, to anyone and everyone.

It’s like a social media post for the ancient world.

It starts in verse 6 with the words, “It is reported” = A bunch of people are saying.

It goes on to accuse Nehemiah of trying to set himself up as king of Israel.

By the time Nehemiah hears about it, hundreds maybe thousands of people have already heard about it.

Not only did they accuse Nehemiah of these things, but they threaten to tell others.

Specifically, the government of Persia.

Persia would not allow a subjugated kingdom to re-establish it’s independence.

Were this report be taken seriously, it could mean military invasion by the empire.

But of course, it’s not true.

Gossip is news you have to hurry and tell before you find out it is untrue.

Nehemiah’s enemies didn’t consider the close relationship Nehemiah had with the king before returning to Judah.

God’s servants must know how to handle false accusations.

Nehemiah does a masterful job at this.

In verse 8 Nehemiah denied the report.

He tells his detractors that they have made it all up in their hearts.

prayed to God for strength, and went back to work.

He prayed for strength because it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not we have a hard time dealing with accusations against us.

G. Campbell Morgan “it will blow over. Meanwhile, I will go quietly on with my work.”

Nehemiah trained in an oriental court, so he was used to trickery and deception.

Finally, we see an attempt was made to disqualify Nehemiah. 10-14

Shemaiah was shut in under false pretense.

Nehemiah had already resisted distraction and slander, now he proves he will not run away.

Sin for Nehemiah to enter the temple.

Nehemiah was under a great deal of pressure from the religious crowd.

Nehemiah was outnumbered, but he stood his ground.

He prayed about the attempts to stop the work and then he left the matter up to God.

Are we ready to withstand these same style of attacks?

When satan tries to distract us from what we are attempting for God?

When we people say things about us that aren’t true, can we stay strong in the Lord?

When temptation knocks at our door, will we be able to say no?