Cause and Effect - Nehemiah 6:1-16

Introduction

As a preteen child, cause and effect can be really black and white, easy for us to see. When you tell a child not to smoke or do drugs or else it will ruin their life, they believe you, and they’re sure they will never do it. But, as they get older, the situation becomes more complicated. I had a first cousin who was a year younger than me. We spent a lot of time together at my grandparents house, and I remember us talking about drugs. With the clear, black and white thinking of children, neither of us could understand why anyone would ever use them. But, in 2016, he died because of a heroin overdose.

So, how is it that this change occurs in our thinking? How is it that we end up doing things we never thought we’d do? How do we end up with the mistress or the addiction or the secret life when we clearly knew the cause and effect of such decisions? Well, as we get older, competing causes and effects present themselves, making the situation more cloudy. The short term cause and effect, do what your friends are doing so that you’ll fit in or do whatever you need to do to mask your inner pain, makes it more difficult to prioritize the long term cause and effect of prioritizing healthy, wholesome, God-centered living. Our desire to have what is most satisfying right now subverts our willingness to wait for the delayed gratification of what is best for the long term.

God’s Word

So, the course of your life will be determined by how you prioritize causes and their effects, by how willing you are to endure momentary discomfort for long term gain. The course of your life will take the shape by how willing you are to endure temporarily painful effects that you might have desirable long term effects. We see something of that in Nehemiah. He understands that the walls need to be rebuilt, and that he has to build if it’s to happen. Big picture cause and effect. But, he faces a series of threats, competing causes and effects, that tempt him to stop the work to avoid short term pain. I want us to see together these Threats to Take You Off Course: (Headline)

We “need” to talk.

Nehemiah 6:2–4 “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.”

Now, at first glance, “We need to talk,” may not seem like a threat. But, I bet if you’ve ever had someone say that to you, your mind immediately started reeling, feeling as though it were under a threat. And, that’s the first approach that Sanballat and Geshem take here. Obvious progress has been made in the wall so that only the gates need to be installed, and they send word that “we need to talk.” The offer to meet Nehemiah on “the plain of Ono” is an offer to meet him halfway. They’re offering a diplomacy meeting. It’s seems to be an offer of friendship.

We need “discernment.”

But, Nehemiah sees straight through it. Their offer is meant only to draw Nehemiah away from the work. It’s a pretense for them “to do (him) harm.” Nehemiah is again put forth as a wise and discerning man, and the Bible understands this to be the only way a person can flourish in a disordered world. For Christians to live effectively they must thread the needle so that they are neither naïve nor cynical, but discerning. Cynics see what isn’t there, and believe the worst. The naïve don’t see what is there and believe the best. But, the discerning person sees what is there, and responds appropriately. That’s what Nehemiah is doing.

His discerning response is one we should emulate. He says, “I’m doing a great work, and I cannot come down.” That is, Nehemiah understands that the seemingly reasonable invitation to talk with Sanaballat was really a tactic to distract him from the work God had called him to. One of the most effective means of preventing something from getting done is to help people procrastinate. They usually don’t need much. Sanballat knew that, and Satan knows that.

What all did you set out to do? Did you intend to lead family devotions? Did you intend to go on mission trips? Did you intend to start a bible study at work? Did you intend to host your neighbors or have your co-worker over so that you could win them to Christ? And, is there any reason that you haven’t other than the distraction that has taken over your life?

You see, we live in an age of distraction. Everything and everybody says, “We need to talk.” There’s emails at work that follow you home. There’s social media that’s constantly begging for a dopamine hit. There’s the little league coach and the private lessons. All of them are saying, we need to talk!

We need “focus.”

So, if we’re going to accomplish the very callings on our lives that God has set before us, we have to recognize that they will only be accomplished if we, like Nehemiah, say: “I’m doing a great work, and I can’t come down.” That is, the only way good intentions are translated into realized potential is through resolved focus. It’s a reminder of our Lord Jesus, isn’t it? He was tempted to come down from the cross to prove to his naysayers that He was in fact the Son of God. But, for six hours, with resolved focus, He continued in the “great work” that God had called him to.

And, both Nehemiah and Jesus invite us to ask ourselves the question we find in chapter 3: “Why should the work stop?” That is, Nehemiah asks and answers the question: Is this distraction worthy of my time? Distraction aims to take remove you from the meaningful by compelling you to obsess over the menial. That’s why Nehemiah didn’t come off the wall. That’s why Jesus didn’t come off the cross. The work God had given them to do was to great. Can I ask you? Is your calendar actually worthy of your time? Is it helping you to accomplish the “great work” that God has placed before you, or is it loaded with menial distractions, momentary pressures that are all saying, “We need to talk?”

Well, when Nehemiah didn’t come down from the wall, the threats escalated. Next, they threatened…

We’ll “ruin” you.

Nehemiah 6:5–9 “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.”

After four “no’s” from Nehemiah, Sanballat decides to publicly scandalize him with an “open letter.” After all, nothing spreads like a scandal, and it doesn’t even matter to people whether it’s true of not. So, he intends to black mail Nehemiah into stopping the wall through propaganda and conspiracy theories. Sanaballat spreads the rumor that Nehemiah is really intending to lead a rebellion against the king and to install himself as the king of Judah. And, there’s nothing that the enemies of God fear more than a mighty King in Judah. Wink. Wink. Remember that King Art was already paranoid about such things. That’s why he had originally forbidden the rebuilding of the city in Ezra 4.

So, you’ll notice in verse 7 that, though this is an “open letter,” it’s intended audience was really “the king (who) will hear these reports.” So, here’s the threat: “Do what we want you to do, or we’ll ruin you.” The word translated “frighten” in verse 9 can be translated as “intimidate,” and that’s what’s happening here.

“Agree” or be “ruined.”

This gets to the bottom of why so many of us are tempted to be ashamed of Jesus where we work or go to school. This is why our churches are tempted to shrink back from the controversial teachings of the Bible. This is why we’re tempted to let our children figure out their faith on their own rather than being “indoctrinated” by us. The Enemies of God keep saying to us: “Agree with us, or be ruined.” Jack Phillips is a Christian baker whose philosophy was to “serve every person, but not speak every message.” So, when he refused to make a cake celebrating a gender transition, the threat by the LGBTQ movement was to ruin him. They took him to court with the intention of closing his business. Joe Kennedy was a high school football coach in Washington State who made it a habit to stop, take a knee, and pray silently and alone at midfield after a football game. He was told to stop or be terminated, but he refused and was terminated. What’s being said in both of these examples? It’s what’s bubbling beneath the worry you have about openly living your faith: If you don’t do what we want you to do, then we will ruin you.

God’s enemies have convinced us that if we have a vibrant faith that we won’t be taken seriously at our company and that our church will be viewed as judgmental and unreasonable. We’ve been warned against leading our children toward God and insisting on them participating in church because we’ve been warned that we’ll drive them away if we try. So, we’re tempted to be intimidated into living powerless, defeatist lives out of fear of ruin.

“Die” and “live.”

But, here’s what Nehemiah realizes: Our response to the scare tactics of the world says something about who we’re living for and who God is. That’s why he says: “But now, O God, strengthen my hands” in response. “I can be afraid of them, or I can trust in the strength of God.” You see, capitulation says that God isn’t worthy of our suffering or capable of our deliverance. Obedience says that I’m so convinced of God that I have not strength of you.

So, you have to decided: Who will you live for? Will you live for the acceptance of your culture, or will you live for the pleasure of God? And, you have to choose because Jesus teaches us that they’re two completely different rods. One road is broad and popular. It’s the path of the culture and the one that keeps you out of hot water (for a little while). But, it’s way is death. The other road is a narrow one that’s so unpopular only a few find it. It’s a difficult road, but it’s way leads to life. So, the world says, “Agree with us or die,” but Jesus says, “Die to the world, and you’ll live.” Which road will you choose?

But, for those on the narrow road, for those who like Nehemiah choose to follow God at all costs, notice the last threat that’s tailor made just for you…

We’ll “catch” you.

Nehemiah 6:10–13 “Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah 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.”

Nehemiah 6:16 “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.”

Sanballat’s final threat to stop Nehemiah is the craftiest of all. And, Sanballat should remind us that our enemy, the Devil is not some goofy, red fool with a pitchfork and pointy tail. Ephesians 6 teaches us that he’s crafty and cunning. 1 Peter 5 teaches us that he’s as relentless as a lion prowling to seek those whom can devour. So, what’s the crafty, cunning tactic Sanballat attempts with Nehemiah? He attempts to ruin Nehemiah’s reputation by setting him against God. Nehemiah recognizes that as you’ll see at the end of verse 13 when he says this was “so they could give me a bad name.”

When Nehemiah refuses to stop the work God has for him, when he chooses the narrow, hard path of following God, Sanballat decides that he’ll discredit him so that no one else will follow him. And, if you choose to do the “great work” that God has for you to do, you better believe this is coming for you. Sanballat pays off a prophet-for-hire, Shemaiah, who gives a false prophecy to Nehemiah. He tells Nehemiah that his enemies are coming for him, presumably Sanballat himself, and that he should hide inside the Temple, which was the only finished structure, so that he can be safe.

Seems reasonable enough to a outsider, but Nehemiah sees through it immediately. There’s two “such a man as I” statements that let us know the problem. First, “should such a man as I run away?” That is, Nehemiah recognized that a man of God who lives like a coward brings reproach upon the name of his God. He wouldn’t just be ruining his reputation. He’d be damaging God’s reputation. Secondly, “What man such as I could go into the Temple and live?” You see, it was unlawful for a non-priest to enter the Temple of God, and only then after they had been cleansed and consecrated. If Nehemiah entered the Temple, that alone would likely kill him, and it would be an open statement to the people around him who had just heard Ezra read the Law that he didn’t keep the Law.

In other words, their final strategy to stop Nehemiah was to catch him in hypocrisy, one way or the other. It was to deceive Nehemiah so that he abandoned the source of both his call and his strength — the Lord. It was to ruin his ability to help others to follow him. Is this not still the tactic that our enemy uses to discredit the church? We had a staff retreat a couple of weeks ago where our team worked on how to serve you more faithfully and to keep reaching our community. We brought in an older, wiser pastor that has been where we are. After leading our team, he pulled me aside and said, “Cody, I sense God’s favor upon your church, your staff, and you. What you’re seeing can only be by God’s hand. Be careful, and guard your life. Satan is going to try to ruin your reputation.”

Do you “know” the “word?”

But, Nehemiah wasn’t as easily deceived as we often are. Do you notice how he sees through the deception? 1) He knew God’s word. He knew what the Law said, and Nehemiah understood who he was as a sinner. He wouldn’t transgress the Law. 2) He knew God himself. He knew what the prophet said was out of alignment with who God is. God would never present sin and solution to trouble.

And, that’s gets to why we’re so easily deceived: We know just enough Bible so that it can be twisted to deceive us. When our kids ask us why we don’t keep the sacrifices or the sabbath of the Old Testament, but we still hold the sexual ethic of the Old Testament, we’re speechless and terrified. When our culture says that God made me this way and you believe that God doesn’t make mistakes, we’re dumbfounded. When other professing Christians embrace anti-biblical sentiments in the name of love and grace, we wonder if we’re wrong and backwards. Why? Because we feel caught. We feel like hypocrites. But, ultimately, because we don’t know our Bible well enough to apply it to the nuance of real life. The Bible can winsomely and persuasively answer all of these questions, but we don’t realize it. And, even more pointedly, since we don’t know the Bible well, we don’t know God himself very well either. So, like Nehemiah was tempted, we’re tempted to at best cower down in silence, or at worst, to forsake what God has said and believe something knew altogether.

But, the hope that we have to lead enduring families and an enduring church in a faltering age is to say with Nehemiah here and Jesus in the wilderness: “It is written!” Do you know the word? How well do you really know God?

What will “be” your “effect?”

Notice that verse 15 transitions with a “so.” “SO the wall was finished.” “So” is a word that indicates cause and effect, isn’t it? Nehemiah remained focused and committed, “SO the wall as finished.” And, like Nehemiah, your response to distractions, threats, and deceptions will determine the impact of your life. They’ll determine whether or not you get to build the wall or not. Our impact, or lack thereof, on our families, church, and community happens one decision at a time, one day at a time. So, what cause will you give your life to, and what effect will result?