Nehemiah 6:10,11

Nehemiah 6:10,11 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. 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. Satan tried to scare Nehemiah with Sanballat and Tobiah. But that didn’t work. So Satan used a sneaky tactic. He used one of Nehemiah’s friends to give him bad advice and to try to make him fearful. Shemaiah told Nehemiah that he knew that he must be scared. Shemaiah went on to say that he had a safe room in the Temple where Nehemiah could hide for a while. Shemaiah tried to get Nehemiah to come in and lock the door behind him. They would be safe in the Temple behind a locked door. But Nehemiah saw through the suggestion and knew that it was a temptation from Satan. Nehemiah was not afraid. He had too much work on the walls and gates to do. He didn’t have time to hide in the Temple. It was true, Nehemiah was taking a risk to be out in the open supervising the work, but the risk was worth it. Rebuilding the walls was an important job and Nehemiah was doing it for God and for God’s people.

Nehemiah 6:5-7

Nehemiah 6:5-7 Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; 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. 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. Yesterday we read that Sanballat tried to lure Nehemiah out of the city so that he could do Nehemiah mischief. That didn’t work. So in our verses for today, the wicked Sanballat went one step worse. He sent an open letter to Nehemiah for everyone to read where he accused Nehemiah and the Jews of rebellion against King Artaxerxes. Sanballat threatened to tell Artaxerxes that Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in order to become the king of Judah. Then Sanballat repeated his request for Nehemiah to come out and discuss things. But once again, Nehemiah didn’t fall for Sanballat’s trick. Once again, Sanballat didn’t want to discuss anything. He wanted to get rid of Nehemiah and keep the Jews under his control. Sanballat didn’t want anyone to help the Jews. Sanballat wanted to be the big boss. But God had other plans. God wanted to re-establish Israel and bless His chosen people once again. God had a plan for them. And that plan would one day include the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Who would be the Savior of all mankind!

Nehemiah 6:1-4

Nehemiah 6:1-4 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;) 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. 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? Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner. Sanballat and Tobiah didn’t give up. I’ll give them that. They were sneaky and evil, but they never quit. They had tried to join Nehemiah. That didn’t work. They tried to intimidate Nehemiah. That didn’t work. Then they tried mocking Nehemiah. That didn’t work either. Now they asked Nehemiah to come out and talk with them. But Nehemiah was onto their evil plotting. He knew that once he was outside of the wall, they would jump him and do him in. So he ignored their invitations. Not once, but four times! Nehemiah gave his busy work as his excuse for not coming to their meeting. But he was telling the truth. Why should he leave his great work to just talk? It was silly. he had too much to do to take time to talk. Often we get distracted too. We have to stop and think, “What is the most important thing for me to do?” Then we should do it! Don’t be distracted. Do what God wants you to do first!

Nehemiah 4:15-17

Nehemiah 4:15-17 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. Sanballat, and Tobiah once again had an evil plan to stop the work on the walls of Jerusalem. But God revealed their plan to Nehemiah. Nehemiah divided up his servants into two teams. One team worked while the other half watched with their weapons in their hands. And Nehemiah commanded everyone to work with one hand and carry their weapon in the other hand! The work continued, but they were ready for opposition! A good lesson for us!

Nehemiah 4:7-9

Nehemiah 4:7-9 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. In verse one, Sanballat and Tobiah were wroth, but in verse seven, they were very wroth. They got angrier and angrier the more and more that the work progressed. As more and more of the wall was finished, Sanballat and Tobiah became more and more mad! So Nehemiah set a guard night and day to keep an eye out for trouble. Sanballat and Tobiah’s anger didn’t discourage Nehemiah, it just made him more cautious. He set a watch, but continued to work! We should never be discouraged, we should trust in the Lord . . . and watch out for the enemy!

Nehemiah 4:4-6

Nehemiah 4:4-6 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah prayed to his Good God and asked God to bless them and to punish Sanballat and Tobiah. Nehemiah was furious at Sanballat and Tobiah because they were trying to discourage God’s people. We should be careful when we criticize other Christians, because Christians are God’s special people. When we talk about other Christians, we are talking about God! And God writes it all down and will punish every evil-doer someday! So, the wall started coming together because . . . The wall was built because the people had a mind to work. Are you a worker? Or are you lazy? Like Nehemiah’s helpers, I hope you have a mind to work!