Nehemiah 6:1-19
“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.” (Nehemiah 6:-4)
Determined to stop construction of the wall around Jerusalem, but fearing the consequences if the disobeyed Artaxerxes’ command to allow building the wall, they were really upset when it neared completion. Since their attempts to discourage them or scare them had not worked, they decided to try a personal attack.
They contacted him, asking him to come and meet with him in one of the villages near by. They may have thought that they could make him appear unreasonable by meeting with him, or that the people would not trust him if they learned about a secret meeting, or they may have intended to kill him, but he didn’t trust their intentions. He turned down their offer, using the excuse that he couldn’t gat away at the time. They tried four different times to get him to go.
“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. “ (Nehemiah 6:5-7)
When overtures of friendship didn’t get Nehemiah to go along with them, the opposition started making accusations against him. They accused him of setting himself up to be king, using his own prophets to promote him and prepare a rebellion against Artaxerxes. They told him he needed to meet with them and answer the charges before they sent them to the king.
“Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. 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.” (Nehemiah 6:8-9)
Nehemiah realized this as an attempt to use trumped up charges to scare him into doing what they wanted. He refused to even give the charges an air of legitimacy by going.
“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.
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. 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.” (Nehemiah 6:10-13)
When Nehemiah wouldn’t be blackmailed into cooperating, they hired one of the Jewish leaders to try to isolate him by telling him of a plot to kill him and getting him to go into the temple for protection. When he got angry that Nehemiah insisted on trusting god and refused to hide out, Nehemiah realized he was working for Sanballat and his friends, rather than following God.Had Nehemiah gone along they could have used it to convince the people that Nehemiah really didn’t believe God would care for them.
“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.” (Nehemiah 6:14)
Nehemiah prayed, asking God to remember how hard Sanballat and Tobiah had tried to stop the work God had sent him to do, and how many of the prophets and prophetesses had helped them. Frequently the most dangerous opposition comes from those who claim to believe the same things and to be working toward the same goals. They may well distract us from accomplishing the goal.
“So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.” (Nehemiah 6:15-16)
For over fifty years, the Jews had held off on starting the wall because it was such a huge project. When they broke it down to a series of doable projects it didn’t appear nearly so formidable, and in just fifty two days, it was completely finished despite the opposition of the Ammonites, Horonites and the Arabians, as well as by their own religious and political leaders. Daniel 9:25 had warned, “…the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times,” and it was definitely a troublous time.
“Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them. For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.
Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.” (Nehemiah 6:17-19)
Even completion of the wall did not stop the conflict. Because Tobiah was married to a Jewish woman, as was his son, he had a lot of contacts and influence with the Jews. They constantly tried to incur favor by reporting to him and promoting him to Nehemiah. Tobiah used the information to try to manipulate Nehemiah.
“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.” (Nehemiah 6:-4)
Determined to stop construction of the wall around Jerusalem, but fearing the consequences if the disobeyed Artaxerxes’ command to allow building the wall, they were really upset when it neared completion. Since their attempts to discourage them or scare them had not worked, they decided to try a personal attack.
They contacted him, asking him to come and meet with him in one of the villages near by. They may have thought that they could make him appear unreasonable by meeting with him, or that the people would not trust him if they learned about a secret meeting, or they may have intended to kill him, but he didn’t trust their intentions. He turned down their offer, using the excuse that he couldn’t gat away at the time. They tried four different times to get him to go.
“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. “ (Nehemiah 6:5-7)
When overtures of friendship didn’t get Nehemiah to go along with them, the opposition started making accusations against him. They accused him of setting himself up to be king, using his own prophets to promote him and prepare a rebellion against Artaxerxes. They told him he needed to meet with them and answer the charges before they sent them to the king.
“Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. 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.” (Nehemiah 6:8-9)
Nehemiah realized this as an attempt to use trumped up charges to scare him into doing what they wanted. He refused to even give the charges an air of legitimacy by going.
“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.
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. 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.” (Nehemiah 6:10-13)
When Nehemiah wouldn’t be blackmailed into cooperating, they hired one of the Jewish leaders to try to isolate him by telling him of a plot to kill him and getting him to go into the temple for protection. When he got angry that Nehemiah insisted on trusting god and refused to hide out, Nehemiah realized he was working for Sanballat and his friends, rather than following God.Had Nehemiah gone along they could have used it to convince the people that Nehemiah really didn’t believe God would care for them.
“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.” (Nehemiah 6:14)
Nehemiah prayed, asking God to remember how hard Sanballat and Tobiah had tried to stop the work God had sent him to do, and how many of the prophets and prophetesses had helped them. Frequently the most dangerous opposition comes from those who claim to believe the same things and to be working toward the same goals. They may well distract us from accomplishing the goal.
“So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.” (Nehemiah 6:15-16)
For over fifty years, the Jews had held off on starting the wall because it was such a huge project. When they broke it down to a series of doable projects it didn’t appear nearly so formidable, and in just fifty two days, it was completely finished despite the opposition of the Ammonites, Horonites and the Arabians, as well as by their own religious and political leaders. Daniel 9:25 had warned, “…the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times,” and it was definitely a troublous time.
“Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them. For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.
Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.” (Nehemiah 6:17-19)
Even completion of the wall did not stop the conflict. Because Tobiah was married to a Jewish woman, as was his son, he had a lot of contacts and influence with the Jews. They constantly tried to incur favor by reporting to him and promoting him to Nehemiah. Tobiah used the information to try to manipulate Nehemiah.
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