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⁵ Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his assistant to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter ⁶ in which was written:‘It is reported among the nations – and Geshem says it is true – that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king ⁷ and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: “There is a king in Judah!” Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.’⁸ I sent him this reply: ‘Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.’⁹ They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.’But I prayed, ‘Now strengthen my hands.’ NIV

Reading this section of chapter 6 rings bells for me. I feel sure it will for all pastors who come across it. It’s not an identical scenario, but at times I think we all encounter the disaffected person (or people) who intimate that certain other people in the church are unhappy with things, and they are talking to them (but not to you pastor!!). When you ask for names, of course they will not give them, but the implication usually is that significant numbers are upset and, possibly, about to walk. As I say, it’s not an identical situation, but it is similar, and a form of intimidation tactics is being used.

I love verse 8, don’t you? I seem to remember a pastor saying that he had received a letter from someone in the church, probably along the lines I have indicated above, and, he said, ‘My reply was Nehemiah 6:8!!’ It’s been a source of amazement to me through the years to witness what certain otherwise sincere Christians can say and get up to.

I note that Tom Hale, in his ‘Applied OT Commentary’, p.760, says this as a footnote: ‘Always beware a communication that begins: ’’It is reported…’’ (verse 6) – or ‘’I have heard,’’ or ‘’so-and-so says.’’ These are often the opening words of gossip and slander.’

Of course, the problem here was not among the people of God, but with the enemies of the church. But it’s clear they were trying to intimidate Nehemiah.

“But they were scheming to harm me; ³ so I sent messengers to them with this reply: ‘I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?’ ⁴ Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.⁵ Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his assistant to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter ⁶ in which was written:‘It is reported among the nations – and Geshem says it is true – that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king” NIV

This passage reminds me of when Jesus was being tempted. Following his stiff resistance of all the devil’s temptations in the wilderness, the Biblical record says: ‘’When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time’’ (Luke 4:17).

He didn’t leave him for good. Like an unwanted door-to-door salesman, whom you may dismiss with a flea in his ear, Satan will be back, ringing that bell, hammering on that knocker, more times than you would care to mention. Certainly, more times than you would want.

It is not only the subtlety of temptation that can find a way through your defences; it is its sheer persistence that can wear you down.

Thank God, the Champion, Jesus, lives in each one of His people, and this makes supernatural victory possible.

‘And would’st thou know the secret of constant victory?

Let in the Overcomer and He will conquer thee.’

“When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it – though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates – ² Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: ‘Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.’But they were scheming to harm me; ³ so I sent messengers to them with this reply: ‘I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?’ NIV

Nehemiah’s enemies kept bowling ‘bouncers’ at him, but his guard was resolute. He played the ‘dead bat’ to each one.

One way we can be firm in resisting Satan’s temptations is by recognising constantly the greatness of the work we’re involved in. God has saved us ‘’by grace…through faith…’’ (Ephesians 2:8), and ‘’we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’’ (Ephesians 2:10). Whatever work God has called you to do, it is a ‘’great’’ work. It may not appear so to others; sometimes, especially when discouraged, it may appear small in our own eyes. It may be a hidden work. In this life there may be little to show for it. But we need to recognise the greatness of what we’ve been called to do. Refuse to be distracted, deflected, defeated by temptation. Stand your ground, keep your guard up, stay at the crease.

I once heard a preacher say something like this, ‘I’m not very good at cricket, but if Geoffrey Boycott could live inside me, I’d be excellent.’ We are not naturally good at resisting temptation. But if Jesus, who always sent the devil packing, lives in us, we are endowed with His supernatural ability to overcome. As a ‘branch’ in Jesus, the ‘Vine’, you can produce the ‘fruit’ of resistance.

As Graham Kendrick put it, ‘God put a fighter in me.’

PRAYER: Lord God, may I never lose sight of the greatness of the work you have given me to do.

“When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it – though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates – ² Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: ‘Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.’ But they were scheming to harm me; ” NIV

‘The devil is so subtle that he dominates man and persuades him at the same time that he is not being dominated.’ D. Martyn Lloyd Jones.

In 2 Corinthians 2: 11, the apostle Paul writes about Satan: ‘’For we are not unaware of his schemes.’’ This comes in a passage where he has raised the possibility of the devil ‘outwitting’ the church.

We have a very real and cunning foe (foes even), and this ‘serpent’ continues to slither into the ‘garden’ in subtle ways. He has the ability to make sin look appealing, appetising, and alluring. He is never more dangerous than when he sidles up to us in this ‘’scheming’’ way. Whereas outright assault may be vicious, it is obvious. Perhaps we are most in danger from Satan’s more subtle approaches.

“But the Dark cannot claim what Light does not surrender.” C.L.Wilson.

I entitled my last piece on Nehemiah 5 ‘One final thought.’ But I now need to add a postscript!

Early this morning, as I did something so mundane as walking into the utility room to get my medication from the cupboard, I found myself praying, ‘Lord, please help us with what we have to do today.’ I had a specific situation in mind where I was conscious of needing divine wisdom and aid. My next thought was, ‘This is what we see Nehemiah doing again and again – shooting up ‘arrow’ (or ‘telegraph’) prayers. Furthermore, they are not less powerful or effective because they are short, to the point, and uttered amid ordinary duties. It is not necessarily long prayers that God blesses. In Revelation 8, we read about an angel who ‘’was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.’’ (Verses 3,4). I dare say there were some short, desperate prayers in there, alongside longish intercession.

Think about it, your child will have your interest and attention if they call you and say, ‘Dad, mum, please will you help me with this?’

‘’If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him’’ (Luke 11:13).

PRAYER: Lord, please help us with the dilemmas and decisions we face today. We ask for your Holy Spirit.

Before we move on to chapter 6, I wanted to share some words from F.B. Meyer in his ‘Great Verses through the Bible’, p.169:

‘Nehemiah had a perfect right to take this money. Not a word could be said by even his critics, if he did. He was doing a priceless work, and might justly claim his maintenance. On the other hand, the people were very poor, and he would have a larger influence over them if he were prepared to stand on their level, and to share with them. It was just so that the Apostle argued in 1 Cor. 9. And from both we learn that we must forgo our evident rights and liberties in order to influence others for Christ. Do not always stand on your rights; but live for others, making any sacrifice in order to save some – even as Christ loved us, and gave himself for us.’

PRAYER: Again, Lord, we ask for wisdom to make the right choices, and for grace to live sacrificially under your Lordship.

^“14 Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year – twelve years – neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. ¹⁵ But the earlier governors – those preceding me – placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels^[a] of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. ¹⁶ Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we^[b] did not acquire any land.¹⁷ Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. ¹⁸ Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.¹⁹ Remember me with favour, my God, for all I have done for these people.” NIV

A famous contemporary book on leadership, written by Simon Sinek, carries the wonderful title, ‘Leaders eat last.’ I haven’t read the book, but I think the title tells us what it’s essentially about – servant leadership. Thankfully, many people in the world today seem to be cottoning on to the idea that leadership is primarily about servanthood. But the Bible got there long before the rest of the planet started to catch up.

Initially, I thought about entitling this piece ‘generosity’, and that would have been relevant. But in the end I decided ‘integrity’ would be a more appropriate word. All the other good things exhibited in Nehemiah’s life, including his generous spirit, were manifestations of that integrity. He didn’t say one thing and then do another.

Earlier on in the chapter, Nehemiah had ‘preached’ to others about walking in the ‘’fear’’ of God (9). Here, in this section, as he sums up his first 12 years as governor, he says that his own life and leadership came ‘’out of reverence for God’’ (15b). He didn’t stand on his rights. His leadership was not infested with the dangerous pest of egotism. Rather, his tenure was marked by sacrifice and service; by giving rather than getting.

We can now look beyond Nehemiah to Jesus who came not ‘’to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’’ (Mark 10:45). Jesus is our supreme example. He humbled Himself ‘’to serve’’ and ‘’to give’’ (see also Philippians 2:5-11). Jesus is so much more than our example, but He is our example. He calls us to ‘’follow’’ Him. If He indwells us, such discipleship becomes gloriously possible.

^“9 So I continued, ‘What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? ¹⁰ I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! ¹¹ Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them – one per cent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.’¹² ‘We will give it back,’ they said. ‘And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.’Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, ‘In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!’At this the whole assembly said, ‘Amen,’ and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.” NIV

When Nehemiah issued the instructions in verse 11, backed up with the influence of his own example (10), he put the culprits in ‘check’. In all conscience what could they say other than, ‘’We will give it back’’ (12a). They were caught in the headlights with nowhere to run or hide. But when he built in such a potent accountability structure (12b), they were ‘checkmated.’ Sometimes wise leadership has to show tough love, taking full account of human nature. I think of the words in John 2 about Jesus that: ‘’He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.’’

It seems to me that Nehemiah, knowing human nature – knowing the subtle and powerful pull of greed over the heart – did all he could to help the people not only repent, but then stay on the right path.

PRAYER: Lord, I acknowledge that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.Help me not to be controlled by money, nor by the lust for it, but to steward what I have for your purposes.

^“9 So I continued, ‘What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? ¹⁰ I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! ¹¹ Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them – one per cent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.’” NIV

Walking in the ‘’fear’’ of God has ethical implications:

In the first place, it teaches you ‘’right’’ from wrong. It makes you clear about what is ‘’right’’ and sensitises your conscience to any deviation from it. It causes you to want to do what is ‘’right’’.

 Secondly, it makes you desire to have a good testimony before men. You become aware that the glory of God, or otherwise, is bound up with how you conduct yourself. You don’t want to bring any kind of ‘’reproach’’ on God or His church. (Nehemiah showed, says Matthew Henry, ‘That it was a great scandal, and a reproach to their profession. “Consider the reproach of the heathen our enemies, enemies to us, to our God, and to our holy religion. They will be glad of any occasion to speak against us, and this will give them great occasion; they will say, These Jews, that profess so much devotion to God, see how barbarous they are one to another.” Note… All that profess religion should be very careful that they do nothing to expose themselves to the reproach of those that are without, lest religion be wounded through their sides.’)

Thirdly, it will not permit you to be a hypocrite. If you are encouraging others to live well, and do the right thing, then you will seek to set a good example yourself. This is something Nehemiah did. It helped make his ‘preaching’ so powerful.