Nehemiah 6:1-7:3

Working in the Face of Opposition

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Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP Church in Southeast Iowa. We want to thank you for listening today and we pray that you’ll be blessed by both hearing God's Word as well as having it applied to your life and your heart.

Hear now God's Word from the older covenant. “Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner. Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. In it was written:

“It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.

“Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.” For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.” Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

“Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.” And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

“So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God. Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me. Then it was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.

“And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.”” The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever.

I was always perplexed by something when I was in the military. There is this mindset of people. I was always surprised when I would be on the ship and guys would complain about having to go on deployment. And I would sit there and scratch my head as they were grumbling and complaining about how they didn't want to be on deployment, and they didn't want to be away from their families, and they didn't want to be at sea. And I’d sit there and think, “What scheme did your recruiter tell you?” Like, did you just think that you were going to go on like a voyage trip and it was going to be all butterflies and fairy tales? I mean, what did you expect?

And yet often, that's exactly how people are told about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a candy gospel. A sugary gospel. A gospel that if you accept Jesus, all your dreams will be fulfilled. If you come to Jesus, all your financial woes will be gone. If you come to Jesus, everything in your life will be perfect. It’s a bill of goods. It's worth nothing. That's not the gospel.

And that's not what we find Nehemiah facing as he lives his godly life in Nehemiah chapter 6. So let's work through this text together as we see how the life of faith played out in Nehemiah's life. In the first few verses, Nehemiah is trying to be pulled away from Jerusalem by Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and the rest of the enemies. Verse one, they heard that he had rebuilt the walls and that there were no breaks left in it. And “that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they sought to do me harm.”The plane of Ono is about  37 miles north and west of Jerusalem. They're trying to appeal, possibly, to his pride. Here are all these leaders, all these leaders are going to come together, and we're going to have a conference of leaders in the area. Nehemiah, why don't you come? Nehemiah, why won't you come join all the builders together? We’ll meet in the valley of the plain of Ono. And you'll be able to meet all the leaders and we’ll be able to consult together.

And what's Nehemiah's answer to that? As they're trying to pull him away, “I sent messengers,” verse three, “I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”” Nehemiah had a gift from the Lord of wisdom. Nehemiah was able to see through this plot. What did they really want Nehemiah to do? Why were they really trying to get him away from Jerusalem? It wasn't because they were trying to appeal to him and bring him in as an ally, but they were trying to pull the general away from the troops so they could stop the work that was being done. All that was left was to hang the doors. All that was left of this great work of the people was to put the finishing touches and this was one of their last gas chances. Just get him away from the city and maybe we can stop the work. This is what they're trying to do. But Nehemiah is able to see through the plot. “I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

But look at what they do. Verse 4, this wasn't a one-time attempt, “but they sent me this message four times.” Four times an official letter comes from Sanballat, Geshem, Tobiah, and the rest of the leaders. Four times they steal that letter and try to pull him away. Four times they try to pull him away from the Lord's work. “No, I will not go. No, I will not go. No, I will not go. No, I will not go.” See, God is redeeming His people and the world is set against God redeeming His people. Let me say that again. This is not just a story about Nehemiah, this is a redemptive part of the story. God is redeeming His people and the world is set against God redeeming His people. But Nehemiah has laser focus on what exactly God has called him to do here. There is kingdom work to be done. A wall needs to be built. Jerusalem needs to be restored. God had promised this in Deuteronomy chapter 30. God had promised this by the prophet Jeremiah. God had promised this by Isaiah. Again and again and again and Nehemiah knows, “No, no, no, no.”

So what do the people do? They just back off, “okay he's not going to come. I guess we'll just let him do the work.”? No. They’re hell bent on stopping this. They're going to stop this at all costs, even if that means lying and spreading rumors. And that's exactly what Sanballat and Tobiah do next. Look with me at verse 5 through 7, “Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. In it was written: It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.”

They send an open letter. A sealed letter goes straight to Nehemiah, no one else is authorized to open that letter. But here, they send an open letter. This means that somebody is taking this letter and sharing it with all the people as they're going through the town, as they're going from, most likely in Samaria, down into Jerusalem, they're reading this letter saying, “There's open charges of treason.” That's what they're charging him. Nehemiah is the governor of Jerusalem, but there is a king in Susa, Artaxerxes the Second, and he's a man who will squash any rebellion. He's already faced it once when the governor of the region in Egypt rebelled against him. And here, they're saying, “Everybody says you're an open treason.” They're saying that you're going and you're actually building up the walls because you're making yourself king there. Not only that, but you've corrupted the priests and set up your own priests. You've made the religion in Jerusalem set up that they might say that you’re king. And what do they say? We're going to tell the king about this. Nothing like having a little brother say, “I'm going to go tell Dad!” Right? They're going to go report this to the king. They're going to go tell this to Artaxerxes the Second.

But there's an issue here. They actually betray their own letter with the last thing they said. Look at the very last part of verse 7, “So come, therefore, and let us consult together.” They betray their own plans here with these last few words. If you're saying everybody is reporting that you're committing high treason, do you want to go meet with the person being charged with high treason? No! You don’t want to meet with that person, because what’s the king in Susa going to think? You guys are in cahoots together. Sanballot would come under scrutiny. Tobiah would come under scrutiny. Geshem would come under scrutiny. They betray themselves and Nehemiah is able to see through the smoke screen, see through this deception, and is able to give them this reply, ““No such thing,”” verse eight, ““No such thing as you say are being done; but you have invented them out of your own heart.” For they were trying to make us afraid, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”” And then he prays, “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.”

This is God's work that's being done and Nehemiah acknowledges it here. This is God's work that he's doing, but the world is set against him. The only way that this redemption is going to happen is if God is giving them the strength to actually do it. Brothers and sisters, we shouldn't be surprised by the world being set against the work that Nehemiah was doing. We should not be surprised that the world was set against the work that Jesus Christ was doing. We should not be surprised when the gospel is going forth in our world, and the world is set against it. We should not be surprised when we go out and share the gospel and people look at us with stone cold faces. We should not be surprised, because Jesus was even trying to be assassinated in his own day. Remember, when those wise men came from the east and they entered into Herod's citadel, they said, “Where is He who was born king of the Jews?” And what did Herod try to do? Kill everyone who would possibly be against his own kingdom.

The plan of redemption is always going to come in the face of opposition. God's plan of redemption will always come in the face of opposition. And that's what Nehemiah finds here in this first half.

But it's not just the rulers outside who were set against him, it's also people inside. Look with me at verse 10 through 14, “Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”” This prophet is coming to Nehemiah and he is saying, “I have a prophesy from God and I know that they’re going to sneak into the city and they’re going to kill you. So, let’s use the sanctuary law. Let’s run into the temple. Let’s shut the doors behind you. Grab onto the horns on the alter that you might be safe.” That’s the rational thing. If you think that someone is going to go kill you, what do you do? You go and you hide. This is why, during wartime, even now, it’s looked down upon to bomb or attack any type of religious place, because it is the common law of the world that when people run to their religious sanctuary, you don’t attack that place. And that’s what the prophet is trying to tell Nehemiah to do. “Go run into the temple.”

But there’s a problem with that, isn’t there? Who's allowed to enter into the sanctuary of God and to lay their hands upon the altar of the Lord? It's not Nehemiah. Yeah, he might be a governor. He might be a Jew. But he is not allowed at any whim to just run into the temple of God. He is not allowed to go, especially into the Most Holy Place, and to grab hold of the horns of the altar. He is not allowed to do this. This is reserved alone for the sons of Aaron, the priests. And Nehemiah knows his Torah, his law, well enough to see through this.

“And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!”” I will not go in. Just because there are heavy circumstances, doesn't mean that gives us the right to break God's law. Just because there are heavy oppression upon us, doesn't mean that we can do anything to get out of that pressure. Nehemiah does the godly thing. He upholds the Word and he will not go into the temple.

And then in verse 12, “Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.”

If they could make Nehemiah do this, if they can make Nehemiah go into the temple, then they're able to bring fault against him to his own people. This is the exact same thing in the story of redemption that happened with Daniel. Do you remember what they said about Daniel? We can find nothing wrong with him except if it's against his own law. If we can tell him to stop praying, if we can make a law saying it's the illegal to pray, then we can bring reproach upon him. And if he doesn't pray, then his religious status is going to be diminished. Same thing here. If they could make Nehemiah do the evil thing, then they can make the people stop working, then they can lose confidence in their governor, then they can realize, “Oh, he doesn't actually love God's law, or uphold God's word.”

Nehemiah has a humble response, “Should such a man as I go in? No.” And then he perceives the truth that this man wasn't actually sent by God and indeed the motivation was just for money. Again, we shouldn't be surprised at this. Do we mourn over this? That there's a false prophet in Jerusalem? Yeah, we should mourn over that. Should we mourn over the fact that there are pastors who would rather have silver lined wallets than preach the gospel of Jesus Christ? Yes, we should mourn about that. But should we be surprised about it? No. No, there are charlatans, there are liars, there are those who are greedy and just want to get rich off their own schemes, just be able to live their own comfortable lives, and are willing to sell their souls for it. We shouldn't be surprised, even now, that this happens in the church. It happened during Jesus's time. Often, we hear about the Pharisees and the Sadducees. This is exactly what the Sadducees had done in Jerusalem, lining their own wallets with whatever money they can get from the temple exchange. Keeping their power by being able to make alliances with Roman rulers. These people who were supposed to be the Levites and the sons of Aaron, being able to care for the temple, had told their souls for their place in the temple and to make money.

You should not be surprised when there's opposition and corruption in the church. But we should mourn about it and seek to root it out. Nehemiah prays that way. Verse 14, ““My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.”” Nehemiah prays that this would be stopped and that God would remember them.

But then in this last section, we find that the wall does get finished. God's redemptive plan is accomplished. Isn't it accomplished in a remarkable way?! In 52 days! Look with me at verses 15 through the end, “So the wall was finished on the 25th day of Elul, in  52 days.” In 52 days! It had taken Nehemiah over 5 months just to get from Susa to Jerusalem and within 52 days of them starting this wall, it was built! Now, I don't know about you, but I'm guessing if you've had your own house built, it took a little bit longer than 52 days. If you've been driving along route 61 watching the road expansion, it’s taken a whole lot more than 52 days. If you've seen any construction work happen, it takes a lot longer than 52 days to build the walls around an entire city. This is a remarkable work that had been done in less than 2 months. God had given the people a mind to work and had given them His favor to get this work done and they did it.

But even after the work is done, there is still opposition. The opposition isn't just outside the walls, but it's inside the walls. Verse 16, “And it happened, when all of our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; and they perceived that this work was done by our God. Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters…” Let me read that again, “The nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.” Meshullam the son of Berechiah is one of those people that's listed in a previous chapter saying that he had helped build the wall.

Even as people are doing the good work in the church, accomplishing God's act of redemption, their hearts are divided. They have dual allegiances. Dual allegiances between God and Tobiah. They’re family members, and they're going to keep reporting back and forth to Tobiah everything that Nehemiah is saying. And now they're reporting Tobiah’s words even to Nehemiah himself. Talk about disheartening! Could you imagine Nehemiah's heart? As he's sweating and laboring, as he's providing and pouring out of his own well, feeding over 150 people, daily, as he's giving himself to the work and he's having the nobles at his house to eat. When they go home, by candlelight, they're writing out his plans and what he said. You want to talk about who's committing treason against who?! It’s the nobles themselves who are turning. Tobiah has spies. They're sending word back and forth, but this doesn't stop Nehemiah.

Nehemiah doesn't appoint any of them when the wall is finished. Chapter 7 verse 1, “Then it was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.” Nehemiah sets up godly men. Nehemiah just doesn't look for the nobles, Nehemiah doesn't look for the most wealthy, Nehemiah looks for who's the most godly person. This is exactly who should be running the churches in our country as well. We shouldn't be electing as elders and as deacons, those who are just the most wealthy in our congregation, those who have the most prestige in our society, but the number one qualification that we find when we look in First Timothy and in the book of Titus for the qualifications of elders, are godliness. Godliness. Who should be leading God's people? Those who love the Lord most, not those who are just out for their own glory.

I'm going to make a leap here and I need you to make this leap with me, okay? This is Nehemiah's time. This is a specific point in history when God is redeeming His people out of Babylon, out of the Medo-Persian empire, and rebuilding up His city and His temple and His people then. So, where does that lead us to Jesus Christ? Where does the jump happen? It’s that Jesus Christ is the one who faced all of this opposition. It is that Jesus Christ is the one who was tempted by treason by Satan in Matthew chapter 4, “Just bow down to me and I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world.” He was drawn out by Satan to be tempted and Jesus Christ, Himself, upheld against that temptation. See, this plan of redemption, why we get the book of Nehemiah, is not so we have a cute little story about how God builds up the city of Jerusalem, but it is to show us that God is working all throughout history to accomplish His covenants and it is found in its culmination with Jesus Christ, that Jesus is gathering together His own people.

And when we look back, we're able to look at Nehemiah's time and say, “Just as God's people were persecuted then, so they persecuted Jesus, and we shouldn't be surprised when they persecute us.” Let me say that again. Just as the world persecuted God's people during Nehemiah's time, so they persecuted Jesus, and so will they persecute you. Wow, that's a cute story, isn't it?! That'll make you walk away from here glad. That will make you want to say, “I was glad to hear them…” No, like, that's going to make your heart sink. If the good news of Jesus Christ is telling you, brothers and sisters, get ready, people are going to hate you, get ready, people might want to kill you, people might be repulsed by you. Brothers and sisters, this happens today when Christians come out of sinful backgrounds, their siblings stop talking to them. Brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, when people become Christians, their friends stop wanting to be around them. When people become Christians in other parts of the country, they are disinherited. Their fathers will spit in their face. Their fathers will tell their daughters, “No, you're not allowed to marry that person, because they're not of my faith.”

We live in a land where we don't face a lot of overt oppression. But as we pray for our brothers and sisters in China, and in Southeast Asia, and in Africa, and in other places throughout the world, we do not get American focused here but Kingdom focused. God's church is being persecuted. The last century, the 20th century, was the most bloody century for Christians that we've ever had. Let me say that again. The last century, the 20th century, more Christians died than any other century in history, because they proclaimed Jesus Christ. What would make you face death? Why would you keep going? Why would Nehemiah keep building the wall? Keep trying and trying and trying in the face of this opposition? Why would you? What makes you think that you'll stand persecution?

There is only one thing. Have you sold out for that great pearl of price? Have you sold everything that you own in this world? Have you counted it as rubbish for the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? It doesn't make sense to the world. It's not going to make sense to the world. But Christians are told, by Jesus, that when we come to know Jesus Christ, we are willing to give up everything. We're willing to give up our mother, we're willing to give up our father, we're willing to give up our brothers and sisters, because Jesus Christ is worth it. Because it is Jesus Christ, is why you might go to your wedding and your parents not show up. It is because of Jesus Christ that Saints were marched into the arena, because they counted God as more beautiful than everything else and they would be ripped to shreds by lions. It is because of the glories of Jesus Christ that He is good, that He is just, that He is loving, that He is perfect, that He is wonderful to them, that they would be willing to be burned at a stake.  

I'm going to leave you here with a question. I’m going to leave you with a question. If you face persecution today, what hope would you have of enduring it? If you leave these doors today, what hope do you have in enduring persecution? This is a heart check for you. And if you get any answer other than Jesus Christ is worth it, you need to go back to the Scriptures and relook at why Nehemiah was willing to face this opposition. Because his God has called him to this great work of redemption.

Let's pray, “Oh Lord, we do pray that these wouldn’t just be words that we would hear, things that we would understand, but, Lord, we pray that Your Holy Spirit would well up in us a desire and a thirst for You and for Your Word. Lord that we would love you with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and that we would even be willing to count our own death as gain. That we might obtain the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lord, please soften our hearts to Your gospel. Please, let us count You as that pearl of great price that we would be willing to give up everything for You and for Your glory. In Jesus’s name, amen.

Thank you for listening to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP church in Morning Sun, Iowa. We pray that you would be blessed as you grow in your love for God, your love for His Word, as well as your love for His people. Until next week, God bless you.