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Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder how you handle distractions in life. Especially sophisticated ones or repeated ones that don’t seem to accept “NO” for a response from you?
That is what Mr. Nehemiah was facing as the outrageously cumbersome and complex job of rebuilding the wall around the city of Jerusalem was nearing completion. Let’s join him again to watch what we can learn.
Nehemiah tells us in Nehemiah 6 “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 – Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: ‘Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” (Nehemiah 6:1,2)
Now if you were Nehemiah, knowing the story as we’ve learned it thus far, how would you have responded? The invitation states no purpose and clearly those inviting Nehemiah are not making the effort to come to him, but rather it’s clear they want Nehemiah to leave the project and come to them and meet in one of their villages! Do you sense danger?
I don’t know if Nehemiah did some due diligence about these guys or from whom Nehemiah may have sought counsel, but his conclusion is clear: “But they were scheming to harm me.” That’s important friends. You and I live at a time in history when very sophisticated, evil people are continually scheming to harm you through ‘identity theft’ or scams that might lead you to send them money or worse yet give them your bank information.
Sadly, we all need to be more than cautious, we need to be suspicious of any email or text or even phone calls that may seem to be honorable and may even seem to be from people we know, but might be artificial, scams and even traps to destroy us. So, I wonder what defense systems and patterns you are developing to protect yourself from grave danger that might appear to be innocent or even friendly?
Nehemiah didn’t ignore the invitations, nor did he simply send NO as an answer. In his case, he wanted to make some things clear to those who had repeatedly tried to disrupt the great work he was doing in Jerusalem. Nehemiah wrote: “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?” (Nehemiah 6:3)
I hear a man of integrity carefully protecting his valuable time; honoring his king given responsibility; and prioritizing the needs of the people working under his leadership. I wonder what you see. But Nehemiah is also showing respect for those inviting him, even though he suspects they are conniving, deceptive and seeking to lure him into a trap. Nehemiah makes it clear good leadership of the people and good stewardship of his kingly assignment requires that he stay focused on his responsibility in Jerusalem!
But Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were unscrupulous men, devious men, selfish and wicked men. So, Nehemiah tells us they repeated their invitation four more times, and we should presume with each invitation the language became more forceful. Finally they resorted to an outright lie, an accusatory, inflammatory lie: “Finally the fifth time,” Nehemiah writes, “Sanballat sent his aide to me with this message in an unsealed letter: ‘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 reports you are about to become their king… now this report will get back to King Artaxerxes, so come and meet with us.” (Nehemiah 6:5-7) This is the very same tactic used today on social media as rumors fly, and people find their reputations destroyed.
Nehemiah knew, of course, that none of this was true, but Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem were long time leaders in the region; trusted leaders who had many connections with the royal palace back in Susa! Nehemiah was, of course, thrust into that vulnerable place of wondering if his reputation with the king was strong enough that the king would not be swayed or believe false reports, especially from leaders the king had trusted in the past.
Nehemiah sent this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.” And Nehemiah did what he had done so often for so long, Nehemiah prayed! He records these few words of his prayer in his record: “Now, strengthen my hands.” (Nehemiah 6:9) My guess is his prayers were many, passionate and much longer, but his focus was God’s protection of him and his workers; and especially God’s work in the king’s heart so he would not believe the lies being spread about Nehemiah and the work in which he was so heartily engaged.
This scene brings several important questions to us my friends, that I invite us to consider as we close today…
1. How vulnerable are you to those who would seek to deceive you into divulging important information they might use to harm or even destroy you?
2. What are your methods of discerning if anyone who is contacting you is legitimate and trustworthy, or might they be a dangerous adversary?
3. How do you handle rumors and gossip which seem intent on destroying your reputation or at least distracting you from the important foci of your life?
4. Is your personal and professional reputation so strong, so honorable, that no one would believe a rumor or claim that you are unfaithful in your marriage or you have an addiction problem or you are in deep financial debt or even the extreme that you are living a double life and you are not at all the person you seem to be?
Nehemiah gives us a good example, doesn’t he? So, let’s spend some time reflecting on these important questions with this song of worship, and I’ll meet you here tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Nehemiah 6:1-9.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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