Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 6:1
Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and [that] there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
1. when S. and the rest of our enemies, heard ] R.V. when it was reported to S., and unto the rest of our enemies. The R.V. is more literal; the passive verb ‘to be reported’ occurs in Neh 6:6-7, and possibly in chap. Neh 13:27. For the spread of previous rumours, cf. Neh 2:19, Neh 4:1. ‘The rest of our enemies,’ probably the representatives of hostile neighbouring communities, cf. Neh 4:7, where ‘the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites’ are associated with Sanballat and Tobiah.
no breach left ] referring to the description in Neh 1:3, Neh 2:13, Neh 4:7.
though at that time ] R.V. though even unto that time. Nehemiah introduces this saving clause for the sake of accuracy. The report was not quite true; the walls were indeed finished, but as yet the gates were not in their places.
upon the gates ] R.V. in the gates, i.e. in the great fortified gateways. The construction of ‘the doors’ is mentioned in chap. Neh 3:3; Neh 3:6; Neh 3:14-15. Why had the doors not yet been ‘set in the gates?’ Perhaps we are to infer that in the hurry of rebuilding the wall the delicate operation of swinging the heavy metal-covered city doors had been postponed. Temporary barricades would be sufficient to block the approaches. When the work on the wall was finished, the doors would be ‘set up’ by skilled workmen. To have set them up before would have caused delay in the repair of the walls. In the Assyrian Room (Upper Floor, Case A) of the British Museum are to be seen the bronze coverings of gates found by Mr Rassam at Balawa in 1879, and the pivots on which these gates turned.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Upon the gates – Rather, in the gates. This work would naturally be delayed until the last phase.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Neh 6:1-19
Now it came to pass, when Sanballat.
The witness to the truth
I. His trial, from the stratagems of enemies. The circumstances of his trial were peculiar. Faith and prayer and pains had now achieved great things in Jerusalem. For many days the patriots had persevered, with unremitting toil, to rebuild the wall. And now their enterprise was ready to be crowned with triumphant success. This, to them, was a time of joyous anticipation, mingled, no doubt, with solicitude, lest their work should be marred on the very eve of completion. But to the enemies of Zion it was a moment of vexation and dismay. They heard, says Nehemiah, that I had builded the wail, and that there was no breach left therein. In spite of their vaunting words and feeble arms the good work had advanced, and, unless they could instantly crush it, they plainly saw that all would be lost. Yet what shall they do to arrest the sacred enterprise? They have tried mockery already, but have found, to their chagrin, that these men of Judah will not be driven by ridicule from what, to them, is a work of conscience and religion. They have, moreover, attempted force; but they have learned, to their dismay, that the Israelites are ready to resist unto blood the invasion of their liberty to serve God in the city called by His name. Foiled, therefore, in these modes of attack, they are compelled to resort to stratagem in order, if possible, to gain their wicked purpose. This desperation of the enemies of Judah is just a picture of the rage of the great adversary at the progress of the Church and the growing sanctification of each believer in Christ. More than once in the history of the Churchs advance has the devil come down in great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time. But trials in the religious life often prove the occasion of higher manifestations of mercy than could have been experienced without them. Trial, therefore, here comes to Nehemiah; and what is the form in which it assails him?
1. He is first tried by the wiles of enemies to draw him from his work and involve him in danger. As if for the purpose of consultation, they sent unto him, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of One. The object of these crafty foes was to get possession of the person of Nehemiah; and in all probability to take away his life. But the noble Israelite answered after this manner, 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? Who can but admire the wisdom and fortitude of the servant of God in this hour of trial? Is not this a grand example to imitate in Christs service and our own salvation? Our life on earth is so transient, and our work for eternity so arduous, that we have no time to waste. This I say, then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
2. Further, Nehemiah is tried by the false accusations of enemies, designed to undermine his character. Sanballat sent his servant the fifth time with an open letter in his hand. And why was the letter sent open? It was no doubt intended to give all the people opportunity to know its contents, that their jealousy might be aroused at the alleged ambitious aims of their leader, or their fears be excited of incurring the wrath of the king by continuing their work; but it was meant, moreover, thus to offer an insult to Nehemiah. It might have been thought that a life singularly blameless and disinterested as his would have been exempt from reproach. But who may expect to be free from the assaults of malice and envy, since the Son of God, the holy, harmless, undefiled One, did not escape the shafts of calumny? And so here, one of the lowliest and most upright of good men is falsely accused of ambition and rebellion. How striking an instance is this of misrepresentation and craft in the enemies of truth to thwart a servant of God in a Divine work. It often happens, as here, that the sacred form of friendship is assumed to seduce the children of faith into a betrayal of their trust; and they who would draw them aside from duty pretend a regard to their welfare. Yet under the guise of affection there lurks a deadly hostility that seeks only their hurt and the ruin of their good name.
II. His testimony to the truth. Men in high place are little to be envied. They are often exposed to special dangers, both in principle and person. He bears testimony to the truth by fidelity to his trust in midst of imminent danger. He was fortified by a good conscience, while beset with wiles and accusations; and he possessed his soul in patience through the hour of trial. He looks on the field of danger with the eye of an eagle, and walks over it with the heart of a lion. He combines a clear perception of the plots of the enemy with a heroic courage to confront all their power. How quickly the adversary shifts his method of assault! and the good soldier must alter his manner of repulse in order to overcome. The enemies of Nehemiah here follow the same crafty course. They found they could not draw him into the country for counsel, and now they seek to drive him into the temple for safety. This was a mean as well as a wicked device of the heathen; but it is melancholy to reflect that men were found in Judah base enough to abet their machinations. It was not among the common people that the treacherous spirit appeared, but among the professed prophets and messengers of God. Noble things are always most vile when they become corrupt; and in this case these so-called ambassadors of heaven debase their high vocation by lending all its influence to the work of the enemies of religion. But these arts, employed to intimidate and seduce Nehemiah, were all in vain. He bore testimony to the truth by steadfast adherence to duty, even in face of threatened death. Much as he may value life, and wish to preserve it till the work is done which is so dear to his heart, yet he loves God and a good conscience far more. This is a noble example for our imitation. What faithful care does this man of God exercise to prove all things, and to hold fast that which is good!
III. His triumph over all opposition. It is instructive to remark the means by which Nehemiah achieved this victory. He was first of all careful to ascertain facts, and to detect the plots of enemies through all the mazes of their falsehood. For this purpose he gave his mind to weigh evidence, to examine character, to balance circumstances, that he might arrive at the truth. But we note, as his chief means of success, effectual fervent prayer to God. His labours were now crowned with triumphant success. So, he writes, the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. This was the hour of Israels triumph, and of their enemies humiliation. 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. They were much cast down, as persons who have staked their full strength and reputation on a bad end, and yet have utterly failed in its attainment. They suffered the humiliation of those who boast of their power, put it forth to the utmost, and, after all, feel themselves completely defeated by the people whose might they had despised. It is not given to all witnesses for God to bear testimony for Him amid great works and conflicts like these; but He appoints each of us our duty here to stand by His truth, and to contend earnestly for the faith against all assaults on it. The dominant forms of opposition to Bible truth in these days are unbelief, or error in creed, and worldliness, or error in conduct; and in face of both God calls us to be witnesses for His cause. Whenever you profess your faith in the Bible, the whole Bible, as the Word of God, your creed is pronounced antiquated, and regarded with wonder or an ill-dissembled sneer. Yet all is surrendered if the integrity, the infallibility, the inspiration of the whole Bible is given up. (W. Ritchie.)
Nehemiahs heroism
Well, to come to the history, when Nehemiah was coming to an end, and thought he had got through all his difficulties, Sanballat and the others came wheedling and coaxing, and they said, Come, Nehemiah, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of One. And they sent messengers four times to try, if they could, to prevent the thorough fulfilment and accomplishing of Gods work and Nehemiahs design. Anything they would do, the enemies of Nehemiah, as our enemies also would do, to diminish our zeal for God and truth and righteousness. Thus we might paraphrase the arguments used, Now, Nehemiah, you really are a most excellent man, and, though we say it ourselves, we too are excellent men; and if we can only just meet together in a quiet little spot, we shall soon settle everything. You see, Nehemiah, we have misunderstood one another–a very common thing among good people. You thought we were against you, but there never was a greater mistake. We were misrepresented. Come now, and let us shake hands; and when we have looked into each others faces, we shall discover amidst apparent diversity of purpose that our hearts, our aims, were really one, that we are seeking the same object. After such fashion, we can imagine they thought to draw Nehemiah from his purpose. But they thought to do me mischief, says Nehemiah. Nehemiah says, Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? And you will find the more you buckle to Gods work–that is to say, to strive to be first of all a sterling, righteous man in lip and life, in thought, in word, and deed–and the more you try to recover the blight and disaster in London or round about you, the more you will find opposition of different kinds, and perhaps to-day the secret, sly, and cunning opposition which is to be dreaded far more than the open, the overt. I wonder how many invitations you will get to parties this week? because I want you to work for God in this coming ten days mission. Very likely never so many as this week. We have a nice little party this week. Come down; dont be righteous overmuch. Dont spoil yourself, and take all the pleasure out of life. Let us make up our mind and heart to work, work, work. Why should I let the work cease, and come down to you? Let them answer that. Why should Gods work cease while I leave it, and come down to you; so as to weaken my interest in Gods work, and hinder my pace in the actual doing of Gods work? Here is the test and touchstone. How do these things tell upon the work? Do they lower my temperature, and take away my energies from Gods work? Then they are of the devil; and to see that is to be kept right. From Nehemiahs answer (verse 3) we see the great blessing of having pure motives and clean hands. Oh, for this whole-heartedness in the cause of God! Nehemiah said, I will not cease doing the work, for I am sure it is not for my own personal ends, it is not for my own aggrandisement, my own vainglory. There are no such things as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. They shot sore at poor Nehemiah, when they said, Nehemiah, it is your own glory that leads you on in this work, not zeal for God. And dont think Nehemiah did not feel this; that message came with a thump to him. And what preserved him? His integrity and innocence. He could lift up his voice, and say, It is a lie; it is not true. Do as you like! Say what you like! I know whom I am serving. You may try all manner of means, but you will never shake me from this, that God has sent me here, given me this work to do; and in His name I give myself to it, with singleness of heart and effort. If God promote you, and make you prominent in His work, remember it is He who does it; and you must stay at your post, do your days work and leave your reputation in the hands of the Lord. Then comes another temptation (verse 10). I think this man, this Shemaiah, was a man who had a particular reputation for wisdom and prudence. Oh, Nehemiah! he would say, now you are wrong. You will allow me to speak plainly with you. No one rejoiced more than I did when you came from Persia, and I rejoice to see what is going on at Jerusalem. But the position is far different from what you think. And I have been here longer than you; and I know the currents of thought and feeling, which you dont know anything about. And, believe me, that sometimes the roundabout road is the nearest; and sometimes to go straight tramping on, you know, is the way never to reach what you want. You are carrying things, they think, with too high a hand. But if you would take time, stop and let things blow over a little, you will get R done far more easily. Believe me, Nehemiah, I know the temper of this people (and here he spoke truly), and I tell you they are against you, and are going to seek your life. Now let us meet together in the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come and slay thee. And Nehemiah said to him, Should such a man as I flee? He virtually stood up and said, What, Nehemiah fleeing after all he has gone through I Get thee behind me, Satan! Thou savourest not of the things that be of God, but those that be of men. The same temptation came to the greater than Nehemiah, to the greatest Worker that ever God sent to work and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, even the Lord Jesus Christ. And as with the Master, so with the servant. The servant will be tempted and seduced in every way, that the work may cease, that the temperature, the heat of our zeal may go down, and the worse may appear the better reason, and carry us away from our post. Some men go to the temple, but to them it is simply a cowards castle. This is about all that God gets from some of us. We go sneaking into our churches on the Sunday, but not to do Gods work. God pity you! You never stand up for Him out there on London wall. Exactly! Well, this invitation from Shemaiah to go into the temple was not good enough for Nehemiah–and he was about as devout a man as most of us. He was a man who feared God with all his heart, didnt he? But they were going to make the temple a cowards castle. Listen l I will bring it nearer to us. There is some young fellow here hard beset with his surroundings. You are set there on that commercial bit of the wall, to be true, to be honest, to unfurl the flag there, and to work with and for God there. And the battle is thickening, and coming to you in your business; the devil as an angel of light is trying to get you to leave your work and go and study for the ministry! Go into the temple to save your life. It was that kind of thing that was happening to the early Church. Men and women were going to leave the conflict and struggle, to run away into cloisters and convents, with their dim, religious light. And so you would go and shut yourself up, and give yourself up to a life of contemplation, you say. It is a delusion; it wont do. Let us see how Nehemiah acted when asked to go into the temple. He would have been spoiled if he had yielded to that temptation. He no doubt loved the house of God, the worship of God as we do. We love all its regular services. How sweet it is to us to meet together, to hold communion, to join in our solemn feasts and hymns of love and praise! But that is on Sabbath days. And the end for which we meet is to strengthen us for the work of testifying for God and Christ. What is that? I think I see Nehemiah with his note-book in his hand after the work was all finished, and he is turning over and going through in his mind all that he had done and suffered. And he is thinking over it all, and wondering what made all the opposition to the building of these walls. I never could rightly understand, he would say, why that was such a tough job, and why there were continually things coming against my legs to trip me up from unexpected quarters. I felt some one was not fighting fair, that the enemy had got into our own camp and was fighting against me unfairly. And it was the mother-in-law that was the whole secret. They–families of Gods people and their enemies–were married and intermarried with each other; and so they had their grappling-irons on the Israelitish vessel. And they pulled the vessel close by this intermarriage relationship, and they got on board, and could not be kept off. By this marriage relationship Tobiah had got in with the very chief of them, and so struck hard and constantly at Nehemiah. And it was through this marriage relationship they tried to get at Nehemiah and pull him down, and thus cause Gods work to cease. Says Christ, I am not come to send peace, but a sword; to set the father against the son, and the daughter against the mother, and the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law: and a mans foes shall be those of his own household. Indeed, you will ofttimes be fairly perplexed. You say, I feel the devil at my elbow, and he is whispering in my ear with my own flesh and blood, and would overcome me unless I set watch with vigilance. This same thing is working to-day. Now, for example, I know a young fellow, he started with great vigour in the cause of God, he started with great vigour to build the wall, especially to build the total abstinence wall. But by and by he married a daughter of a wine merchant, and that brought the building to a stop. Yes. He says now he thinks there are a great many excellent people among the brewers. Was not that the kind of thing they said to Nehemiah? Moreover, they reported Tobiahs good deeds, and they said this and that about him. Very innocent-looking things may seduce you and take the backbone out of you. Once upon a time your friends called you old-fashioned and Puritanical, But lately you got married, and that has brought you into close contact with a class of people with whom you had little or no dealings before. You had nothing in common. And to make a long story short you were at the theatre the other evening–with your mother-in-law. She has soon called you in off the wall! Everything is altered now. And instead of your going over to carry war into the enemys camp, they have come unto you, and have overcome you; and you have purred like a pussy-cat where before you were bold and outspoken: and the reason is the marriage, the mother-in-law; and the marrow of principle is being thereby sucked out of some of you. You need to be spoken to, and I would that my words were like fire, and would burn. Oh I that some of you would come back to your earlier faith, enthusiasm in Gods work, and the blood-heat of your early zeal. For now you are as namby-pamby as the devil could wish. I used to think, says another, very harshly of those who didnt hold my views. But now I have learnt to be charitable. I have discovered that many things which I thought were essential are only accidental. Softly, my friend: twas the mother-in-law made the discovery. You have gone off on that charitable dodge. Ah, Gods Word has an eye in every direction. Also they reported his good deeds before me, and as good as said, We know Tobiah; and, Nehemiah, you are wrong about him altogether. He is an excellent man, and he gave five shillings to this, he gave ten shillings to that; and he is a wonderful fellow altogether. He is wonderfully like yourself? Really it is such a pity that two such good men should not meet together and shake hands. But they never could, and Nehemiah kept his hands behind his back and said, I choose my own company. I know the hands of these fellows too well. (John McNeill.)
Persistency
We have here persistency of opposition, persistency of endeavour.
I. This principle of persistency is illustrated in all the circle of nature and life.
1. Everywhere there is exhibition of hostile force. All natural forces, all life, all energy creep to their goal as the wave creeps to the shore after many a rebuff, and after many a spurning.
2. It is so with man in all social life.
3. The Bible represents all moral victory as against deep and persistent hostility.
II. This principle of persistency is illustrated in the general history of the kingdom of God.
III. The same principle is illustrated in individual salvation and work. (Homiletic Commentary.)
Hinderers
How strange it is that no good work can be attempted without exciting opposition, and the better the work the more intense its hindrances! No beneficent measure has ever been propounded without obstacles being put in its way, oftentimes by the very people it is intended to benefit. The promulgation of Christianity is a notable example. Some of the means of hindrance are–
I. The restless activity of evil. Sin is essentially aggressive. It cannot let well alone.
II. The jealousy of the unrighteous. They cannot bear to see anything prosper in which they are not the leaders. They will never attempt any good work, but when they see it in progress they would hinder and destroy.
III. The vindictive spirit of Satan. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER VI
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, insidiously desire a conference
with Nehemiah, which he refuses, 1-4.
They then charge him with the design of rebelling, and causing
himself to be made king, 5-7;
which he denies, and prays to God for support, 8, 9.
A false prophet is hired by Tobiah and Sanballat, to put him in
fear; he discovers the imposture, and defeats their design,
10-13.
He prays to God against them, 14.
The wall is finished in fifty-two days, 15.
He discovers a secret and treasonable correspondence between
Tobiah and some of the Jewish nobles, 16-19.
NOTES ON CHAP. VI
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I had not set up the doors; not all of them. See Poole “Neh 3:1-3“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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,…. Quite finished it:
and that there was no breach left therein; but all was made up firm and strong:
though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates; not upon all of them, though some might by the particular builders of them; and they all of them might be ready made, though not as yet put upon the hinges.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When Sanballat and the enemies associated with him were unable to obstruct the building of the wall of Jerusalem by Open violence (Neh 4), they endeavoured to ruin Nehemiah by secret snares. They invited him to meet them in the plain of Ono (Neh 6:1, Neh 6:2); but Nehemiah, perceiving that they intended mischief, replied to them by messengers, that he could not come to them on account of the building. After receiving for the fourth time this refusal, Sanballat sent his servant to Nehemiah with an open letter, in which he accused him of rebellion against the king of Persia. Nehemiah, however, repelled this accusation as the invention of Sanballat (Neh 6:3-9). Tobiah and Sanballat, moreover, hired a false prophet to make Nehemiah flee into the temple from fear of the snares prepared for him, that they might then be able to calumniate him (Neh 6:10-14). The building of the wall was completed in fifty-two days, and the enemies were disheartened (Neh 6:15-17), although at that time many nobles of Judah had entered into epistolary correspondence with Tobiah, to obstruct the proceedings of Nehemiah (Neh 6:18, Neh 6:19).
Neh 6:1-2 The attempts of Sanballat and his associates to ruin Nehemiah. – Neh 6:1, Neh 6:2. When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of the enemies, heard that the wall was built, and that no breaches were left therein, though the doors were then not yet set up in the gates, he sent, etc. , it was heard by him, in the indefinite sense of: it came to his ears. The use of the passive is more frequent in later Hebrew; comp. Neh 6:6, Neh 6:7, Neh 13:27; Est 1:20, and elsewhere. On Sanballat and his allies, see remarks on Neh 2:19. The “rest of our enemies” were, according to Neh 4:1 (Neh 4:7, A.V.), Ashdodites, and also other hostile individuals. introduces a parenthetical sentence limiting the statement already made: Nevertheless, down to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates. The wall-building was quite finished, but doors to the gates were as yet wanting to the complete fortification of the city. The enemies sent to him, saying, Come, let us meet together (for a discussion) in the villages in the valley of Ono. – In Neh 6:7, of the present verse. The form , elsewhere only , 1Ch 27:25, or , village, 1Sa 6:18, occurs only here. , however, being found Ezr 2:25 and elsewhere as a proper name, the form seems to have been in use as well as . There is no valid ground for regarding as the proper name of a special locality. To make their proposal appear impartial, they leave the appointment of the place in the valley of Ono to Nehemiah. Ono seems, according to 1Ch 8:12, to have been situate in the neighbourhood of Lod (Lydda), and is therefore identified by Van de Velde ( Mem. p. 337) and Bertheau with Kefr Ana (Arab. kfr ana ) or Kefr Anna, one and three-quarter leagues north of Ludd. But no certain information concerning the position of the place can be obtained from 1Ch 8:12; and Roediger (in the Hallische Lit. Zeitung, 1842, No. 71, p. 665) is more correct, in accordance both with the orthography and the sense, in comparing it with Beit Unia (Arab. byt uniya ), north-west of Jerusalem, not far from Beitin (Bethel); comp. Rob. Pal. ii. p. 351. The circumstance that the plain of Ono was, according to the present verse, somewhere between Jerusalem and Samaria, which suits Beit Unia, but not Kefr Ana (comp. Arnold in Herzog’s Realenc. xii. p. 759), is also in favour of the latter view. “But they thought to do me harm.” Probably they wanted to make him a prisoner, perhaps even to assassinate him.
Neh 6:3 Nehemiah sent messengers to them, saying: “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down thither. Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you?” That is, he let them know that he could not undertake the journey, because his presence in Jerusalem was necessary for the uninterrupted prosecution of the work of building.
Neh 6:4 They sent to him four times in the same manner ( , comp. 2Sa 15:6), and Nehemiah gave them the same answer.
Neh 6:5-6 Then Sanballat sent his servant in this manner, the fifth time, with an open letter, in which was written: “It is reported ( , it is heard) among the nations, and Gashmu saith, (that) thou and the Jews intend to rebel; for which cause thou buildest the wall, and thou wilt be their king, according to these words.” “The nations” are naturally the nations dwelling in the land, in the neighbourhood of the Jewish community. On the form Gashmu, comp. rem. on Neh 2:19. , the particip., is used of that which any one intends or prepares to do: thou art intending to become their king. , therefore, for no other reason than to rebel, dost thou build the wall.
Neh 6:7-8 It was further said in the letter: “Thou hast also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning thee in Jerusalem, saying, King of Judah; and now it will be reported to the king according to these words (or things). Come, therefore, and let us take counsel together,” sc. to refute these things as groundless rumours. By such accusations in an open letter, which might be read by any one, Sanballat thought to oblige Nehemiah to come and clear himself from suspicion by an interview.
Neh 6:8 Nehemiah, however, saw through his stratagem, and sent word to him by a messenger: “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.” , a contraction of , from , which occurs again only in 1Ki 12:33, to invent, to feign, especially evil things.
Neh 6:9 “For,” adds Nehemiah when writing of these things, “they all desired to make us afraid, thinking ( ) their hands will cease from the work, that it be not done.” The last words, “And now strengthen my hands,” are to be explained by the fact that Nehemiah hastily transports himself into the situation and feelings of those days when he prayed to God for strength. To make this request fit into the train of thought, we must supply: I however thought, or said, Strengthen, O God, my hands. is imperative. The translation, in the first pers. sing. of the imperfect, “I strengthened” (lxx, Vulg., Syr.), is only an attempt to fit into their context words not understood by the translators.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Plot of Sanballat, c. | B. C. 445. |
1 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;) 2 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. 3 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? 4 Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner. 5 Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; 6 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. 7 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. 8 Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. 9 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.
Two plots upon Nehemiah we have here an account of, how cunningly they were laid by his enemies and how happily frustrated by God’s good providence and his prudence.
I. A plot to trepan him into a snare. The enemies had an account of the good forwardness the work was in, that all the breaches of the wall were made up, so that they considered it as good as done, though at that time the doors of the gates were off the hinges (v. 1); they must therefore now or never, by one bold stroke, take off Nehemiah. They heard how well guarded he was, so that there was no attacking him upon the spot; they will therefore try by all the arts of wheedling to get him among them. Observe, 1. With what hellish subtlety they courted him to meet them, not in any city, lest that should excite a suspicion that they intended to secure him, but in a village in the lot of Benjamin: “Come, let us meet together to consult about the common interests of our provinces.” Or they would have him think that they coveted his friendship, and would be glad to be better acquainted with him, in order to a good understanding between them and the settling of a good correspondence. But they thought to do him a mischief. It is probable that he had some secret intelligence given him that they designed to imprison or murder him; or he knew them so well that, without breach of charity, he concluded they aimed at his life, and therefore, when they spoke fair, he believed them not. 2. See with what heavenly wisdom he declined the motion. His God did instruct him to give them that prudent answer by messengers of his own: “I am doing a great work, am very busy, and am loth to let the work stand still while I leave it to come down to you,” v. 3. His care was that the work might not cease; he knew it would if he left it ever so little; and why should it cease while I come down to you? He says nothing of his jealousies, nor reproaches them for their treacherous design, but gives them a good reason and one of the true reasons why he would not come. Compliment must always give way to business. Let those that are tempted to idle merry meetings by their vain companions thus answer the temptation, “We have work to do, and must not neglect it.” Four times they attacked him with the same solicitation, and he as often returned the same answer, which, we may suppose, was very vexatious to them; for really it was the ceasing of the work that they aimed at, and it would make them despair of breaking the undertaking to see the undertaker so intent upon it. I answered them (says he) after the same manner, v. 4. Note, We must never suffer ourselves to be overcome by the greatest importunity to do any thing sinful or imprudent; but, when we are attacked with the same temptation, must still resist it with the same reason and resolution.
II. A plot to terrify him from his work. Could they but drive him off, the work would cease of course. This therefore Sanballat attempts, but in vain. 1. He endeavours to possess Nehemiah with an apprehension that his undertaking to build the walls of Jerusalem was generally represented as factious and seditious, and would be resented accordingly at court, v. 5-7. The best men, even in their most innocent and excellent performances, have lain under this imputation. This is written to him in an open letter, as a thing generally known and talked of, that it was reported among the nations, and Gashmu will aver it for truth, that Nehemiah was aiming to make himself king and to shake off the Persian yoke. Note, It is common for that which is the sense only of the malicious to be falsely represented by them as the sense of the many. Now Sanballat pretends to inform Nehemiah of this as a friend, that he might hasten to court to clear himself, or stay his proceedings, for fear they should be thus misconstrued; at least, upon this surmise, he urges him to give him the meeting–“Let us take counsel together how to quell the report,” hoping by this means either to take him off, or at least to take him off from his business. Thus were his words softer than oil, and yet war was in his heart, and he hoped, like Judas, to kiss and kill. But surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird. Nehemiah was soon aware what they aimed at, to weaken their hands from the work (v. 9), and therefore not only denied that such things were true, but that they were reported; he was better known than to be thus suspected. 2. Thus he escaped the snare and kept his ground, nor would he be frightened by winds and clouds from sowing and reaping. Suppose it was thus reported, we must never omit known duty merely for fear it should be misconstrued; but, while we keep a good conscience, let us trust God with our good name. But indeed it was not thus reported. God’s people, though sufficiently loaded with reproach, yet are not really so low in reputation as some would have them thought to be.
In the midst of his complaint of their malice, in endeavouring to frighten him, and so weaken his hands, he lifts up his heart to Heaven in this short prayer: Now therefore, O God! strengthen my hands. It is the great support and relief of good people that in all their straits and difficulties they have a good God to go to, from whom, by faith and prayer, they may fetch in grace to silence their fears and strengthen their hands when their enemies are endeavouring to fill them with fears and weaken their hands. When, in our Christian work and warfare, we are entering upon any particular services or conflicts, this is a good prayer for us to put up: “I have such a duty to do, such a temptation to grapple with; now therefore, O God! strengthen my hands.” Some read it, not as a prayer, but as a holy resolution (for O God is supplied in our translation): Now therefore I will strengthen my hands. Note, Christian fortitude will be sharpened by opposition. Every temptation to draw us from duty should quicken us so much the more to duty.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Nehemiah – Chapter 6
Insinuations and Threats, Verses 1-14
The day came that Nehemiah’s enemies realized the Jews really would restore the walls of Jerusalem. They were finished except for the installing of the doors in the gates. They decided on one last desperate play to scare Nehemiah into compromise with them. Sanaballat sent messages to Nehemiah implying an imperative and mysterious reason why they should have a meeting. Geshem the Arabian joined him in the invitation to meet in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. Ono was in the Mediterranean coastal area, about twenty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem. The intent was likely to get Nehemiah as far from help as possible and possibly to assassinate him. But he suspected their evil intentions and refused to go.
The message of Nehemiah to his enemies has often been applied to the work of those who refuse to be hindered from His calling today by the world’s invitations, “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?” There is no work greater than what is being done for the Lord. There is no good and compelling reason why such work should be interrupted for fleshly purposes. Note that 1) Nehemiah’s work was great; 2) it would stop if he acquiesced in Sanballat’s invitation; 3) he refused to stop the work. It is all very simple: recognition of the importance, perseverance in its advancement, and refusal to interrupt. Compare the admonition of 2Pe 3:14 for today.
Sanballat and Geshem did not give up easily. Four times they repeated their insistent invitation, making the meeting appear very urgent, as indeed it was for their purpose. Every time Nehemiah answered the same. Finally they sent a letter to him in which they divulged a supposed rumor calculated to involve Nehemiah in very serious trouble. It was to the effect that it was being widely circulated among the surrounding people that Nehemiah was intending to rebel against the king of Persia and restore the kingdom of Judah with himself asking. Therefore he had built up the walls as a defensive measure.
The message was emphasized by the words, “And Gashmu saith it” (verse 6). Gashmu and Geshem were the same person, the letters of the name being written differently according to the diction of the original language. The Persian king employed a system of surveillance throughout his empire known as “the king’s eyes,” whose business it was to be watchful for trouble-makers. It is believed that Geshem (or Gashmu) held that position in Judah. For that reason it could be bad for Nehemiah if he sent such a report to Artaxerxes. Surely this would frighten Nehemiah into complying with the invitation of his enemies for a meeting. The Devil increases his pressure to make one child of God fall.
Of course even this did not succeed. The prophets whom Nehemiah had purportedly set up to preach to the people the need of making Nehemiah their king were a product of the enemies’ imagination and scheme to compromise his work. Nehemiah accused them of falsehood, malicious and intentional. It appears that some had become afraid by these reports, but Nehemiah carried it to the Lord, “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.” With so much pressure, both inside and outside, he felt the need for God’s power to strengthen him to resist them.
While Nehemiah had no preachers prompting a kingship for him, Sanballat’s party did have their preachers in Jerusalem, working underhandedly to influence Nehemiah to make a fatal error. These were Jews working for the enemy. One was Shemaiah, to whose house Nehemiah came. Shemaiah proposed to Nehemiah that he was in mortal danger. He suggested that they go into the temple and shut themselves up in sanctuary, for assassins were on their way to kill Nehemiah. They planned to do their murderous deed by night, when he least expected anything.
But Nehemiah deducted from this that Shemaiah was a false prophet, not a representative of the Lord as he claimed, but of Sanballat and Tobiah. Should an innocent man flee for refuge to the temple? Would that not make him suspect in their very accusations? He deduced that the enemies had hired Shemaiah to scare Nehemiah into intruding into the sacred precincts of the temple. Had he done this he would have gained the opposition of the priests and of the Lord Himself, for he had no right there as an ordinary Jew. He must not go where only the Levitical priests were allowed.
Sanballat and Tobiah even had their spokespeople among the women, Noadiah spreading fear also. The passage closes with another of Nehemiah’s short petitions to the Lord. He asks God to take note of the evil opposition of Tobiah and Sanballat, working through Shemaiah and Noadiah and others, that their scheme would not succeed. Godly Nehemiah was doubtless acquainted with the encouraging words of the Lord through Isaiah (Isa 41:10).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE DIFFICULTIES OF REBUILDING
The opening chapter acquaints us with Nehemiahs very soul. The heart of the man is here exposed and the reader is permitted his deepest thought. He inquires after the remnant left in Jerusalem and learns that they are in great affliction and reproach, the walls of the city broken down, the gates burned, and he not only sits him down to weep, but mourns for days and fasts and prays before the God of Heaven, and his prayer as reported in chapter 1, Neh 1:5-11, is a model of intercession, while chapters 2 to 7 record the result of that petition before God.
These seven chapters suggest three things:
First, the strain of prayer and the exercise of patience. Chapters 1 and 2,
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven,
And said, I beseech Thee, O Lord God of Heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His commandments:
Let Thine ear now be attentive, and Thine eyes open, that Thou mayest hear the prayer of Thy servant, which I pray before Thee now, day and night, for the Children of Israel Thy servants, and confess the sins of the Children of Israel, which we have sinned against Thee: both I and my fathers house have sinned.
We have dealt very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which Thou commandedst Thy servant Moses.
Remember, I beseech Thee, the word that Thou commandedst Thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
But if ye turn unto Me, and keep My commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the Heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My name there.
Now these are Thy servants and Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.
O Lord, I beseech Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant, and to the prayer of Thy servants, who desire to fear Thy Name: and prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the kings cupbearer (Neh 1:1-11).
Neh 2:1-20.
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers sepulchres, lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of Heaven.
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers sepulchres, that I may build it.
And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the kings forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the kings letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the Children of Israel.
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the kings pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the kings words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said. What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of Heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem (Neh 2:1-20).
I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven (Neh 1:4). There are people who make easy work of prayer. They either repeat what their mothers taught them in infancy, Now I lay me down to sleep, or else they think over what they would like to have and lightly tell God about it at night or in the morning; or else they remember the famous story of the saint who was heard to say, Well, Lord, Pm glad we are on the same good terms! Good-night! and the whole exercise is finished. Or perhaps, as possibly the greater multitude, forget to pray before retiring, awake in the night and remember it, and while formulating the phrases, fall to sleep again.
There are people who never pray without agonizing. They hold a conviction that any appeal addressed to God must be voiced in sobs if heard in Heaven, and they take on prayer tones and assume sorrow, contrition, agony of soul, and such are wont to think that no one prays who does not cry aloud; but while such patented prayers produce strange and almost revolting feelings on the part of the discerning, it remains a fairly well established fact that true praying is no easy or lackadaisical task.
The prayer of Jacob at Peniel was no slight mental exercise. It consisted not in framing a few petitions. It is described in the Book as a wrestling with God all the night through, a clinging that would not let Him go without a blessing. Abraham in praying for Sodom, continued his petition; advanced his requests and did not let God go until the best possible proffer was secured. Moses in agony for Israel reached the point where he begged that if God would not bless them, He should blot his name out of the Book of remembrance. In Gethsemane, Jesus remained on knees and wrestled with the Father and not only cried in agony, If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me, but sweat great drops of blood.
Prayer is no mere passing of time in talk; prayer is no mere opportunity of literary expression or homiletical arrangement; prayer, at its best, is an agony; prayer, at its best, utterly exhausts; prayer consumes!
Christ, Himself, in teaching us how to pray, employed the illustration of the importunate widow who would not be turned aside but, prostrate before the unjust judge, kept her petitions going until he was wearied with her. Many times I have heard Dwight L: Moody pray and the memory of it will never pass from my mind. I am perfectly confident that a five-minute prayer passing Moodys lips exhausted him more than five hours of hard physical labor would have done; more than the hour sermon that followed, for while Moody assumed no agonizing tones, prayer with him was indeed a soul exercise. He went trembling into the presence of God, as Esther approached the king. He ordered his cause before Him as one who felt that the highest human interests and holiest were at stake. He came not back until he was conscious that he had been heard and his hearts request was fully before God.
Listen to the language of Nehemiahs prayer; I beseech Thee, O Lord God of Heaven * * Let Thine ear now be attentive and Thine eyes open. I pray before Thee now, day and night (Neh 1:3; Neh 1:6). Hear his confession of sin, Both I and my fathers house have sinned, Remember, I beseech Thee, and again, O Lord, I beseech Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant. Grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for he was the kings cupbearer.
But if prayer is exhausting, to wait for the answer is equally if not more so; for the man who truly prays is impatient. He yearns; he longs! Nehemiahs prayer seems to have been made in the month Chisleu, or December, and he waited until Nisan or April, before he had a chance with the king. Four months is a long time to wait when every moment is freighted with anxiety. The reports that had come to him of the condition of his loved city and its sacred temple, and of these blood relatives to whom he was bound as only a Jew is bound to his own, made every day of waiting seem like an eternity.
John Knox was heard, in a secret place behind the hedge-row, to pray, O God, give me Scotland or I die. Three times the passer-by heard this petition, wrung from his soul, and yet even Knoxs agony never exceeded that of Nehemiahthe waiting, weeping man!
Think what it would mean to you if the temple that we are now demolishing at Tenth Street had been in such state for years, and the place to which we were once wont to go and gladly worship God, and in which we once waited with such delightful songs and profitable exercise of soul, was never to rise again, and we knew that only God could call back its towers and make possible the completion of its auditorium and breathe His own Spirit, like a soul, into the same!
Joseph Parker said, Can we hear of sacred places burning without a single tear? Could we hear of St. Pauls cathedral being burned down without feeling we had sustained an irreparable loss, and if anything happened to that grand old Abbey at Westminster, we should feel as if a sacred place was gone, a sanctuary indeed, and as if it were every Englishmans duty to help put it up again.
When the cathedral at Rheims was destroyed, the entire Christian world revolted and grieved, and justly so; but that was a matter of pride rather than of passion. We may be moved with the report that the mansion on the boulevard has burned, but the souls deeps are smitten when one stands before the smoldering ashes of his own home, the place where he has thought and wrought, hoped and helped, planned and prayed. In a great sense, such a place is an essential part of life itself, and to smite it is to smite the soul of man.
To wait for the new building to come, to abide patiently until the walls rise again, and to look unto God who alone can bring order out of chaos, victory out of defeat, restoration out of despair; that is the strain for which few men are sufficient, but under which Nehemiah stood steadfastly.
But the whole of exhausting is not in waiting. Nehemiah proved sufficient for a second thing, namely, the exhausting stimulus of seeing plans perfected.
There are people who imagine that all weariness is over when once a work is well begun, clearly under way, with every prospect of completion. On the contrary, the opposite is true. That is when and where the truest exhaustion takes place. Its exhilaration we grant; its stimulus is often mistaken for strength; but it is none the less consuming.
Some years ago Mrs. Riley and myself sat down to think through plans for a home. Weeks we spent upon those plans, and they were weeks of pleasure. Anticipation played conspicuous part and the enthusiasm of new thought for this convenience and that cheered and encouraged, but when the building time came, the constant watch and care-taking concern was exhausting.
The members of the building committee of the First Baptist Church would bear kindred testimony. I doubt if any building the city of Minneapolis holds, had more time expended in thinking through plans than the two buildings upon the plans of which we have been engaged for years. They have been drawn three times, and the utmost endeavor was put into every detail, and yet the actual construction itself, while stimulating, has proven also exhausting. It may be difficult for racers to wait the word Go, and it is; and when once the race is commenced, the very stimulus of prospective victory leads one to forget self and muscles are not conscious of the strain, but with joy yield themselves to their task. The goal, however, never fails to find an exhausted runner.
But the greatest difficulty of this rebuilding is found in a third circumstance, namely, the increasing load of every conceivable opposition.
This opposition took varied forms; in fact, almost every form possible to Satanic suggestion.
Its first form was scorn. Sanballat and Tobiah laughed, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? wilt they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?
Then, with a great guffaw they continued, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall (Neh 4:2-3).
What so hard to endure as scorn; what so difficult to bear as a laugh? It stings like a hornet! It is one of the things against which it is hard to go. The Professor who teaches evolution also teaches his students that ridicule is an insult to science. They know its power and they also know that that subject deserves it; and on that account they wince at the very suggestion. But, on any subject, ridicule is hard to bear. However the true builder, a leader like Nehemiah and his co-laborers go on joining wall to wall and will not be laughed out of court on a great and needful enterprise.
Seeing this, Sanballat and Tobiah changed voices, and, joining with Arabians, Ammonites and Ashdodites, they were very wroth, and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder if (Neh 4:7-8). The man who makes fun of you, when he finds his laughter ineffective, and your success assured, comes to hate, and if possible, to hurt. Human nature does not change through the coming and going of the centuries. All our enemies are of a kind; mockery at first, murder afterward. But, Gods man can commonly meet the true adversaries, Satans servants.
A far more difficult opposition is that recorded in the fifth chapter, the opposition of ones own. The Jews now join their complaints with the others, and the great cry of the people and their wives against their brethren was this:
We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.
Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.
There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the kings tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.
Yet now our flesh is the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards (Neh 5:2-5).
For the moment they forgot that no man among them had sacrificed as Nehemiah had sacrificed, and, in reckoning their losses, they overlooked the circumstance that he had shaken his lap out, leaving himself nothing. That was a harder opposition than was created by Sanballat and Tobiah.
The disappointment of Christs life was not in the fact that He faced the Cross; He came to do that. It was not in the cruelty of the nails that crushed His tender flesh; from all eternity that had been anticipated! But, His agony was in the lifting up a heel against Him by one out of the little circle, dear to Him. Never was sarcasm reduced to such keen edge and more deeply felt than in the Garden of Gethsemane when Christ, looking into the face of Judas, said, FRIEND, wherefore art thou come?
FRIENDwhat that must have meant to Judas! If he knew the Scriptures, like a flash, Psa 41:9 filled his thought. My own familiar FRIEND, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me (Psa 41:9).
And yet again how he would recall the words of the great Zechariah (Zec 13:6), And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in Thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My FRIENDS.
Blessed is the man, the members of whose house join with him in his enterprises; and cursed indeed is he who endures their opposition.
But Satan has other methods of opposition than scorn, warfare and domestic rebellion. In the sixth chapter Sanballat tried to effect a companionship and consequent compromise with Nehemiah. Four times over he sends requesting that they meet together for a conference and adjust their differences. The recent Convention of Baptists is now heralded as a triumph of brotherly love. The whole session has gone by and only a single protest characterized it, and only one man voiced that complaint and the newspapers have been filled with jubilation of the reports of peace. The fundamentalists have subsided and the path of the future is smooth! Such is the glared acclaim; and that in the face of the fact that in the last twelve months the most flagrant denials of the faith that ever passed the lips of Baptist men, or dribbled from the pens of Baptist writers, have gone brazenly into print. The peace that comes by a compromise of principle, a conference that results to the satisfaction of Gods enemies, a conference that follows a fellowship of Satanic plans; these are, after all, the most effective hindrances to the truth of God. And it is written to the eternal credit of Nehemiah that he fell into no such trap, but declined the conference, resented the approach, rejoicing that he had escaped the pit digged for him, and recorded the fact that the wall was finished on the twentieth and fifth day of the month, being completed in fifty-two days.
And this same man who had led in the building now organized to hold what he had gained, and the result was a revival.
Mark
THE STABLE FEATURES OF THIS REVIVAL
It commenced in a careful canvass of returned captives. The seventh chapter of the Book of Nehemiah would amaze the modernist, should he read the same. That individual imagines that the social surveys of the last few years constitute a twentieth century novelty, but here three thousand years ago Nehemiah orders a census taken with a view to knowing the strength of Israel and sounding out his possible resources, the fuller carrying out of which has seldom been equalled and never surpassed. The report rendered by the commissioned workers was perfect. He took count of the last man and of his possessions, and when it was finished, Nehemiah knew how many people he had upon whom he could dependforty-two thousand three hundred sixty, besides seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven servants and two hundred forty-five singing men and singing women.
There is a suggestion there for modernists; better count rather than estimate! My candid judgment is that the one sin that characterizes more ministers than any other is estimating versus counting. I went into a church where the preacher had claimed a congregation of forty-four hundred, and counted exactly twenty-two hundred seats, including the choir gallery; and in another church largely over-estimated, reporting six thousand, and counted exactly thirty-two hundred including the choir. Better count than estimate. One might greatly reduce his crowd but would increase his reputation for veracity and increase his self-respect. The man who goes to battle had best not count on soldiers he does not have, and the church of God is militant and cannot win its victories with congregations that are estimated, but never existed.
The relation, however, to such a careful reckoning of ones resources to a revival is intimate and logical. I am inclined to think that of the years of my pastorate in this church, no single meeting held in it has accomplished more for it than the two years campaign that commenced with a most careful canvass of the membership. A canvass itself suffices to bring a conviction of responsibility to the individual, and to waken interest in the task to be undertaken by the entire people. Nehemiah knew the principles of a revival thirty centuries ago as well as the evangelist knows them today.
The second feature of this revival is significant in the last degree: The Word of God was produced and read to all the people.
It was no brief reading; it went on for hours, from morning until midday, .before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the Book of the Law (Neh 8:3).
There will never be a revival of religion without a revival of Bible reading. We are publishing more Bibles than ever before in human history, but the individual is not reading the Bible as much as his father did, and the whole church of God feels the relapse. When the Christian takes his Book in hand and abides with it by the hour, when the family begins the day by reading a chapter from the Book, when the, preacher turns from textual sermons and revives expository preaching, when the Sunday School ceases from lesson helps and pores over the text itself, the revival will be well on the way.
There never will be strength in the church until we feed on the Bread from Heaven and on the meat of Gods Word; until we hold the milk bottle of that same Word to the lips of babes. If we would have a revival we must bring the Bible from its shelf of neglect; if we would have a revival we must exalt it against the charges of infidelity; if we would have a revival we must rescue the people themselves from indifference to this Book. We are novel readers now; we are readers of the daily newspapers; some few of the more industrious, are magazine readers; a smaller company still, are book-readers, but the Church of God waits Bible reading; and if the day of Bible study should suddenly break in upon usand there are some signs of it then as sure as day follows night, an unspeakable blessing immeasurable in extent, infinitely desirable in character, will fall on the sons of man.
But note again, Repentance, fasting, and a fresh covenant follows (Neh 8:9 to Neh 12:39). Impenitent people will never become Bible students. The gormandizing crowd will never give itself to Gods Word; the pleasure-seeking will never enter into covenant with the Lord.
However, if, in the wisdom of His grace, the present Bible movement voices itself in the fundamentals association, and the thousands of Bible conferences that have been held, in the Bible Unions of China and England, and America, shall result in earnest and sincere and increasing study of the Scriptures, we may well expect repentance to follow. Men will break with sin and will no longer make a god of their bellies, but will fast; and out of this conviction self-control will come and a fresh covenant, made in sincerity, and destined to be kept in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So much for the stable features of revival, let us conclude our Book study with
THE STUBBORN FACTS OF RE-OCCUPATION
These are recorded in chapters 11 to 13, and the first one that we face is this: The Jerusalem dwellers were recorded as especially favored. The rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city (Neh 11:1).
It is a significant suggestion: Jerusalem, the city of the king; Jerusalem, the captial city of the land; Jerusalem, the subject of every Jews love, and the choice of every Jews living.
It does make a difference where one lives. A Minneapolis minister, returning from the Orient, a few years since, in an address before the Baptist ministers, said, I spent some days in Jerusalem; it is a bum town!
But only the readers of the Old Testament know what the ancient Jerusalem was and what it meant to every living Jew. It was more than the capitol; it was more than the city of the king: it was more than beautiful; it was, to them, Divine! They believed that God Himself was there; and in a sense they were correct, for He had made every pledge of His Presence in the Temple, and He performed His promise. Ones life, in no small measure, is the result of ones location.
I think I may be pardoned in passing, if I pay tribute to this city. I declare it my conviction that life has meant more to me, that the burdens have pressed less heavily upon my shoulders, that the joy of living has itself been increased, and that I hold a confidence against decrepitude and old age that would be impossible, if I lived in a city less charming than this beautiful metropolis. Life is profoundly affected by location. In the northern woods of Minnesota I stumbled suddenly and unexpectedly upon a small house. I was hungry and supposed myself beyond the pale of civilization. Going in I was met at the door by a charming looking woman to whom I said, I am hungry and have a party of four friends with me; would it be possible for you to give us a dinner? She graciously answered, It would be a delight to give you a dinner; bring your friends in. When the dinner was over and I tried to pay her, she declined to receive anything, and it was only by leaving the money on the table that I could force it upon her. She said, I have not seen a living face, except that of my little son, for three months; you cannot imagine the pleasure this dinner has been to me, for it has meant companionship. I asked, Will you tell me why you live here away from all civilization and friends?
Yes, sir, I live here with pleasure and with joy. In Southern Illinois I dragged a miserable existence; in these north woods my health is recovered and living is a joy.
Who will say that location has nothing to do with living. Jerusalem! Ah, that was the city coveted by every Jew, and the tenth man permitted to dwell there dwelt not only nigh to the Temple but nigh to God; and whatever else may be said of the Jew, it was the acme of his existence that he believed God and sought to live near God.
You will find again that in this city special provision was made for the priests and Levites. God never forgets those He calls to be His special servants !
There are special promises made to all Gods people! In fact, Dean Frost, our former great-souled co-laborer, used to say that there were thousands of promises in the Bible, and that with a solitary exception, they were all made to Gods own, and that exception was salvation proffered to the sinner. But while all Gods people are the subject of promises, the servant whose entire time is devoted to Gods work is the subject of His special promise, and the object of His constant care. The Levite was never forgotten; the priest was never overlooked. By law the provisions made for them both were adequate.
I meet a good many ministers who tell me they feel it incumbent upon them to look out for themselves, and judging by their conduct, they are keen on the job. They hunt for positions; they seek compensation; they corral opportunities. It all raises a serious question, whether one has much to do with the subject of caring for himself if he be the true servant of God, or whether it is sufficient for him to devote himself to that service and leave the whole question of his care to Him who careth and never faileth.
Finally, by the Law of the Lord certain were excluded from the city. Chapter 13.
Mark who they were: Ammonites and Moabites were not to come into the congregation of God forever, and note the reason, They met not the Children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them that he should curse them (Neh 13:2).
It is a grievous thing to refuse help to Gods people in the hour of their need. It is more grievous, a thousand-fold, than the average man imagines. It is not a rejection of the people onlyit is a rejection of Him. The twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew is a further presentation of this subject. The great day of Judgment has come; men are separated to the right and to the left, after the manner of sheep and goats, and the King is saying to them on His right hand,
Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in:
Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.
Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink?
When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee?
Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.
Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not.
Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?
Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal (Mat 25:34-46).
And yet this is not the only sin that excludes. After all, it is not sin that does exclude, save the sin of having rejected Jesus. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (Joh 3:36).
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
EXPLANATORY NOTES.] When Sanballat and the enemies associated with him were unable to obstruct the building of the wall of Jerusalem by open violence, they endeavoured to ruin Nehemiah by secret snares. They invited him to meet them in the plain of Ono (Neh. 6:1-2); but Nehemiah, perceiving that they intended mischief, would not come. After receiving for the fourth time this refusal, Sanballat sent his servant to Nehemiah with an open letter, in which he accused him of rebellion against the king of Persia. Nehemiah repelled this accusation as the invention of Sanballat (Neh. 6:3-9). Tobiah and Sanballat hired a false prophet to make Nehemiah flee into the temple from fear of the snares prepared for him, that they might then be able to calumniate him (Neh. 6:10-14). The building of the wall was completed in fifty-two days, and the enemies were disheartened (Neh. 6:15-16), although at that time many nobles of Judah had entered into epistolary correspondence with Tobiah to obstruct the proceedings of Nehemiah (Neh. 6:17-19).Keil.
Neh. 6:1. When Sanballat. heard] In the indefinite sense of it came to his ears. The use of the passive is more frequent in later Hebrew; comp. Neh. 6:6-7; Neh. 13:27.Keil. The rest of our enemies] See Neh. 4:7.
Neh. 6:2. Come, let us meet together] for a discussion = Let us take counsel together (Neh. 6:7). Ono] According to 1Ch. 8:12, situated in the neighbourhood of Lod (Lydda), and is therefore identified by Van de Velde and Bertheau with Kefr Anna, one and three-quarter leagues north of Ludd. Roediger compares it with Beit Unia, north-west of Jerusalem, not far from Bethel. There may have been two places of the same name. They thought to do me mischief] Probably they wanted to make him a prisoner, perhaps even to assassinate him.
Neh. 6:3. I am doing a great work: I cannot come down] Could not undertake the journey because his presence in Jerusalem was necessary for the uninterrupted prosecution of the work of building.
Neh. 6:4. They sent unto him four times in the same manner, and Nehemiah gave them the same answer.
Neh. 6:5. An open letter] That its contents might alarm all the Jews and create opposition to Nehemiah. In Western Asia letters, after being rolled up like a map, are flattened, and, instead of being scaled, are pasted at the ends. In Eastern Asia the Persians make up their letters in form of a roll, with a bit of paper fastened round it. Letters were and are still sent to persons of distinction in a bag or purse, and to equals inclosed; to inferiors, or to express contempt, open.
Neh. 6:6. It is reported] Sanballat throughout makes no accusation, but refers to rumour. Nehemiahs answer is, There is not according to these words which thou sayest; i. e. there is no such rumour (Neh. 6:8).
Neh. 6:7. Thou hast appointed prophets to preach of thee] To proclaim concerning thee in Jerusalem, saying, King of Judah.
Neh. 6:8. Thou feignest] Nehemiah charges his enemy with devising a wicked slander.
Neh. 6:9. Foradds Nehemiah, when writing of these thingsthey all desired to make us afraid, thinking, Their hands will cease from the work, that it be not done] Keil. Strengthen my hands] Taken from Nehemiahs journal kept at the time of building. Quotes to show where his dependence was at that trying time.
Neh. 6:10. Shemaiah] A false prophet hired by Tobiah and Sanballat, who sought by prophesying that the enemies of Nehemiah would kill him in the night to cause him to flee with him into the holy place of the temple, and to protect his life from the machinations of his enemies by closing the temple doors. His purpose was, as Nehemiah subsequently learned, to seduce him into taking an illegal step, and so give occasion for speaking evil of him.Keil. The gift of prophecy did not prevent a man from selling himself to lie for others (see 1Ki. 22:22). Shut up] Perhaps in performance of a vow, or as a mere pretence. Your foes are my foes. Let us escape together. In the house of God, within the temple] Within the holy place, where no layman was allowed to enter. And let us shut the doors, &c.] He seeks to corroborate his warning as a special revelation from God by making it appear that God had not only made known to him the design of the enemies, but also the precise time at which they intended to carry it into execution.Keil.
Neh. 6:11. Should such a man as I flee?] Nehemiah had anxiety and alarm, but no cowardice. To save his life] That he may live. May mean to save his life; or, and save his life. Not expiate such a transgression of the law with his life.Keil.
Neh. 6:14. The prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets]
Neh. 6:10-13 only a specimen case. Nothing more is known of Noadiah.
Neh. 6:15. Elul] The sixth month. Parts of August and September.
Neh. 6:16. They perceived that this work was wrought of our God] Accomplished in so short a space of time.
Neh. 6:17-19. A supplementary remark that in those days even nobles of Judah were in alliance and active correspondence with Tobiah because he had married into a respectable Jewish family.
Neh. 6:19. His good deeds] Good qualities and intentions.Bertheau. They were trying to effect an understanding, Bertheau and Keil think. Or were they not traitors?
HOMILETICAL CONTENTS OF CHAPTER 6
Neh. 6:1-19. The Perils of Greatness.
Neh. 6:1-4. Persistency.
Neh. 6:1-2. Old Foes with New Faces.
Neh. 6:3. The Great Work.
Neh. 6:3. Hindrances to Revivals.
Neh. 6:5-8. Slander.
Neh. 6:6. Rumour.
Neh. 6:8. Boldness.
Neh. 6:9. Fear and Faith.
Neh. 6:9. Felt Weakness.
Neh. 6:10-13. Panic.
Neh. 6:10. Lying Prophets.
Neh. 6:11. Personal Responsibility.
Neh. 6:11. Self-respect.
Neh. 6:11. Christian Firmness.
Neh. 6:12. Human Prescience.
Neh. 6:13. Bribery.
Neh. 6:15. Fifty-two Days Work.
Neh. 6:16. The Godward Side of Things.
Neh. 6:16. The Overruling God.
Neh. 6:16. The Worlds Acknowledgment of God.
Neh. 6:17-19. The Oppositions of Influence.
Neh. 6:17-18. Deserters.
Neh. 6:19. The Bad Man praised.
THE PERILS OF GREATNESS
Chap. 6
THE interest of the history centres in the man. All history is the biography of the most eminent men. Men of the time make the time. We have met Nehemiah before, but under different conditions. The accidents of mens lives change; the character remains. Not in what a man does, but in what a man is, look we for permanence. Nehemiah the Persian cup-bearer becomes the reformer of abuses and rebuilder of the decayed city of God. Nehemiah, to-day confronted by visible armies, is to-morrow confronting the unseen foes of stratagem and deception. Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together. But they thought to do me mischief (Neh. 6:2). It is reported among the heathen that thou and the Jews think to rebel; it is reported that thou hast appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah. Come, let us take counsel.There are no such things done as thou sayest (Neh. 6:6-8). Shemaiah was hired, that I should be afraid, and sin (Neh. 6:10-14). The nobles of Judah reported Tobiahs good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear (Neh. 6:17-19). The Book written by inspired men gives the teaching of observation and experience when it says in every variety of expression, and with all the cumulative force of its progressive teaching, Be watchful. The conditions of the conflict of life change; the conflict never ceases. In this battle there is no truce. He that endureth to the end shall be saved.
I. The perils of greatness. High places are dangerous places, as poets, moralists, and preachers have told us with perhaps wearisome iteration. That each man should do his duty in that state of life in which God has placed him used to be a favourite text with many. The laws of self-help are, if not of recent date, at least of recent definition. That the battle be to the strong and the race to the swift; that all be unhelped and all unhindered, is historically of recent date. We must not forget to proclaim that the powers that be are ordained of God. There may be insanity in hero-worship over-much; but it is idiotic to refuse to recognize the hero. The celebrated valet sees no genius in his master. Is it because he is too near, or because he is too ignorant? That there be men of Nehemiahs stamp occupying Nehemiahs station is indispensable. The world must have leaders who can infuse their own courage into their followers. Nehemiahs men were devotedbut only in his presence and under his inspiration. They were liable to panic and subject to craven fear. In doing the worlds work there must be some who have opportunities for clearer vision and deeper knowledge. The general on the heights, not the private in the thick of the fight, gives the word of command. To the captain the charts are an alphabet employed without distinct consciousness; leave to him the steering, whilst you walk or sleep. Kings have committed acts of folly; but has King Mob been always a Solomon? There is a needs-be for the king on his throne, the senator in the council-room, the judge on the bench, the barrister at the bar, the poet in the study, the painter in the grove, the preacher in the pulpit, the teacher at his desk. But let none dream that these offices are sinecures, or that the men who hold them are free from the thousand ills to which flesh is heir. It is a fierce light that beats upon a throne. No man yet climbed the heights without the dogs of envy, hatred, and malice barking at his heels. Not Nehemiahs labourers, but Nehemiah, was the object of Sanballats force and fraud. Strike him, and all are struck. The most eminent men are the best-hated men. In any task the responsibility of the second man is proverbially easier than that of the first. It is not always needful to point out the moral that adorns the tale of human life.
II. The deportment of the imperilled. The great thing to be desired for those who hold high office in our world is the conviction that God has appointed their station, set the bounds of their habitation, and allotted their task. In this conviction there is power; from it courage springs. This was Nehemiahs strength. I am doing a great work. And he explains the I. This work was wrought of our God. Hence the sublime trust of Moses in the day of Gods anger. Let thy work appear unto thy servants (Psalms 90). When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and mens hearts failed them for fear, Paul strengthened himself in the recollection of his mission. There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve (Acts 27). In the darkest hour of Luthers life he lifted up his eyes to God and cried, It is not my cause, but thine. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the glory of the strength and endurance we have manifested, is the substance of the impassioned utterances of the noble army of martyrs, workers, and warriors from the days of Abel down to the last hours of the sainted sufferer who but yesternight went home to God. The truest self-reliance rests upon the rocky foundations of trust in God. That thousands of professedly Christian and Bible-reading people are little bettered, but rather grow worse in temper and character, needs no proofit is evident to the all but blind; but that the Christian and Bible-reading nations are immeasurably superior to the peoples that sit in the darkness of nature and the shadow of heathenism is indisputable. Any man who would be in any measure faithful to himself and equal to his life-task must believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him This is not a blind, unreasoning trust; not a reliance on another to do what the man can do himself. Nehemiah threw all his soul into those two little words in the fourteenth verse, MY GOD. But he did not neglect to be watchful. They thought to do me mischief (Neh. 6:2). He was anxious to discover the truth, and sought out the origin even of misrepresentation. I perceived that God had not sent the prophet; Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him (Neh. 6:12). He recognized the appointed channels of Gods revelation. I came unto Shemaiah the prophet (Neh. 6:10). He was fearless in denouncing wrongdoers, albeit they sat in high places. There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart (Neh. 6:8). Above all, he renewed his strength by waiting upon God. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands (Neh. 6:9). From God came his task; from God must come the strength to accomplish it. A great historian, after telling the tale of the life of a king of France, adds, Let no meanest man lay flattering unction to his soul. Louis was a ruler, but art not thou also one? His broad France looked at from the fixed stars is no wider than thy narrow brick-field, in which thou too didst faithfully or didst unfaithfully. Brother, thy task is not Nehemiahs, nor Pauls, nor Luthers, nor John Wesleys, nor Calvins, but it is thy task; and if thou strivest faithfully thou wilt find it thy task. The work of a mans life is no childs play. Do not sport with everything. It is said that when Carlyle was shown a Comic History, he inquired when we were to have a Comic Bible. To such a man the word of God and the life of man were terribly earnest. To all earnest men their daily task is earnest. The humblest is a witness to the power of his own convictions of what he is, where he is, and whom he serves. Let him take care to bear a constant, unfaltering, and ever-growing testimony. Let him be more anxious to be great than to do some great thing. Let him be more concerned to work faithfully than to work successfully, and by and by to the question, Is all well? he shall give the answer, All is well! Let your light shine before men (Mat. 5:16).
Illustration:Grown great.
Some divinely gifted man,
Whose life in low estate began,
And on a simple Village green;
Who breaks his births invidious bar,
And grasps the skirts of happy chance,
And breasts the blows of circumstance,
And grapples with his evil star;
Who makes by force his merit known,
And lives to clutch the golden keys,
To mould a mighty states decrees,
And shape the whisper of the throne;
And moving up from high to higher,
Becomes on fortunes crowning slope
The pillar of a peoples hope,
The centre of a worlds desire;
Yet feels, as in a pensive dream,
When all his active powers are still,
A distant dearness in the hill,
A secret sweetness in the stream,
The limit of his narrower fate,
While yet beside its vocal springs
He playd at counsellors and kings,
With one that was his earliest mate;
Who ploughs with pain his native lea
And reaps the labour of his hands,
Or in the furrow musing stands;
Does my old friend remember me?
Tennyson.
PERSISTENCY
Neh. 6:1-4. Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, heard, &c.
To do a thing and see it all frustrated, and to begin again coolly, calmly, quietly, and repeat the action, that is a very necessary power in this world. In your summer idleness you break a spiders web with your stick or disturb an anthill, and the tiny operatives, without wasting one moment, steadily begin again and repair their damaged property. These illustrate a grand faculty of man. In life you want the power to begin again and to keep on in spite of whatsoever break-down or hindrance. Nehemiah gives grand example of this. Our text is a text on persistencypersistency, of opposition, persistency of endeavour. The opponents of this Jewish Garibaldi try one move more to checkmate and hinder the great Liberator, and, like the moon when the watch-dog barks, he simply keeps on doing what he was doing, unterrified, unmoved. I cannot meet you for conference (he said); I am too busy, and cannot stop the work for you or for any one or for anything. He had no time to say this in person; he sent messengers four times after this sort.
I. This principle of persistency is illustrated in all the circle of nature and life.
1. Everywhere there is exhibition of hostile force. Universal life is a conflict. The Peace Society, who have the noblest of all objects, the suppression of strife, have but few clients in inferior nature. All natural forces, all life, energy, creep to their goal as the wave creeps to the shore after many a rebuff and after many a spurning. The seed struggling up from its grave, the sapling bending through the crevice in the ruin, the tree battling with the sweep of the tempestall are persistent fighters of opposition. The insect striving with its mortal foe in the cup of a tiny flower, the bird with vigilant eye watching foes below and above, the beast of the forest amid its dangers, are all showing us on what terms a place is to be found on earthclinging pertinacity. You must not be tempted or coerced from your aim by hostility.
2. It is so with man in all social life. The boy at school wrestling with competitors for his prizes or his juvenile influence, the man of business watching the mischances and the adversaries of his success, the popular character striving against the envious among his contemporaries and the changefulness of the people, show us under what tenure the prizes, noble and ignoble, of social life are held. To him that overcometh the crown of life is given.
3. Consistently with this analogy of nature, the Bible represents all moral victory as against deep and persistent hostility. A legion of devils, from without, a legion of lusts within seek to snare and to frighten the soul from its work. The Bible moves and stirs in eagerness to warn and to inspirit the threatened soul.
II. This principle of persistency is illustrated in the general history of the kingdom of God.
1. The Bible is one long history of Gods controversy with his opponents. From one generation to another, through millenniums of history, the Almighty Sovereign of the world is battling with opposition. Physically speaking, God can do whatever he will; but morally speaking, God must do what he can against the wills of moral creatures who dare defy the Omnipotent to arms. And our Bible is the Iliad of heaven against earth. The clash of battle rings through its mighty leaves. This is the value of Old Testament historyit is God saving men in spite of the resistance of the men he seeks to save. Hence the history of one chosen people has become the worlds parable of life and salvation. Jewish history is an immortal text-book concerning this Divine controversy and conflict.
2. Christian history is in the same tone. (a) The Captain of our salvation is set forth in the gospel story as in warfare with the obstinate and prejudiced all the way to his transcendent triumph. I would and ye would not is the burden of the solemn story. (b) Apostolic history makes a harmony with what has gone before. The chosen apostles and all who took up their great watchword, Christ, were gladiators in the great arena of the world; of all men most miserable unless their cause were Divine and eternal. And the closing words of Gods Testament fade away in St. Johns Apocalyptic visions of wars in heaven, and the noise of him who goes forth conquering and to conquer. (c) Nor have we seen the end The Church is a militant Churchevery saint a soldier; and the world, the flesh, and the devil set in battle array. Heathen creeds, worldly maxims, carnal forces, all opposing the will of the redeeming Lord.
III. It is the same with regard to this principle of persistency in individual salvation and work.
1. To save your own soul is a great worka work that is hindered. This is why the gate of life is strait; not that it is narrow in itself, but it is narrowed by the throng of foes that block it to the soul. John Bunyan saw in his dream a gate leading to a beautiful palace. At the gate sat a man with a book to record the names of such as would enter. Around the gate stood armed foes to drive back all who came. At length a man with a stout countenance came, and said to the recorder, Set down my name, sir! and then, girding on his sword, he set to and fought his way in, but not before he had given and received many wounds. It is thus that most of us enter into life. Persistent opposition beaten back by persistent determination. This is what the Saviour means by those who are worthy of him, those who will have him. The elect are the select spirits who must enter into life because the must is in their will. They will go in, though hell move from beneath to oppose. If you are about this purpose, the one purpose of man, you are doing a great work, and cannot come down from that, or you fail.
2. To be instruments of salvation to others is a great work that is hindered, but must not cease. The parent lovingly battling with the wills of his children, the Sunday School teacher bearing with the way wardness of a circle of opposing spirits, the minister standing as Gods watchman in his congregation, the man of business striving to live without damage to the soul of his brother, and to live with good influence upon those who meet him in lifes conflict, are Nehemiahs all of them. He toiled on amid the stones of Jerusalem, they amid the living stones of a better city of God. But the story is one storythe world-wide story of good hindered and opposed, but triumphant.
Application. Helps to persistency.
1. Do not magnify your foes. Right is itself a big battalion. Greater is he that is for us than all that can be against us.
2. Do not under-estimate your work. All good work is a great work. Let its loftiness fill and inflame you.
3. Do not fail in hope. Hope on, hope ever. Hope thou in God. On this rock of Peter-courage and inflexibility Christ will build his Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
OLD FOES WITH NEW FACES
Neh. 6:1-2. 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 One. But they thought to do me mischief.
The enemies of reformation in Nehemiahs day were fertile in resources as well as persistent in opposition. When mockery failed to dishearten, and threats to drive Nehemiah from his task, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem tried the art of deception. The same men, with purpose unchanged, but masked faces. The voice is Jacobs voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
My son, thou art never secure in this life, but as long as thou livest thou shalt always need spiritual armour. Thou dwellest among enemies. This golden sentence from the lips of Thomas Kempis contains the moral application we may make of this historical passage.
I. Faults of character. The natural man is in Biblical language distinguished from the spiritual man. The past of our life;the rest of our time. The dividing line we popularly call conversion. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. That is the ideal; does not become the actual in a day. The life religious is a growth. A man becomes a Christian; supposes that conversion makes all things new; is soon disabused. He was before an angry man; he blazes up again in an unwatchful moment. He was full of health and vigour; animalism ruled him; he discovers that he needs to lay a strong hand upon himself. Temptability remains. The snake is scotched, not killed. The natural prayerlessness of men creeps insensibly upon an unwatchful Christian. A principal will connive at the doubtful deeds of an agentdeeds which he himself would not stoop to do. There is a moral obliquity of vision. If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. Cant see is pitiable; wont see is criminal. An under-current is often fatal when a hurricane would have been harmless. Against the second the captain would provide; of the first he might have no knowledge. The signing of the pledge does not of itself quench the burning thirst. The Church roll does not make defection impossible. Every man has one great foehimself.
Worse than all my foes I find
The enemy within,
The evil heart, the carnal mind,
My own insidious sin:
My nature every moment waits
To render me secure.
And all my paths with ease besets,
To make my ruin sure.
Faults of character are foes to interest. Nobody has a fault that is not injurious. There is a but in every mans fortunes, because there is a but in every mans character.Maclaren. A good cause is sometimes injured by the intemperance of its advocates; more often by their inconsistency. Creed and conduct are not always equal. Beware of little sins.
II. Foes to progress. Nehemiah was reforming, uplifting the nation. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were advocates of things as they were. Indolence and selfishness of individuals are aggregated. In the movements of history there has been presented the spectacle of men fleeing from persecution to become persecutors in their turn. Presbyter was priest writ large. Human nature is much the same under all conditions. Luther overthrew the Popes infallibility to meet claimed infallibility in his own followers. Only to patient faith is the prize sure. They who work for eternity can afford to listen calmly to the babblings of contemporary opinion. Utter no rebuking word, although the meetening for the inheritance and the unsuccess of your toils require you to possess the patience of God. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Christian! seek not yet repose,
Cast thy dreams of ease away;
Thou art in the midst of foes;
Watch and pray.
Principalities and powers,
Mustering their unseen array,
Wait for thy unguarded hours;
Watch and pray.
Gird thy heavenly armour on,
Wear it ever night and day;
Ambushed lies the evil one;
Watch and pray.
Hear the victors who oercame;
Still they mark each warriors way;
All with one sweet voice exclaim,
Watch and pray.
Hear, above all, hear thy Lord,
Him thou lovest to obey;
Hide within thy heart his word;
Watch and pray.
Watch, as if on that alone
Hung the issue of the day;
Pray that help may be sent down;
Watch and pray.
THE GREAT WORK
Neh. 6:3. 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?
Religion the most momentous and important matter that can possibly engage the attention. Either the veriest dream of superstition, or the most stupendous as well as the most interesting subject. This is the great work.
I. The great work in which Nehemiah was engaged. Repairing the wall and setting up the gates around the city of Jerusalem. He had many powerful enemies. They first tried to ridicule him and his brethren out of the undertaking; and this failing, they endeavoured to terrify them; and not succeeding in this, they had recourse to craft and stratagem. In the verse preceding Nehemiah says, Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, &c. And in the verse following Nehemiah tells us that they sent unto him four times, after the same sort, and he answered them after the same manner. What is fortifying, defending, and preserving a city when compared with the salvation of our immortal soul? If we are really on the Lords side we shall assuredly be opposed as he was, and perhaps more strenuously, by ridicule, stratagem, and force. To all opposition let us reply, I am doing a great work. Some say the business of salvation so far as we are concerned is no work at all. Surely faith and love have something to do with salvation; and although these graces of the Spirit may apparently be the farthest removed from what may be termed a work, yet we read in Scripture of the work of faith, and the labour of love. Yes, faith worketh by love. True, as far as merit is concerned, salvation is not of works; yet there is a sense in which we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure. The believer fears the Lord and his goodness. He fears to offend against infinite holiness, or to grieve the Holy Spirit. He fears to bring guilt upon his conscience. And he trembles to be found an unprofitable servant. Faith enables the believer to see the path of obedience, and love constrains him cheerfully to walk therein. The work of Christ, so far from freeing us from obedience, lays us under greater obligations to devotedness.
II. The opposition Nehemiah had to encounter in his undertaking.
1. He was assailed by ridicule (see chap. Neh. 2:19; Neh. 4:1-3). You may profess what you please without molestation, but if you proceed to act up to your profession you will certainly not escape opposition. How did Nehemiah meet the scoffs of his enemies? He did not desist from his purpose, nor did he take the matter of revenge into his own hands.
2. Nehemiahs enemies attempted also to assail him by force (Neh. 4:7-8). We ought to give all due obedience, in things lawful, to those who in the providence of God may have control over us, but there is a point beyond which to yield would be sin. When human authority is exerted contrary to the Divine command we ought not a moment to hesitate to obey God rather than man.
3. Nehemiahs enemies assailed him also with craft and cunning. Sanballat and Tobiah sent unto me, saying, &c. More persons are enticed and allured into sinful compliances by plausible inducements than by any other means. Never expect any spiritual advantage from the proposal of a confederacy with worldly men.
4. When Sanballat could not succeed by stratagem, he endeavoured to effect his purpose by putting Nehemiah in fear. Raised false reports against him, representing that he was building the wall that he might set up himself as a king and rebel against his Persian master. Expect misrepresentation. It was said of the apostles of old, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also. Think it not strange if modern Christians be accused of being enemies to the peace of society. When we see Sanballat not only falsely accusing Nehemiah, but also hiring the professed prophets of God to endeavour to turn him from the work in which he was engaged, let us learn the great need of watchfulness, caution, and circumspection. Be ye wise as serpents. If an angel from heaven should speak anything contrary to the doctrine of godliness, shun his counsel. Even Satan can transform himself into the appearance of an angel of light, and his angels imitate his example. Prove all things, and hold fast that which is good. Nehemiah went to Shemaiah for godly counsel and advice, little expecting that he was in the service of his great enemy (Neh. 6:10-14). God will expose the snares and bring to nought the devices planned against his faithful servants. I perceived, saith Nehemiah, that God had not sent him. And as before he answered the rumours of Sanballat by saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart; so now he boldly answers the counsel of the lying prophet who would have him shamefully neglect his duty, and shut himself up in the temple to save his life, by saying, Should such a man as I fleeI on whose presence at the building of the wall so much depends, and who believe and have professed that God will protect and defend me? When we are tempted to make sinful compliance, let us call to mind the noble answer of Nehemiah, and adopt similar language; let us say to every temptation to evil, Should such a man as I, who profess to be a disciple of, yea, a joint-heir with, Christ, a son of God, and an heir of immortalityshould such an one as I condescend to bring disgrace upon my profession, and thus dishonour God and sin against my own soul? Or with Joseph let us ask our own conscience, How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
III. The magnitude of the work required that Nehemiah should not cease. It was a great work, for the walls of Jerusalem extended some miles round the city; and it was a very necessary work to be completed for the defence of the inhabitants. Of what momentous importance is the salvation of a man! The destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem is said to have forced tears from the eyes of its heathen conqueror; but what is a flaming temple or the destruction of a city to the destruction of an immortal spirit! Let your careful and constant attention be given to the one thing needful. For it is not a light thing, because it is your life. Nehemiah succeeded in accomplishing the work he had in hand by prayer, watchfulness, and painstaking diligence (Neh. 6:15-16). So will all the enemies of Gods truth be finally cast down in their own eyes; they will be utterly ashamed and confounded, while they will be constrained to confess that the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. The wall was built in troublous times, and we often find Nehemiah supplicating help from the mighty God of Jacob, like Jehoshaphat, who said, Lord, we know not what to do, but our eyes are toward thee; and while he was unceasing and fervent in prayer, he was also watchful and diligent in the work.Rev. James Shore, M.A., abridged.
HINDRANCES TO REVIVALS
Neh. 6:3. I am doing a great work, &c.
Sanballats oppositionthreatened; complained; insisted that Nehemiahs design was not pious, but political. Nehemiah went on.
I. A revival of religion is a great work. It is a great work because in it great interests are involved. In a revival of religion are involved both the glory of God, so far as it respects the government of this world, and the salvation of men. The greatness of a work is to be estimated by the greatness of the consequences depending on it. And this is the measure of its importance.
II. Several things may put a stop to a revival. A revival is the work of God, and so is a crop of wheat; and God is as much dependent on the use of means in one case as the other.
1. A revival will stop whenever the Church believe it is going to cease. No matter what the enemies of the work may say about it, predicting that it will all run out and come to nothing, they cannot stop it in this way. But the friends must labour and pray in faith to carry it on.
2. A revival will cease when Christians consent that it should cease. When Christians love the work of God and the salvation of souls so well that they are distressed at a mere apprehension of a decline, it will drive them to agony and effort to prevent its ceasing.
3. A revival will cease whenever Christians suppose the work will go on without their aid. The Church are co-workers with God in promoting a revival, and the work can be carried on just as far as the Church will carry it on, and no farther.
4. A revival will cease when Christians begin to proselyte. Do not raise selfish strife, and drive Christians into parties.
5. When the Church in any way grieve the Holy Spirit.
6. When Christians lose the spirit of brotherly love.
7. A revival will decline and cease unless Christians are frequently reconverted.
III. Things which ought to be done to continue a revival.
1. Ministerial humiliation. Ministers must not only call upon the people to repent; they must be ensamples to the flock.
2. Churches which have opposed revivals must repent.
3. Those who promote the work of revivals must repent their mistakes. There is a constant tendency in Christians to backsliding and declension. Let us mind our work, and let the Lord take care of the rest; do our duty, and leave the issue to God.Finney, abridged.
SLANDER
Neh. 6:5-8. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me, &c.
An attempt to frustrate Nehemiah by a false report concerning his intentions is described in these verses. This petty wasp of slander may sting the even-minded Reformer, and make him swerve from his steadiness. Sanballat sent to say that it was a common report that Nehemiah was meditating the ambitious project of becoming a king; and to make the matter circumstantial, Gashmu was quoted as the authority for this information. Nehemiah, with noble indifference, brushed away the waspsent a short, sharp answer backand then, dismissing the matter, went on with his work.
I. The slander. Isaac Barrows biographer quaintly wishes he could find an enemy of his hero, that he might have the honour of defending the memory of the great divine. All men are not so fortunate. The faultless have some fault found with them, and the faulty have their faults exaggerated. Let the most blameless man in the town offer himself as candidate for parliament, and the organ of the rival political party will give a picture astounding to the friends of the good man. Shimei finds foul things to say about David, and Gashmu knows a damaging thing about Nehemiah. In this example of the text there are three stages of slander.
1. The common report. It is commonly reported among the heathen that thou and the Jews think to rebel. Who got up that report? is a common question about similar matters now-a-days. Who was the man in the iron mask? Who executed Charles I.? Who invents the lie that sings in the air about some faultless man? These are conundrums to give up. Where all the gnats come from that fill the windowpane was a puzzle to our childhood. Where all the lies come from that buzz round our neighbourhoods is a puzzle to our later life. It is commonly reported! Woe to the tongue ingenious in this art! For our own part, let us beware of giving our jealousies and suspicions wings. Let them die in the egg. Keep the door of the lips, especially when conversing with a fool. And equally necessary is it to beware of eager listening to groundless suggestions, born of malice and envy and uncharitableness. The demand creates the supply. Send these hawkers of mischief away from the door. Keep the door of the ears.
2. The authority for the fact. Gashmu saith it. Whos Gashmu? A very common authority on these matters. Hes very often a myth. There is no Gashmu at all. Try to find him, and he is always removed. Tracking a slander is often like seeking a grasshopper. It chirps here and there and everywhere, except on the handful of grass you lay your hand on. Looking for Gashmu is like hunting the cuckooits a voice, a mystery. Gashmu! He is not, or you find him not. Sometimes Gashmu is real enough. If you hear the report, you need not be told where it came from. Gashmu his mark is on the forehead of the slander. He sits in his window blowing peas at all passers-by. There are human creatures who delight in this kind of cowardly damage of other mens reputations. For some wise end they were createdall things are. The nettle and the hornet and the slandererperhaps these have their part to play. Gashmu might be carved on some of the gravesHere rests one who never let any one else rest.
3. The informant. Sanballat sent the letter. These are the three steps: Common reportGashmuSanballat. An illustration of the development theory! The slander is born out of nothing; it is generated in that inorganic matter of lies which fills the atmosphere of the globe; it takes form and organization in Gashmu, in him it becomes a real thing; then Sanballat conducts it to its goal. Sanballat, who writes the letter of information, or whispers the thing in confidence, is often the mischievous originator of the whole mystery of liesthe predecessors are but imaginary. Sometimes he is not a knave, but a fool merely, some one who means well, a friend who thinks it is a part of friendship to do things like this. But for him the slander would be unknown and harmless; it is his work to post up the information in the window. The ill that is wrought for want of thought! It is only thinking that can stop that.
II. Treatment of slander.
1. Give it no foundation in yourself. Such a thing is said of you! exclaimed a zealous friend once. Ah! coolly answered the victim, and the worst of it, its true. Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves. There is a spirit of slumbering fairness in society. Do not say in your haste, all men are liars. It is not so. Do not be soured by the abundance of mischief and the superfluity of naughtiness among men. But at the same time beware! Avoid the appearance of evil. Like Csars wife, be above suspicion. Do not be content with such integrity as will go with the average; let your white be snow-white. [Illustrate by the grand integrity of Nehemiah.] Not in fear of the slander, but in love of what is right and good, seek the lofty character of the righteous man. Whatsoever things are true and lovely and of good report take as the garb of your character.
2. Take no notice of it. As the children say, Dont believe it! See the grand style of Neh. 6:8 : Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own hearta message for Sanballat to think about. To have his elaborate slander crumpled up and flung at his head with the label LIES on it would be disappointing to this officious person. Silence is the best reply as a rule. We cannot waste the day in explanations. When I have written an angry reply to a letter, I never send it off at once. I read it over. I often re-write it, and put more sting into the sentences. Then I argue thus. This letter will do if I send it in twenty-four hours. It shall not go earlier on any consideration. To reserve my reply will show I was not annoyed much, and that I am a tranquil master of myself. I consequently lock up my letter, all sealed and addressed. And at the end of the twenty-four hours I take out the letter, and without reading it throw it on the fire. That has always been my course since I once wrote and posted immediately one of those replies. It proved to be a mistake. Since then I have done as I have said. It always relieves meserves as a waste-pipeand I never have to repent of harsh correspondence.
3. Go on with your work. Slander as a rule does the good man no harm, unless it stop him in his work and make him lay down his enterprise in disgust. Many a man has given up his Masters work of doing good because his good was evil spoken of. [Illustrate from the life of Jesus.] When the Lord of the vineyard cometh and asks, Why did you leave my work? what can you say? At your peril keep to the good course. This sharp-shooting of criticism is to try the soldier. Endure as seeing Him who is invisible. They say? What do they say? Let them say. Many a man has given up the good work of his souls salvation for a similar reason. It sometimes falls to the lot of a minister to be sent for to some dying man, and this is the story which comes from the departing deserter. I was once a member of such and such a church, and there I was not treated as, &c., &c.; I took offence, and have hardly been in a place of worship since. It is ten years ago. My brother, thinks the minister though he takes care not to say it, do you think that excuse will cover those ten wasted years? You are responsible for the effect of the slander; another may have a heavy score to pay on account of its origin.
Application.
1. Live for the approval of the Lord of all. Do not root yourself on the shallow, changing opinion of man. Seek a higher basis for endeavour, animated by the solemn fear of God.
2. Consider the importance of life and its work. Do not suppose you may please yourself whether you keep your hand on the plough or not. Woe to Jonah, whatever be the cause of his flight from his God-appointed task.
3. Accept criticismas an instructive corrector; and slanderas a discipline of patience and firmness.
Lord, I adore thy gracious will,
Through every instrument of ill
My Fathers goodness see;
Accept the complicated wrong
Of Shimeis hand and Shimeis tongue
As kind rebukes from thee.
RUMOUR
Neh. 6:6. 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.
Matthew Henry well expresses the historical sense of this passage. Sanballat endeavours to possess Nehemiah with an apprehension that his undertaking to build the walls of Jerusalem was generally represented as factious and seditious, and would be accordingly resented at court. The best men, even in their most innocent and excellent performances, have lain under this imputation. This is written to him in an open letter, as a thing generally known and talked of; that it was reported among the nations, and Gashmu will aver it for truth, that Nehemiah was aiming to make himself king, and to shake off the Persian yoke. Observe, it is common for that which is the sense only of the malicious, to be falsely represented by them as the sense of the many. From this particular instance let us consider generally the tongue, its use and abuse.
I. Use of the tongue.
1. To express thought and emotion. A word is the incarnation of a thought. It lay hidden and formless in the thinkers mind. The word is the body prepared for it. The thought stands out clear to the gaze of others. There is a language understood by the animals. A child speaks because of the necessity it feels to express its thought. It understands before it can express itself. The first dawn of intelligence is in a childs smile; it enters into a new world when it utters the first word. The fountains of the great deep of intelligence are broken up. The child performs the miracle of speech. Were thought pent up in our minds without the medium of expression which words give, each one would live in a world of his own. We cannot conceive of a family, a social state, a nation without language. Speak, that I may see thee, said one to a fair-haired youth. As we know metals by their tinkling, so we know men by their speech. Dumbness excites pity. Expression is the first and simplest use of the tongue.
2. To glorify God. Therewith bless we God. We are not alone in this. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. God is known by the works of his hands. But it is our province explicitly to bless God. The glory of the heavens is the glory of inference; our glory is the glory of reference. The whole creation is as a well-tuned instrument, but man maketh the music. Men of science reduce the myriad things in nature to laws; and these to still fewer; until all causes resolve themselves into the Cause of causesGod. To him all things tend. From him, as a fountain, all streams flow; to him, as a sea, they all return.
3. To fan the flame of devotion in others. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Words have moved the world. Pulpits, senates, law courts are centres from which words proceed. Men of words as necessary as men of action. Armies, nations have been stirred by eloquent speech. Possibilities of speech should make us humble, if not make us tremble. Words escape our lips big with eternal issues. By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Foolish talking is condemned as well as filthy communication.
II. The abuse of the tongue. Take heed, says an Arabian proverb, thy tongue cut not thy throat.
1. Self-misrepresentation.
(1) Under-statement. Half-truths; concealing some material thing. We are not bound to satisfy everybodys curiosity. Two legitimate times for speakingwhen God would be glorified or man benefited. But having professed to tell and then conceal is deception. There are spoken lies and acted lies.
(2) Over-statement. Speaking in superlatives. A habit easily contracted. All his geese are swans.
(3) False statement. God and men hate lying. You may be clever, amiable, attractive; but if you lie, the swift, sure, terrible Nemesis is, you will never again be trusted. For this there is no place of repentance, though you seek it carefully with tears. Lying is a sin of which it is peculiarly trueBe sure your sin will find you out.
2. Defamation of others. Grosser formsevil speaking with malice aforethought; bearing false witness; slander. A form of this punishable by law. But some of the keenest slanders elude law. A good name is great riches. It is to be desired. We must not superciliously discard the good opinion of others; we need not fawningly seek it. To some a good name is all they have; e. g. domestic servants, professional men. Studied wickedness is worst of all. I saw, said Augustine, a little child pale with envy. How many town scandals would have been avoided, how many Church quarrels prevented, had men acted on that golden ruleIf thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. Be patient under detraction. Blessed are ye when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Silence and speech. Why tell me that a man is a fine speaker if it is not the truth that he is speaking? Phocion, who did not speak at all, was a great deal nearer hitting the mark than Demosthenes. He used to tell the Athenians, You cant fight Philip. You have not the slightest chance with him. He is a man who holds his tongue; he has great disciplined armies; he can brag anybody you like in your cities here; and he is going on steadily with an unvarying aim towards his object; and he will infallibly beat any kind of men such as you, going on raging from shore to shore with all that rampant nonsense. Demosthenes said to him one day, The Athenians will get mad some day and kill you.Yes, Phocion says, when they are mad; and you, as soon as they get sane again. It is told about him going to Messina on some deputation that the Athenians wanted on some kind of matter of an intricate and contentious nature, that Phocion went with some story in his mouth to speak about. He was a man of few wordsno unveracity; and after he had gone on telling the story a certain time, there was one burst of interruption. One man interrupted with something he tried to answer, and then another, and, finally, the people began bragging and brawling, and no end of debate, till it ended in the want of power in the people to say any more. Phocion drew back altogether, struck dumb, and would not speak another word to any man, and he left it to them to decide in any way they liked. It appears to me there is a kind of eloquence in that which is equal to anything Demosthenes ever said. Take your own way, and let me out altogether.Carlyle.
Slander. In St. Jamess day, as now, it would appear that there were idle men and idle women, who went about from house to house, dropping slander as they went, and yet you could not take up that slander and detect the falsehood there. You could not evaporate the truth in the slow process of the crucible, and then show the residuum of falsehood glittering and visible. You could not fasten upon any word or sentence and say that it was calumny; for in order to constitute slander it is not necessary that the word spoken should be falsehalf truths are often more calumnious than whole falsehoods. It is not even necessary that a word should be distinctly uttered; a dropped lip, an arched eyebrow, a shrugged shoulder, a significant look, an incredulous expression of countenance, nay, even an emphatic silence, may do the work; and when the light and tritling thing which has done the mischief has fluttered off, the venom is left behind, to work and rankle, to inflame hearts, to fever human existence, and to poison human society at the fountain springs of life. Very emphatically was it said by one whose whole being had smarted under such affliction, Adders poison is under their lips.F. W. Robertson.
We have no right to spread an injurious report merely because somebody brought it to us. It is a crime to pass bad money as well as to coin it. We are bound to consider whether the person from whom we heard the report had opportunities of knowing the truth, was likely to form a sound judgment of the facts which came under his knowledge, and whether we should have believed him if be had said the same thing to us about some person to whom we bore no ill-will. There would be very much less scandal manufactured if there were less disposition to circulate it.R. W. Dale.
SAME THEME
One great sin wherein the corruption of human nature bewrayeth itself is detraction, or depriving others of a good repute. Here I shall show
I. What is detraction.
1. The nature of it in general. It is an unjust violation of anothers fame, reputation, or that good report which is due to him. God, that hath bidden me to love my neighbour as myself, doth therein bid me to be tender not only of his person and goods, but of his good name. And indeed one precept is a guard and fence to another. I cannot be tender of his person and goods unless I be tender of his fame; for every man liveth by his credit.
(1) It is a sin against God, who hath forbidden us to bear false witness against our neighbour, and to speak evil of others without a cause. Eph. 4:31 : Let all evil-speaking be far from you. By evil-speaking is meant there disgraceful and contumelious speeches, whereby we seek to stain the reputation of others.
(2) It is a wrong to man, because it robbeth him of his good name, which is so deservedly esteemed by all that would do anything for God in the world. A good name should rather be chosen than great riches (Pro. 22:1). Therefore, as he himself should not prostitute his good name, so others should not blast it and blemish it; for it is a greater sin than to steal the best goods which he hath, and it is such an evil as scarce admits any sound restitution; for the imputation even of unjust crimes leaveth a scar though the wound be healed.
(3) The causes it proceedeth from are these. () Malice and ill-will, which prompteth us to speak falsely of others, so to make them odious, or do them wrong or hurt. To hate our brother in our heart is no way consistent with that charity which the impression of the love of Christ should beget in us. The hatred of offence, which is opposite to the love of complacency, may be justified as to the wicked. Pro. 29:27 : An unjust man is an abomination to the just, and he that is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked. But then we should first and most abominate ourselves for sin; this very hatred and abhorrence should begin at home, and we should be most odious to ourselves for sin, for we know more sin by ourselves than we can do by another. But for the hatred of enmity, which is opposite to the love of benevolence, that should be quite banished out of the heart of a Christian. () It comes from uncharitable credulity, whereby men easily believe a false report, and so propagate and convey it to others. Jer. 20:10 : I have heard the defaming of many. Report, say they, and we will report it. If any will raise a report tending to the discredit of another, some will foster it; and it loseth nothing in the carriage, till by additions and misconstructions it groweth to a downright and dangerous infamy. () It comes through rashness and unruliness of tongue. Some men never learned to bridle their tongues, and the Apostle James telleth us that therefore their religion is vain (Jas. 1:26). Till we make conscience of these evils, as well as others, we content ourselves with a partial obedience, and therefore cannot be sincere. Whisperers must be talking. () It comes from carnal zeal, which is nothing else but passion for our different interests and opinions. Many lies walk under the disguise of religion. Is all speaking evil of another unlawful? I cannot say so, but yet it is hard to keep it from sin.
1. He that doth it without just cause is plainly a detractor, and so a grievous sinner before God. God doth not only reject the liars for hypocrites, but also the backbiters and slanderers.
2. He that doth but speak what he hath heard from others, without any assertion or asseveration of his own, as not knowing the truth of the report, can hardly be excused from sin. He reporteth those things which may induce the hearers to think ill of another, and if without just cause he is in part accessory.
3. He that doth speak that which is true, but tendeth to the infamy of another, may be guilty of sin if he have not a sufficient call and warrant. If it be a matter we have nothing to do with, but only speak of their faults for talk sake. If we aggravate things beyond their just size and proportion. If we urge their crimes and deny their graces. Is there no good amongst all this evil?
2. The kinds of detraction.
(1) Whispering, which is privy defamation of our brother, to bring him into disfavour and disrespect with those that formerly had a better opinion of him. Herein whispering differeth from backbiting, because the whisperer stingeth secretly, but the other doth more openly attack our credit. Now this whispering is a great sin; it is reckoned among the sins which reigned among the heathen, and God hath expressly forbidden to his people. Lev. 19:16 : Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people. It is against natural equity, because they do that to others which they would not have done to themselves It is a grief to the party wronged, and a cause of much debate and strife.
(2) Backbiting is a more public speaking evil of our absent brother, to the impairing of his credit. Now this may be done two ways. With respect to the good things found in him, and with respect to the evil supposed to be committed by him. With respect to the good things found in him:When we deny those good things which we know to be in another. When we lessen the gifts and graces of others. When we own the good, but deprave it by supposing a sinister intention. When we have just occasion to speak of a mans due commendation, but enviously suppress it. As to evil supposed to be committed by them:When we publish their secret slips, which in charity we ought to conceal. Pro. 11:13 : A tale-bearer revealeth secrets. When a man intrudeth himself into the mention of things faulty, which he might with better manners and more honesty conceal, it is the effect of a base heart. When, in relating any evil action of another, we use harder terms than the quality of the fact requireth, and make evils worse than they are, beams of motes, and mountains of molehills. We should lessen sins all that we can; I mean the sins and faults of others. By imposing false crimes. The most godly and innocent persons cannot escape the scourge of the tongue, and unjust calumnies.
II. The heinousness of the sin.
1. In general, that is evident from what is said already. Two arguments more I shall urge.
(1) Men shall be called to an account for these sins as well as others.
(2) It is the property of a citizen of Zionone that shall be not only accepted with God now, but dwell with God for evernot to be given to backbiting (Psalms 15).
2. More particularly, it is the more heinous,
(1) Partly from the person against whom it is committed; e. g. the godly; public persons.
(2) From the persons before whom the slander is brought, as suppose kings and princes; so that they are deprived not only of private friendships, but the favour and countenance of those under whose protection they have their life and service.
(3) From the end of it. If it be done with a direct intention of hurting anothers fame, it is worse than if out of a rash levity and loquacity. Some men have no direct intention of mischief, but are given to talking; others sow discord.
(4) From the great hurt that followeth, be it loss of estate or general trouble. When mens good names are buried, their persons cannot long subsist afterward with any degree of service. And all this may be the fruit of a deceitful tongue. The use is, to show how good-natured Christianity is, and befriendeth human societies; it condemneth not only sins against God, but sins against our neighbour. Let us not speak evil of others behind their backs, but tell them their faults. Remembering our own faults, looking at home, will not only divert us from slandering of others, but make us compassionate towards them, and breed comfort in our own souls.Manton, abridged.
BOLDNESS
Neh. 6:8. Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart
A bold word this to fling in the teeth of authority.
I. Men of courage are men of convictions. Nehemiahs consciousness that he was doing a great work made him bold. Physical courage is a thing of blood and nerve. The morally courageous man may be nervous, shrinking, fearful. He is self-reliant because reliant on God. The men without convictions, what have they done? Those who tell us it is doubtful if there be a God, religion is the poetry of conscience, the Bible is a fetish, whom have they blessed? for whom have they agonized? Has the worlds suffering wrung from them any great sweat of blood? The worlds hard work has never been done by the mealy-mouthed. Great reformations have not been accomplished by the nerveless souls without strong convictions for or against. Men of one idea have made mistakes, but not the mistake of leaving the work undone. This Jewish Reformer and Liberator reminds us of Martin Luther, the stories of whose boldness have passed into proverbs; and of John Knox, whom Scotland delights to honour. Of him Carlyle tells the following story in his own inimitable way:In the galleys of the river Loire, whither Knox and the others, after their castle of St. Andrews was taken, had been sent as galley slaves, some officer or priest one day presented them an image of the Virgin Mother, requiring that they, the blasphemous heretics, should do it reverence. Mother! mother of God! said Knox, when the turn came to him. This is no mother of God; this is a pented bredda piece of wood, I tell you, with paint on it. She is fitter for swimming, I think, than for being worshipped, added Knox, and flung the thing into the river. Rather dangerous sport that! The courage of his convictions makes a man a hero. There was a sacred must in the highest life. I must work the works of him that sent me. He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. Another story which Carlyle tells of John Knox will illustrate how these elect spirits shrank from the tasks laid upon them. In an entirely obscure way Knox had reached the age of forty; was with the small body of Reformers who were standing siege in St. Andrews Castle, when one day in their chapel the preacher, after finishing his exhortation to these fighters in the forlorn hope, said suddenly, that there ought to be other speakers, that all men who had a priests heart and gift in them ought now to speak;which gifts and heart one of their own number, John Knox the name of him, had. Had he not? said the preacher, appealing to all the audience. What then is his duty? The people answered affirmatively; it was a criminal forsaking of his post if such a man held the word that was in him silent. Poor Knox was obliged to stand up; he attempted to reply, he could say no word; burst into a flood of tears, and ran out. Carlstad, said Luther, wanted to be the great man, and truly I would willingly have left the honour to him, so far as it had not been against God. For, I praise my God, I was never so presumptuous as to think myself wiser than another man. When at first I wrote against indulgences, I designed simply to have opposed them, thinking that, afterwards, others would come and accomplish what I had begun. To be out of the roll of common men is not desirable. But when self-will and Gods will come into collision, the will of the Lord be done. Dont be a straw upon the stream. Get convictions. Hold them. Search the Scriptures. Be loyal to conscience. Obey God. Spheres are narrow or wide. What matters that? In the narrowest men may fail; in the widest they can but be faithful. Reverence the sacred must in thy life and work.
II. Applications of this principle.
1. A mans real foe is himself. Nothing, says St. Bernard, can work me damage except myself; the harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but by my own fault. The powerful opposition or skilful deception of the Sanbollats and Gashmus within my sphere may make my duty more difficult, but cannot wholly prevent my performance of it. There is such a thing as self-degradation. This position is not uncommonto do our duty and suffer: to leave it undone and escape the suffering. But to do the latter is to degrade oneself.
2. Not such boldness, but some boldness is required of us all. We may have opportunities of speaking the truth in love; we must not shrink from the responsibility of speaking the truth. Force, fraud, falsehood were arrayed against Nehemiah, are arrayed against us. The holy war arises out of an enmity of long standing.
3. Pay homage to thy convictions. Honour the grey-headed truths in the faith of which apostles, martyrs, and saints have lived and died. Gods love, Christs atonement, your pardon and need of renewalhold fast these convictions. Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil daythe conquered soldier can do that; and having done all to standonly the conquering soldier can do that. So thou soldier of God.
4. Do the task allotted thee. Work, in every hour, paid or unpaid; see only that thou work, and thou canst not escape the reward; whether thy work be fine or coarse, planting corn or writing epics, so only it be honest work, done to thine own approbation, it shall earn a reward to the senses as well as to the thought; no matter how often defeated, you are born to victory. The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.Emerson. Nehemiah sent his message, and then went on with his work. So the wall was finished.
FEAR AND FAITH
Neh. 6:9. 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
The words come after the story of a new scare to Nehemiah. [Describe his anxieties from various forms of enmity.] Words suggest two companion topics, Fear and Faith.
I. Fear. For they all made us afraid. Man is accompanied through life by foes and fears. In some cases the fears are more numerous than the foes. Frequently the only thing to be afraid of is our own fear. There are foes of us all, however, who make us afraid. To have an iron spirit not easily quailed is a great gift, and to have a spirit like a sensitive plant, which curls at every touch and interrupts its functions, is a great misery. We may allow fears to grow upon us, until they become an atmosphere to the soul.
1. Causes of fear. With Nehemiah there were causes enoughreal flesh and blood foes, who made his career in Jerusalem one long vigil, always listening for the loud alarum of strife. Similarly with most men in most of lifes enterprises. The soul has its foes; they are lively and they are strong. All religious work is done against obstacles which make us afraid. () The devil is a downright foe. We are not so much alarmed at him now as in days of superstition. Luther threw his ink-pot at the arch-enemy of his soul, and we smile at the picture of the rough student rising from his Bible and casting such a very material defiance at such a very immaterial foe. We have refined the devil since then to a general expression for, &c. But was not the mistaken Reformer nearer right than ourselves? Your adversary the devil is not a mere generalization. () Foes hide themselves or show themselves in our fellow-men. The man who hinders my work for God is my foe, whether he scare me by opposition, or interrupt me by an unprofitable friendship. The foe who pushes me down the precipice, and the foe who persuades me to go to sleep in the sun, are alike reasons for fear. () The sinful nature in myself is my enemy. No ones enemy but his own is a common form of speech. Every man is a ship with a mutinous crew on board, and destruction is averted only by the masterful assertion of my better self against my lower self, of my conscience against my passions, of the grace of God against the sin that dwelleth in me.
Christian, seek not yet repose,
Cast thy dreams of ease away;
Thou art in the midst of foes;
Watch and pray.
2. Effects of fear. () Exaggeration of peril. Life grows very gloomy when the soul is afraid. Fear is a fearful thing. The palpitating, perspiring rustic in the dark lane misinterprets every shadow, and hears a voice of threatening in every sound, when once anything like superstitous terror has seized him. When you are frightened you are not in a position to judge of your situation. Allow for the enlargements of fear. Sometimes when we hear a sensational story we say, Ah, Mr. Superlative told you that; take off ninety per cent. Now if we could so deal with the alarming suggestions of our own fears it would be well. They deceive us. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea, they were troubled, and supposed that they had seen a spirit; but he said, Be not afraid; it is I! () Paralysis of strength. The hearts of the people melted and became as waternot much lion-work of fighting for them. A child can take the sword of a frightened man. Be very courageous if you would be very strong.
II. Faith. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. What time I am afraid I will trust in the Lord. The word of God is full of presuppositions of mans timorousness and fear. It speaks gently, and as to a child, and bids its organs be soft. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem! Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield! Fear not, MosesJoshuaDavidDaniel: all through the story of mans struggle Gods ringing cry of Fear not! falls upon him from heaven. Do not over-chide yourself if you are of a timorous make, for why should there be chapter after chapter of bugle-calls to courage, except that men never have been overstocked with that grace. After faith in St. Peters teaching comes courage: Add to your faith virtue (courage). Now faith stands as the counterpart of fear.
1. In causes of fear. Against our array of foes it brings into view the presence of God. We should strive to think God as real as our foes are, whereas we commonly in our panic see only the peril, and not the Saviour. At Waterloo the French were ranged on one side of a valley in brilliant force, while on the other side of the valley waited the army that was to conqueran army mostly hidden. It is thus in religious life. 2Ki. 6:15-17 gives a beautiful illustrative story. Those horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha were hidden to the servant, though seen by the clear-eyed faith of his master. Elisha prayed, and said unto the Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. Look not on the foes only, but see God.
Hell is nigh, but God is nigher,
Circling us with hosts of fire.
2. Against the effect of fear (despair) let us set the spirit of hope. Take for a helmet the hope of salvation. That will prevent you being stunned by fear. What incitements to hope we find.
(1) In the history of Gods help. Dealings with faithful in all generations.
(2) In experience of Gods help. Our own remembered deliverances. Read St. Pauls grand defiance of all foes, visible and invisible, present and to come, in his glorious burst at end of the eighth of Romans: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35-39)?
Application.
1. Be aware of your foes.
2. Do not make too much of them.
3. Remember that it is not your own strength that wins, but the God who strengthens your hands.
4. Never despair.
FELT WEAKNESS
Neh. 6:9. O God, strengthen my hands
INTRODUCTION.Outline Nehemiahs position:fierceness of foes; fear of friends; work endangered; his own heart failing him for fear. A critical moment, requiring instantaneous decision. Felt weakness casting itself on God.
I. The habit of devotion. This prayer not uttered whilst writing. He recalls his experiences in that time of danger. Such a trial-hour would stamp itself in the memory. Nehemiah is remarkable for his ejaculatory prayers. They were the habit of his life. You cannot be always devotional, if you mean by that engaged in acts of devotion. Habit will make you ready for occasion. A school-boy cannot be all day long repeating his fathers name; enough if when a temptation arises to do what would offend his father he refuses. Bible precepts cannot be always on the tongues end, but a Christian man should be so under the influence of Biblical principles that he will shrink instinctively from wrong-being and wrong-doing.
I want a principle within
Of jealous, godly fear,
A sensibility of sin,
A pain to feel it near;
I want the first approach to feel
Of pride, or fond desire.
To catch the wandering of my will,
And quench the kindling fire.
That I from thee no more may part,
No more thy goodness grieve,
The filial awe, the fleshy heart,
The tender conscience give.
Quick as the apple of an eye,
O God, my conscience make!
Awake my soul when sin is nigh,
And keep it still awake.
Some ask only for a sentiment. That is insufficient. Devotion must reach the core of our being. We must be throughout Christian. Habit implies formation. Not by a sudden bound do men reach perfection. Halting and stumbling characterize a Christians first efforts to walk alone. God regards the bent of the will, the direction of the desires. He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. Dont be discouraged by failure, repeated failure. Begin again. Learn to pray. Habituate thyself to devotional exercises.
II. The limits of solitariness. O God, strengthen MY hands. The hands of the workers needed to be strengthened. But on Nehemiah rested the responsibility. He stood alone. If his strength should fail in the day of adversity, all would be lost. The tallest trees feel the stress of the blast. Highly-wrought natures are subject to influences unfelt by coarser minds. Christ is the great champion herethe loneliest man that ever lived. You cannot read the Gospels without feeling how far apart from him even the disciples were. The best of the outside world had so little in common with him. And through the ages men have had to thank God for the lonely spirits. The noblest work is achieved by personal and lonesome effort. Sunday schools, prison reforms, hospital management, religious revivals, revolutions in Church and State are the result of the genius and energy of individual men and women. They strike out the path along which the less gifted, but not less earnest, travel. Doubtless there are times when the terrible loneliness of their position startles such men. Such a time came to Nehemiah, and he cried unto God. And in the commonplace life of all of us there is solitariness. For the value of a life does not depend upon externals. To himself the life of a peasant is as important as is the life of a prince. No second life is given. Great and small are relative terms, be it remembered. None is alone who has God with him. Jesus said, Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
III. The value of certitude. O God, strengthen my hands.
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
Hold me with thy powerful hand.
That was about all Nehemiah knew. His creed was short, but he held it firmly. Sanballat and Gashmu might gather fresh forces or bribe Nehemiahs bodyguard; one thing was clear amid the haze of others, God was Almighty, and always approachable. We have a fuller creed; have we a sublimer trust? A motto of the Apostle PaulWe know. Nor is St. John one whit behind his brother-apostle. The circle of religious knowledge might be almost completed from his First Epistle alone. We know that the Son of God is come. We know that we are of God. We know that we know him. We know that we are in him. We know that he abideth in us. We know the Spirit of truth and error. We know that he heareth us. We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him. That which we have experienced becomes certain. We speak that we do know. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.
IV. The secret of steadiness. 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. So the wall was finished. Unbelief, says Gurnall, is a soul-enfeebling sin. It is to prayer as the moth is to the cloth; it wastes the souls strength, so that it cannot look up to God with any hope. They made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened. Resist, therefore, Satan; be steadfast in the faith. Never let thy heart suffer the power, mercy, or truth of God to be called in question; thou hadst as good question whether he can cease to be God.
Application.
1. In striving to attain personal excellence he patient. Effort and failure mark much of our life. The task we have in hand is herculean; the opponents are numerous and powerful.
2. In any form of Christian enterprise moderate your expectations. Opposition will arise when least expected. Those for whom you toil will seldom appreciate your motives. Success may linger.
3. Make the secular sacred by infusing into it a sacred spirit. Refuse to call anything common and unclean.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Ejaculatory prayer.Ejaculatory prayer is prayer darted of from the heart to God, not at stated intervals, but in the course of our daily occupations and amusements. The word ejaculatory is derived from the Latin word for a dart or arrow, and there is an idea in it which one would be loath indeed to forfeit. Imagine an English archer, strolling through a forest in the old times of Crecy and Agincourt, when the yeomen of this island were trained to deliver their arrows with the same unfailing precision as a left-handed Gibeonite discharging a stone bullet from his sling. A bird rises in the brushwood under his feet, a bird of gorgeous plumage or savoury flesh. He takes an arrow from his quiver, draws his bow to its full stretch, and sends the shaft after the bird with the speed of lightning. Scarcely an instant elapses before his prey is at his feet. It has been struck with unerring aim in the critical part, and drops on the instant. Very similar in the spiritual world is the force of what is called ejaculatory prayer. The Christian catches suddenly a glimpse of some blessing, deliverance, relief, a longing after which is induced by the circumstances into which he is thrown. Presently it shall be his. As the archer first draws the bow in towards himself, so the Christian retires, by a momentary act of recollection, into his own mind, and there realizes the presence of God. Then he launches one short, fervent petition into the ear of that awful Presence, throwing his whole soul into the request. And lo! it is done! The blessing descends, prosecuted, overtaken, pierced, fetched down from the vault of heaven by the winged arrow of prayer.Goulburn.
Ejaculations take not up any room in the soul. They give liberty of callings, so that at the same instant one may follow his proper vocation. The husbandman may dart forth an ejaculation, and not make a balk the more. The seaman, nevertheless, steers his ship right in the darkest night. Yea, the soldier at the same time may shoot out his prayer to God, and aim his pistol at his enemy, the one better hitting the mark for the other. The field wherein bees feed is no whit the barer for their biting; when they have taken their full repast on flower or grass, the ox may feed, the sheep fatten on their reversions. The reason is, because those little chemists distil only the refined part of the flower, leaving the grosser substance thereof. So ejaculations bind not men to any bodily observance, only busy the spiritual half, which makes them consistent with the prosecution of any other employment.
In hard havens, so choked up with the envious sands that great ships drawing many feet of water cannot come near, lighter and lesser pinnaces may freely and safely arrive. When we are time-bound, place-bound, so that we cannot compose ourselves to make a large, solemn prayer, this is the right instant for ejaculations, whether orally uttered or only poured forth inwardly in the heart.Fuller.
PANIC
Neh. 6:10-13. Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah, &c.
In the varying romance of Nehemiahs brave struggle with difficulties occurs an instance of panic, or of what might have been panic to a less steadfast soul. A man was shutting himself up in alarmreal or assumedand endeavoured to persuade Nehemiah to do the like, to turn the temple into a fortress, and to make the open porch of Gods house a shelter for merely personal fear. But Nehemiah (as always) was steadfast, unmoveable. His resolute, fearless I will not go in! settled the matter, which after all turned out to be a mere theatrical scare, got up to order in the interest of Tobiah and Sanballat. Panic is our subjectits effect and its correctives.
I. Panic. Originally suggestive of Pan, the god of the woods. To ignorant men the deep solemn shades of the virgin forests were fraught with awe, and full of causes for sudden alarm. Unreasoning, helpless FRIGHT is the idea.
1. National panic. A people suddenly exaggerating a state danger, and acting in a way to be sorry for afterwards.
2. Business panic. A trading community or firm scared out of its even regularity into some wild action.
3. Personal panic. Sudden trouble not bravely met with a breastplate of patience and a helmet of hope, but with helpless alarm.
4. Spiritual panic. Those soul-shiverings which are like fits in religious life. These are common familiar forms. Panic is commonly groundless. That is, the wave is not so high as it seems to the retreating bather, who hears its hiss behind him. No man is so bad as sudden indignation paints him, and few crises in mans history are so alarming as to the alarmed they appear. The downfall of the statethe end of the worldthe collapse of tradethe ruin of a housethe overthrow of goodthese are often only scares.
II. The effect of panic. To gather all the selfishness of man to a focus or to substitute a brief madness for calm thoughtfulness and decision.
1. It makes a man behave unworthily of himself. The leader shows his flying form as a scoff to the after-judgment of men. Unsoldierly conduct in presence of the enemy. Shall that be said of the pillars of the state, or of the strong support of the home, or of the Christian soldier in his discouraging battle with sin? Shall Nehemiah be hidden in some corridor of Gods temple, or peep in alarm from the shut window of Zion?
2. It makes a man behave unworthily toward his fellows. The man who tramples upon the woman in a burning theatre; the craven who sinks the boat which might have saved all hands in his eagerness for personal security; the soldier who deserts the companions whom he might have helped to conquestthese are all exhibitions of the unlovely possibilities of human nature. Is Nehemiah to imperil the Jews by scrambling for a place a sword-length away from danger?
3. It makes a man behave unworthily of his God. Is not God FOR the hour of peril? Am I to trust in Providence up to the dangerous moment, and then become my own providence? Is Gods house to be a robbers den for timorous culprits to shelter in? Let a man die in Gods hands, not fleeing from the presence of the Lord.
III. The correctives of panic. Prevention, not cure, is the motto.
1. Remembrance of a mans own dignity. 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. For a mans self to fall is worse than to fall before a foe. Let not the supreme fear be personal fear, fear of them that can kill THE BODY. Moral degradation is worse than physical death.
2. Remembrance of others. Carry the alarms of others as corrective of your own. Fear for others, lest your own fear become too great. Nehemiah hears the cry of helpless Jews, and he will not fly and leave them.
3. Remembrance of God. Nehemiahs book shows how the idea of my God had become part of his mental habit His heart was fixed, trusting in the Lord. Read Psalms 46. at the first murmur of unworthy alarmGod is our refuge, &c. The iron nerve of Luthers hymn is a cry to turn the tide of warring fears. Paul is serene in the danger of shipwrecknay, in thecertainty of itbecause of the forewarning of the Angel of the Lord, whose I am, and whom I serve. That Fear not, Paul! made him deaf to the roar of the threatening sea. Cultivate a habit of confidence in God. Mans extremity is Gods opportunity.
Application. Keep a short account with conscience, and you will be able to make small account of panic.
LYING PROPHETS
Neh. 6:10. Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah, &c.
Shemaiah was such a common name among the Jews, that it is impossible to identify this prophet with any other person of his name. He must, however, have been a man of prominence, and one, too, who had been in Nehemiahs confidence, or else the attempt would never have been made by Tobiah and Sanballat through him. It may have been the high position and reputation, of Shemaiah that led the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets (Neh. 6:14) into the false dealings with Nehemiah.Dr. Crosby.
I. Great gifts may be dissociated from pure life. Shemaiah lied. The gift of God in Shemaiah, Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets had been sold for money. Two lists of prophets may be compiled from the Bookthe true, the false. Of the latterBalaam (Numbers 23), the old prophet (1 Kings 13), Zedekiah and the rest who seduced Ahab to his destruction (1 Kings 22), Hananiah (Jeremiah 28). Character is primal element of a conception of true prophet. A grace does not differ from a gift in this, that the former is from God, and the latter from nature. As a creative power there is no such thing as nature; all is Gods. A grace is that which has in it some moral quality; whereas a gift does not necessarily share in this. Graces are what the man is; but enumerate his gifts, and you only know what he has.F. W. Robertson. Gifts are sacred. We speak of gifted men as men of talent. That word talent was probably borrowed from our Saviours parable of the man who was travelling into a far country, who called his servants and delivered unto them his goods. Unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one: to every man according to his several ability, and straightway took his journey. Unfortunately gifts may be abused. They have been abused. They have been used as instruments of oppression. And, shuddering at their abuse, Christian people have often condemned them as if they were the devils gifts, not Gods. Now this course is unwise; it is dangerous. We rob ourselves of so much power by refusing to enlist into the service of God whatever is good. In the early Church the gifts of prophecy, of healing, of miracles were abused. St. Paul denounces the abuse, but not the gift. On the contrary, he enumerates them; he states their relative importance; he calls them emphatically spiritual (1 Corinthians 12, 14). The gifts of our age are spiritual; the talented men of our time are inspired. Knowledge is power, but it is not piety. The poets of ethereal intellects have not always been men of etherealized lives.
II. Great gifts may lead to deterioration of character. Shemaiah had been a true prophet, whom Nehemiah had found trustworthy. The hypocrite pays unconscious homage to virtue. Prophets and prophetess had gone from bad to worse through Sanballats gold. The qualifications which the Jewish doctors deemed indispensable to a prophet were true probity and piety. That God may choose of men whom he pleaseth, and send him, it matters not whether he be wise and learned, or unlearned and unskilful, old or young; only that this is required, that he be a virtuous, good, and honest man; for hitherto there was never any that could say that God did cause the Divine majesty to dwell in a vicious person, unless he had first reformed himself.Maimonides. The lying spirit entered into them and they fell. Now these things were our examples. Use your gifts, not display them. Be not vain of them. Has God given thee a clear judgment, penetration, retentive memory, or an eloquent tongue, thank him by cultivating it. Has he endowed thee with health, thank him for it by preserving it. Has he given thee mechanical skill or business aptitude, recognize the Giver by turning it to best advantage. As God has appointed to every man his work, so he has given to every man his gift. The sacred call of duty is heard along all the ranks of existence. Let not the humblest amongst us imagine that his gifts are unnecessary or valuelessthey are his. The drop of water in which the animalcul live is to them what the sea is to behemoth. The falling leaf is as great a catastrophe to the insect that feeds upon it as is a burning world to an angel. Dost thou scorn the lesser gifted? Bethink thyself. The God who endowed thee endowed them; the Spirit who inspired thee inspires them. Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Are you discontented with your gifts, and envious of the more highly endowed? Forget not that God who lights the sun lights the stars. He does not disown the meanest flower that blows. The seraph nearest to his throne does not cause him to forget the humblest missionary toiling in some island of the Southern Seas.
1. Accept thy position. God, who has appointed the hounds of our habitation, has fixed the limits of our power.
2. Cultivate your gifts. Be not contented. Do not repine.
3. Remember that gifts are not graces. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. The only undying faculties are the affections; the only permanent work is that we do for others.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Ahabs lying prophets (1 Kings 22). Ahab consulted all his false prophets as to whether or not he should go to attack the Syrians at Ramoth-Gilead. They knew what to say; they knew that their business was to prophesy what would pay themwhat would be pleasant to him. They did not care whether what was said was true or not; they lied for the sake of gain, for the Lord had put a lying spirit into their mouths. They were rogues and villains from the first. They had turned prophets, not to speak Gods truth, but to make money, to flatter King Ahab, to get themselves a reputation. We do not hear that they were all heathens. Many of them may have believed in the true God. But they were cheats and liars, and so they had given place to the devil, the father of lies; and now he had taken possession of them in spite of themselves, and they lied to Ahab, and told him that he would prosper in the battle at Ramoth-Gilead. It was a dangerous thing for them to say; for if he had been defeated, and returned disappointed, his rage would have most probably fallen on them for deceiving him. And as in those Eastern countries kings do whatever they like, without laws or parliaments, Ahab would have most likely put them all to a miserable death on the spot. But however dangerous it might be for them to lie, they could not help lying. A spirit of lies had seized them, and they who began by lying because it paid them, now could not help doing so whether it paid them or not.
Prophets of to-day Do not fancy that there are no prophets in our days, unless the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is promised to all who believe, be a dream and a lie. There are prophets now-a-daysyea, I say unto you, and more than prophets. Is not the Bible a prophet? Is not every holy and wise book, every holy and wise preacher and writer, a prophet, expounding to us Gods laws, foretelling to us Gods opinions of our deeds, both good and evil? Ay, is not every man a prophet to himself? That still small voiceis not that a prophecy in a mans own heart? Truly it is. It is the voice of God within us, it is the Spirit of God striving with our spirits, whether we will hear, or whether we will forbearsetting before us what is righteous, and noble, and pure, and what is manly and godlike; to see whether we will obey that voice, or whether we will obey our own selfish lusts, which tempt us to please ourselvesto pamper ourselves, our greediness, covetousness, ambition, or self-conceit. And if you ask me how to try the spirits, how to know whether your own thoughts, whether the sermons which you hear, the books which you read, are speaking to you Gods truth, or some lying spirits falsehood, I can only answer you, To the law and to the testimonyto the Bible; if they speak not according to that word, there is no truth in them. But how to understand the Bible? for the fleshly man understands not the things of God. The fleshly man, he who cares only about pleasing himself, he who goes to the Bible full of self-conceit and selfishness, wanting the Bible to tell him only just what he likes to hear, will only find it a sealed book to him, and will very likely wrest the Scriptures to his own destruction. Take up your Bible humbly, praying to God to show you its meaning, whether it be pleasant to you or not, and then you will find that God will show you a blessed meaning in it; he will open your eyes, that you may understand the wondrous things of his law; he will show you how to try the spirit of all you are taught, and to find out whether it comes from God.Charles Kingsley.
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Neh. 6:11. Should such a man as I flee?
Character, position, recollection, Nehemiah opposed to Shemaiahs cowardly proposal Personal responsibility overpowered all considerations of expediency. Let the instance suggest the wider theme. We mortal millions dwell alone. Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
I. A law of the Divine procedure. God has not dealt with men in the mass. He is not far from any one of us.
1. Law implies individual responsibility. The word contains the idea of pointing out, directing, leading; hence a rule of conduct. National law does not treat men as a society, but as a mass of responsible units. All our jurisprudence is based on this. The Bible axiom that every man shall give account of himself has been brought into the sphere of political life. Moral law rests on the same foundation. Its violation is sin; its honour is righteousness. In this none can be surety for his brother. Laws are for the safe-conduct of individual lives. The general good is contained in that of the individual. The true communism is not that which would adopt the impossible expedient of dividing to all alike, but that which shall secure to every individual the scope for working out his responsibility as a man, a citizen, and a Christian.
2. The history of Gods dealings is in harmony with this. Angelsso far as the Bible and analogy lead us to inferare subject to a similar moral government. They had their testing-time. They stood in probation as individuals. The most exalted spirits in the universe are amenable to God. There can be only one Supreme. They fell as individuals. Satan is distinctive.
He, above the rest
In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tower; his form had not yet lost
All her original brightness, nor appeared
Less than archangel ruined.
But they were all fellows of his crime. He only led the embattled seraphim to war. His angels were cast out with him. They are the angels that sinned. By ambition fell the angels.
Of their names in heavenly records now
Be no memorial, blotted out and razed
By their rebellion from the book of life.
The rest stand as individuals having kept their first estate. Their past faithfulness insures the future. Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, the Prince, the Archangel, whether they are personal, or like thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, representative of ranks, are distinctive. For if not individual in themselves, they represent the ministry and defence of the angels. Nations. The Israelites were elected as a nation; but they fell as individuals. One terrible verse sums up all. Their carcases fell in the wilderness. History confirms this. When honour is lost in public men, when domestic ties are violated, nations fall. A mans great enemy is himself; a nations great enemy is itself. Truth and justice, law and order, the bond of a nation. The enemy without does not knock at the gates for admission until the enemy within has prepared the way for conquest. Churches. The Churches of the Revelation of St. John are typical. There is a common danger. He that overcometh! belongs to Smyrna and Pergamos, to Ephesus and Sardis, to Philadelphia, Thyatira, and Laodicea. But right and wrong are not massed. Declension, false doctrine, seduction, semblance, are severally condemned. Hatred of evil, whether in doctrine or conduct, endurance, adherence to truth, charity, undefiledness, are severally praised. So with individual lives. The stern-souled prophet and the confiding Mary; the martyr Stephen and the traitor Judas; the impressible Herod and the unmoved Baptist; the faithful James and the faithless Peter: each stood alonealone in relation to God, alone in relation to duty.
3. Christianity recognizes personal responsibility. Christ dealt with men as individuals. In his teaching, miracles, sympathies. One woman elicited his best teaching; one family found his great love; one widow sufficient to move his miraculous arm. Acceptance of Christianity personal. Repentance, faith, forgiveness. Exhibition of Christianity personal. Cross-bearing, truth-speaking, forgiveness, humility, unselfishness, generosity, work. The Church is a body fitly joined together. Every man hath his proper gift of God.
II. A fact in human experience. As every leaf among the myriad leaves of the forest is governed by the laws of growth, and yet in its conformation is distinct, so every man is subject to the general laws of Divine procedure and the special which apply only to himself. No two men are exactly alike in character or circumstances.
1. Responsibility. Each is required to work out his destiny. The foundation of a noble life is Christ, but every man must take heed how he buildeth thereupon. Alone each must return his Lords money. Every one will be brought unto him. It will not be important how much we return, but what is the measure of increase. If to the two talents by wise use of opportunities we add other two, we shall receive the same commendation as those who to the five talents add other five.
2. Mystery. There is a strange mixture of good and evil in us. Our feet stand on the earth and our head points toward heaven, as if significant of our heavenly aspirations and earthly tendencies. We can talk of the beauty of virtue whilst deliberately indulging in vice. Pilate-like, we can wash our hands in affected innocency whilst the guilt of blood rests upon us. A business loss, a bereavement, a change in circumstances, and all a mans fine talk about superiority to circumstances, the vanity of riches, and futility of earthly things avails nothing. The mystery of the future is sometimes agonizing.
3. Guilt. We cannot shift upon the first sinner the guilt of our iniquity. My sin is ever before me is the wail of every kingly soul. Nor can we cast our guilt upon circumstances. No man is forced to violate his conscience. Where there is no will there is no guilt. A man must rule his circumstances, not be ruled by them.
4. Faith. Creeds and Churches will not save us. They presuppose our salvation. The reason why the faith of so many is feeble is that they have never tested it. It is an unproved armour, and when the hour comes to encounter Goliath they are afraid. Every man must come into contact with God. O taste and see that the Lord is good. One real wrestle with God will teach more about prayer than a treatise on it. Faith in God in an hour of real danger better explains it than a sermon on its philosophy. Search the Scriptures. Prove all things, that you may hold fast that which is good.
5. Temptation. From this there can be no escape. Were we able to say as Christ did, The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me, temptation would be powerless. Not here, but yonder, will the sons of God present themselves before the Lord and Satan not come among them.
6. Sorrow. The heart knoweth his own bitterness.
III. A prophecy of destiny.
1. What a man is NOW, that he will be HEREAFTER. God will judge every man according to his works, as these are the evidences of the man. Heaven may be a change of locality and circumstances, but not character. This is indestructible.
2. There is no injustice, because each man is judged. To one he gives five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and he will expect a proportionate return. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. Unto every one of us is given grace. God is not a hard master, reaping where he has not sown, and gathering where he has not strawed.
3. We are now fuelling the revealing firea fire that shall try every mans work of what sort it is. Nothing ends in this world. Thoughts become incarnated as soon as we express them. Words live in those who hear us. Deeds have an undying influence. God will gather up the fragments of our daily lives, that nothing be lost. And the day shall declare every mans work.
SELF-RESPECT
Neh. 6:11. 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
Nehemiah would not run away, because he could not fancy himself doing anything of that sort. Should such a man as I flee? Our theme then is self-respect. Religion, though it brings with it humility,an unnatural grace of character, an exotic from the gardens of the skies planted on earth by Divine hands,though religion induces humility, it promotes self-respect. The eighth Psalm teaches not merely the littleness of man, but his greatness. Throughout the book of Nehemiah the Jewish patriot is not wanting in manly self-respect.
I. The ground of self-respect.
1. False grounds. (a) Money. The vulgarest form of human conceit. To be a money-bag, and nothing else! (b) Birth. A by no means contemptible ground, if the greatness from which a man is born is bred into his own character. (c) Intelligence. Too frequently a reason for the smallest vanity. Vanities of authors and pride of bookmen, (d) Office and association. These are no necessary reasons for self-pluming, but may be the merest accidents.
2. True grounds. Moral worth. Personal nobleness and sincerity of character and life. Under the eye of God, and in view of a Christian relation to God, a man may stand upright before the world, (a) Sonship with God. That we should be called the sons of God is a ground for dignityto be of the inner elect family of God. (b) Brotherhood with the good. To be in the bead-roll of that long line of Divine heroes of all agesfollowing, but not with equal stepsthat stirs the blood. Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. (c) Service in righteousness. The great cause of God gives dignity to the meanest servant. I had rather be a doorkeeper, &c. (d) Heirship with the skies. The celestial expectations of the good give grandeur to their earthly being.
II. The influence of self-respect.
1. Negatively, (a) Not petty, strutting pride. Not I, but Jesus Christ that dwelleth in me. The dignity of the child of Godin its possessions and honours and hopesis too tremendous to be proud of. (b) Not contempt of others. He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant. Jesus has a name above every name, because he took on him the form of a servant.
2. Positively. (a) The effect of self-respect in duty. To exalt all duty into the sublime, and to do it, beyond all its temporal and transitory purposes, as unto the Lord. (b) In temptation. To make sin beneath a man. He cannot sin, because he is born of Godas a spotless Washington cannot lie. Josephs indignant How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (c) In trouble. It prevents a man becoming unworthy of himself. I know how to be abased. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. In worldly scenes and senses pride is a great restrainer of weakness. Burning pride and high disdain forbad the rising tear to flow. So in the spiritual life the man of God chides his trembling soul: Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
Application. Know thyself!
1. A child of God. Are you a child of God?
2. Then rightly view the dignity of your being. On the human side, a vessel of clay, brief in life, weak in powers, limited by worldly accidents; but on the Godward side, an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ.
CHRISTIAN FIRMNESS
Neh. 6:11. 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
Whoever examines the character of the primitive saints will see how religion dignifies and ennobles the mind of man. Nehemiah had engaged in an arduous work. In this he was opposed. From Shemaiah, a prophet, he might have expected better things.
I. The subtlety with which our great adversary will assault us. How specious was the proposal made to Nehemiah. Our adversary will propose to us
1. To neglect our social duties to further our spiritual welfare. A common temptation and specious. Apprentice and servant neglecting duty to attend religious ordinances. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
2. To conform to the world, with a view to conciliate their regard. By conforming to the world we shall confirm them in their persuasion, that religion does not require that measure of spirituality which the saints of old maintained.
3. To use undue means with a view to obtain some desirable end. Safety was desirable to Nehemiah, but secretion not a desirable way to obtain it. Many objects are desirable, but must not be sought by any sacrifice of duty or conscience. The greater the subtlety of Satan is, the greater should be our vigilance, and the more immovable.
II. The firmness with which we should resist him. Shall such a man as I fleea man invested with authority, a man engaged for the Lord, a man in whom any act of cowardice will be productive of injurious effects? Thus should we set the Lord ever before us, bearing fully in mind
1. Our relation to him. A servant of the living God. A child of the Father in heaven. My calling.
2. Our obligations to him. Shall I offend God? I will render unto the Lord according to the benefits he has conferred upon me.
3. Our expectations from him. For eternity I have been redeemed, sanctified; and for eternity alone will I both live and die.
4. The interest which God himself has in the whole of our conduct. Gods enemies endeavour to beguile us, in order that they may triumph over us and exult in our shame. On review of the subject
1. Expect temptation.
2. In every circumstance place your entire confidence in God.Simeon, abridged.
HUMAN PRESCIENCE
Neh. 6:12. And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him
Because, says Gill, he advised to that which was against the cause of God and true religion. That helped Nehemiah to discern Shemaiahs treachery; but was that all? The treachery was not yet discovered. Afterwards Nehemiah learned that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Is there not a spirit in mana spirit of divination? What do observation and experience teach? Are not men and women continually sitting in judgment upon one another? To two states of soul it is given to detect the presence of evil, states the opposite of each otherinnocence and guilt. It was predicted of the Saviour while yet a child that by him the thoughts of many hearts should be revealed; the fulfilment of this was the history of his life. He went through the world, by his innate purity detecting the presence of evil, as he detected the touch of her who touched his garment in the crowd. Men, supposed spotless before, fell down before him crying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! This in a lower degree is true of all innocence. You would think that one who can deeply read the human heart and track its windings must be himself deeply experienced in evil. But it is not soat least not always. Purity can detect the presence of the evil which it does not understand. Just as the dove which has never seen a hawk trembles at its presence, and just as a horse rears uneasily when the wild beast unknown and new to it is near, so innocence understands, yet understands not, the meaning of the unholy look, the guilty tone, the sinful manner. It shudders and shrinks from it by a power given to it, like that which God has conferred on the unreasoning mimosa. Sin gives the same power, but differently. Innocence apprehends the approach of evil by the instinctive tact of contrast; guilt, by the instinctive consciousness of similarity.F. W. Robertson. Faces never lie, it is said. Falsehood has not a clear, calm gaze. The grosser vices leave their mark upon the countenance. The drunkard, the libertine, the deceiver write the story of their lives upon the fleshly table of the body. The laws of God are written in the nature of things as well as in the Scripture of truth. Mahomet said, Paradise is under the shadow of swords. All men pay the penalty of their position. A good gained, an ill averted, must reckon with the sweat of the brow or the sweat of the brain. Wise men, who are they but the farseeing, the foresighted? As those children of Issachar to whom is given honourable mention, as being men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do (1Ch. 12:32). Nehemiah saw through Shemaiah. It needed no miracle to reveal his fraud.
Learn
I. The supreme importance of truth and uprightness. The Bible revelation does not make truth, truth; falsehood, falsehood; it only declares what they are. Close your Bible, and still deception will bring disgrace, dishonesty will not be the best policy, judgment will track the wrong-doer. Be sure your sin will find you out is written in history and biography.
See
II. An evidence of the Bible. The book does not stand alone. The heavens above and the earth beneath, the nature and constitution of man, confirm its truth.
Mark
III. Confirmation of the doctrine of a judgment to come. Men are being judged. A book of remembrance each of us is writing. In the failure of falsehood and deception, in the discovery and condemnation of every unrighteous compact, in the fall of dynasties resting upon oppression and bloodshed, in the histories recorded by the daily press, see you not premonition of a day of judgment?
BRIBERY
Neh. 6:13. 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
In this paragraph Nehemiah dwells upon the hirelings who were paid to do him mischief. The wrong-doer becomes dignified by association with his petty tools, and Tobiah and Sanballat are exalted into the originals of mischief in contrast with the ready agents who did the mischief for money. Bribery.
I. Its existence and varieties. Among heathen states and in the godless associations of the world this guilt is not unnatural, but alas for its commonness in Christian times. From Judas, who took the bribe of thirty pieces of silver, down to the last transaction of the kind yesterday, the world is full of it.
1. In statecraft. This golden key finds the wards of more locks than we know of; it buys eloquence in debate, and logic in the newspapers, and valour or cowardice in the field.
2. In trade. Talk to any business man about his particular avocations, and get him into the anecdotal strain, and you will find out among what snares an honourable man is compelled to walk day by day. The business man has to battle everywhere with an underground foe.
3. In morals and religion. For fear of seeming cynicism let us not pursue this theme. But the purchase system has no respect for sacred things, and the modern temple, like the ancient temple, has its herd of traffickers, which, if driven out with a whip of cords, would leave the Church of God purer and the homes of England safer. In Nehemiahs case the prophets were bought, and the so-called messengers of God were, Balaam-like, guided not by a star from heaven, but by the glitter of golden coins.
II. Its effects.
1. Personal degradation. To buy a man in a slave-market is to make him but half a man; but to buy a mans soul in a conscience-market is to degrade him from manhood altogether, for in the image of God made he man. To buy from some poor man his birthright of honour, to take away a mans Christ and leave him thirty pieces of silver as an equivalentthat is devils work in the doer, and it is damnation in him in whom the thing is done.
2. General disorganization. The great laws of this world are just, and all departure from them must work downfall. Violation of the laws of health is a wandering towards death. Corruption and jobbing in the state means rottenness and downfall of a nation. Bribery in trade is a missing of the mark, a sin against the true end of trade, and its revenge is sure.
3. Hindrance of all good. The Achan gold-ingot in the tent makes Gods army of righteousness weak. Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
III. Its cure.
1. The first ingredient of the cure is self-denial. They all do it is no matter; you had better not. We can only win in this fight by having the courage to lose (1Sa. 12:2-5).
2. The second is resolute unmercifulness to the briber. For the good of the community and the glory of God let the bribers head be stuck on a pole.
3. The third is trust in God and faith in right. God is strong, and if we will honour him he will honour us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh at the petty power of bribery. Great is truth, and shall prevail, is not a motto to be illuminated on a card, but to be illustrated in a life.
Application. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Let that be the guiding law of life and have faith in its success, and it shall succeed.
FIFTY-TWO DAYS WORK
Neh. 6:15. So the wall was finished in fifty and two days
To draw a circumference of fortifications of such dimensions in such short time was no doubt a great engineering feat. The pluck, decision, promptness, and laborious industry and despatch of such a task are very stimulating to read of. Let us, however, make a parable of the story, and use the text as a motto of a deeper theme. The circling year furnishes us with fifty-two days of special work for God. The wall-building of Christian Nehemiahs in the spiritual city of God is mainly done on Sundays, of which the year supplies fifty-two or thereabouts. Of that fifty-two days and of their work let us speak. Fifty-two Sundays.
I. How quickly they pass! To a child how slow the movement from Sunday to Sundaywhat a space in the great time-field! But to a worn, worried, work-wearied man a week is but a quick flash of days, swifter than a weavers shuttle. Monday with its yawnings and stretchings, Tuesday with its markets, Wednesday with its solid tasks, Thursday with its deeper toil, Friday with its haste to get it done, Saturday with its summing up and its payments, and then the Sabbath bell and all the associations of the house of God. It is a quick passage from Sunday to Sunday. We soon round a circle of fifty-two. The first Sunday of the year, with its cheery, greeting sermon of hope, and then in a little while the last Sunday, with its solemn review and reflection. It soon goes, this year of Sundays.
1. How many circles have you passed?
2. How many more do you look for?
II. What opportunities they furnish!
1. What opportunities of REST! The glory of the Sabbath as a rest day, the pillow of the work-wearied world. The RIGHTS OF MAN in this matter.
2. What opportunities of spiritual friendship! The Sabbath a great holiday and reunion of kindred hearts. The gathering of the brotherhood of Christians in their souls home.
3. What opportunities of Divine instruction! The lessons rubbed off the slate during the week, or rubbed into indefinite blurs; the new writing of Gods word on the tablets of the heart.
4. What opportunities of moral renewal! The religious recreative power of Sabbath thoughts and engagements.
5. What opportunities of refreshing HOPE! Gods promises breaking like stars upon the soul escaped from the glare of the worlds gas-lamps. Gods heaven descending upon the eye of meditation, like the Now Jerusalem which John saw. End your Sabbath with St. Johns vision at the close of Revelation. Fifty-two Sundays! what golden coins from Gods mint.
III. What results they leave!
1. In memory, (a) Truths taught. (b) Memories cherished.
2. In life. (a) If improved. Growing Christian characteranother ring of fortification against the world, the flesh, and the devil. (b) If unimproved. A hardening of the moral sense, a deadening of the power of truth, a deepening of the fatal work of worldliness.
3. For judgment. (a) Condemnation, if abused. (b) Safety, if used.
Application.
1. Thank God for the day of days.
2. Use each day as it comes.
3. Determine upon a rounded result for each cycle of fifty-two.
THE GODWARD SIDE OF THINGS
Neh. 6:16. They perceived that this work was wrought of our God.
An outer and an inner view. They all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done (Neh. 6:9). The work went on; the wall was finished. 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. (Neh. 6:16). There is an upper and an under side to many things. Work man-ward or work God-ward.
I. Work Divinely inspired. The good hand of God that was upon him, Nehemiah is never tired of recognizing. I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.Isaiah. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, I have ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.Jeremiah. I was no prophet, neither was I a prophets son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.Amos. I must work the works of him that sent me. As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.Jesus. The Lord spake to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace.Acts of Apostles. I was in the Spirit, and heard behind me a great voice, saying, What thou seest, write.St. John. More to the same tune and words in biography of martyr and missionary saint and apostle of modern times. These great master spirits of the world are not so much distinguished, after all, by the acts they do, as by the sense itself of some mysterious girding of the Almighty upon them, whose behests they are set on to fulfil. And all men may have this; for the humblest and commonest have a place and a work assigned them, in the same manner, and have it for their privilege to be always ennobled in the same lofty consciousness. God is girding every man for a place and a calling. Every human soul has a complete and perfect plan cherished for it in the heart of Goda Divine biography marked out, which it enters into life to live. This life, rightly unfolded, will be a complete and beautiful whole; an experience led on by God and unfolded by his secret nurture, as the trees and the flowers by the secret nurture of the world; a drama cast in the mould of a perfect art, with no part wanting; a Divine study for the man himself, and for othersa study that shall for ever unfold, in wondrous beauty, the love and faithfulness of God; great in its conception, great in the Divine skill by which it is shaped; above all, great in the momentous and glorious issues it prepares. What a thought is this for every human soul to cherish! What dignity does it add to life! What support does it bring to the trials of life! What instigations does it add to send us onward in everything that constitutes our excellence! We live in the Divine thought. We fill a place in the great everlasting plan of Gods intelligence. We never sink below his care, never drop out of his counsel.Bushnell.
II. Workers Divinely helped. It is not strange that Sanballat saw that the wall-building was wrought of Israels God. The trouble with Gods enemies is not that their knowledge is defective, but that their hearts are alienated. Evidences are multiplying constantly before them, but produce no change in their opposition. Sanballat was vexed because he was thwarted by the Lord God of Israel. Those fifty-two days of wall-building were clearly to his mind a token of Divine assistance; but this knowledge did not stop his opposition.Crosby. Nevertheless the work was hastened; the opposition was resisted; then all was finished. God is at work where he is needed. Our God is a living God. He is a present God. He is a God who inspires men to-day. He is as mindful of us as was Jesus of the hungry, shepherdless crowds of Juda (Mat. 10:36; Mat. 14:14-16). God is at work when he is not perceived. The fabric cannot be judged in the loom. Our life is sectional. God sees the end as well as the beginning. There may be periods of life when the thought of God is not forced in upon us. But when life becomes only a consciousness of suffering, what then?
Be near me when my light is low,
When the blood creeps, and the nerves prick
And tingle, and the heart is sick,
And all the wheels of being slow.
When duty is plain, but the will is wanting, there is stimulus in the remembrance of God which worketh in you both to will and to do. When the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak, then may we hear the still, small voice of promise: My strength is made perfect in weakness. And when the tasks of life are completed we shall perceive that the work was wrought of our God.
ILLUSTRATIVE POEM.
THE BUILDERS.
ALL are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show,
Strengthens and supports the rest.
For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.
Truly shape and fashion these;
Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
Such things will remain unseen.
In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care,
Each minute and unseen part;
For the Gods see everywhere.
Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house, where Gods may dwell,
Beautiful, entire, and clean.
Else our lives are incomplete,
Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble as they seek to climb.
Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
Shall to-morrow find its place.
Thus alone can we attain
To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
And one boundless reach of sky.
Longfellow.
THE OVERRULING GOD
Neh. 6:16. 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.
If we consult the Jewish history, we soon understand what the work was which is here confessed (though unwillingly, it seems) to have been wrought of God; it was the rebuilding of Jerusalem upon the return of that people to their own land, after a total destruction of the one, and a grievous captivity of the other, by a cruel and unrelenting conqueror. This great and surprising event (a bondage of seventy years having worn out all their hopes, and left them no reasonable prospect of deliverance) must have been brought about in a way very wonderful indeed, and sufficiently astonishing, since, according to the text, whatever favourable circumstances might appear, or second causes be instrumental in it, the hand of God was owned apparently to give effect unto it by enemies, whose malice sought the ruin of their state; by heathens, whose religion abhorred the object of their worship. What occasioned an acknowledgment so just and so ingenuous, when we consider what was wrought; so strange and unusual, when we reflect upon the temper and interests of those who, to their shame and disappointment, made it, may be learned, I conceive, from that prevailing instinct in mankind which disposes us to look up for an overruling cause when any extraordinary accidents happen here below. And, indeed, if we do confess any miraculous alterations in the natural, we are obliged to conclude a Divine Power immediately directing the great revolutions of the civil, world.
I. God is truly Lord, and his kingdom ruleth over all the earth. Now Christians we know are to suppose this article to be true as having the Word of God himself a voucher for it; because with them at least no human argument ought to dispute against his authority. The prophecies of the Old Testament prove a Divine prescience, and the promises of the New allow God to be concerned for his Church. It follows then that no contingencies can escape his observation, nor contrivances disappoint his designs. Would we appeal to reason, testimony, or experience, more to satisfy the scruples or to silence the petulancy of other men than to obtain and secure the belief of this point unto ourselves, here also we are safe.
1. Why so profuse a waste of wisdom and of power in the formation and contrivance of the world, if it might not deserve his future care, who at first condescended to the making of it? Or, how indeed could it continue to exist in all that beauty and order which we so much admire had he ever withdrawn his hand, upon whom it always must depend, because it was created by him. Hence, if man be the noblest part, he is the peculiar object of the Divine care, nay, he seems to need it most; and then from the goodness of God we conclude him entitled to the distinguishing protection of it. This cannot be expressed or turned to our use unless all events are under his eye, and all our counsels are submitted to his rule; considering how little we can foresee of what is to come, able less to provide against it; how much we are in the dark as to consequences from the management of other men, and at a loss what to promise even from ourselves. This way of reasoning holds stronger yet with regard to public communities than to private persons; here in this life are they only to be taken notice of, here only, in the visible scenes of human occurrences, can Providence appear concerned for them. And though government be an ordinance and a blessing too from God, yet how often without are fightings and within are fears? And who can prevent or compose these disorders but he alone who restraineth the spirit of princes and stilleth the madness of the people. Then when God giveth quietness who can give trouble? Whether it be done for or against a nation or a man only.
2. Whatever difficulties the metaphysical considerations of a few, whatever disgrace the superstitious abuses of more, have brought upon it, yet the solemnity of public worship and the sincerity of private prayer, the allowed obligations of an oath, and the unavoidable effects of conscience, declare mankind subscribing to this truth. In fact, the most desperate and independent tempers, upon some unusual emergencies, have been subdued to a confession of it. To this copious and instructive theme do we owe all those noble sentiments of heathen philosophy which advance human nature above the casualties of fortune, and support the efforts of virtue against the tyranny of fate. From hence did ancient tragedy dress its awful scenes and take its affecting images, to represent a superior dominion over all; which may mysteriously perplex for a while, yet at last conducts the puzzling incidents to an end, confessing equity and right. What in truth is history but a long detail of Gods interfering providence?
3. We ourselves are living witnesses. If any of us have ever at a venture drawn our bow, and hit at once surprisingly a mark that others with the most likely skill have often sought to touch in vain, who directed our arrow? If ever the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, who causes our feet to stumble, and gives success unto the weak? Second causes are the servants of his will, who is truly Lord of what we call nature or mistake for chance.
II. We may inquire by what characters a work such as the text is speaking of may be perceived to be wrought of our God. It is not always easy nor even safe boldly to point out what God has done. Yet he does sometimes so show himself as that we may perceive his hand. We are often called upon to see the wonderful operations of it. Where any event comes to pass beyond the reasonable expectations of mankind, or any effect is produced by means altogether unequal to it, an invisible Mind is plainly concerned in the one, and a supernatural Cause actually gives birth unto the other. If an event thus strangely brought about eminently consults the honour of Gods holy name and the maintenance of true religion and the prosperity of the people, in these instances God appears. Upon such occasions, doubtless, we may say the arm of the Lord has been revealed, and we have seen the salvation of our God.Ross Ley, 1727.
THE WORLDS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD
Neh. 6:16. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard, &c.
The success of Nehemiah against such odds proved the success to be Divinely given. They, the enemies, perceived that this work was wrought of God. Worlds acknowledgment of God.
I. Worlds past acknowledgment of God.
1. Biblical instances. The Bible story is the story of Gods works and wonders of salvation, and all through that story we see this:the world struggling like a maniac in paroxysms of wickedness, but now and again bowing down and crying, Its no use; the Lord he is God, the Lord he is God! The magicians in Egypt threw down their conjuring tools, and exclaimed of Gods miracles by Moses, This is the finger of God. The heathen peoples of whom we read in the book of Daniel now and then confess the living God, and sob like resisting children whose spirits are broken, that he is the living God, and steadfast for ever. The sailors in the book of Jonah exemplify the same thing. The people around the cross smite their breasts and own, Truly this was the Son of God. The magistrates and rulers in the book of Acts make tacit or open confessions of the same thing. All through the Bible story we have illustrations of this text.
2. Later instances. Early Church history, martyr stories, stories of heathen lands submitting to the gospel, confessions of men who thought themselves infidels, but who were forced like the brute in Balaams story to speak for Godthese furnish exemplifications of this great principle, a rebellious world owning Gods presence and power.
II. Worlds present acknowledgment of God.
1. Unconscious acknowledgment. Think of the way Christianity penetrates the life of our modern world; take England for example. Our throne is based on Gods word. A representative of the Christian religion gives the Queen her crown. Our legal oath is taken on Gods gospel; that little book is kissed by the villain in our law courts, and it is supposed that if he ever did speak the truth, he will with that book before him. A seventh part of our time is devoted to education concerning God. Our books, our pictures, our music are full of him. The world gives an unconscious chorus of acknowledgment.
2. Unwilling acknowledgment. The testimony of sceptics to the morals of Christianity. John Stuart Mill would have the life of Jesus taught in our schools. The new lights of our time steal their oil from Hebrew seers and lawgivers and from Christian apostles, and strike their matches on the covers of the Bible, and then run out with their paper lanterns of essays and theories. Oh, the blindness of the fools who are trying to illuminate the world on new systems, and who pretend not to know that the world can see Gods word to be the main pipe of their illuminations.
3. Frank acknowledgment. How many worldlings dare deny God? When Christianity takes them by the button they say, You are right, and we are wrong, and we shall perhaps come round to you when we have had our fling. They are cast down in their own eyes, for they perceive that this work is wrought of our God.
III. The worlds future acknowledgment.
1. Willing. How prophecy lights up the worlds future. Men shall confess God. Instance prophecies of this.
2. Enforced. The tremendous confession of the last day: Behold, he cometh in the clouds, and every eye shall see him, &c. What a melancholy thought that men shall fight against God until he has built the wall which fences them out of hope.
Application.
1. Make acknowledgment of God.
2. Now. Choose ye this day.
OPPOSITIONS OF INFLUENCE
Neh. 6:17-19. Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah, &c.
Tobiah, the foe outside Nehemiahs ranks, and the nobles of Judah inside, were eminent and influential persons, who were a sore thorn to the good man. He fought against an influential opposition, and suggests to us other oppositions of influence.
I. Influence is opposed to Gods work. Influence and respectability! A man with a hundred a year may be orthodox in belief, and diligent in Christian work, as in the Sunday-school and in the prayer-meeting, but this man perhaps invents a new kind of blacking, and makes 2000 a year by it, or his aunt dies and leaves him 5000 a year: the man is the same man, but his income is changed, and you do not find him in the Sunday-school any more; the night air is dangerous, so he absents himself from the prayer-meeting. Is not this a true story? The man has become an influential man. Respectability! In one of our law trials a man described another as respectable. What do you mean by respectable? said the judge. Why, explained the witness, he kept a gig! Now it is a fact that such a mans sneer at religion has weight. If he had no gig I should think him a fool to say what he says; but he has a gig, and his opinion is not to be set aside. I know a man who worked as a schoolmaster for 100 per annum, and he fought Christs battle then in a ragged school; but he got a berth at 850 per annum as a school inspector, and five months later resigned the ragged school and became broad in his views. This is the kind of influence most of us come in contact with, and this is its natural history.
II. Influence is contemptible in its opposition. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed. He that sitteth in the heavens shall LAUGH; the Lord shall have them in derision.
1. Their power is contemptible. Crowns, sceptres, swords, cannons, thrones, statutes, put these in one scale, and then put the short, uncertain life of man which a pin-prick can destroy in the other scale. Look through the drapery at the man, and who is he among these everlasting hills of earth, and these rolling histories of the human race, and these solemn eternities of God? What a manikin to play such fantastic tricks before high heaven! Cash-boxes and gigs and villasah me! as the Chelsea sage would say, what things these are to sway the immortal minds of men! Death breathes on influence, and then we have a white marble stone with some poetry on it, and that is the last of influence.
2. Their opposition is contemptible. A Galilean sat down on a green hill-side and talked golden rules to a crowd of country-folk, that was how it began. And Influence has drawn its sword and bent its bow against Christianity for near 2000 years, and now it gives colour to every lofty thing among the first nations of earth, and millions crowd in fear to own its divinity every Sabbath day, and like a stone down a mountain-side it rolls on its omnipotent course. Do not let us exaggerate influence.
III. Influence has to be dealt with.
1. Do not let us provoke it. If the lion is asleep and you can pass the den without waking it, let it sleep on. Do not make martyrdoms. As a rule, let the martyrs crown come like other honour, unsought. But if it come hail it with a doxology.
2. Do not let us be afraid of it. (a) Its power is often hollow. The godless judge who tries the prisoner trembles and says, Go thy way for this time; the King Agrippa of this world says in dainty jest (with a grim reality concealed), Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian! Influence sneers at you, and then goes to bed and lies awake all night wondering if you are not right after all. (b) Do not let it sway your convictions. The bare stern front of Gods truth must be more potent with us than any form which presents itself to our eye or our imagination. Let no mans life or opinion be a necessary factor with us as we sit solitary, making up the great reckoning of life. Do not copy from anothers slate. You have to do the sum yourself. (c) Do not let it damp your hope. God is strong. Truth is mighty. To Jesus Christ all power is given in heaven and on earth. The crash of fallen influence in history is but a feeble prophecy of the downfall of it hereafter. He must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet.
Application.
1. Rightly estimate the worth and weight of things temporal.
2. Duly ponder the eternal life and power of things Divine.
3. Trust simply in God.
DESERTERS
Neh. 6:17-18. 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.
Meshullam wrought well at the wall-building (Neh. 3:4); but he ensnared himself. The nobles had not retained a pure faith and an unfaltering patriotism. Under the influence of personal interests they forgot the commonwealth.
I. The secret of desertion. Lot went down to Sodom under the impulse of a worldly choice; and its consequences were that he left part of his family there to encounter the doom-storm, and with the rest brought away the taint of a worldly spirit (Genesis 19). Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world (2Ti. 4:10). Thus patriarch and apostle bridge the gulf of centuries by a similar experience of the fatal consequences of worldly alliances; Old Testament and New proclaim the need of nonconformity. The nobles were not outwardly at feud with Nehemiah. Their duplicity made them dangerous. Hand and tongue were seemingly engaged in the good cause; heart had long since deserted it. In soul they were men of the world, who had their portion in this life.
1. In self-cultivation the graver danger is from within. To repress passion harder than to resist tempter. The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. Could we say that temptation would be powerless. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. When the tree is desired it needs hardly a serpents voice to cause us to eat of the fruit thereof.
2. In the prosecution of any good task fear most friends treachery. The untiring opposition of foes may be met by sleepless vigilance; the luke-warmness of friends is fatal to progress. We are dependent on co-operation.
II. Practical unworldliness. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness (2Co. 6:14)? Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:11). In some soils the plant of piety cannot thrive. Men pray to be kept from temptation and then boldly enter into it. If in any society I cannot retain my purity, if under any set of circumstances I am unable to maintain my integrity, let me forsake that companionship, avoid that position. Where duty calls follow the sacred voice, and God shall give his angels charge concerning thee. But if pleasure or passion or curiosity bid thee enter, beware. That way ruin lies. Moral deterioration has begun. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away (Pro. 4:14-15).
Illustrations:What Paul writes concerning false brethen (2Co. 11:26), that has Nehemiah also experienced for his portion. And it is indeed one of the heaviest griefs of the true servants of God, when they must see that those connected with them in religion, yes, indeed, at times their colleagues, who labour with them in the same work, stand in prejudicial intercourse with the enemies of Christ and his Church, and yet wish to be considered as co-members, striving for the honour of God. Those whom God awakens for spiritual building should conduct themselves circumspectly and courageously against the snares of the enemy, and not allow themselves to be frightened off by their slander, but cheerfully proceed. In the end the enemy will be cast down with fear in their consciences, and must acknowledge that the work is of God (Act. 5:39). When we wander in the midst of anxiety God refreshes us, and stretches his hand over the rage of his enemies, and helps us with his right hand (Psa. 97:10).Starke.
I care not at all for an open enemy of the Church, such as the Papists, with their power and persecutions; I regard them not, for by them the true Church cannot receive hurt, nor can they hinder Gods word; nay, the Church, through their raging and persecution, rather increases. But it is the inward evil of false brethren that will do mischief to the Church. Judas betrayed Christ; the false apostles confused and falsified the gospel. Such are the real fellows through whom the devil rages and spoils the Church.Luther.
What every one is in Gods sight, that is he, and no more.St. Francis of Assisi.
The fervent and diligent man is prepared for all things. It is harder to resist vices and passions than to toil in bodily labours. Be watchful over thyself, stir up thyself, warn thyself, and whatsoever becomes of others, neglect not thyself.Thomas Kempis.
Some professors of religion resemble trees, the leaves of which fall off when winter approaches, but appear again when the season becomes more favourable and mild; for in the winter of adversity they conceal their lusts, and restrain their sinful propensities; but when prosperity smiles upon them they break out again, as at the first, and recruit themselves with further supplies of folly and of vanity. This is a genuine evidence of hypocrisy; for nothing is more hateful to a real Christian than such conduct, who in all circumstances, and under very vicissitude, whether public or private, is always the same, and remains unalterably fixed in his God. He preserves an uniform piety both in prosperity and adversity, in poverty and in affluence, steadily cleaving to God, and meeting with resignation every affliction that Providence lays upon him.John Arndt.
THE BAD MAN PRAISED
Neh. 6:19. They reported his good deeds before me
The nobles of Judah reporting Tobiahs good deeds to Nehemiah is a piece of humorous irony often repeated. What heroes this world does select! Not this man, but Barabbas! Historians have made rose-coloured villains into heroes. Poets have set to bewitching music names that ought to blister the tongue. Preachers have written original and beautiful sermons to whitewash poor Cain and Judas and Pilate, and, like the Scotch minister of the story, have looked with almost admiration, at least with sympathy, on the poor deil. Sometimes this is mawkish perverted sentiment, sometimes cant. The bad man praised.
I. Bad men do get praised.
1. Sometimes this praise is real. (a) No man without some trait of good. A hand strewed flowers on Neros grave. The dark rock of guilt may be streaked with a thread of gold or sparkle with some spot of crystal. This is the handle for the mans redemption, but not a peg on which to hang draperies to hide real evil. (b) A bad habit of life may be broken by occasional goodness. The miser gives money away, the merciless has a tender thought, the bad does a good action contrary to all the common strain of his life. These do not compound for the evil, but are Gods calls and strivings asserting and demonstrating themselves.
2. Sometimes this praise is mistaken. (a) The bad seldom shows a bold front of hardness, but winds a rose garland round his sin and cover sit with hypocritical pretensions. A man can generally give a virtuous explanation of vice, or at least an explanation that leans toward virtue. The cant of goodness, of which the world speaks bitterly at times, is nothing compared with the cant of badness. (b) Courteous conciliation of persons often throws dust in the eyes of the world. A man who bows gracefully to me is in danger of compelling a too favourable interpretation of his deeds to others. Let us not French-polish wickedness. Softened names of things, graceful euphemisms for bad things in place of the sword-cuts of Saxon speech, have often made blame sound very like praise.
3. Sometimes this praise is fictitious altogether. (a) In eulogizing a bad man other men are frequently praising their own likeness. (b) Eulogy of the evil man is often a subtle way of reflecting suspicion on moral standards.
II. Bad men are anxious for praise. No bad man wishes to be considered bad.
1. In this there is a sentence of condemnation. In hunting for false praise an evil man is but subpoenaing witnesses against his own real inner self. Every sound of undeserved praise is a sentence against the hidden man of the heart.
2. In this there is an indirect homage to virtue. You do not believe evil to be good; you want the evil to be called a good that it is not. To waft the incense of praise to a bad man is to confess there is a noble style of manhood worthy of praise.
3. In this anxiety for praise the bad man is frequently at as much trouble as it would cost him to gain the goodness he seeks credit for. To pretend is nearly as difficult a task as to be. If self-defence could kneel down and become prayer, if seeming could break its bonds and strive for reality, the bad man might deserve the character he would like to hold in the estimation of the world.
III. Bad men are not hidden by the praise of the world.
1. Good men detect. There is a subtle power of penetration in goodness. As the calm eyes of honesty look into the blinking eyes of the liar, the lie stands exposed. And this is a sore trouble to the evil man. He forgets the praise of fifty fools while reflecting on the unspoken censure of one wise man. Csar complains in the poem of that spare Cassius who looks quite through the deeds of men. Haman finds that all this honour availeth him nothing so long as Mordecai sits with his still dark eye to look into his real soul.
2. God detects.
1. Now. Amid the music of mens flattery comes the boom of Gods censure. In the banqueting chamber the fingers of God write fiery sentences to be read in the pauses of the revel.
2. Hereafter. Every man must give account of himself to God. The ears will soon be stopped to mens praise, the eye will have no power to look on the fawning smile of the flatterer any more; one voice will fill the ear, one sight fix the eyeGodGodGodthe most worthy Judge eternal.
Application.
1. Do not be discouraged by this misdirected praise. Live for Gods praise. Be thy praise my highest aim, be thy smile my chief delight.
2. Do not be deceived into any lowering of the standard of righteousness.
ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 6
SENTENCES FROM OLD WRITERS
I. Opponents (Neh. 6:1-4). Another let to the good work in hand. That in the fourth chapter was external only; that in the fifth internal only; this here is mixed, that is, partly cast in by the enemies without (those cruel crafties), and partly helped on by the perfidious prophets and ignobles within, conspiring with the enemy against the good of their own country. The rest of our enemies. The Churchs enemies are not a few (1Co. 16:9). She is like unto a silly poor maid, saith Luther, sitting in a wood or wilderness, compassed about with hungry wolves, lions, boars, bears, assaulting her every moment and minute. The ground of all is that old enmity (Gen. 3:15). Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me. As if solicitous of my safety, and careful of the common good. Nehemiah well knew that all this pretended courtesy was but dross upon dirt, a fair glove drawn upon a foul hand, a cunning collusion to undo him. He therefore keeps aloof. Our deceitful hearts do too often draw us away from the prosecution of good purposes, by casting many other odd impertinent matters in our way. Nehemiah went not, but sent. This was to be wise as a serpent. God calleth us not to a weak simplicity, but alloweth us as much of the serpent as of the dove, and telleth us that a serpents eye in a doves head is a singular accomplishment. Nehemiah was the driver-on of the business. His hands were full of employment. Lot the tempter ever find us busy, and he will depart discouraged; as Cupid is said to do from the Muses, whom he could never take idle. An industrious Nehemiah is not at leisure to parley with Sanballat, lest if he let any water go beside the mill he should be a great loser by it. His employment is as a guard or good angel, to keep him both right and safe. They sent unto me four times. As thinking to prevail by their importunity. Sin hath woaded an impudency in some mens faces. We may style Nehemiah as one doth Athanasius, the bulwark of truth, the Churchs champion. True love teaches us to be angry with none but ourselves. True peace consists not in having much wealth, but in bearing patiently whatever goes against our nature. If thou canst be silent and suffer, without doubt thou shalt see that the Lord will help thee. Regard not much who is for thee, or against thee; but mind what thou art about, and take care that God may be with thee in everything thou doest. It belongs to God to help, and to deliver from all confusion.
II. The tongue (Neh. 6:5-9). It is reported. And therefore must be true. But who knows not that rumour is a loud liar, and that every public person needeth carry a spare handkerchief to wipe off dirt cast upon him by disaffected persons, that seek to fly-blow their reputation and to deprave their best actions. Gashmu saith so. A worthy wight, a credible witness! He was known to be one that had taught his tongue the art of lying. Any author serves Sanballats turn, who for a need could have sucked such an accusation as this out of his own fingers. If dirt will stick to a mud wall, yet to marble it will not. Nehemiah is not over-careful to clear himself. This was so transparent a lie that a man might see through it, and was, therefore, best answered with a neglective denial. It falls out often that plain dealing puts craft out of countenance. Faith quelleth and killeth distrustful fear. These men first mock the Jews, and scornfully despise them for enterprising this building, thinking by this means to discourage poor souls, that they should not go forward in this work; after that they charge them with rebellion. These two be the old practices of Satan in his members to hinder the building of Gods house in all ages. Empty vessels are full of sound; discreet silence, or a wise ordering of speech, is a token of grace. Better a mountain fall upon you than the weight of your own tongue. A pure heart is the tongues treasury and storehouse. It is observable, that when the apostle giveth us the anatomy of wickedness in all the members of the body, he stayeth longest on the organs of speech, and goeth over them all: Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. One reckoneth up twenty-four several sins of the tongue. Light words weigh heavy in Gods balance. God in nature would show that he hath set bounds to the tongue, he hath hedged it in with a row of teeth. Other organs are double; we have two eyes, two ears, but one tongue. Christianity doth not take away the use of speech, but rule it. Slanderers are the devils slaves. Covetousness sold Christ, and envy delivered him. Contemplate the life of Jesus, who did not so much as open his mouth against his enemies, nor pour forth any bitter and vehement speeches, but gave blessing and life to those that hated him. Oftentimes I could wish that I had held my peace when I have spoken. It is easier not to speak a word at all than not to speak more words than we should.
III. False prophets (Neh. 6:10-14). Shemaiah. Fallen, as a star from heaven! Blazing stars were never but meteors. Demas not only forsook Paul, but became a priest in an idols temple at Thessalonica, if Dorotheus may be believed. A priest Shemaiah was, and would seem to be a prophet; but he proved not right (1Ch. 24:6). All is not gold that glitters. Nehemiah went to Shemaiahs house to know what was the matter, supposing him to be a friend, but finding him suborned by the enemy. Nothing betrays a man sooner than his causeless fear. God helpeth the valiant. Should such a man as I flee? To the dishonour of God, and the discouraging of the people? to the scandal of the weak, and the scorn of the wicked? There is a comeliness, a seemliness, a suitableness appertain; to every calling and condition of life; and nature hath taught heathens themselves to argue from dignity to duty, and to scorn to do anything unworthy of themselves. The heavens shall sooner fall than I will forsake the truth, said a martyr. Life in Gods displeasure is worse than death; as death in his true favour is true life. I perceived that God had not sent him. By my spiritual sagacity I smelt him out; as having my inward senses habitually exercised to discern good and evil. What though we have not received the spirit of the world (we cannot cog and comply as they can, yet), we have received a better thing, the Spirit of God, the mind of Christ (1Co. 2:12; 1Co. 2:16). He pronounced this prophecy against me. To make my righteous soul sad with his lies, and to bring me to disgrace and danger. Luther was wont to advise preachers to see that these three dogs did not follow them into the pulpit: pride, covetousness, and envy. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. A minister, as he should have nothing to lose, so he should have as little to get; he should be above all price or sale. Therefore was he hired that I should be afraid. But they were much mistaken in their aims; this matter was not malleable. Nehemiah was a man of a Caleb-like spirit; he was full of spiritual mettle, for he knew whom he had trusted. Nehemiah feared nothing but sin, and the fruit thereof, shame and reproach, so great was his spirit, so right set were both his judgment and affections. We should so carry ourselves that none might speak evil of us without a manifest lie. The rest of the prophets. Multitude and antiquity are but ciphers in divinity.
IV. Foes foiled (Neh. 6:15-19). So the wall was finished. Though with much ado, and maugre the malice of all foreign and intestine enemies. So shall the work of grace in mens hearts; it is perfected there by opposition, and grows gradually, but constantly and infallibly. God was much seen herein, and the enemies courage much quailed. Envy is the devils disease, and those that are troubled with it can never want woe.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT
F. The enemies resort to tactics of diversion, but the wall is completed.
1. Sanballat and Geshem plot treachery through invitation to a conference.
TEXT, Neh. 6:1-4
1
Now it came about when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,
2
that Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono. But they were planning to harm me.
3
So I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?
4
And they sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.
COMMENT
In Neh. 6:1 the full threesome from Neh. 2:19 are present once more, plus other enemies. Geshem, ruler over Arabia though not necessarily an Arabian, may have been the most powerful figure of them all, as his territory was larger than the others. The statement that the doors had not been hung in the gates is another indication that chapter 3 had carried the story clear through, and chapters 46 go back and fill in the details.
In Neh. 6:2 the name of Tobiah is missing, which has provoked speculation that he refused to be implicated in a plot which involved him in violence against a Jewish ruler. Or it may be that he was just waiting his turn with his own scheme. The plot apparently was to single Nehemiah out from his defenders, entice him away from the city to a secluded spot, and assassinate him, or at least give him a sound beating.
Neh. 6:3 gives Nehemiahs reply: he would not be diverted from his work. It was not an out-and-out refusal, but at least he would not consider it until his present work was done; one must not lose sight of his priorities.
Neh. 6:4 indicates that a similar ploy was used, with similar results, three more times.
WORD STUDIES
REMEMBER (Neh. 6:14 : Zakar): from the idea of pricking or piercing comes the idea of penetrating or infixing; thus remembering, recalling, considering.
GESHEM (Neh. 6:1): violent storm, severe shower.
STRENGTHEN (Neh. 6:9 : Chazaq): the primary idea is to bind fast, to gird tight; then to cleave, or adhere firmly.
Things are strengthened by being bound together; a spear may be made stronger by winding it round with a cord. Ones strength seems greater when he has fastened a girdle about his loins.
A very free translation might be, Give my hands stick-to-it-iveness! Or, Link our hands together (with others, or Yours)! Or, Hitch up my belt! Or just Give me strength.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) And the rest of our enemies.The Three always have the pre-eminence.
The doors upon the gates.Within the gates. This parenthesis is a note of historical accuracy, and intimates that what had been before said as to the setting up of the doors (see Nehemiah 3) was by way of anticipation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
MORE TROUBLES FROM THE ENEMY, Neh 6:1-19.
1. Upon the gates Rather, in the gates. The frame-work and walls of the gates were, of course, completed before the doors of the gates were set up. The setting up of the doors mentioned in chapter Neh 3:1; Neh 3:3; Neh 3:6, etc., does not contradict this verse, for that chapter is devoted to an account of the various builders, and the work assigned to each; while chapters iv, v, and vi, narrate events which transpired while the building was going on, and before it was all complete.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Judah’s Adversaries Learn That The Wall Is Completed Apart From The Gateways ( Neh 6:1 ).
Neh 6:1
‘Now it came about, when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, (though even to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),’
The news reaches all the adversaries spoken of in Neh 4:7 that the walls had been completed apart from the gateways, where the doors had not yet been completed and hung. It would cause them no little dismay. It indicated that Jerusalem was once again about to become a power in the land, and that it was now secure. It could no longer be subjected to intimidation. No longer could unidentified armed raiding bands enter it at will. Now it would require investment of a fortified walled city. And that was something that no official in the Persian empire would dare unless they could prove treason. This resulted in a change of tactics on their part. It was no longer a question of discouraging the builders. They recognised that it was now time to dispose of or discredit Nehemiah once and for all before it was finally too late. .
Neh 6:2
‘That Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together in (one of) the villages (or ‘in Hakkephirim’) in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me mischief.’
For this purpose Sanballat, governor of Samaria, and Geshem, king of Kedar and paramount chief of the Arab tribes, came together to plot against him. They called on Nehemiah to meet them at Hakkephirim (or ‘the villages’) in the plain of Ono so as to discuss matters. This was on the north west border of Judah and equi-distant from the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria. But it was also remote enough for things that happened there to be covered up. ‘Sons of Ono’ had been among the first returnees from Babylon (2:33). Nehemiah sensed a trap and determined not to go (‘they sought to do me mischief’). Why else meet in such a remote part of Judah where he would be vulnerable? Furthermore were he to take his armed escort with him it would leave Jerusalem partially defenceless.
Neh 6:3
‘And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a huge (a hugely important) work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?”
So he sent messengers pointing out that he was very busy with finalising the defences of Jerusalem and therefore could not come down. What he was doing was hugely important. Why should he stop the work in order to come down to them? If they wanted to speak to him, why could they not come to Jerusalem?
Neh 6:4
‘And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same way.’
But his opponents were very determined and sent the same message four times. Each time, however, Nehemiah made the same reply. This response to the summons clearly indicates that Nehemiah was not subordinate to Sanballat, whatever may have been the case with past governors. And their very persistence indicates that there was evil work afoot, otherwise they could have suggested a change in venue.
Neh 6:5
Then Sanballat sent his official to me in the same way the fifth time with an open letter in his hand,’
When their attempt failed Sanballat then tried to increase the pressure. He sent his fifth message as an open letter, unsealed. This would mean that anyone could read it, which in view of its contents indicates that Sanballat wanted what was in it to become widely known. He was seeking to build up suspicion against Nehemiah.
Neh 6:6
‘In which was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews think to rebel, for which reason you are building the wall, and you would be their king, according to these words.”
In this letter Sanballat indicated that rumours were rife among the nations that suggested that Nehemiah and the Jews were about to rebel against the Persian empire, and that that was also the opinion of Geshem (Gashmu is simply an alternative name for Geshem). Indeed, they saw that as the reason why they were building the walls of Jerusalem. It appeared to them that Nehemiah wanted to set himself up as king. After all that was precisely what the satrap Megabyzus had tried to do four years earlier. The idea was to frighten Nehemiah into responding to their invitation. They reasoned that he would want to refute the rumours personally. What they failed to consider was that for him to respond to such a letter would itself appear suspicious. It would suggest that there were some grounds for the rumours.
They were not, of course, party to the information that we have, that Artaxerxes had given specific permission for this so as to honour Nehemiah’s ancestors (Neh 2:5-6). Otherwise it might indeed have looked suspicious. Nor probably did they realise that Nehemiah was such a favourite of the king.
With the letter being sent as an open letter they were, of course, guaranteeing that even if such suspicions had not yet arisen, they very soon would. Men would nod wisely as they considered the refortification of Jerusalem. Thus they would be able to vindicate their words.
It has been questioned as to whether Sanballat would use a term like ‘nations’ (goyim), which had strong Jewish connections, but term is also found in the Mari dialect of Akkadian (goyum/gawum), whilst in the Scriptures it has a wider significance than that of just ‘Gentiles’. There are therefore no solid grounds on which to reject its use by Sanballat.
Neh 6:7
“And you have also appointed prophets to preach concerning you 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.’
They also accused him of appointing prophets who were proclaiming in Jerusalem that ‘there is a king in Judah’. Their words may well have been based on distorted knowledge of the fact that Haggai and Zechariah had seemingly proclaimed something similar (e.g. Hag 2:4-9; Hag 2:21-23; Zec 2:8-12; Zec 6:1-13; Zec 9:9-10; Zec 14:16). They were clearly aware of the important part played by prophets in Judah’s politics (e.g. Samuel; Nathan; etc.) and even in Samaria’s own politics (Elisha).
However, their threat to report the matter to Artaxerxes gave them away. If they had really believed what they were saying they should already have reported the matter to Artaxerxes, or at least have taken major steps to discover their genuineness. The claims were hardly insignificant. It will be noted that they nowhere suggest that they have any proof. It is quite apparent that they were simply hoping that he would take fright and respond to their request for consultation.
Neh 6:8
‘Then I sent to him, saying, “There are no such things done as you are saying, but you pretend them out of your own heart.”
Nehemiah replied boldly. He answered them by declaring that what they were saying was purely their own invention, and that it was all a load of nonsense. He was clearly sure of his own ground. Indeed, it would be very unlikely that Nehemiah had not sent messages to the king reporting his progress on the work, and he may well have indicated some of the opposition that he was facing. He would have been keeping the king well informed of the situation. He would thus suffer no qualms at their threats. What he would be concerned about was that their words might discourage the people of Judah.
Neh 6:9
‘ For they would all have made us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened from the work, that it be not done. But now, (O God), strengthen you my hands.”
That he saw through their tactics comes out in these words. They were trying to frighten the people of Judah who would remember Artaxerxes’ reaction the last time that they had tried to build the walls (Ezr 4:7-24). To Nehemiah Artaxerxes was a friend, but to the people he was a dread monarch. Thus were they trying to weaken their hands so that they would not go ahead with the finalising of the defences. And so he prays that God will strengthen his hands as he continues to encourage them.
An Attempt is Made To Make Nehemiah Play The Coward, And To Cause Him To Commit Sacrilege (Neh 6:10-14).
Shemaiah was clearly a recognised prophet (Neh 6:12, compare also Neh 6:14) and thus an invitation by him for Nehemiah to visit him because he was ‘shut up’ or ‘restrained’ would not be suspicious, especially as he probably claimed that he had a word for him from YHWH. He probably claimed to be ‘shut up’ or ‘restrained’ because he was involved in fasting and prophetic, even ecstatic, meditation. His prophecy, like much prophecy, is given in prophetic verse. This may have been in order to convince Nehemiah of its genuineness. The gist of it was that Nehemiah’s enemies were sending assassins to slay him so that he should hide himself with him in the Temple where they would not dare enter.
Alternately he may have wanted to give Nehemiah the impression that he had shut himself up in his house because he too was in fear of assassination. This idea can be seen as supported by his suggestion that they both hide in the Temple. But that very suggestion was an attempt to lull Nehemiah into not being averse to the idea. If a prophet could do it, why not him?
Either way it seems clear, either that he hoped that Nehemiah’s sense of superiority would make him ignore the fact that strictly he was forbidden to enter the Temple, or that he himself could make him feel that a word from YHWH overruled such a prohibition. After all Ezekiel had declared that there would be a place for ‘the prince’ within the Temple (Eze 44:3; Eze 46:1-2). Why not then Nehemiah? Indeed, both he and Nehemiah’s enemies may well have thought that a cosseted favourite of the Persian court might easily dismiss what he saw as a few ‘Jewish idiosyncrasies’, thus bringing him into disrepute with the priests. He and they would have been unaware of what a godly man he was
Nehemiah was appalled for two reasons. Firstly at the thought that he should hide himself away like a coward, and secondly at the thought that he should defile the Temple. If he did such things how could he ever face the people? They had no place to hide from the threats that surrounded them, nor would the priesthood overlook his sacrilege in entering the Temple building. Indeed, nor would God. It was then that he recognised that this had been an attempt to discredit him and entrap him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Nehemiah Outsmarts His Adversaries Until The Walls Are Completed ( Neh 6:1-19 )
Work on the walls had meanwhile being going on apace with the result that it was finally completed apart from the setting up of the huge doors in the gateways. It was a crucial time, for once the gates were completed and closed Jerusalem would be totally protected. As a consequence his adversaries now attempt new methods of discrediting him. Their focus has now turned from trying to discourage the people of Judah in general, to seeking to dispose of Nehemiah himself in one way or the other. They have clearly recognised that it is he alone who has maintained Judah’s morale, and is the obstacle to their achieving their ends of a continually weak and vulnerable Judah.
The chapter divides into three parts:
Attempts by Sanaballat and Geshem to dispose of or discredit Nehemiah generally (Neh 6:1-9)
An attempt by Sanballat and Tobiah to make him act in such a way as to reveal himself as a coward, fearful of his adversaries (Neh 6:10-14).
The final completion of the wall and an indication of Tobiah’s influence among the Jews and his attempts to undermine Nehemiah (Neh 6:15-19).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Continual Opposition To The Building Of The Wall And Problems Related To It ( Neh 4:1 to Neh 6:14 ).
Meanwhile the work did not go on unopposed. Powerful men were involved in seeking to ensure that the walls were not rebuilt, and that Jerusalem was not re-established. We have already had three of these described to us in Neh 2:19. They were formidable opponents. We now learn about their activity in more detail.
o Initially they operated by using ridicule and threats (Neh 2:19; Neh 4:1-3). They had grave doubts about whether the objective would be achieved. It was after all a massive operation, and there was no one with the authority to enforce the rebuilding by using slave gangs and taskmasters. That was not within Nehemiah’s remit. It depended on voluntary cooperation and popular enthusiasm. They could not believe that the initial enthusiasm would be maintained. But as things progressed they began to fear that they might be wrong.
o Thus when that failed they turned to the idea of using extreme violence (Neh 4:7-11). But that too failed because of the vigilance of Nehemiah, and the stout-heartedness of God’s people, who worked with their swords in their hands.
o Then they five times (Neh 6:4-5) sought to entice Nehemiah to a place where they would be able to do him mischief (Neh 6:2). But he was no fool and once again they found themselves thwarted.
o As a consequence they resorted to suggestions to Nehemiah that in their view treason was involved in the building of the walls which they intended to report to the king of Persia himself along with a report of the activities of treasonable prophets (Neh 6:6-7). To these suggestions Nehemiah gave short shrift. He was confident that his royal master would rely on his trustworthiness.
o This was followed by an invidious attempt through someone who pretended to be friendly to persuade him to act in a cowardly way in order to protect his own life by taking refuge in the Temple along with him (Neh 6:10). But Nehemiah was no coward and roundly dismissed such an idea.
Combined with these activities was the problem of the extreme poverty that resulted for many due to their dedication to the building of the walls. Many had been living on the breadline for decades, scratching an existence from their limited resources, but now the concentration on the building of the walls had tipped them over the edge. They found themselves hungry, and even enslaved by debt, and that by their fellow Jews (Neh 5:1-6). This too was something that Nehemiah had to remedy (Neh 5:7-13).
Meanwhile the work on the wall progressed until it was finally accomplished. Jerusalem was once more a walled city, with its gates secure.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Neh 6:7 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.
Neh 6:7
[44] Josephus writes, “When Zorobabel and the high priest had made this answer, Sisinnes and those that were with him, did not resolve to hinder the building, until they had informed king Darius of all this. So they immediately wrote to him about these affairs; (96) but as the Jews were now under terror, and afraid lest the king should change his resolutions as to the building of Jerusalem and of the temple, there were two prophets at that time amongst them, Haggai and Zechariah, who encouraged them, and bade them be of good cheer, and to suspect no discouragement from the Persians, for that God foretold this to them. So in dependence on those prophets, they applied themselves earnestly to building, and did not intermit one day.” ( Antiquities 11.4.5)
Ezr 6:14-15, “And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.”
Hag 1:1, “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,”
Zec 1:1, “In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,”
1Es 6:1, “Now in the second year of the reign of Darius, Aggeus, and Zacharias the son of Addo, the prophets, prophesied unto the Jews in Jewry and Jerusalem in the name of the Lord God of Israel, which was upon them. Then stood up Zorobabel the son of Salatiel, and Jesus the son of Josedec, and began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, the prophets of the Lord being with them, and helping them.”
1Es 7:3, “And so the holy works prospered, when Aggeus and Zacharias the prophets prophesied.”
Neh 6:13 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.
Neh 6:13
Neh 6:15 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
Neh 6:15
[45] Josephus writes, “Now when he was come to Babylon, and had taken with him many of his countrymen, who voluntarily followed him, he came to Jerusalem in the twenty and fifth year of the reign of XerxesAnd this trouble, he underwent for two years and four months; for in so long a time was the wall built, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Xerxes, in the ninth month.” ( Antiquities 11.5.7-8)
[46] Kathleen Mary Kenyon, Digging up Jerusalem (London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1974), 183-84; Edwin Yamauchi, Ezra, Nehemiah, in vol. 4 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelien, J. D. Douglas, Dick Polcyn (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1976-1992), in Zondervan Reference Software, v. 2.8 [CD-ROM] (Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corp., 1989-2001), comments on Esther 6:15.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Enmity of Sanballat
v. 1. Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, v. 2. that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the Plain of Ono, v. 3. 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? v. 4. Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort, v. 5. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand, v. 6. wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu v. 1. v. 7. And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, v. 8. Then I sent unto him, v. 9.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
SECRET PROCEEDINGS OF SANBALLAT AND HIS FRIENDS TO HINDER THE BUILDING OF THE WALL, AND THEIR FAILURE. THE WALL COMPLETED (Neh 6:1-19.). When the open opposition failed, when it was found that Nehemiah’s arrangements for guarding the wall (Neh 4:13-23) were such that success was not likely to attend the employment of force by the confederates, with such resources as they had at their disposal, and the idea of an assault was therefore given up, recourse was had to artifice and intrigue. First of all, Sanballat sent to propose a meeting between himself, Geshem, and Nehemiah in the open country about Ono, twenty-five or thirty miles from Jerusalem, hoping thus to draw him to a distance from his supporters, and intending to “do him a mischief” (verse 2). Nehemiah, who perceived the snare, declined; but Sanballat persisted, and made four other proposals for conferences, probably varying the place, but all without avail. On the fifth and last occasion the letter sent to Nehemiah was an open one, and taxed him with an intention to rebel and make himself king, an intention which was sure to come to the cars of Artaxerxes, and would bring the Jews into trouble. An open letter on a delicate subject is in the East an insult, and this step of Sanballat’s could only have been taken in order to excite the mind of Nehemiah’s subjects, and to bring pressure to bear on him from them. Nehemiah, however, was not to be intimidated, or diverted from his purpose. He protested that the charge made against him was a pure calumny, invented by Sanballat himself, and still declined a conference (verse 8). Hereupon intrigues began between Sanballat and Tobiah, on the one hand, and some of Nehemiah’s subjects, on the other. Tobiah was connected by marriage with Jews of high position in Jerusalem (verse 18), and had thus an excuse for holding frequent correspondence with them (verse 17). His letters seem to have been allowed free admission into the Jewish capital, and he was thus enabled to cause serious trouble. At one time he addressed Nehemiah himself, and tried to intimidate him (verse 19). At another he worked upon certain members of the prophetical order, and by bribes or promises induced them to become his aiders and abettors. A certain Shemaiah, who appears to have been at once a prophet (verse 12) and a priest (verse 11), allowed himself to be “hired” by Tobiah and Sanballat, and laid a plot to bring Nehemiah into discredit. He sought an interview with the governor, and told him that his life was in dangerhe knew by his prophetic gift that on the very next night an attempt would be made by some one, and Nehemiah would be murderedthat is to say, unless he took precautions. And he had a plan to propose. As a priest, he had free access to the temple building; he would take Nehemiah with him, at some risk to himself, for a bodily impurity made it illegal for him to enter the holy place, and they would pass the night together in the sanctuary. So Nehemiah’s life would be preserved (verse 10). The object was to induce Nehemiah, though a layman, to enter the sanctuary, and so break the law (verse 13). But the simple manliness and straightforward piety of the governor frustrated this plot also. “Should a man in my position run away from danger and hide?” he said. “And if so, should a layman enter the temple? I will not enter” (verse 11). It was not till afterwards that he found out that the prophecy was a fiction, and the prophet a bribed liar (verse 12). Other similar attempts seem also to have been made, about the same time, by other members of the prophetical order, among whom one only is particularisedthe prophetess Noadiah (verse 14). Nehemiah, however, stood firm as a rock throughout; and he is able to boast that “in fifty and two days, on the 25th of Elul, THE WALL WAS FINISHED” (verse 15). It was a proud moment for the indefatigable and stout-hearted governor, Who saw his dearest wish accomplished, and must have known that the accomplishment was mainly due to his own untiring efforts. But he does not claim the gloW for himself. “When the enemies (i.e. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem) heard of it,” he says, “and the heathen round about us saw it, they were much cast down.” And why? “They perceived that this work was wrought of our God.“
Neh 6:1
When Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian heard. Literally, “When it was heard by Sanballat and Tobiah, and by Geshem the Arabian.” The preposition is repeated with Geshem, but not with Tobiah, probably because Tobiah was Sanballat’s subordinate, but Geshem an independent chief. Hence, too, it was not proposed that Tobiah should be at the conference. At that time I had not set up the doors. This may appear to contradict Neh 3:1, Neh 3:3, Neh 3:6, Neh 3:13, etc. But the account of the building in Neh 3:1-32. is carried on to the completion of the whole work, the object there being to state by whom the different parts were done, and not at what time. Chronologically, Neh 4:1-23; Neh 5:1-19; and 6. are parallel to Neh 3:1-32, relating events that happened while the wall was being built. The hanging of the doors in the gateways was, naturally, the last thing done. Upon the gates. Rather, “in the gateways.”
Neh 6:2
In some one of the villages. The Hebrew has “in the villages,” which seems too vague. Bertheau therefore suggests, “in Hakkiphirim,” taking the word as the name of a particular village, which is probably right. Ono was near Lydda, in the plain country bordering on Philistia. They thought to do me mischief. A euphemism for “they thought to murder me.”
Neh 6:5
An open letter. Letters in the East are usually placed in silken bags, which are then tied up and carefully sealed. An “open letter” invited perusal; and the object of sending this one “open’ must have been to create alarm among the Jews, and to excite them against Nehemiah. Compare the conduct of Sennacherib’s ambassadors (2Ki 18:27-33).
Neh 6:6
Gashmu saith it. “Gashmu” is probably the native Arabic form of the name which in a Hebrew mouth commonly became “Geshem.” Thou and the Jews think to rebel. Compare Neh 2:19, and Ezr 4:13, with the Comment. According to these words. i.e. “Agreeably to what is reported.”
Neh 6:7
Thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah. Expressions of the religious teachers of the time, parallel to that of Zechariah,”Behold, thy king cometh” (Zec 9:9),may have been reported to Sanballat, and misunderstood or purposely misinterpreted.
Neh 6:9
They all made us afraid. Rather, “sought to affright us.” Their attempts did not succeed. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. “O God” is not in the original; whence some critics do not see in the words used a prayer, but only a statement”But I now strengthened my hands”. This meaning, however, cannot be obtained from the present text.
Neh 6:10
A Shemaiah appears in the list of priests who afterwards signed the covenant (Neh 10:8); but the names in that list do not appear to be personal. There is a Shemaiah also among the priests who took part in the dedication of the wall (Neh 12:42); he is not said, however, to be “the son of Delaiah.” Shut up. Prevented, i.e; by some legal impurity from taking part in the temple service, or even entering the temple. In the house of God, within the temple. Rather, “within the sanctuary.“ The heykal was the same as the holy place, and meant that part of the temple building which intervened between the porch and the holy of holies. It corresponded, as Gesenius observes, to the body or nave of modern cathedrals. Let us shut the doors. Folding doors of fir wood separated the holy place from the porch in the temple of Solomon (1Ki 6:34); and these had no doubt their counterpart in the restored temple. Shemaiah suggested the shutting of these doors for greater security
Neh 6:11
Should such a man as I flee? i.e. Should a man in my position, the head of the state, bound to set an example to others, fly from danger and hide myself? Surely not. And who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? Rather, “could go into the temple and live?” Dean Stanley compares Becket’s noble words,”I will not turn the cathedral into a castle,”but the parallel is not close. Nehemiah feels, not that he would profane the temple by making it into a place of refuge, but that he would break the law by simply entering it. Ewald shows that he has caught the point of the objection when he says, “Nehemiah thought that, as a layman, he must not break the Divine command by entering the sanctuary itself”.
Neh 6:12
And, lo, I perceived, etc. Rather, “And I considered; and lo! God had not sent him.” I reflected on the whole matter, and came to the conclusion that, though he might be a prophet, he had not on this occasion exercised his prophetical officehe had not declared to me God’s will (compare the case of the “old prophet,” 1Ki 13:11-18). And I was right, “for (in fact) he had pronounced this prophecy against me, because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.” “Tobiah and Sanballat” herenot “Sanballat and Tobiah,” as elsewhere (Neh 2:10, Neh 2:19; Neh 4:7; Neh 6:1), because Tobiah was no doubt the immediate briber, Sanballat merely furnishing the funds.
Neh 6:13
Therefore was he hired, etc. Their motive for bribing him was, that I might be induced by-fear to do as Shemaiah suggested, and so to commit sin; whereby they would have a just ground for spreading an evil report concerning me, and making my misconduct a constant reproach to me. Nehemiah’s influence depended greatly on the weight of his moral character. One false step, and he would have been lost; his influence would have been gone; and the work on which his heart was set would have come to nought.
Neh 6:14
Tobiah and Sanballat. See Neh 6:12, with the comment. The prophetess Noadiah is not elsewhere mentioned. She has been supposed to have succumbed to a bribe, like Shemaiah (Ewald); but this is wholly uncertain. We only know that, together with certain soi-disant prophets, she endeavoured to “put Nehemiah in fear.” It is clear that she was unsuccessful.
Neh 6:15
So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. According to Josephus (‘Ant. Jud.,’ Neh 11:5, 8), the work of restoration occupied two years and four months, or 840 days, instead of fifty-two. And this period has been thought so much more probable than the smaller one, that moderns generally have accepted it, while some have even proposed to alter our present text of Nehemiah by the insertion of u-shnathayim, “and two years,” at the end of this verse (Ewald). But the authority of Josephus on matters of remote history is so small, and the whole account of Nehemiah is so harmonious and consistent with itself, that alteration seems quite unnecessary. Nehemiah leaves Susa in Nisan, probably towards the middle or close of the month, for his preparations must have taken him some time. He would be likely to be nearly three months on his journey, and would thus reach Jerusalem about the middle of Julysay July 15. He then rested three days, surveyed the wall, laid his plan before the nobles, arranged the working parties, and set to work. It was his object to hasten matters as much as possible; and he may well have commenced the rebuilding within ten days of his arrival. Fifty-two days from July 25 would bring him to Sept. 15, which corresponds, as nearly as may be, to the 25th of Elul. There is no difficulty in supposing that the wall could have been repaired in this space. The materials were ready at hand; the working parties were numerous; the workmen full of zeal. If we estimate the circumference of the wall at four miles, which is probably beyond the truth, and the working parties at forty-two (Ewald), it will follow that each party had, on the average, to repair 168 yards, or at the rate of between three and four yards a day. There was probably no work done on the sabbaths, and there may have been one or two days of interruption, when attack seemed imminent (Neh 4:13-15); but otherwise the work was carried on without pause from early dawn to dark (ibid. verse 21). The wall attained to half its height in a very short time (ibid. verse 6),there was then a brief interruption,after which came the main work of completing the entire circuit to its full height. It is possible that the fifty-two days are counted from the “return to work (ibid. verse 15).
Neh 6:16
Our enemies. The Samaritans, the Ammonites, the Ashdodites, and the Arabians under Oeshem are the special “enemies” here spoken of. The Phoenicians, Syrians, Moabites, etc. are the other “heathen round about” the Jews. Even these last were unfriendly, and disliked any increase of Jewish power and prosperity. They perceived that this work was wrought of our God. They could not but recognise a special Providence as befriending and protecting the Jews, who, after having been utterly crushed and rooted out by Nebuchadnezzar, were now re-established in a commanding position in Palestine, and allowed to make their city once more an almost impregnable fortress.
Neh 6:17
Moreover in those days. Ewald supposes that the circumstances here related (Neh 6:17-19) were subsequent to the completion of the wall; but the expression “in those days” seems rather to throw back the events into the time during which the wall was in building. The passage is a sort of explanatory note, showing us how Tobiah came to be able to raise those intrigues inside Jerusalem which have been mentioned in Neh 6:12-14. And the letters of Tobiah came unto them. Rather, “and many were the letters of Tobiah which came to them.”
Neh 6:18
He was the son-in-law of Shechaniah. Rather, “related by marriage to Shechaniah”perhaps, but not certainly, by having married his daughter. Son of Arah. Member, i.e; of the family, called the Beni-Arah, which had returned with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:5; Neh 7:10). Meshullam the son of Berechiah is mentioned in Neh 3:1-32. as repairing two portions of the wall (Neh 3:4, Neh 3:30).
Neh 6:19
Also they reported his good deeds, etc. Rather, “they even reported”they went so far as to speak to me of his good actions, perhaps representing the bribes which he dispensed (Neh 6:12) as given from charitable motives. And they uttered my words, or “communicated my affairs, to him. They made him acquainted with all my proceedings.
HOMILETICS
Neh 6:1-9
Craft detected and baffled.
The enemies without make cunning proposals in vain.
I. THE OCCASION OF THEIR INTERFERENCE. They heard that the wall was completed, though the gates were not yet set up; and, thinking that further open opposition would be useless, adopted craft.
II. THE MANNER OF THEIR INTERFERENCE.
1. They repeatedly proposed a conference. Pretending probably that they wished to come to a good understanding with Nehemiah, but really intending to get him into their power, that even now, their leader being gone, the Jews might leave undone the rest of the work, or that in the confusion thus caused they might march on the city and take possession of it, or undo what had been done. But Nehemiah was too wise to be thus caught. Without letting them know that he saw through their cunning design, he replied truly enough, though not the whole truth, that he could not leave the great work he was doing, and let it cease, to come down to them; and as often as they repeated their proposal he sent the same answer.
2. They endeavoured to induce him to comply with their proposal by sending openly a false accusation against him. What they had insinuated before (Neh 2:19) they declare now to be matter of common report, viz; that he and the Jews had fortified Jerusalem with the intention to rebel against the Persian monarch, adding that the report was also that Nehemiah was purposing to be king, and had indeed induced certain prophets to proclaim him king. And as these reports must needs reach the ears of Artaxerxes, they begged him to come to consult with them, wishing him apparently to understand that they would take such steps as might be agreed upon to prevent any ill consequences to himself, should this prove to be the case. The letter containing these accusations and proposal was sent “open,” that the people at Jerusalem might know them, and be intimidated, and decline to put the finishing stroke to the work. Nehemiah, however, strong in the consciousness of rectitude, not only denied the truth of these pretended reports, but charged Sanballat with inventing them.
III. NEHEMIAH‘S RESOURCE IN HIS DIFFICULTIES. He prayed God to strengthen his hands, i.e. to give him vigour and courage to complete his undertaking, and keep the people stedfast in the work until it was done. The paragraph suggests
1. The persistence of the enemies of Christ in their opposition to his cause. His work in the individual, or in the Church as a whole. Now violence, and now craft is used; at one time flattery, at another calumny; now open enmity, and then pretended friendship; to-day appeal to hopes, to-morrow to fears. Leaders in the Church are particularly assailed, as the officers of an army in battle.
2. Their frequent unscrupulousness. Inventing, for instance, as here, false reports, and sometimes repeating them until they believe them. But we need be the less surprised at this when we watch controversies amongst Christians themselves, and observe how ready they are to believe and repeat any slander concerning those they oppose, and to put obviously false constructions on their words and deeds.
3. The manner in which they are to be met.
(1) By simplicity and godly sincerity. “Harmless as doves.”
(2) By wariness and wisdom. “Wise as serpents.”
(3) By firm refusal.
(4) By steady persistence in Christian life and work, every fresh stage of which, as here, furnishes additional defence against the foe.
(5) By prayer.
4. The liability of the best men to be slandered. Even in respect to their noblest actions; for many cannot understand nobleness, and enemies will not believe it of those they hate. Hence the best deeds may be ascribed to the worst motives. We should, therefore, be slow to believe evil reports, especially respecting men otherwise irreproachable. Rather than hastily receive them as true, we should suspect that they have originated in ignorance or malice.
Neh 6:3
Hindrances repelled.
“I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.” This reply of Nehemiah to his subtle enemies is worthy of adoption by us in relation to all that would hinder us in Christ’s service. In giving them this turn, we may employ the words “come down,” used here of locality, in the sense of descending to a lower mental or moral level.
I. WHO MAY WELL ADOPT THESE WORDS.
1. All Christians.
(1) In relation to their spiritual culture, the working out of their own salvation, which is indeed “a great work.”
(2) In relation to their special calling in life. Which is to each his “great work”that which must occupy most of his time and thought and toil; that in which he is especially to glorify God.
(3) In relation to any work of Christian benevolence in which each may be engaged.
2. Those who occupy positions of peculiar responsibility. Whether in secular life or in the Church. Statesmen; parents, the nurture and training of whose families is “a great work;” ministers of religion; all on whom others depend for guidance, etc.
II. To WHOM, AND OF WHAT, THEY MAY BE EMPLOYED. To all who would tempt us
1. Into obvious sin.
2. Into whatever practice would hinder us in our duty.
What is right for one may be wrong for another, because it would hinder him in his Christian life or work. Each must judge for himself what would be a hindrance to him. Let every one “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” intent supremely on serving God and serving his generation according to the will of God, and all inferior things will be seen in their true light, and take their proper place. Let every one also leave his fellow Christians to order their lives according to their own judgment of what is right and good for them. He, however, who would live greatly for great ends must often say as to pursuits, amusements, gratifications of taste, social intercourse, etc; lawful or laudable in others, “I am doing,” etc.
III. THE REASONABLENESS OF THE WORDS AS THUS EMPLOYED. Concentration of mind and energy is essential to success in all important pursuits, and is adopted by all who determine to succeed. Whatever would hinder, however tempting, has to be resolutely renounced. The same concentration and self-denial are required in the Christian life, and are the more imperative and reasonable on account of the greatness of its aims and the peculiar perils which attend it. In conclusion
1. The sentiment of the text may be misapplied. As when a pastor “cannot come down” from his studies to visit the sick or the poor, or to give counsel to the inquiring or the perplexed; or parents “cannot come down” from any other employment, secular or spiritual, to care properly for the good of their children; or the contemplative and studious Christian “cannot come down” to works of active benevolence, or even to diligence in his secular calling.
2. The sentiment may be pushed too far. Human nature cannot bear a perpetual strain; is not the better for incessant concentration on even the highest subjects and pursuits. We need variety. Recreation (truly such) is as much a duty as serious occupation. Sin is always to be renounced, but not always are we to refuse to “come down” to lighter matters than those of our main business in life. The highest life we can reach will be not hindered, but promoted, by a wise descent to lower things; and that not only because of the relief thus gained, but because the highest principles can be exercised and nourished by employment in the smallest matters.
3. To all temptations to real neglect of our work the words of the text should be perseveringly applied. Like Nehemiah, let us to every renewed temptation “answer after the same manner.”
Neh 6:9
Prayer for strength.
“Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.” Another instance of Nehemiah’s prayerfulness. In every difficulty he calls upon God, and not in vain. Thus he obtains strength, and teaches us where to seek it, with assurance of finding it. The manner in which the prayer is recorded is noticeable. He does not say, Then I offered this prayer, etc; but abruptly writes down the .prayer itself. It seems as if, while recording the events of those times, he lived them m imagination and feeling over again; and so, experiencing the old anxiety, he half unconsciously prayed and wrote the old prayer as a present supplication to God.
I. WHAT WILL INCITE THE CHRISTIAN TO SUCH A PRAYER.
1. A great and good undertaking. Such as God approves.
2. Dependence of others engaged in the enterprise on our lead and spirit. Influence which our weakness would have on them.
3. Great difficulties in the work.
4. Great opposition to it.
5. Feebleness of fellow workers. In numbers, ability, zeal, courage. Fear of their defection.
6. Depression of spirit arising from these or other causes.
7. Strong desire to accomplish the work notwithstanding.
II. How THE PRAYER MAY BE ANSWERED.
1. By the gift of internal strength (see Eph 3:16). This may be given direct from heaven, or through the medium of encouragement from men (see Neh 2:18).
2. By affording better external assistance. More and better helpers, or more favourable circumstances. Finally, some have good reason to offer this prayer with special emphasis on its last two words. They are strong in the head, and have strong emotions, but are weak in the hands for giving or doing. Unhappily, those who most need thus to pray are least disposed to do so.
Neh 6:10-19
Enemies within.
I. FALSE PROPHETS. Who prostituted their office by hiring themselves to the enemies without. For they “loved the wages of unrighteousness.”
1. One tempted him to break the law by fleeing into the holy place, and shutting himself up there, where no one but a priest or Levite might enter. This he did on the pretence that Nehemiah’s life was in danger (verse 10); and he hoped that the governor, consenting to the proposal, would bring himself into disgrace with the people, and so lose his influence with them (verse 13). Nehemiah was preserved from this peril at once by his magnanimity and his reverence for the law (verse 11). And if not immediately, he afterwards perceived the true source and motives of the proposal (verses 12, 13).
2. Others, by other unrecorded means, endeavoured to excite his fears (verse 14). Perhaps by pretended messages from heaven.
II. TREACHEROUS NOBLES (verses 17-19). These, some of whom were allied to Tobiah by marriages, maintained an active correspondence with him, and sought to influence Nehemiah in his favour. They had many confederates. Probably Nehemiah’s reforming zeal, which had already restrained their avarice, and was likely to proceed to other measures distasteful to them, fostered their disaffection.
III. THE RAPID COMPLETION OF THE FORTIFICATIONS, NOTWITHSTANDING ALL OPPOSITION (verse 15).
IV. THE IMPRESSION WHICH THIS MADE ON THE EXTERNAL FOES, AND OTHER PEOPLES AROUND (verse 16).
1. Great mortification. Disappointment, envy, despair of the success of further opposition.
2. Perception of God’s hand.
From this paragraph we learn
1. The peculiar danger to any community of internal disaffection and division.
2. The baseness of treachery.
3. The heinous wickedness of those who from worldly motives prostitute sacred functions.
4. The duty and wisdom of private judgment (see 1Jn 4:1). Spiritual teachers, not only through love of money, but from other motives and influences, or from incapacity, may give counsel which our own sense of truth and right may pronounce evil. In such case we must follow our own convictions, although they may possibly be mistaken (see Jer 5:30, Jer 5:31; Jer 23:31, Jer 23:32; Mic 3:11).
5. The insight and safety against temptation of a devout, pure, and manly heart.
6. The evil influence of close alliances between God’s people and his enemies.
7. The propriety of due regard for our reputation. Our character is not only precious to ourselves, but an invaluable element of usefulness. Injury to the reputation of a Christian is injury to the Church. Care for our good name is a help against temptation.
8. The active providence and grace of God. Preserving his servants from evil, and giving success to their pious endeavours. Finally, we are reminded by this chapter of the conflicts and victories of a greater than Nehemiah, in whose conquests as our Leader we are more nearly interested.
Neh 6:11
Regard for special obligations.
“Should such a man as I flee?” Thus magnanimously Nehemiah gave one reason for not following the counsel of the lying prophet. The words remind us of the special obligations under which some are laid to avoid evil and practise good. Indeed every one of us has some specialty in his case which he should feel as binding him peculiarly to a right course.
I. SOME SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS TO CHRISTIAN CONSISTENCY. May be expressed thus: “Should such a man as I?”
1. So greatly favoured. By the providence or by the grace of Godforgiven so much, so richly endowed, etc.
2. Occupying such a position, to which I have been so manifestly called. Position in the family, the Church, the world.
3. Who have made such professions.
4. Who have served the Lord so long, and done so much.
5. Whose influence is so great, for good or evil, upon others.
II. SINS AGAINST WHICH THE THOUGHT of such obligations should be a defence. “Should such a man as I”
1. Flee. From Christ. From his post of duty.
2. Act unworthily. By inconsistencies of any sortindifference, sloth, self-indulgence, intemperance, cowardice, parsimony, etc. Temptations to each and all may be met by this thought: “Should such a man as I be guilty of this sin?”
III. CONSIDERATIONS WHICH SHOULD DEEPEN THE SENSE OF OBLIGATION. If “such a man as I” fall, then I shall
1. Incur deserved disgrace.
2. Bring reproach on the name and cause of Christ.
3. Give joy to his enemies.
4. Discourage and enfeeble his friends.
5. Cause injury and ruin to others. “Such a man as I” cannot fall alone.
6. Insure a heavier doom.
Neh 6:16
God’s work recognised.
“They perceived that this work was wrought of our God.” The work which had been done was so great; it had been accomplished by so feeble a people, in spite of so much opposition and so many obstacles, and in so short a time, that the people around, even those most opposed, could not but recognise that the God of Israel had wrought with his servants. The work of Christ’s servants may produce a similar impression on others, not only fellow Christians, but those without. It is much to be desired that our work should be of such a kind, and so favoured of God, as to make such an impression.
I. WHEN IS GOD‘S HAND APPARENT IN THE WORK OF HIS PEOPLE?
1. When the work done is manifestly good in itself. This can hardly be said of the merely outward: of the erection of churches, however grand and beautiful; of the maintenance of imposing services; of the gathering of great crowds, or the making of mere proselytes. Such work may spring from good and tend to good; but it may not. Merely human motives and impulses, perhaps quite unchristian, may explain all. But when the bad become good, and the good become eminently so; when through Christian teaching and influence the licentious become pure, drunkards sober, the proud humble, the selfish benevolent, the harsh kind; when a Christian people shines in the beauty of the loftiest Christian holiness and love, and especially in those practical virtues which all can appreciate, then the conviction is likely to be produced on others that God is working in and by them.
2. When the work done is extensive. Whole neighbourhoods, a whole class of irreligious and morally degraded men, have sometimes been transformed by the preaching of the gospel; even a nation to a great extent quickened and elevated. He must be blinded by sin or the worst bigotry who fails to see in such changes the agency of God.
3. When such beneficial changes are wrought very rapidly. As the work to which the text refers.
4. When serious difficulties and formidable opposition are overcome.
5. When the work proves lasting.
6. When the human instrumentality is manifestly insufficient to account for the results.
II. THE EFFECTS WHICH THE PERCEPTION OF GOD‘s HAND IN SUCH WORK WILL PRODUCE.
1. On the workers. Gratitude, humility, encouragement to labour on.
2. On fellow Christians. Praise to God. Recognition of the workers as their brethren. Prayer for them. Congratulations and good wishes. Co-operation if practicable. At least respect, and the withholding of censorious criticism.
3. On those desiring good for themselves. Attraction toward such people. “We will go with you, for we have heard”nay, we see”that God is with you.”
4. On enemies. Discouragement, mortification, perhaps abandonment of active opposition (see Exo 14:25); perhaps transformation into friends and fellow workers, which is best of all.
In conclusion
1. The evidences of Divine agency in Christianity and its effects should be seriously pondered by unbelievers.
2. Blindness to God’s agency in the work of Christians is a fearful symptom. Yet it is found in some who profess to be Christians in respect to the work of those who “follow not with” them. Let them beware lest they become partakers of the guilt of those highly religious men of our Lord’s day who saw not God in the works of Christ, but ascribed them to the agency of the devil, and whom he warned against, if he did not pronounce guilty of the unpardonable sin of “blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.”
3. Let all Christians pray for such manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church as shall produce general conviction of his agency. The ordinary condition of our Churches, and results of their work, are, alas, little fitted to produce such a conviction. “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.”
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Neh 6:1-9
The Christian workman.
Nehemiah was an instance, and will ever be the type, of a faithful workman in the cause of God; from his conduct and career we may learn
I. HOW VALUABLE ONE WORKMAN MAY PROVE (verses 1, 2). Sin sometimes pays an unconscious tribute to integrity and worth. It acts on the assumption that righteousness is more than equal to its energy, and that, to gain its evil end, it must have recourse to “poisoned weapons.” Thus, e.g; Philip of Spain, striving vainly to extinguish Protestantism in Holland, concluded that it could only be done by “finishing Orange,” and set plots on foot to murder that noble patriot. Sanballat concluded that he could not accomplish his evil designs until Nehemiah was subdued; hence his murderous plans. What a tribute to one man’s influence! Men “full of faith” are also “full of power” (Act 6:8). One single soul, animated by faith, love, and zeal, may defeat all the agencies of evil.
II. WHAT NEED HE HAS OF WARINESS (verses 2, 4). “They sought to do me mischief” (verse 2); “they sent unto me four times after this sort” (verse 4). The enemies of God endeavoured, with a persistency worthy of a better cause, to entrap Nehemiah and despatch him. But he, fearless as he afterwards proved, was not to be taken by their craft. Heroism is unsuspicious; but it is not, therefore, credulous. It can distinguish between the overtures of a friend and the machinations of an enemy. We read of “the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:13); and both in the guarding of our own personal integrity, and in the defence of the Church of Christ, we must be on the alert against the enemy, who after the failure of open assault will probably resort to stealth.
III. WHAT NEED HE HAS OF COURAGE (verses 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Sanballat, failing to impose on the charity of Nehemiah, adopts another course: he intimates in an open letter which every one may read, that, if the interview be not given him, he will send an evil report to the king of Persia, putting the worst construction on the proceedings at Jerusalem (verses 5, 6, 7). Nehemiah, feeling that ceremony would be out of place, charges Sanballat with direct falsehood (verse 8). “Thou feignest them out of thine own heart.” There are times when softness of speech is not courtesy, but weakness; when hard words are not rudeness, but faithfulness. But this ruse of the enemy threatened to succeed, notwithstanding the governor’s un- varnished retort. “For they all made us afraid” (verse 9). Fear seems to have possessed the minds of many, and Nehemiah was driven to prayer. “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.” When other hearts are trembling, and timidity is within us, we must seek, and we shall gain, renewed courage at the throne of grace. “In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul” (Psa 138:3). “For this cause I bow my knees to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Eph 3:16).
IV. How EXCELLENT IS DEVOTEDNESS TO WORK (verse 3). An admirable message was that of the patriot: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down,” etc. His place was amongst his friends, encouraging and helping them to build, not outside, parleying with the enemy. To have left his post of active duty, of useful work, for such discussion would have been to “come down” indeed. To forsake the good and great work of building for Christ in order to debate with those who are hostile to it is to “come down,” is a descent from devotion to danger. We axe safer and better employed in the high places of prayer and activity.C.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Neh 6:1-14
God with us.
The true safety of God’s people in the midst of the world’s opposition. Nehemiah represents the spirit of consecration, zeal, single-mindedness, dependence upon God, personal responsibility, and confidence in final issues, which should be the spirit of all God’s people, and especially of those who hold prominent places in the Church.
I. THE FACT OF OPPOSITION.
1. It is a constant fact. The form may change, but the substance is the same. Sleepless vigilance is necessary. When violent assault is out of the question, we must fear treachery. “Come, and let us meet together” is the most dangerous shape of the world’s mischievous attempt. Special watchfulness required in times like these, lest we forsake our work and put ourselves into the hands of the enemies of Christ and his people.
2. We must expect that times of special success and rapid advancement will be the times when we have most to encounter from the world. When the work of God is making no way his enemies will leave it to itself. When they see that it approaches completion (“the wall built, and no breach therein”), then they will make desperate efforts to circumvent us, and to overthrow our work; and the more open our success, the more crafty will be their schemes.
3. In appreciating the dangers of our position, we should not be content with looking outside the Church; look within it too. There will be traitors among the Lord’s people. There will be lying prophets, timid friends, worldly-minded fellow labourers. The true heart must be strong in God.
II. THE VICTORY OF FAITH IN THE TIME OF SPECIAL TEMPTATION.
1. It was a victory obtained by the Spirit of God is the spirit of man. What Nehemiah needed was penetration, wisdom, self-control, fortitude, fearlessness, devotion to his work. All these qualities are given by the Spirit of God and maintained by his grace. So long as they were uppermost in the individual man, the enemies had no chance.
2. It was a victory which was bestowed as a reward of faith, and in answer to prayer. The whole attitude of Nehemiah was that of dependence upon God. “My God, strengthen thou my hands.”
3. It was a very decided and definite faith which gained the victory. “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.” The best defence against temptation is to be pledged to a positive public life of active service. The spirit of work should be set against the spirit of compromise. To leave duty unfulfilled is always to come down, and to come down is to be in the hands of enemies.
4. The victory was renewed many times. Each occasion added strength to the true heart. If God helps us to say No once, we shall find it easier each time afterwards. Courage grows by action. The conscious resistance of evil is both the best preparation to detect its presence, and the best uplifting of the heart above actual fears for life and safety.R.
HOMILIES BY J.S. EXELL
Neh 6:1-16
The temptations of earnest moral life and service.
I. THE WAY IN WHICH THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF EARNEST MORAL LIFE AND SERVICE ARE MADE KNOWN TO WICKED MEN. “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” (Neh 6:1). Christian life and service will make themselves known
1. Naturally. The finished walls must be seen.
2. Influentially. The rising walls affect other peoples; Christian life reveals itself in the moral influence it wields.
3. Rumour. The enemies of the good soon hear of the wall that has been built.
4. Vigilance. The wicked watch the activities of the good. The service of the good man must be thorough; there must be no “breach” left in it, though oftentime it is incomplete; its “doors” are not set upon the gates (Neh 6:1). Piety, truth, earnest toil cannot be hid.
II. THE WAY IN WHICH EARNEST MORAL LIFE AND SERVICE ARE SURE TO BE TEMPTED BY WICKED MEN. The temptations to which Nehemiah was exposed were
1. Subtle. “Come, let us meet together” (verse 2).
2. Persistent. “Yet they sent unto me four times” (verse 4).
3. Intimidating. “The fifth time with an open letter in his hand” (verse 5).
4. Calumniatory. “That thou and the Jews think to rebel;” “That thou mayest be their king” (verse 6).
5. Allied. A faithless prophet lends himself to the cause of the enemy (verses 10-13).
III. THE WAY IN WHICH EARNEST MORAL LIFE AND SERVICE MUST MEET TEMPTATION.
1. With discernment. “But they thought to do me mischief” (verse 2).
2. With industry. “I am doing a great work” (verse 3).
3. With determination. “And I answered them after the same manner” (verse 4).
4. With exposure. “But thou feignest them out of thine own heart.”
5. With prayer. “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands” (verse 9).
6. With courage. “Should such a man as I flee?” (verse 11).
IV. THE WAY IN WHICH EARNEST MORAL LIFE AND SERVICE COMPLETE THEIR TASK NOTWITHSTANDING SEVERE TRIAL. “So the wall was finished” (verse 15).
1. The end of the task. “So the wall was finished.”
2. The time of the task. “In fifty and two days.”
3. The effect of the task. “Were very much cast down in their own eyes.”
4. The praise of the task.
That it was completed under such difficult circumstances.E.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Neh 6:10-19
Trial and victory.
Defeated again, the enemy has recourse to other schemes. It would be interesting to know what were the expectations with which Nehemiah set out from Susa to enter upon the work before him. If we could tell what was then in his mind, we should probably find there anticipations very unlike indeed to his actual experiences. Probably, if he could have foreseen his difficulties, he might have shrunk from the task. Happily we do not foresee the perplexities of Christian toil; seen as by a prophetic glance, they would overwhelm us; but coining upon us one by one, they can be met bravely, and conquered successfully. We look now at
I. THE TRIAL OF FAITH IN THE WORK OF GOD.
1. Their former plots failing, another yet more subtle is tried. Sanballat and Tobiah induce a prophet, Shemaiah (verse 10), and a prophetess, Noadiah (verse 14), to urge Nehemiah to take refuge from assassination in the temple; to hide himself unlawfully, lest he should be smitten at his post of duty; in fact, “to be afraid, and sin,” and thus give occasion for “an evil report, that they might reproach” him (verse 13). The insidiousness of the temptation may be gathered from the words of indignation in which Nehemiah invokes the Divine reprobation on the guilty tempters (verse 14). But,
2. Nehemiah is yet further tried. His own people are keeping up a correspondence with the enemy. Nobles of Judah are writing to and hearing from Tobiah (verse 17). A dangerous alliance led to intimacy, to perversion, to conspiracy (verse 18). These men who should have been the first and the strongest to help are those who come to hinder; praising the man who was doing his utmost to overturn and ruin everything (verse 19), and carrying back to the enemy the words of the governor (verse 19). When we are doing our best to serve our Master and our fellows, and are naturally looking to those who are bound in the same holy bonds with ourselves, more especially to those who are as “prophets” or “prophetesses” in our ranks, or to those who are as “nobles” amongst us, to stand by our side and aid us in our toil, and when, instead of succour, we find them undermining our influence, we are tempted to despair, so keen is the trial of our faith. Yet we may win
II. THE VICTORY OF THE BRAVE AND TRUE (verses 11, 15, 16). Here we have
1. The fact of success. The wall was built: it was “finished in fifty and two days” (verse 15). Neither open threats nor secret plots weakened the strength or lessened the labour of the busy workmen, and the good work was accomplished.
2. A powerful incentive leading to victory. Nehemiah made an excellent appeal to himself. He considered who he was, and what was worthy and unworthy of the post he held. “Should such a man as I flee?” (verse 11).
3. The fruits of victory (verse 16). The enemy and all the heathen “were much cast down in their own eyes,” and they “perceived that this work was wrought of our God.” Their humiliation was an excellent thing for them, and the name of God being glorified was a source of joy and gratulation to the good. There is victory to be won under the fiercest temptation if we only be true to all we know. Let us, in the dark hour of the trial of faith
1. Consider what is worthy of the position we hold. Should such as we aremissionaries, ministers, evangelists, teachers, leaders, members of the Church of Christflee from the post of duty or danger?
“Put on the gospel armour, and, watching unto prayer,
Where duty calls, or danger, be never wanting there.”
The “guard” in his army “dies, but does not surrender.”
2. Consider what will redound to the glory of Christ. If only we hold on, “faint yet pursuing,” fighting till the day is won, the enemy will be humiliated, and his holy name be honoured. Our once crucified Saviour shall be “exalted and extolled, and be very high” (Isaiah lit. 13).C.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Neh 6:15-19
The good work finished in spite of man by the power of God.
I. A great MANIFESTATION OF DIVINE POWER is a great casting down of God’s enemies.
1. There is real weakness in all sin. “In their own eyes” defeat meant shame and confusion; but the true heart never doubts that its cause is right, even when success is delayed.
2. The world will perceive God‘s hand. When the finished work is before them they will not dare to deny who has accomplished it. Therefore we should hasten it on, and be more eager to bring it to completion.
3. The great facts of Divine grace spread their message not only among the enemies of the Church, but among the heathen, who have been sitting in darkness. A revived zeal and energy in God’s people will have a mighty effect in casting down the imaginations which exalt themselves against the name of Christ.
II. The best preparation of the true Church against discouragements, both from without and from within, is to know that ITS WALLS ARE BUILT UP, AND ITS GATES IS THEIR PLACES.
1. That will put a stop to the corrupting intercourse between the Church and the world.
2. It will help the people of God to know their true leaders. The nobles were traitors; but henceforth men after the example of Nehemiah will be the defenders of Judah.
3. In the sight of the finished work the hearts of God’s people are strong. In the best sense success makes success. “Tobiah’s letters” will do no harm, for there are the walls speaking in the name of God, “epistles written by the Spirit of God, known and read of all men.” Let the world trust as it may in its devices, we rejoice in “the walls of Jerusalem,” which are “salvation,” and “her gates” “praise.”R.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Neh 6:1-19
1Now [and] 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); 2that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But [and] they thought to do me mischief. 3And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that [and] I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I 4leave it and come down to you? Yet [and] they sent unto me four times after this sort [word]; and I answered them after the same manner [after this word]. 5Then [and] sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner [after this word] the 6fifth time with an open letter in his hand; wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen [i.e., nations] and Gashmu [i.e., Geshem] saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king [and thou art to them for king] according to these words. 7And 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 now come], and let us take counsel together. 8Then [and] I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest [there is not according to these words which thou sayest], but [for] thou feignest them out of thine own heart. 9For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done [and it shall not be done.] 10Now therefore, [And now], O God, strengthen my hands. Afterward [and] 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 [are coming] to slay thee; yea [and], in the night will they come [are they coming] to slay thee. 11And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there that being as I am 12would go into the temple to save his life [and live]? I will not go in. And lo, I perceived that [And I perceived and lo] God had not sent him, but that [for] he pronounced this prophecy against me, for [and] Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report [name], that they might reproach me. 14My God, think thou upon [remember] Tobiah and Sanballat according to their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would 15have put me in fear. So [and] the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. 16And 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 [and] they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.
17Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah [multiplied their letters passing to Tobiah] and the letters of Tobiah came unto them 18[and those which 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 [to wife] the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. 19Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
1 Neh 6:2. , as if from , and not from . This peculiarity helps the hypothesis that may be intended.
2 Neh 6:3. . The use of for is noticeable. See Neh 6:17, et al.
3 Neh 6:6. , for , not after the analogy of the prop. names in (where the variation is owing to a form of the divine name), but rather to be compared with (Exo 4:18) and (Exo 3:1).
4 Neh 6:8. , Aramaic for . See 1Ki 12:33, for the only other use of the verb.
5 Neh 6:13. is properly to the intent that. The first one here anticipates the other two, thus To this intent he was hired, to the intent that, etc.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
(3) Hindrances from the Heathen and their Jewish Confederates
Neh 6:2. The omission of Tobiahs name is an indication that he was merely an attach of Sanballat. Notice also (in the Heb.) that the prep. is not repeated before Tobiah, as it is before Geshem.Villages.Some take this as a proper name, Chephirim.Ono, with Lod and Hadid, is mentioned in Neh 7:37 between Jericho and Senaah, as if it might be in the Jordan depression; but the name of Lod is generally identified with Ludd or Lydda in the Sharon plain, twenty-five miles north-west of Jerusalem. If so, the ordinary siting of Ono in that plain is doubtless correct. Eusebius places it at three miles from Lydda.
Why Sanballat should select so distant a spot is puzzling, unless he happened to be stationed there himself at the time. Otherwise he would know that the invitation would arouse Nehemiahs suspicions. There may be another Ono near Chephirah, which is ten miles north-west of Jerusalem, and Chephirim (villages) may stand for Chephirah.
Neh 6:5. An open letter, that its contents might alarm all the Jews, and create opposition to Nehemiah.
Neh 6:6. Gashmu,i.e. Geshem.According to these words.Sanballat throughout makes no accusation, but refers to rumor. Nehemiahs answer is (Neh 6:8): There is not according to these words which thou sayest, i.e. there is no such rumor.
Strengthen my hands.This interjected prayer must be taken from Nehemiahs journal at the time. When he writes the narrative, he quotes his ejaculation, as showing where his dependence was at that trying time.
Neh 6:10. Shemaiah evidently (see Neh 6:12) was a prophet. The gift of prophecy did not prevent a man from selling himself to lie for others (see 1Ki 22:22).Shut up.See Jer 36:5. He was shut up perhaps in performance of a vow; Keil suggests as a symbol of his charge to Nehemiah. This use of azar is related to the derivative azarrah (a court).
The temple,i.e. the innermost building, the temple proper.
Neh 6:11. Would go into the temple to save his lifeLit.: would go into the temple and live. The last clause may refer to the death of any one violating the sanctity of the temple. See Num 18:7. It may also mean what our translators give.
Neh 6:13. Do so and sin,i.e. shut myself up in fear, and enter the holy place, into which only the priests could enter.
Neh 6:14. Sanballat evidently had a strong party in Jerusalem, and among them many of prophetic rank hired with his money.
Neh 6:15. Elul was the sixth month corresponding to parts of August and September.Fifty and two days.Hence the work was begun on the fourth of Ab, the fifth month. The work went on during the hottest part of the year (say, from July 19th to Sept. 8th).
Neh 6:16. The marvellously short time in which the work had been done, and that, too, by Jews, whom Sanballat knew to be divided into mutually hostile parties, impressed him and his coadjutors with the sense of a divine co-operation with Nehemiah.
Josephus turns the fifty-two days into eight hundred and forty days, probably in his desire to tone down the marvellous for his readers.
Neh 6:18. Meshullam. See Neh 3:4.
HISTORICAL AND ETHICAL
1. Nehemiah, when persistently declining the invitation to meet Sanballat at the plain of Ono, exposed himself to the charge of opposing peace measures. This is one of the hardest trials of virtue, to continue steadfast in a true course at the risk of impugned motives and damaged reputation. Sanballats fifth message and open letter sought to endanger Nehemiah with the king, while it seemed to show Sanballats devotion to the kings interests. The refusal now to attend a conference would appear the worse. Yet the sturdy patriot and man of God rests upon his integrity and trusts in God. This persistence in the right, come what would, makes Nehemiah a great man as well as a good man.
2. Shemaiah was such a common name among the Jews, that it is impossible to identify this prophet with any other person of his name (as e.g. the one in Ezr 10:21). He must, however, have been a man of prominence, and one, too, who had been in Nehemiahs confidence, or else the attempt would never have been made by Tobiah and Sanballat through him. It may have been the high position and reputation of Shemaiah that led the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets (Neh 6:14) into the false dealings with Nehemiah.
3. The expression of Nehemiahs soul for their punishment from God is the outcry for vindication, which ones very purity of heart demands. In such outcry the persecuted and innocent soul finds rest. Let none confound this with revenge.
4. It is not strange that Sanballat saw that the wall-building was wrought of Israels God. The trouble with Gods enemies is not that their knowledge is defective, but that their hearts are alienated. Evidences are multiplying constantly before them, but produce no change in their opposition. Sanballat was vexed because he was thwarted by the Lord God of Israel. Those fifty-two days of wall-building were clearly to his mind a token of divine assistance; but this knowledge did not stop his opposition.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Neh 6:1-3. Can the enticements of the dissembling world really make any impression upon us? 1) What are they? They all come to this one thing in the end, that we shall care before all for ourselves, that is, for our temporal well-being, and therefore shall descend from our due height as children of God, and they aim not towards our salvation, but towards our destruction. 2) What have we to place in opposition to them? That we have a great work to do, the building of the walls of Jerusalem, that is, the securing the kingdom of God in others, and particularly in ourselves, the spreading and the improvement thereof, only through the most faithful performance of this great, infinite work, can we reach the high goal of our salvation.Bede: Nehemias personam fidelium doctorum tenens, nequaquam ad profanos descendere neque eorum hostiis inquinari sentit, sed in conceptis virtutum operibus devotus persistit; et quo acrius terrere nitebantur inimici, eo magis ipse bene operando terribilis eisdem inimicis fieri contendit.
Neh 6:1-9. The behaviour of those who grudge independence to the congregation. 1) They act as if they wish to aid it. 2) They seek to intimidate, as if the representatives of freedom were rendering themselves worthy of suspicion in a dangerous way. 3) Their only design is to rob the congregation of its capable leaders.
Neh 6:10-19. The friends of the enemy. 1) They pretend that they are caring for the well-being and the security of the good. 2) They serve the enemy. 3) They only aim at destroying the good leaders.
Neh 6:15-19. The most repulsive enemies. 1) They are not those from without who are grieved when the independence of the congregation is secured, and its work crowned with success. 2) They are much rather the false brethren, who always desire to incite the outside enemy anew to disturbing interference by smooth words.Bede: Semper habent electi foris pugnas, intus timores; nee solum apostolis, sed et prophet periculis ex genere, periculis ex gentibus, periculis ex falsis fratribus suspectam vitam agebant. Starke: What Paul writes concerning false brethren (2Co 11:26) that has Nehemiah also experienced for his portion. And it is indeed one of the heaviest griefs of the true servants of God, when they must see that that those connected with them in religion, yes, indeed at times their colleagues, who labor with them in the same work, stand in prejudicial intercourse with the enemies of Christ and His church, and yet wish to be considered as co-members, striving for the honor of God. Those whom God awakens for spiritual building should conduct themselves circumspectly and courageously against the snares of the enemy, and not allow themselves to be frightened off by their slander, but cheerfully proceed. In the end the enemy will be cast down with fear in their consciences, and must acknowledge that the work is of God. Act 5:39. When we wander in the midst of anxiety God refreshes us, and stretches His hand over the rage of His enemies, and helps us with His right hand. Psa 97:11.
Neh 6:1-19. Concerning the most critical and saddest hinderance which opposes us in defence of the congregation. 1) From whom it proceeds. Not principally from the outside enemy, not even then when they feign friendship, and, under the pretence of helping us, aim at the worst, but much more from false prophets, who make common cause with the outside enemy, and yet pretend that they wish to protect us from their snares. They excite our humanity to allow ourselves, for our security or ease, that which can become ruinous to us. 2) How it serves us. Our zeal, our fidelity and perseverance, and our watchfulness must be so much the greater; we shall have opportunity to keep ourselves in sufferings, not for our injury, but for our salvation. 3) How it is to be overcome. Through precaution and fearlessness, through the fear of God in which are united humility and genuine high courage, also through great watchfulness.Starke: Great lords, who seek to further the good of the church of God and of the commonwealth, are a thorn in the devils eye. The cross is often never lifted from the godly, that they may live in continual communion with God. Ah, my God, I have also a great business to perform, namely, to save my soul, and better that of my neighbor. Grant that I may be faithful therein, then shall it go on well and succeed.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
We have revived here the persecution of Sanballat against the church. The work, however, is completed. A secret correspondence is carried on between Tobiah and some of the nobles of Judah.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) 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;) (2) 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. (3) 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? (4) Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.
It is worthy observation what a obstructions the people of God meet with in every age to hinder their progress in the Lord’s service. Sanballat and Tobiah first began to show their ill designs against Nehemiah and his cause with ridicule and laughter. A fox would be enough they said, to make breaches in the wall. When this failed, they now adopt another plan. Under pretence of much kindness, they invite Nehemiah to a conference, with a view to do him some mischief. So, Reader, are the devices of Satan against the spiritual building of the Lord’s household. Satan is a subtle foe. By private fraud, and by open stratagem, as best suits his hellish policy, he attacks God’s people.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
A Great Work
Neh 6:3
There are three thoughts in these words: a work greatness and elevation. They are exactly the three thoughts which every earnest man has about religion. They are exactly the three things which a man needs. An object a feeling that his object is worthy and a sense of height, which lifts him up, and does him good. ‘I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.’
It is so essential that you should feel the greatness and the dignity of the ‘work’ to which you are called that I wish to place the matter before you a little more in detail.
I. Faith a Great Work. I hold it to be a very ‘great’ and a very high ‘work’ to believe. Else, why do so few, so very few, really believe? That inner life of faith, and the cultivation of it, is a thing, I believe, higher than an archangel’s work. No archangel is called to believe. Very remote is it from the processes of our common world. Yet if you will be always coming down to the things of sense and sight if you will measure the invisible by what you find around if you will reduce faith to a sort of materialism if you will mix it up with the material, and qualify it by the ordinary principles of human reasoning you cannot believe! Faith will not grow down there. The only hope for it is to keep up in that region, which is the region of ideas and affections that upper region, where only such things live.
II. Sanctification a Great Work. It is ‘a great work’ which a man is pursuing, when he is engaged in his own sanctification. Depend upon it, it is no light matter to send upwards what have such an almost irresistible tendency to be always going downwards. It is no trifle to take the iron out of a man’s heart, and to get it into such a soft, melted state, that it may be moulded into a perfectly different shape from what it is to take the image of God. Depend upon it, it is no light thing to root out that deep selfishness, and that miserable pride, and that clogging temper, which have so mingled themselves with you, that they have become your own moral being, and to show nothing in their place but daily proofs of a gentle, forgiving mind, a tenderness and self-forgetfulness.
III. Usefulness to Others a Great Work. There is another ‘work’ in which every Christian is occupied high, and blessed, and holy the ‘work’ of being useful to others, and extending the kingdom of God. I very much suspect the Christianity of that man who has not some distinct engagement, in which he is, every day, endeavouring to do something to serve God. We are so constituted that we must ‘work’. It was the sentence on the whole family of man ‘labour’. The Gospel has turned it into blessing; but still the sentence is upon every living man ‘labour’. And no mind can be healthy, no man’s soul will go on well, which cannot say, concerning some undertaking ‘I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down’.
References. VI. 3. J. M. Neale, Sermons for Some Feast Days in the Christian Year, p. 95. R. White, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 251. R. E. Hutton, The Grown of Christ, vol. i. p. 265. VI. 11. W. L. Watkinson, Noonday Addresses, p. 98. VI. 14. F. Hastings, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 198. VI. 15. G. Campbell Morgan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lix. 1901, p. 217. VIII. 1. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 116. VIII. 1-12. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture 2 Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, p. 371. VIII. 4, 5. W. Page Roberts, Our Prayer Booh, Conformity and Conscience, p. 41.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Work Finished
Neh 6
WE read that Sanballat and Tobiah, and the rest of the enemies of the Jews, invited Nehemiah to a conference in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.
“And I [Nehemiah] 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?” ( Neh 6:3 ).
Do we know what work is? Really very few people have an adequate conception of work. The difficulty which we feel in going through English life to-day is that certain persons are marked off as belonging to the working-classes. There is, in a certain well-understood sense, no higher aristocracy in any land than the aristocracy of labour; but we must come to something like a sensible and correct definition of work. We have known the secretary of a great religious institution to be at his desk, busy with the papers of the society, at eleven o’clock at night, and back again at his desk, busy with the same papers, at five o’clock in the morning, and this, with very rare intermissions, for weeks and months together. How should we define a man like that? He wears a black coat, he is generally very nice in his personal appearance, and on his hand there is no deeper stain than an occasional drop of ink. We may surely call him a working man. If we can only come to correct definitions of labour, there will be a unanimous sentiment that the working classes are the best classes of all. Nehemiah had a grand conception of work, and that conception was an answer to temptation was a shield in the day of assault was a pavilion in the time of peril.
Most people are idle, and when they are idle, what do they do? They look round for an opportunity of amusing themselves, frivolously engaging their attention, and elaborately doing nothing, and getting tired by the fruitless exercise. Do not ask the preacher to give you mere doctrine as an answer to temptation and to the lures of the enemy. Have work to do worthy of your powers. Give yourselves to it night and day: say you are engaged, occupied, forsworn, and have no time to attend to the invitations which may be addressed to you to leave the heights and go down into the valleys.
There are some people who cannot say “no” to an invitation. The fact that they have received an invitation seems to imply that they must accept it. Their reasoning is a very simple process it would stand roughly thus: “I have been asked to go out I have been invited to attend I have received a courteous and most respectful message requesting me to be there, and therefore I must go.” Probably in most cases the reasoning is tolerably correct, because the people have nothing else to do. They are on the outlook for such opportunities they are listening at the gate for the messenger they say, “Why doth he delay?” The idle man is always exposed to temptation.
Work is an answer to temptation, work is companionship, work is rest. Let us have occupation, some labour to do: it is a delight to the mind to be conquering some new province of thought, to be preparing oneself for tomorrow’s greater fight. We know of no gate so easily opened nay, verily, that needs no opening at all, for it stands open constantly, and on its bars there are large, loud welcomes as idleness. Nehemiah had a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other, and his whole soul was devoted to the building of a wall and to be asked to go down to chatter with Sanballat in the villages was an insult to his earnestness. It fell like a drop of cold water on the burning fire of his patriotic enthusiasm.
It was a stinging answer to Sanballat. Nehemiah magnified his work; he said it was a great work. Let a man get a poor conception of his work, and you may trifle with him, you may get at him through the medium of his vanity; you may say, “Occupation of this kind is unworthy of a man of your genius: why should a man of such herculean power as you possess devote himself to this frivolous engagement? A man like you should be occupied with some far higher concerns; leave this with the contempt it deserves, and seek a nobler sphere worthy of your blazing genius.” But let a man feel that his work is the work, the right work, the supreme work, the God-given work, and he wears mail from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, which spear and dart and sword cannot penetrate. What is your work? Is it something to which you have to stoop very, very far? Say not so: if it be honest, honourable, there is no stooping about it: it will do to begin with. The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, and if that great kingdom can so contract itself as to take upon its glory a symbol so humble, surely there is nothing so very lowering in your honest occupation that you need fancy it lies infinite abysses below the capacity and the splendour of your unrivalled powers? He that is faithful in little will be faithful in much. Be right in the village, and thou shalt see the provincial city: be right in the provincial city, thou shalt see Rome also. The key of every metropolis is on the Master’s girdle.
The answer which Nehemiah made to Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, is the answer which Christianity makes to all controversy. Some men would like to see Christianity going up and down the world with a small weapon ready to assail everybody that had an evil word to say against it. Christianity does nothing of the kind; Christianity is a gospel, not an argument; Christianity is a revelation, not a contention only; Christianity is a redemption, a baptism of blood, not an unholy fray, a chatter with evil speakers, a war of words with souls that mistake their own ignorance for the philosophy of the universe. The preacher should meddle but little with merely controversial topics. We would have him true to his gospel; we would have him take up the silver trumpet and blow it sweetly, loudly, resonantly, that every soul might hear that the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost; and we would have that word “lost” so rung out of the trumpet that on farthest shore and in densest forest the prodigal might hear it and accept it as a welcome to his Father’s house. Are you somewhere down in the plain, pining over Christianity, and saying that you have doubts and difficulties in your mind regarding the philosophy of redemption, and you want some man to come and join you at your dinner in order to talk it out? The answer of the earnest man will be, “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.” You must go up in your thinking, in your inquiries; you must lift up the whole level and scale of your nature, start your investigation from a higher point, if ever you are to get at the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. If you have felt the bitterness of sin, you have so far become prepared to taste the sweetness of grace; if you have known guilt as a burden, then you have so far prepared yourself to hear of this gospel “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” But if your guilt has not yet become a burden, if it is some cloud lying off on the far horizon at which you can take a furtive glance now and then and keep at a distance from you, then there is nothing in all the great swelling, bursting heart of Christ to touch such as you. When that cloud comes round, thickens, rolls out, shapes itself as if coming in your direction comes nearer, touches you, crushes you then you will be in the right mood of mind and heart to hear the gospel that Jesus Christ came into the world for the express purpose of lifting off such burdens as these, and you will be filled with great joy, as were those who listened to the annunciation song of the angels when they said that a Prince and a Saviour was born in the city of David.
We would have the Christian preacher keep to his doctrine, to his positive text, to his distinct and affirmative gospel, and we would have all men know that it is folly to forsake a positive advantage for an uncertain good. Let us leave it to fabled dogs to snatch the shadow in the stream. There are some three or four things about Jesus Christ that we do know concerning which there can be no controversy; with all the tendrils of your love, with all the energies of your mind, get hold of these, and say to carping Pharisee and to mocking pagan, “One thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see.” You know that Jesus Christ lived, and never lived for himself, and never shrank from labour never spake a belittling word, never took a narrow view, never sent a soul empty away, never spoke harshly to contrite hearts and to weeping eyes said to a poor sister, “Go, and sin no more.” The Man that did these things must be saved from the blasphemy of tormentors, and must be saved from the vexation of merely technical controversy.
Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, were not easily put off. Neither are our enemies. They sent four times to Nehemiah, and four times Nehemiah answered them after the same manner. Then they made a fifth attempt this time with an open letter in the hand of a servant. The fact that a letter was open had great signification to a Jew, for the Jew, having written a letter and closed it, wrote upon the outside, in Hebrew, curses, anathemas, maledictions upon the man that should trifle with the seal. In this case they did not use the seal they sent a servant with an open letter, intimating to Nehemiah that they did not care who knew the contents, because, as a matter of fact, the purposes of Nehemiah were very well understood to be purposes of high treason: that Nehemiah was making a throne for himself, preparing to ascend that throne as the king of the Jews, and making all arrangements consistent with the theory of his procuratorship. Nehemiah took the letter and read:
“It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu [or Geshem ( Neh 6:2 )] 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, let us take counsel together” ( Neh 6:6-7 ).
Most men would have been alarmed by this letter. There is something alarming about a letter at any time. We never know what it may contain; and if we have reason to fear any person under the sun, it is impossible for us to look at a letter in the hands of the postman without beginning to tremble, and saying mentally, “It has come at last I thought it would.”
Nehemiah took the letter without misgiving. The man who left Persia under the circumstances with which we have become familiar, to recover Zion from contempt and to rebuild Jerusalem, is not likely to be overawed by the letter of a pagan correspondent, and he sent this brave answer: “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.” It was an answer that might have been shot from a musket. Never attempt to make graceful, apologetic, explanatory statements to your controversial and spiritual enemy. Short answers cannon-ball replies “It is written it is written ” and the devil, Beelzebub, will reel under every blow. A long and elaborate argument is a long and elaborate opportunity for the devil to take advantage of. Let us give short, clear-cut, terse, concise answers, and we can find them ready for use in God’s armoury: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.”
There are always people in the world who can explain everything, who can account for Nehemiah’s industry, and trace a man’s motive through all possible metaphysical labyrinths and windings. There are persons who know exactly why we attend this place and not that. There can be but one Omniscience; and in proportion as Sanballat attempts the blasphemous game of Omnisciency does he prepare himself for his last, his irrecoverable fall. If Sanballat had said that these reports were about, and he could not help hearing of them, he would have been very English in his method of escaping from an awkward position. There are friends of ours so called by a rare and cruel stretch of courtesy, who are always in the way of hearing disagreeable things. They are nice, innocent people, but somehow they always happen to be at the corner of that particular street where gossips most do congregate; and they, with touching innocence, with pathetic self-renunciation, tell us that they could not help hearing such and such reports. They could have helped repeating them!
What did Nehemiah do? He had another turn in prayer. Good old man brave old soldier-builder; always giving the upward look, always sending out of his heart a heavenward cry; so we hear him now, saying, “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.” The inward man must be renewed day by day we must have little upon little, precept upon precept, line upon line, sermon upon sermon, prayer upon prayer; there is no one final exercise in the Christian economy; ours is an economy that rivals the Judaic ritual itself in the multiplicity of its details; in the constancy of its homage, in the fidelity and continuance of its oblations. Nehemiah did not live upon yesterday’s grace: day by day he spoke his prayer, moment by moment he breathed the air of heaven. He prayed with ejaculation, that is with an out-throwing of the soul; with suddenness, as if he had surprised God by an unexpected cry. To live so is to do what the apostle enjoins us to do pray without ceasing.
He came to the house of a certain man, Shemaiah son of Delaiah, and that man proposed to Nehemiah that Nehemiah should go into the temple then he would be safe.
“Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple [inside the main building of the temple, which it was not lawful for any but the priests and Levites to enter], 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” ( Neh 6:10 ).
Nehemiah will not go into the temple for an unworthy purpose. He says, “It is all temple, if I be right.” “Should,” said he, “such a man as I flee? I will not go in.” The whole creation is God’s pavilion if thou desire to be right and to be his servant; and if not, the universe will not give thee lodgment; the pillared firmament is rottenness, and earth’s base built on stubble, if thy soul be not true to great principles and sacred convictions. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? That is the question which terrifies the bad man. Whither shall I flee from thy presence? is an inquiry which is itself a sanctuary to the soul that is pure and just.
“So the wall was finished” ( Neh 6:15 ).
Nehemiah was but one man; he wept when he heard the tale which Hanani brought to him: he trembled when he went into the presence of King Artaxerxes and offered him the customary wine: he came out to work and he was encountered by hostility of the severest kind and we might have said, “In the hands of this man the great wall of Jerusalem never can be rebuilt.” But he kept on and on, saying, So we laboured at the work; so we toiled at the wall; and so the wall was finished. How? By magnificent leadership, by cordial union, under the greatest discouragements and notwithstanding the fiercest hostility. To every man we say: Thou hast a wall to build; a wall thrown down, the copestone thereof lost it is the wall of thy character, the wall of thyself; and Sanballat, the enemy call him by what name you please, for he is a perpetual foe says thou shalt not build it with his consent. He will mock thee, taunt thee, tempt thee, curse thee; wilt thou be foiled? What is thy hope in thine own genius in thine own resources? Nay, say, constantly, toiling man, character-builder “My soul, hope thou only in God.”
Note
Nehemiah’s great work was rebuilding, for the first time since their destruction by Nebuzaradan, the walls of Jerusalem, and restoring that city to its former state and dignity as a fortified town. It is impossible to overestimate the importance to the future political and ecclesiastical prosperity of the Jewish nation of this great achievement of their patriotic governor. How low the community of the Palestine Jews had fallen is apparent from the fact that from the sixth of Darius to the seventh of Artaxerxes there is no history of them whatever; and that even after Ezra’s commission and the ample grants made by Artaxerxes in his seventh year, and the considerable reinforcements, both in wealth and numbers, which Ezra’s government brought to them, they were in a state of abject “affliction and reproach” in the twentieth of Artaxerxes; their country pillaged, their citizens kidnapped and made slaves of by their heathen neighbours, robbery and murder rife in their very capital, Jerusalem almost deserted, and the Temple falling again into decay. The one step which could resuscitate the nation, preserve the Mosaic institutions, and lay the foundation of future independence was the restoration of the city walls. Jerusalem being once again secure from the attacks of the marauding heathen, civil government would become possible, the spirit of the people, and their attachment to the ancient capital of the monarchy would revive, the priests and Levites would be encouraged to come into residence, the tithes and firstfruits and other stores would be safe, and Judah, if not actually independent, would preserve the essentials of national and religious life. To this great object therefore Nehemiah directed his whole energies without an hour’s unnecessary delay. [The three days, mentioned Neh 2:11 and Ezr 8:32 , seems to point to some customary interval, perhaps for purification after a journey.] By word and example he induced the whole population, with the single exception of the Tekoite nobles, to commence building with the utmost vigour, even the lukewarm high-priest Eliashib performing his part. In a wonderfully short time the walls seemed to emerge from the heaps of burnt rubbish, and to encircle the city as in the days of old. The gateways also were rebuilt, and ready for the doors to be hung upon them. But it soon became apparent how wisely Nehemiah had acted in hastening on the work. On his very first arrival as governor, Sanballat and Tobiah had given unequivocal proof of their mortification at his appointment; and, before the work was even commenced had scornfully asked whether he intended to rebel against the king of Persia. But when the restoration was seen to be rapidly progressing, their indignation knew no bounds. They not only poured out a torrent of abuse and contempt upon all engaged in the work, but actually made a great conspiracy to fall upon the builders with an armed force and put a stop to the undertaking. The project was defeated by the vigilance and prudence of Nehemiah, who armed all the people after their families, and showed such a strong front that their enemies dared not attack them. This armed attitude was continued from that day forward.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXIII
THE EXPEDITION OF NEHEMIAH AND HIS WORK OF REBUILDING
Nehemiah 1-7
The period of time between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah is about twelve years. The leader of this expedition was Nehemiah, who was in all probability a man of princely Jewish blood, brought up and trained in a foreign land, a man of fine presence and splendid ability. He was a favorite of the king, Artaxerxes, and he was a true Jewish patriot. He was the “cupbearer” of the king. This was a position of great responsibility, and yet of great authority. He was skilled in the diplomacy and trickery of the Oriental courts, a man who knew men and affairs.
He received word from his brother, Hanani, that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the people afflicted. This news produced a remarkable effect upon him, and he prayed to the God of heaven and fasted, confessing the sins of the people. He prayed that God would enable him to speak to Artaxerxes the king at the right time and that he might receive favors from him.
About two months Nehemiah continued to pray, waiting for his opportunity, though he dared not manifest that sadness in his face. Kings do not like for their servants to be sad in their presence. But the deep grief of Nehemiah could not be completely hid. The king noticed it, asking him why he looked so sad, stating that it could only be sadness of heart. He gave his reason for his sadness. Then the king asked him if he had any request to make,, and in that moment Nehemiah prayed to the God of ‘heaven for help. He had matured his plans and had come to a conclusion as to what he should ask of Artaxerxes. So he requested that he be sent to Jerusalem and that the king give him letters so that he might safely go on his way without being hindered by their enemies.
The date of this decree is 445 B.C. It gave to “Nehemiah the special commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, including letters to Asaph, the keeper of ‘the king’s forest, which also caused much grief to the enemy. This is the first sign of opposition which grew more and more intense as the work went on. After some time Nehemiah with his bodyguard arrived safely. He was a man of great position in the empire, and must have had a strong guard with him. He makes no mention of his mission on his arrival. He preserves a very tactful silence. If his purpose had been known, his enemies would have at once set to work to defeat it. His practical turn of mind is shown in the fact that he chose the secret hours of the night to ascertain the condition of the walls of Jerusalem, thus being able to mature his plans, no one suspecting his purpose. When he had surveyed and noted the condition of the walls, and had seen just what had to be done, he summoned the leaders of the people, made his purpose known and organized his forces for the rebuilding. Then followed an appeal to the elders to consider their evil case and to arise and build and then he told them how the good hand of his God had been upon him. “So they strengthened their hands for the good work” but the opposition now is more manifest. They laughed them to scorn, but Nehemiah replied, “God will prosper us . . . you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah had organized his forces to perfection. The priest ly families began to build by the sheep gate which was the portion nearest to the Temple. They had a double incentive to work, viz: the protection of the city in which they dwelt, and the protection of that part of the city where their interests were. Nehemiah mentions many of the gates, e.g., the Fish Gate, which was probably at the northeastern entrance of the city. It was called the Fish Gate because the fish from the river Jordan and the Sea of Galilee were brought to the city from that side and through that gate. He mentions the old gate which was probably to the north of the city. The “tower of the furnace” probably refers to the potteries which existed in that day. The Valley Gate overlooking the valley of Ninnom opened west. The Dung Gate led out to the lower end of the valley of Hinnom on the southwest. The Fountain Gate probably led down to the Tyropean Valley on the south. The stairs led to the City of David. The next was the Horse Gate, but we do not know just where it was located. Thus he built the walls beginning at the east side and going around to the west and south. It is impossible to follow the construction exactly as Nehemiah built it. Only a small portion of this wall has been discovered, and that part is near Ophel. Hurlbut’s Bible Atlas is helpful here.
They built the walls in the face of opposition. No one knew that this would arise better than Nehemiah. He felt that the work must be rushed. The attitude of his enemies was characteristic. Anger in the first place gave place to scorn and contempt. Now Sanballat gathers his forces together to oppose Nehemiah. It was a trying time. The enemy mocked them (Neh 4:1-3 ), but Nehemiah set his prayers against the enemy and went forward.
Their third opposition was a conspiracy to fight, which was met on the part of Nehemiah by prayer and setting a watch against them, but just here a complaint came from Judah evidencing his lack of faith. It was threefold, viz: (1) The strength of the burden bearer is gone; (2) there is much rubbish; (3) the enemy is threatening. In view of this, Nehemiah made provisions for their safety, arming the people and setting them in battle array after their families and then he made a moat masterful plea: “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” The effect of this plea is seen in their vigilance and diligence. Half of them worked while the other half held the arms; those that worked had on the sword and worked with one hand and held a weapon in the other. Nehemiah set trumpeters for signal purposes; they did not take off their clothes not lay down their weapons for water, but with sleepless vigilance they pressed the work to completion and were able to say, “And so we built the wall . . . for the people had a mind to work.”
Now we have followed Nehemiah’s work to the time that the walls were rebuilt. Almost as soon as this work had been completed there occurred great destitution. This is set forth in Neh 5 . Nehemiah had been devoting his energies to the fortification of the city; now he must give his attention to the matters in the city.
So we now take up the reforms of commercial and social abuses by Nehemiah. In this fifth chapter we come face to face with conditions that give us a painful surprise. One would think that they would be happy indeed, now, but instead, they were sorely downcast by serious circumstances, in that great wrongs were heaped upon them. Nehemiah was brought face to face with a serious condition of affairs. A great cry was raised by both men and women who were concerned. They said that they were in dire straits of poverty. They had no food, and were in danger of starvation. The suffering was intense. Others said, “We have mortgaged our fields, and vineyards and houses.” The implication really is that some of these had been taken away from them. Then they were without fields and vineyards, also without corn and wheat, things necessary to life. Then again, others said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute upon our fields and vineyards.” They even had to borrow money to pay the king’s tribute. Now we see that they were in sore straits when they had to borrow money to pay their taxes. But their distress does not stop here. We are told that some of them had to sell their own children in order to get bread to eat. “Lo, we bring unto bondage our sons and our daughters . . . for other men have our fields and our vineyards.” This is the condition with which Nehemiah was brought face to face.
Nehemiah was angry and said, “Then I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother.” He saw what had led to this state of affairs. It was just common greed and covetousness. Nehemiah was enraged. He called an assembly et the people, something like the old fashioned “Town Meeting” of New England. He says to them: “The thing ye do is not good: . . . I likewise, my brethren, and my servants, do lend them money and grain. I pray you, let us leave off this usury.” The interest was about 12 per cent. All such interest was forbidden by the law of Moses. So Nehemiah issued a command ordering them to restore all this property. He called the priests together and took an oath of them that they were to see that this thing was done. Now this shows that the priests were the leading men in national life. They were to enforce the law. In order to impress it he says, “I shook out my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house who does not do this.” Just as one would take an apron with articles in it and shake them out, so God would do to them, which meant excommunication. They were to restore the fields and the vineyards which the people sorely needed and ought to have. Then he cites his own example (Neh 5:14-19 ): “From the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah . . . I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor,” that is, he had not been collecting any salary. “But,” he says, “the former governors were chargeable unto the people, and took of them bread and wine, and forty shekels of silver, but instead of that I fed one hundred and fifty of them at my own expense.” Then in Neh 5:19 he says, “Remember unto me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.”
During all this time, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem had been trying to entrap him. They sought some way to entangle Nehemiah and stop the work. But Nehemiah had been trained in an Oriental court. He was used to trickery and deception, common in the life of an Oriental palace. Sanballat and Tobiah invited him down to the plain of Ono for a conference. That sounds like they wanted to be friends with Nehemiah. But he says, “I cannot come down: why should the work cease while I leave it, and come down to you?” He saw through the plan. Four times they sent him that invitation, but each time he replied that he could not come down. In Neh 6:5 he says that they sent him an open letter in which Geshem says, “You think to rebel. You have appointed prophets to preach among the people that you are to be king in Judah.” That is a clever story. The letter informs Nehemiah that they were going to report to Artaxerxes that he was planning to be king; that prophets were preaching in Jerusalem that Nehemiah was to be king. That is the same threat that the Pharisees used on Pilate: “Pilate, if you let this man go you are not Caesar’s friend.” It would have frightened an ordinary man. That very thing drove Pilate to put Jesus to death, when he knew that he was innocent. They sought to stop the work in that way, but Nehemiah prayed: “Now, O God, strengthen thou my hands.” So the work went right on. In Neh 6:10 is the record of another attempt. They employed a certain prophet to help them. He was one of those men who made divinations and was secured to entice Nehemiah. Nehemiah went down to the house of this man, who had been shut up under a vow. Then the prophet said to him, “Let us meet together in the house of God; . . . let us shut the doors of the Temple: for they will come to slay thee.” That was a very subtle proposition. But Nehemiah was too wise even for this trap. He says, “Should such a man as I flee? I have no right to go into the Temple. Am I going to do wrong to save my life?” No wonder God cared for and used this man! Then he discovered that God had not sent the prophet, but he had been hired by Tobiah and Sanballat.
The work went right on, and the wall was completed on the fifty-second day. Now what was going on in the city? Neh 6:17 tells us that the nobles of Judah sent letters to Tobiah and he to them. Nehemiah says, “They spake of his good deeds before me and reported my words to him.” Now that was treachery, but Nehemiah paid no attention to that. He saw clearly through it all. They were simply trying to make him afraid.
Now when the wall had been built he set up the doors and appointed porters and singers and Levites. He appointed his own brother to be governor over the city. This brother was appointed because he was a God-fearing man. He gives instruction about the city gates, as to their opening and so on. Now we are told about the houses and the inhabitants. The record says, “Now the city was wide and large but the people were few therein.” Many Texas cities are like Jerusalem in that they are large and wide, but the houses are not yet built and the people few.
Now he had built the walls and set up the gates. Next he finds the book of the genealogy. That is the same as the list in Ezr 7 . The Apocryphal book, 1 Esdras, also contains a similar list. But why was it repeated here? It was taken from the same list from which Ezra’s was taken and is in accord with the great emphasis which the Jews put on their genealogies. This was necessary for the identification of all who had thus come to Jerusalem and confirms the account given by Ezra. There are no important differences no more than we might expect in two separate genealogical lists prepared by different persons. But there is a special advantage in having the two lists, viz: they enable us to make out a more complete catalogue of those who came at the first, though either list was sufficient for the purpose of identification.
QUESTIONS
1. What was the time period between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah?
2. How did Nehemiah come to know the condition of Jerusalem and according to this report what was the condition?
3. How did this affect Nehemiah and what did he do?
4. What of the providence of God in answer to his prayer and what was the lesson on the relation of prayer and works?
5. What date of this decree and what special commission did it give?
6. What effect of this decree on the enemy?
7. How did Nehemiah commence the work of Jerusalem?
8. What his appeal, what was the first opposition of the enemy and what was Nehemiah’s reply?
9. How did Nehemiah distribute the work and what was the lesson?
10. Locate as nearly as you can the parts of the wall which were assigned to the various companies to build.
11. What was the second opposition of the enemy and what was Nehemiah’s reply?
12. What was the third opposition of the enemy and how did Nehemiah meet it?
13. What was Judah’s complaint and what was the masterful plea made by Nehemiah in reply?
14. What indicates their great vigilance and diligence?
15. What complaint came to Nehemiah from the people?
16. How did this affect Nehemiah, what course did he take and what the result?
17. How does Nehemiah show his spirit of generosity and unselfishness?
18. After the wall was completed what artful proposition came from the enemy to Nehemiah, what was his course in the matter and what lesson for us?
19. How then did they try to entrap Nehemiah and what saved him from their scheme?
20. How long was the wall in building, what effect on the enemies, what embarrassing fact to Nehemiah here revealed, and what provision was made for the continued safety of Jerusalem?
21. Why should Zerubbabel’s register of names occur here also, are there any important differences between the two lists, and what the special advantage in having the two lists?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Neh 6:1 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;)
Ver. 1. Now it came to pass ] Lo, here another let to the good work in hand. That in the fourth chapter was external only; that in the fifth internal only; this here is mixed, that is, partly cast in by the enemies without (those cruel crafties), and partly helped on by the perfidious prophets and ignobles within, conspiring with the enemy against the good of their own country. Thus fluctus fluctum trudit. Disorder creates disorder.
And the rest of our enemies
That I had builded the wall
And that there was no breach left therein
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Nehemiah Chapter 6
But now there is a new plan adopted by the enemy. They had failed to alarm. The governor was on his guard, and the people accordingly. The next thing we find is they proposed a meeting. Why should not they live at peace? Why should they not have communion with one another? “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?” You see, it was not merely some ordinary call. It was that with which the glory of God was bound up. As long as the remnant were not in the place that God had given them as the city where His eyes were – as long as it was a mere heap of ruins – it was evident that it might be an object of compassion; but there was no witness for the Lord there. So, we are told, they sent unto him four times, and he answered them after the same manner.
But there was, next after this, another effort made. They sent persons to preach of him in Jerusalem – “There is a king in Judah,” and to pretend that Nehemiah was affecting the throne. “Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel together.” This was a friendly warning as it appeared. “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.”
There was a third effort, still more subtle (ver. 10). “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.” Here was an enemy within. He proposed to Nehemiah to hide himself in the temple. Nehemiah utterly refuses. “And I said, Should such a man as I flee?” Where would have been his faith? How could a man leave the children, and show that all he cared for was his own personal safety? Besides, there would have been a flagrant defiance of the glory of God. It was contrary to God for an Israelite to use the sanctuary of Jehovah as the heathen did. The heathen made their sanctuaries to be a place of refuge in case of danger to their life; but God never permitted such a thing in His temple. His temple was for His worship, according to His word. This was, therefore, an heathenish idea that was suggested to Nehemiah, and this by a prophet, but he gave a false prophecy. Nehemiah “perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me; for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.” Oh, what schemes, what devices, if possible, to drag the people, and to drag a servant of God among the people, from the path of faith! So all these things were detected by simplicity, by cleaving to the word of the Lord.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Neh 6:1-9
1Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, 2then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono. But they were planning to harm me. 3So I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? 4They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way. 5Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. 6In it was written, It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. 7You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together. 8Then I sent a message to him saying, Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind. 9For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done. But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
Neh 6:1 The enemies have been listed earlier in Neh 1:10 (Sanballat and Tobiah); Neh 2:19 (Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem); Neh 4:1; Neh 4:3 (Sanballat and Tobiah); Neh 4:7 (Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites) and here (Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and the rest of our enemies).
Gershem the Arab His name is spelled differently in Neh 6:6 (BDB 177 I), based on the difference between Arabic grammar and Hebrew pronunciation.. Tradition says that he was the king of Kedar (province of northwest Arabia, cf. R. K. Harrison, Old Testament Times, p. 284) or the southern Arabian area. He was a very powerful political person in the Persian empire. For a good brief discussion see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 675-676.
although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates This seems to be out of chronological order to Neh 3:1; Neh 3:3; Neh 3:6; Neh 3:13. Chapter 3 is the summary of the entire period, while Nehemiah 4-6 are special accounts which fit in into this overall summary.
Neh 6:2 Come, let us meet The first VERB is a Qal IMPERATIVE and the second a Niphal COHORTATIVE (same patters of VERBS in Neh 6:7). The enemies were trying to manipulate Nehemiah.
NASB, NJB
NAB, REV,
NETChephirim
LXX
VULGATE
NKJV, NRSV
TEV, NIVone of the villages
The inhabitants of this city were part of the conspiracy of the Gibeonites in tricking Joshua into a peace treaty (cf. Jos 9:17). They were Hivites (cf. Jos 9:7). This city was included in the tribal allocation of Benjamin (cf. Jos 18:26). People from this city are mentioned as returning from Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel and Joshua (cf. Ezr 2:25; Neh 7:29).
It is PLURAL in this verse, and because the same three Hebrew letters kpr (BDB 499) means village, some English translations translate it as such (NKJV, NRSV, TEV). It is also possible that the term means young lion (BDB 498), which may be literal or figurative for fierce warriors (e.g., Jer 2:15; Jer 4:7; Jer 50:17).
in the plain of Ono This Benjaminite city was the new home for Lod, Hadid, and Ono (cf. Ezr 2:33; Neh 7:37), who returned with Zerubbabel. They had established villages and became craftsmen because in Neh 11:35 Ono is called the valley of craftsmen. It was located on the western boundary of the new province of Judah, about 27 miles northwest of Jerusalem.
but they were planning to harm me This is Nehemiah’s estimation of the intentions of these men who had proven themselves to be enemies (cf. Neh 4:1; Neh 6:8-9). The VERB (BDB 362, KB 359, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) is frequently used of planning against, plotting, scheming (e.g., 1Sa 18:25; Psa 10:2; Psa 35:4; Jer 11:19).
Neh 6:5-9 Then Sanballat sent his servant to This was the same old trick of accusing Nehemiah of treason. However, the repeated request (four times) and an open letter (brought by Geshem, cf. Neh 6:2; Neh 2:19) showed that it was a political threat.
Neh 6:5 an open letter The implication of the personal, governmental letter not being officially sealed was to make the contents known to all. The purpose was political intimidation. It had worked before (Ezra 4), maybe it would work again.
Neh 6:6 the Jews are planning to rebel This is the same accusation as Neh 2:19 and Ezra 4 and is a litany of charges of political plotting and rebellion.
Neh 6:7 you have also appointed prophets Another means of threatening Nehemiah was claiming that he had political or even Messianic pretensions (cf. 2 Samuel 7). This shows that Sanballat was somewhat familiar with Jewish Scriptures.
now it will be reported to the king according to these reports The king in this phrase refers to Artaxerxes I. This is the same rumor game that these enemies had used before. Here it is just the threat of sending a report (i.e., So come now, let us. . .take counsel together), because now the Persian king had ruled in favor of the rebuilding of the city’s wall (cf. Neh 2:1-9).
Neh 6:8 you are inventing them in your own mind The VERB (BDB 94, KB 109, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) is from Aramaic. It is used only twice in the OT and means to devise or to invent or make up in a negative sense (cf. 1Ki 12:33). The related two letter root (BDB 95) means empty or idle talk. The BDB adds especially collective idea of imaginary pretensions or claims (cf. Isa 16:6; Isa 44:25; Jer 48:30).
Neh 6:9 But now, O God, strengthen my hands Notice in NASB 1970 translation that the term O God is in italics (assumed to be a prayer, as does KJV), which means that it is not in the original text but is supplied for English readers. However, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Peshitta, and the Arabic, followed by the NJB, NAB, NEB, NET, have I strengthen my hands all the more. This book is filled with Nehemiah’s prayers (cf. Neh 6:14; Neh 6:16)! See note at Neh 4:9.
The VERB (BDB 304, KB 302) is a Piel IMPERATIVE.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
SanbalLatin Tobiah. See notes on Neh 2:19; Neh 4:7.
and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), for emphasis.
Geshem. Another spelling in Sanballat’s letter (Neh 6:6), Gashmu.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 6
Now his enemies weren’t yet through; they still continued to seek to hinder the work and discourage him. And so when Sanballat and Tobiah saw that the work was going on and the walls were getting up there, and there were just a few breaches left in the walls, that they sent a message to him saying, “Come on down into one of the cities, one of the villages, that we might talk with you, and that we might talk about détente and peaceful co-existence and all.” And Nehemiah said, “I knew that they were intending mischief on me.” And they kept sending these notes, “Come on down. We need to have a counsel. We need to meet together. We need to talk things over so that we can have an understanding.” Four times they sent this kind of a message, but Nehemiah just ignored it. He said, “I’m too busy doing the work of God to take time out to talk.” And he did not slow up the work, but just continued.
And then they sent the message and they said, “Now the rumor is that as soon as you get the walls built, you’re going to proclaim yourself king and you’re going to rebel against the king of Persia. And this is the message that is going to be sent to the king of Persia, so you better come down and so that we can get things straightened out.” And so here is a little bit of extortion kind of a thing or blackmail. “If you don’t come down and talk, we’re going to send this message to the king of Persia that you are intending. Word is the rumor’s out that you’re intending as soon as the walls are up, you’re going to proclaim yourself king and rebel against him.” Of course, remember Nehemiah was in very good terms with Artaxerxes and he was a trusted servant to Artaxerxes. But when a fellow is gone for a while, you never know what might be upon his mind or heart, and such news going back to the king could be very bad. And yet, Nehemiah still refused to go down. He said there is no truth to it whatsoever and just affirmed the fact that it was a lie and that he was just going to go on continuing in the building. And he just said, “There’s no truth to it.” And he dismissed it.
Now he was willing to allow God to be his defense against the lies that were being circulated. And it’s an important thing for us that we learn to allow God to become our defense. Now, if you seek to defend yourself, God often will not defend you. “You want to try to defend yourself, all right, go to it.” But you know, you can get yourself so involved in trying to defend yourself from all of the attacks and all of the things that are being said that your whole life is just trying to go around and straighten out all the stories that are being told.
You’ll be amazed at the stories that I have heard that are being told about me. My jets, and my yachts. My little grandson has a little yacht that he, with battery powered propeller that he puts in the swimming pool, but that’s the closest thing to a yacht I have. And that’s my grandson’s. And I had a jet sweep one time, but never a jet airplane or never an airplane. But the Jehovah Witnesses have their story about me that they tell the people when they go door to door. The Mormons have their story that they tell the people about me when they go door to door, because we’re one of the greatest threats to the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses in the county. Because we teach the Word of God and the truth is always the greatest threat to the lie.
Light is always the worst enemy of darkness. And because we just teach the Word of God, they have a difficult time with us. Because we don’t have any Babylonish hang-ups. It makes it tough for them. And of course, you people do, too, because they’ve gotten wiped out so many times when they come to your doors they get skittish when they see a fish sign around or on the bumper. So a lot of times they’ll just skip your house. And if you begin to challenge them with any kind of biblical intelligence at all, they’ll usually say, “You go to Calvary Chapel? Well, Chuck Smith, you know,” and then they got all kinds of interesting little stories of, “Well, someone talked to Chuck Smith and he said… ” And this kind of stuff.
Now if I sought to go around defending myself from all of these things, “Who told you that?” I’m trying to trace it down. Get to the origin. I would be spending all my time trying to run down these stories. How the enemy would love that. Then I wouldn’t have any time to study the Word of God, to prepare my heart before the Lord in order that I might feed you. He would love very much to detract us from our purpose of serving God. Detract you from your serving of the Lord. Getting you to try to build your defense and defend yourself against the attacks and the challenges or the lies or whatever.
He tried to distract Nehemiah. “This story has been told about you. It’s going to be sent to the king. You better come down. We better talk about this.” He said, “Nothing to it. It’s a lie. I won’t come down. I’m too busy doing the work of God. Busy in this work.”
And so then they sent to him a fellow who came sort of in the guise of a prophet. “Thus saith the Lord, ‘They’re out to get you, Nehemiah. You better go into the temple and sleep at night so you’ll be safe. Because they’re apt to slip into the city at night and they’re out to get you. And so you better get in the temple where you can get behind the closed doors and be safe in there.'” And Nehemiah said that he realized that this was an attempt to strike fear in his heart and to create a reaction out of fear.
Now so often our reactions out of fear are wrong. Fear can motivate us to wrong movement. And they were trying to strike fear in his heart. Trying to create this assailant. “Assassins are going to get you. You better go into the temple of God and close the doors and sleep in there at night lest you become assassinated.” And he said, “I realize that he was not from God. That this was a lie. That they have paid him and put him up to this thing in order to strike fear in my heart.” And he said, “Should such a one as I do this thing?” “Should such a one as I. I’m God’s servant. God is watching over me. God is protecting me. Should I try to find refuge by hiding in the temple?”
My God, think upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to their works, and the prophecy, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear ( Neh 6:14 ).
Satan tries to use fear so often because fear is an enemy of faith. I believe that fear and faith are mutually exclusive. If you have fear, you don’t have faith. If you have faith, you don’t have fear. Where fear is allowed to take over, faith departs. Where you have that strong faith and confidence in God, and of course, again, he encouraged the people not to be afraid, to remember God. And putting it into practice in his own life, remembering that God was watching over him.
Now again we do those things which are wise and prudent, but not motivated by fear or the fear of the enemy’s attacks. And so he would not through fear seek to find shelter within the temple. If God wants to protect him, God can protect him out on the walls. And he doesn’t have to hide in the temple.
So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty-two days ( Neh 6:15 ).
They completed this project of the rebuilding of the wall. It was many years before the city was completely rebuilt. The houses within the city were still pretty much rubble, but now, at least, they had protection from their enemies. The walls have now been built, and now, of course, is just the setting up of the gate that is left there in the walls. But in fifty-two days they had finished the building of the wall.
Now there were even some Jews that weren’t totally loyal to Nehemiah, and he makes mention of them. And they were reporting on him to Tobiah and Sanballat. And again, the idea was to put him into fear, but Nehemiah was not the kind of a man that would be brought down by fear. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Neh 6:1-9
Neh 6:1-9
ONE FINAL EFFORT MADE BY NEHEMIAH’S ENEMIES;
FIVE SUCCESSIVE ATTEMPTS TO GET NEHEMIAH IN THEIR POWER
“Now it came to pass when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and unto the rest of our enemies, that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein (Though even unto that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in 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? And they sent unto me four times after this sort, and; I answered them after the same manner. 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 nations, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel; for which cause thou art building the wall: and thou wouldest be their king according to these words. And thou hast appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, there is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported unto the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together. 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 would make us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. But thou, O God, strengthen thou my hands.”
“The narrative which was broken by the parenthetical Nehemiah 5 is here taken up again.” “The enemies of Judah had found ridicule (Neh 4:1-6) ineffective, and their threatened military attack had not taken place (Neh 4:7-23); and their plan here was to kill Nehemiah, or at least kidnap him.” The spiritual significance of Sanballat’s proposal is that Satan is always attempting to induce God’s servants to come down unto the plains of Ono, and to take counsel with evil men. Satan’s purposes are never otherwise than totally evil. “The plain of Ono was near Lydda, twelve miles north of Jerusalem.” Cundall located it 19 miles north of Jerusalem.
“With an open letter in his hand” (Neh 6:5). This open letter was not sealed, in order that the escort who carried it might read it and scatter the evil report as widely as possible. The very fact of sending such an open letter to the head of a government was an insult.
“Gashmu” (Neh 6:6). This is the name as it appears in the Masoretic text; but it is believed to be the same as Geshem, as the word is translated in the RSV. He was an important official whose word might carry weight in Persia; and there was also the element of plausibility that such a report might carry with it in Persia.” The whole report, however, was totally false.
“Thou hast appointed prophets to preach of thee” (Neh 6:7). Sanballat here exhibits some knowledge of Hebrew history in which prophets did play a large part in the anointing of Israel’s kings, as in the cases of Saul and David. This supports an earlier comment that Sanballat might have been an Ephraimite. However, Sanballat’s omission of any reference to Nehemiah as being a descendant of the royal family of David, supports Williamson’s argument that, “Nehemiah was not of Davidic descent.”
“Thou feignest them out of thine own heart” (Neh 6:8). Nehemiah’s response to this well-planned scheme to allure him into a meeting with Sanballat was merely to send him word that all of his charges were merely a pack of lies which he himself had invented.
“But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands” (Neh 6:9). Here is another of Nehemiah’s impromptu prayers, indicating his complete reliance upon the blessing of God in order to accomplish his objectives.
Sanballat and Tobiah had corrupted a priest named Shemaiah, who attempted to get Nehemiah killed, having been hired by Tobiah. That is our next episode.
E.M. Zerr:
Neh 6:1. In Neh 4:6 we learned that the wall was built up all around at the same time. That is what is meant in this verse by the words no breach.. While the gates were not yet hung, the body of the wall was complete as far as it went.
Neh 6:2. The enemies had tried various means to hinder the work. They tried laughing at them (Neh 4:3), threatened to fight them (Neh 4:8), and next they tried to divert their attention by inviting them to a friendly meeting in one of the plains. Regard.. less of their purpose for such a meeting, had Nehemiah heeded their invitation it would have meant the loss of sometime in the work of the Lord. Whatever time or effort is given to the cause of an enemy of the Lord, it is bound to be at the expense of the works of righteousness and to the advantage of evildoers.
Neh 6:3. The brief reply of Nehemiah is centered in the words I am doing a great work. There is no work possible as great as that of the Lord, and to switch from it to anything else whatsoever would be a downward move. That is why Nehemiah refused to come down to the enemies. Moreover, he said that he would not leave it and come down to them. That means that if a person devotes any of his time and effort to a work that is not the Lord’s, he must necessarily desert that of the Lord; he cannot work at both at once. Christ taught the same thing in what he said about it being impossible for a man to serve two masters (Mat 6:24).
Neh 6:4. Persistence is a strong force and often will accomplish success when a single effort will fail. Sanballat knew this and tried it in his attempt to hinder the work on the wall. He made his proposition 4 times and was refused each time, so that his own persistence was matched by that of Nehemiah.
Neh 6:5-6. The next move was to make a charge against Nehemiah and his brethren, that they were plotting a rebellion. They thought to strengthen the accusation by quoting a man named Gashmu. He was an Arabian and was supposed to add weight to the report. But it did not, for he was only a famous gossiper. The foolish statement was made that Nehemiah was building the wall with a view of becoming a king.
Neh 6:7. Everyone would know it to be a serious thing to make a prediction such as charged against Nehemiah. There was no truth in the accusation, but perhaps he might suspect that some of his over-zealous friends were doing such preaching unknown to him. If such should be going on it would reach the ears of Artaxerxes, and that would mean serious trouble. Now if Sanballat could influence Nehemiah to think such reports were going the rounds, he would become concerned and want to talk it over. So it was proposed that they take counsel together.
Neh 6:8. But Nehemiah understood the scheme and hurled back the accusation that Sanballat was making the report himself. He did not merely accuse him of helping to scatter a rumor that someone had started, but that he was the one who started it out of his own heart. That would mean that he was a wicked falsifier.
Neh 6:9. They all made us afraid is to be understood as meaning they thought to frighten them. They did not succeed as they hoped, for Nehemiah had faith in God. However, he was not blind to the wickedness of his foes, and felt the need of divine help. He therefore prayed to God for strength.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
In this chapter we have the account of the continuity of opposition to the work of Nehemiah. It moved, however, on to a new plane. Having begun in contempt, and proceeded through conspiracy, it now attempted to accomplish its end by subtlety. Affecting friendship, the enemies of Nehemiah four times proposed conference with him, which he resolutely declined, and pressed forward with his work. This was followed by a slanderous open letter, which he was urged to consider. Again, with singular directness, he denied the slander, and carried on his building.
Finding that he was not to be seduced, they attempted a new method, to fill him with fear, and he was advised to hide. This advice he scorned, and continued to urge the workers. Through the whole period he was harassed by the complicity of certain of the nobles with Tobiah. He was constantly compelled to listen to their stories concerning the excellence of this man.
This whole chapter is a wonderful revelation of the true attitude of the servant of God toward his work. Nothing must be allowed to slacken endeavor or to turn the mind aside from the main purpose. Each of these methods illustrates a peril. Conferences with the enemies of the King about His work are always to be avoided. Slanders concerning the workers and their purpose may be denied, but the work must never cease, even for vindication by argument. With the consciousness of the divine purpose in the heart, no man can secure his own safety by hiding, even in the Temple of God. The perpetual wear of reiterated stories concerning the excellence of those who would hinder the building, must be resisted zealously. In all these things Nehemiah was a conspicuous success.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
a Great Task-A Safeguard from Danger
Neh 6:1-19
How often Satan tries to call us off from our work for God! He cannot endure to see us engaged so eagerly on our Masters business and therefore raises up all sorts of hindrances and hostilities. Amid all these we have but one duty to perform. We must lose ourselves in our work. Ours to reply, I am doing a great work, I cannot come down; why should the work cease? If we will see to Gods business, He will see to our safety. False friends, who prophesy in Gods name, are more to be dreaded than open foes. We must learn to discern the spirits. The counsel which savors of self is always to be suspected. Note that Nehemiah considered that to have fear would have been to sin. But God was with the little band through dangers, and the wall was finished in spite of all opposition, 1Co 15:58.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter 6
Plots And Snares
Again our attention is directed to the opposition of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem (or Gashmu) with the rest of Judahs enemies. Every move within the city was reported to them without, and no doubt they had felt a sense of deep satisfaction when the news of internal strife had reached them. This may account for our having heard nothing of them in the last chapter. If Gods people get quarrelling among themselves, the enemy from without can afford to rest in his tents, but as soon as things get right within he actively bestirs himself.
Word having reached the adversaries that the wall was builded and no breach left in it (although the doors had not yet been set up on the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent an apparently friendly message to Nehemiah, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono (ver. 2). They would lure him unto neutral ground, outside the wall, as though to confer on matters of importance; but he recognized the evil purpose of their hearts; he inwardly knew their thought was to do him mischief.
His reply is worthy of the man, and should have a voice for any in our day who are tempted to take neutral ground where the truth of Christ is in question. 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? He had been entrusted by God with a commission to restore and build Jerusalem, and he will brook nothing that would for a moment turn him aside from this. A separated man, he would have no part in the surrounding confusion where the word of God was rejected and His people despised. Notice here: it was no question of ministering to, or caring for the children of God scattered abroad that was before him. These Samaritans were the enemies of Gods truth, while pretending to serve Him. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods (2Ki 17:33). They represent, as we have seen, unreal professors, yet presuming to have full title to the name and place of worshipers. With such the faithful servant can have no fellowship. He must maintain and guard what has been committed to him, and if he attempts to mix with these deceitful workers he will only lose what he himself has.
Four times Sanballat and Geshem sent to Nehemiah after this sort, and four times he returned the same answer.
Then they changed their tactics. They had tried conciliatory methods and failed to corrupt him. Now they would use a scandalous report with intent to intimidate him. There is nothing new under the sun. Satans wiles are such that the man of God must not be ignorant of his devices.
The fifth time Sanballat sends his servant with an open letter in his hand. Oh, these open letters! How often, while fairly worded, have they been penned only to gender strife. This one contained a covert insinuation to the effect that all Nehemiahs work had been unauthorized, and a direct charge that his object was self-aggrandizement and rebellion against the king. Themselves in rebellion against God, they charge Gods servant with their own sin. The open letter reads somewhat graciously, but the object of its writer was to occupy the Jews with his apparently gracious spirit in order to poison their minds against Nehemiah. It is reported among the nations, 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 (vers. 6, 7). Such were the contents of the open letter, and we are not told what impression, if any, it made on the Jews. It was so worded as to intimate that Sanballats only desire was to clear Nehemiah of the charges whispered about, and yet so cunningly phrased that any disaffected ones within might readily charge the governor with fearing an investigation if he did not go down to confer with Sanballat.
But Nehemiah is not at all concerned about this. He knows he is personally right with God and he fears not suspicion and idle tales. There are no such things done as thou sayest, he retorts boldly, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.
So was it also when evil workers sought to undermine the apostle Pauls influence, and so has it ever been when the truth was hated. To discredit, by fair means or foul, the messenger, is one of Satans cunning devices in order to discredit the message. To do this, his tools often affect great humility themselves; and pretending to be zealous for the liberty of the people of God, they cry Pope! Diotrephes! Heretic! when any servant of Christ and the Church seeks to stand steadfastly against iniquity, hoping thereby to throw dust in the eyes of simple believers, in order to gain their own unrighteous ends.
Trials like these are not easy to bear. To have ones good evil-spoken of, to be called a lord over God s heritage when trying to serve in lowliness, is painful indeed to any sensitive soul. But it is well not to retaliate, nor even to explain, but just to refuse the cowardly charge and leave results with God.
Nehemiahs conscience was free, so he could throw the accusation back upon the man who made it; and knowing it was only done to weaken their hands from the work, he looks heavenward and cries, Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands (ver. 9).
But Satan has not yet exhausted his ammunition. A man is found within the city to act for Sanballat and Tobiah, upon the payment of a bribe. Shemaiah, the son of Delaiah, is said to have been shut up. This probably means that he was ill, or confined to his house, and unable to take his place among the workers on the wall. Such a man, if not in fellowship with God as to His then present ways, would prove a ready tool for the conspirators. Nehemiah called upon him, and Shemaiah warned him with pretended sincerity of danger to his life, counselling that he should flee to the temple, there to seek security by hiding in the sanctuary. To do so would have at once spread fear and distrust among the people, and this was just what Sanballat desired.
But Gods devoted servant again rose, strong in faith, superior to the situation. Should such a man as I flee? he asks, and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in (ver. 11). To desert the rest, and act as though panic-stricken, would ill become one in his position, one who also had confessed his faith in God so boldly. He realized that he was again face to face with evidence of the plots of his enemies, and that God had not sent Shemaiah with such a message, but that he was hired by Tobiah and Sanballat to give this unworthy counsel. With these were others who shared in the conspiracy; one, a prophetess named Noadiah, and several unnamed men, also in the prophetic office. Sad and solemn it is when those who take the place of speaking for God are found in sympathy with the adversaries of His truth, thus hindering the work He has committed to His loyal servants.
Nehemiah, in his customary way, brings the whole matter at once to God, and puts the case in His hands. My God, he prays, 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 (ver. 14). It is no longer a matter between Nehemiah and the conspirators, but it is now an affair between God and these unholy plotters. And in His own time He can be depended upon to settle all righteously.
At last, despite every effort to frustrate the work, the wall was finished in fifty-two days from the time they began to labor. When this was manifest to the surrounding nations they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God (ver. 16). With what different feelings would the Jewish remnant contemplate the completed wall! Praise and thanksgiving would well up in their breasts, that Jerusalem was once more a protected city.
No doubt the enemy hated such narrow exclusiveness, and would search eagerly for some small breach whereby to force an entrance, or pass in by night. Judahs exclusiveness was their security. So long as the spirit of the people within answered to the strong wall without, they were safe. Their position was now clearly defined. The next question was, Would their condition answer to it? Alas, the very next verse manifests a bad state. With some at least, the separation was only outward-not of heart and conscience. How often has this been repeated in the history of Gods people!
A position may be taken which outwardly is fully in accord with Scripture; yet the heart may not go with it at all. People talk of separation, priding themselves on being in a certain ecclesiastical circle, apart from sects of mans devising, while yet in their homes and in business-life going on with the world as though never separated at all. This is of the very essence of Phariseeism-an outward position rigidly maintained, while inwardly corruption holds sway.
Inside the walls of Jerusalem it was far from being in accord with the position taken. 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 (vers. 17-19). It was a complete overturning of divine order. God had said, The people shall dwell alone, they shall not be reckoned among the nations. And to so abide was to be strong and be under His protecting hand. But the unequal yoke had been entered into. Mixed marriages, despite the bitter lesson in Ezras day, were still tolerated and excused; and so conscience was broken down and the nobles of Judah lost all power of discrimination. The wall might separate between them and ungodly Tobiah, but there was no separation in spirit, so they easily found means of communication with the haters of Gods truth.
To Nehemiah they prated of the good qualities and benevolence of brother Tobiah, and to the latter they spoke complainingly of the unnecessary strictness of the governor. They were traitors and hinderers, though occupying posi- tions of prominence among the Jews. Discerning of spirits is a gift to be coveted; for dullness of sight is becoming increasingly characteristic of many who once were counted upon as able to discern between good and evil.
When the heart goes with the world and worldly religiousness, all kinds of excuses will be made for those who go on with the mixed condition. Their position and actions-no matter how unscriptural-will be palliated and explained away; while those who truly go on with God will be subjected to the extremes of criticism, and every word and deed viewed as unfavorably as possible. Hence the need of being deeply exercised as to the inward state, as well as carefully walking in the path outlined in the word of God.
The chapter we have been considering is full of warnings for our own times. Happy those who have ears to hear and hearts to understand.
Mere outward separation, with its accompaniment of breaking bread in scriptural simplicity on the first day of each week, will avail for nothing, if there be not heart-detachment from the world and heart-attachment to the Lord Jesus Christ, leading to holiness of life and self-judgment. Only thus can we keep in any measure the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
7 See Notes on the Book of Ezraby the same.
8 On this subject I have frequently quoted from the published notes of an address I gave on this chapter some years ago. Being my own, I have not marked such quotations.
9 Archibald Brown, of London.
10 The verse is really an exclamatory rather than a declarative sentence: Remember Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, raised from the dead according to my gospel!
11 This little word so is quite characteristic of Nehemiah. It is found about twenty times.
Prefatory Note for Nehemiah up Nehemiah: Chapters 7-13
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Neh 6:3-4
Nehemiah’s work was not the building of the altar, not the completing of the Temple; his work was the building up of the walls of Jerusalem, building up the wall round about and setting up the gates again.
I. Notice the solitude of Nehemiah. It was in the absence of sympathy that he was first stirred. He had the burden of solitude, not only when he was away in Shushan, but also when he came to Jerusalem. If you would take part in the reformation, the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, bring it home to yourselves-this solitude of Nehemiah.
II. The sadness of Nehemiah shows that he had the true fire within him of the love of the Church of God. It was enough to take from him all the pleasure of the music and the court; it was nothing to him that he was cup-bearer in the royal presence, that he was highly spoken of. All this was nothing to him, because the walls of Jerusalem, the city of his God, were fallen down.
III. When he did set about the work of God, he made known what was in his heart to others. He worked with others. Though he bore the burden of solitude, he did not carry out his work in any selfish spirit, but he worked with others.
IV. It is mentioned especially of one man that he repaired over against his own house. Just where a man saw the wall wanted repairing nearest to him, there he set to work to build. And so by faithful perseverance the wall was built. And when it was finished the heathen and those that had opposed the building were very downcast in their souls, for they perceived that the wall was wrought of God. They saw that their opposition had been baffled, and that the work was done for the glory of God.
Bishop King, Two Sermons at Oxford, 1872.
References: Neh 6:6.-G. T. Coster, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 341. Neh 6:9.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 233. Neh 6:11.-Ibid., p. 284; S. Cox, Expositions, 1st series, p. 68. Neh 6:15.-A. J. Griffith, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 158. 6-Parker, Fountain, Oct. 11th, 1877. Neh 7:2.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 420. Neh 8:4, Neh 8:8.-W. G. Horder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 21. Neh 8:6.-Sermons for Boys and Girls, 2nd series, p. 218. Neh 8:8.-R. Glover, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 9.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 6
1. The attempt to entice Nehemiah (Neh 6:1-4)
2. The attempt to intimidate him (Neh 6:5-9)
3. The attempt through a false prophet (Neh 6:10-14)
4. The wall finished (Neh 6:15-16)
5. The conspiracy between Jewish nobles and Tobiah (Neh 6:17-19)
Neh 6:1-4. Defeated in all previous efforts to hinder the work and to do harm to the builders of the wall, the enemies made new attempts to make them cease from the work. Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, with the other enemies, had heard that the wall was about finished. Sanballat and Geshem sent the message to Nehemiah, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. Nehemiah knew their scheme, they thought to do me mischief, probably to assassinate him, or make him a prisoner. He therefore answered, 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? Four times they tried to entice him, and four times he gave the same answer. Apparently Sanballat and Geshem offered a friendly meeting on neutral ground, suggesting some kind of an alliance. But Nehemiah, whole-hearted as he was, refused to come down and stop the important God-given work. He would not turn aside from the place given to him by the Lord and the work which he had been called to do. Maintaining this separation was his safeguard. In our own days of worldly alliance and compromise, when deceitful workers abound on all sides, who are like the Samaritans, who feared the Lord outwardly and served their own gods (2Ki 17:33) the only way of escape is to act like Nehemiah did and have no fellowship with such.
Neh 6:5-9. After this failure they attempted to intimidate Nehemiah. Sanballat sent his servant the fifth time, and while the previous communications were sealed this one was in the form of an open letter. In this letter Nehemiah was slandered and a threat made to accuse him of treason to the king of Persia. Maliciousness breathed in every word of this open letter. With a clear conscience, knowing that all was a wicked invention, Nehemiah answered this new attack. There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. He recognized what they tried to do and afresh Nehemiah looked to his God. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. As it was in Nehemiahs day so it is still. Wherever the work of the Lord is done and Gods servants labor to glorify Him, the enemy will rise up and hinder the work. When the Lord opens a door, then many adversaries will appear. The sneers, the hatred, the wiles and the lies of the world are the same today, because behind them stands the same person who acted through Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem–Satan, the god of this age.
Neh 6:10-14. Shemaiahs message was the message of a false prophet. He told Nehemiah that they would come to slay him. He supposed that Nehemiah would flee after receiving this information in the form of a message from the Lord. But Nehemiah said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being such as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. He was a man of faith, in fellowship with God and he at once knew that the message was not from Him. He perceived God had not sent him. Shemaiah was the hireling of the adversaries. It was a cleverly laid plan, not only to frighten Nehemiah, but to make him sin, so that they might have something against him. It seems that Shemaiah was ceremonially unclean; that is probably the meaning of shut up. He was not fit in that condition to be in the house of God, within the temple. And Nehemiah too, not being a priest, would have transgressed had he followed Shemaiahs suggestion. This was the cunning scheme. With this hireling prophet there were also other prophets and a prophetess, by the name of Noadiah.
Neh 6:15-16. So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. How grateful they must have been when their task was finished! Critics have remarked that fifty-two days is too short a time to accomplish that much work. But a large number of people as well as the servants of Nehemiah (Neh 5:16) worked incessantly. The material, too, was ready, for they probably had to dig out the old stones to put them back into the right place; no new stones needed to be hewed and transported. God had worked and given His blessing. The success of it, next to God, was due to persevering prayer, personal and united effort, constant watchfulness and unfailing courage. And their enemies were more cast down, for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.
Neh 6:17-19. The final paragraph of this chapter reveals another sad condition which resulted from disobedience to the law. Mixed marriages were responsible for it. Nehemiah only reports this serious fellowship of the nobles of the Jews and his enemy Tobiah. We shall read later how Nehemiah dealt with those who had allied themselves with this Ammonite (chapter 13).
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
when Sanballat: Neh 2:10, Neh 2:19, Neh 4:1, Neh 4:7
Geshem: Neh 6:6, Gashmu
no breach: Neh 4:6, Neh 4:7, Dan 9:25
at that time: Neh 3:1, Neh 3:3, Neh 3:6
Reciprocal: Neh 4:3 – Tobiah Neh 6:16 – when all our enemies Neh 7:1 – I had set up Psa 41:6 – speaketh Psa 147:13 – he hath Isa 58:12 – The repairer
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CHAPTER 6 DISCLOSES to us that, as the building of the wall neared completion the opposition from without was intensified, and took on more subtle forms. The first we might characterize as compromise, with a desire to inflict hurt, in this case evidently mischief of a personal sort. The request that there should be a conference in some village on the plain of Ono seemed reasonable enough then. In our day such a conference would have a special appeal, for all over the world nations and even tribes are full of disputes, and conferences continually take place, in order that, by some measure of compromise on both sides, open conflict may be avoided. Present-day statesmen would be very sympathetic to the suggestion of Sanballat and his friends.
But, when the truth of God or the work of God is in question, compromise is not to be entertained. The servant of God today may not fear physical mischief, but he knows that what is of God is not subject to human arrangement, however plausible such a compromise may appear to be.
The adversaries were persistent for they sent four times, and even a fifth, when they altered their tactics and resorted to lying misrepresentation. They accused him of desiring to throw off the Persian yoke and make himself a king. Similar tactics were employed by adversaries in the early days of the Gospel. Paul, for instance, was accused of being, ‘a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world’ (Act 24:5); and even in our day quite untrue charges have been levelled against preachers of the Gospel. These untrue charges against Nehemiah occasioned fear, though they knew them to be untrue, but in verse Neh 6:9 we see that they only cast him afresh upon God. If opposition today casts us upon God, we shall ultimately profit thereby.
Verses Neh 6:10-13, show us that the adversaries tried a third device, perhaps more crafty and subtle than the earlier ones. They hired a Jew, one of Nehemiah’s own people, to alarm him as to his own danger of assassination, urging him to protect himself by doing something which would have been reprehensible according to his own religion. Not being one of the priests, to enter the temple and hide there was not permissible for him. If compromise and false accusation had not succeeded in moving him, they hoped to accomplish it by entrapping him in a sin against the law of his God. But perceiving their wickedness, and calling again upon his God, this snare too was avoided by this God-fearing man.
How often have many of us, who seek to serve the Lord in this our day, been entrapped in somewhat similar fashion when opposed, committing ourselves in spirit, in word, in action to what is really sin against Him. If we would be delivered from entanglement in any of these three ways, let us keep in touch with God, as we see Nehemiah doing in this chapter. There is every reason for us to do so, since on the basis of His death and resurrection we are brought into such near and loving relationship with Him.
We must note verse Neh 6:14, for it records the distressing fact that certain men who were prophets among the people, and even a prophetess, were in league, with the adversaries and acting with them. Enemies of God’s work, of a more secret sort, and even amongst the professed people of God, are really more dangerous to the work of God than opponents of an open sort. God, however, was behind the work on the wall, and so it was duly finished, as verses Neh 6:15-16 record, in spite of all the antagonism and craft employed against the work, so that the enemies were cast down, seeing that God was in it.
The closing verses of the chapter again emphasize what appears to have been the main difficulty. Betrayal on the part of leaders within was worse than opposition from without. And, what led to this state of affairs? Marriage alliances with the enemy had taken place on the part of some, and the wish to smooth matters over was consequently very natural on the part of the transgressors. Ever since God said to Abram, ‘Get thee out’, (Gen 12:1), these forbidden marriages had been a great snare. We have sadly to confess that it has not been otherwise in the history of the church.
As we read Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, we might marvel at the number and variety of the disorders he had to refer to, and utter rebuke. What was the underlying cause? We believe this is reached in his second epistle, 2Co 6:11-18. At this point the Apostle’s heart was enlarged and his mouth opened to indicate with plainness the weak spot. It was the way in which they had accepted the ‘unequal’, or ‘diverse’, yoke with unbelievers. The believer, born of God, has a nature which the unbeliever does not possess. At the same time he has within him the flesh, the old nature, which the unbeliever possesses. Hence if the diverse yoke be accepted, the believer is almost certain to be pulled in the direction of the world, and adopt some, if not many, of its ways. So let us today watch our ways, in the light of this plain New Testament scripture, lest we are guilty of a sin, which is similar to that which troubled Nehemiah in his day.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Neh 6:1-2. I had not set up the doors Not all of them. Come, let us meet together To consult about the common service of our master the king of Persia, or to make a friendly accommodation. In one of the villages in the plain of Ono A city in the tribe of Benjamin, of which see Neh 11:35; 1Ch 8:12. But they thought to do me mischief It is likely they intended to kill him, of which, perhaps, he had received some private intelligence.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Neh 6:6. Thou mayest be king. Sanballat accused this very old man of a crime that was in his own heart, had he but seen an opening, for he kept a standing army in Samaria.
Neh 6:7. There is a king in Judah. The hostile governors thought to intimidate and unman the governor, by charges of high treason. They construed those who conducted the public worship, to flatter Nehemiah with regal dignity.
Neh 6:10. Mehetabeel who was shut up, as an ascetic. This religious traitor endeavoured to work on the fears of the governor, to save his life by hiding in the sanctuary. Noadiah and others seconded his views. What a reproach must they have brought on themselves by their venality!
Neh 6:15. The wall was finished in fifty and two days. No work is done like that which is done with a willing heart.
REFLECTIONS.
Wisdom is better than might; but here the courage of the governor equalled his years, and is worthy the imitation of christians. The answer he gave his enemies is very proper for us, when attacked by the temptations of Satan. He was employed in a great work; the business of religion is the most important of all; let it not cease that we may go into bad company, either for the sake of compliment or ceremony. Shall we flee, who profess the religion of Jesus, and are his by solemn engagements? We who have families that will be influenced by our example? Let us be resolute that we will neither do that which is evil, nor decline that which is good, on account of any solicitation or importunity whatever.
When any attempts are made to weaken our hands, let us earnestly pray that God would strengthen them. This is a proper petition when we are entering upon duty, when surrounded by enemies, when temptations present themselves, especially at a time when iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxes cold. We have need of strength to stand resolute; it is a great comfort to reflect that God is able and willing to strengthen us, and that those who come to the throne of grace shall find grace in time of need. Stedfastness and resolution in a good work will overcome all difficulties, and at last be crowned with success. Had Nehemiah been discouraged and intimidated by these various artifices, the rising glory of Jerusalem had been covered with a cloud. Had he fled to the temple, and shut himself up there; it would have been taken as a proof of guilt, and would have proved the ruin of himself and his work; but his stedfastness brought the work to perfection. Let those who are desirous to serve God themselves, and promote the interests of religion, be resolute in the good cause. Let no allurements draw them aside, let no threatenings or banters dishearten them, and let us all learn from this example, to be stedfast and unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1Co 15:58.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Neh 6:1-9. Nehemiahs Enemies Make a further Attempt to Frustrate his Work.The narrative about the rebuilding of the walls, which was broken by ch. 5, is here taken up again. Sanballat and his confederates seek to allure Nehemiah to a conference in order thus to get him into their power. Nehemiah refuses to go to this meeting on the ground that he is too busy with the work which he has in hand. Sanballat, having tried four times in vain to persuade Nehemiah to come, at length tries to intimidate him by sending him a letter in which he accuses him of aspiring to the kingship, and threatens to report this to the king. Sanballat thinks that by this means he may induce Nehemiah to come and meet him. Nehemiah, however, merely denies Sanballats allegations, telling him that he has made them up.
Neh 6:2. the plain of Ono: cf. Neh 11:35; near Lydda (p. 28), twelve miles to the north of Jerusalem.
Neh 6:7. thou hast also appointed prophets: cf. 1Ki 22:1-28, Jer 28:1-17, etc.; the prophets had taken a leading part in times past in the setting up of kings.
Neh 6:9. But now . . .: LXX But now will I strengthen my hands (cf. mg.).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
FURTHER SUBTLE OPPOSITION
(vv. 1-14)
Chapter 5 has been practically a parenthesis in this book, for Nehemiah had to delay the building of the wall in order to deal with serious problems inside. However, this did not take a protracted period of time, for Nehemiah was firm and decisive in acting promptly for the Lord.
Since the enemy had been repulsed in their efforts to stop the work of the Lord, they resorted to a more deceitful way of accomplishing their ends. They were alarmed by the fact of the wall having been rebuilt, though at that time the doors in the gates had not been hung (v. 1). Sanballat and Gesham sent a message (purporting to be friendly) to Nehemiah asking him to meet with them outside the city in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But Nehemiah was discerning enough to realize they wanted to draw him away from his own territory to do him harm. He replied, “O, no!” –sending messengers back to them to tell them he had important work to do and would not leave that work to have a useless interview with God’s enemies (v. 3).
But the enemies of God were persistent: they sent the same message four times, and four times Nehemiah answered them in the same way. The fifth time they sent an open letter (open because they wanted this to become a public issue), saying “It is reported among the nations, and Gesham 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” (vv. 6-7).
Nehemiah was certainly not deceived by this. In fact, if such charges were true, what reason would there be for consulting together? Sanballat in this case should report the matter to the king, presenting a clear witness to the truth of his charge, but he had no such witness. The answer from Nehemiah was therefore precise and clear, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart” (v. 8). Thus Nehemiah refused to be enticed by these men. Satan’s method is always to draw us off the basis of faith in the living God. In this case Nehemiah realized their object was to make the people of God afraid of possible recriminations by the authorities, but fear is not faith. If Sanballat could entice Nehemiah to consult with him, even the Jews would conclude that Nehemiah was afraid, and their confidence in a man of faith would be shaken. Let us not fear any kind of threat if we are doing what the Lord has sent us to do. In contrast to having their hands weakened in the work, Nehemiah made another short, involuntary prayer, “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands” (v. 9). Thus, the opposition served to drive Nehemiah into the presence of the Lord to find additional strength.
Now another subtle snare was laid for Nehemiah, though it was not apparent as such at first, as of course no snare is. He went to visit Shemiah, who was “shut up,” evidently confined for some reason (NASB). Speaking to Nehemiah as though in friendship, he urged him to go with him to the house of God and close the doors, warning him that “they” were coming to kill Nehemiah. Whom did he mean by “they”?
However, faith is the victory that overcomes the world” (1Jn 5:4), and faith is foremost in Nehemiah’s reply, “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!” (v. 11). David shows the same faith in Psa 11:1, “In the Lord I put my trust; how can you say to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?”
Immediately, when Nehemiah expressed this firmness of faith, the Lord gave him discernment to perceive that Shemiah’s message was not from God, but rather that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired Shemiah to seek to frighten Nehemiah (vv. 12-13). Such was their wickedness that they wanted to be able to report to the people that Nehemiah was fearful of imagined danger, and therefore was unfit to be a leader. But Nehemiah had “the shield of faith” which always quenches the fiery darts of the wicked one (Eph 6:16).
Another brief prayer of Nehemiah is recorded in verse 14, “My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.” Tobiah and Sanballat had evidently employed Noahdiah a prophetess and other prophets to help in their evil work, by giving advice that was satanic. How terrible is the deceit that claims to be speaking for God while giving messages from Satan! Are there such prophets today? Sad to say, Yes! They can speak in the most subtle way, though not realizing how deceitful they are, for Satan deludes them into thinking they are wise.
THE WALL COMPLETED
(vv. 15-19)
The faith of Nehemiah was wonderfully rewarded in the fact that the building of the wall was completed in 52 days. The determined opposition of the enemies was totally defeated, so that they could not but realize that this work was done by God (v. 16). Why were they disheartened then? Because they were enemies of God, though they would not have said they were. If God does a work, every creature of God ought to be thankful for it: if not, they declare themselves as His enemies.
At the same time, however, Nehemiah had cause for deep distress because the nobles of Judah wanted to maintain friendly relations with Tobiah in frequent correspondence. Why did they do this? Evidently Tobiah had a strong, persuasive character, and by marriage had identified himself with some in Jerusalem who therefore felt favorable toward him. He was an Ammonite, so that the Word of God allowed him no part in Israel whatever, but he apparently wanted to worm his way into the politics of Judah, and the nobles were far too compromising in the matter. They also reported Tobiah’s good deeds to Nehemiah and reported Nehemiah’s words to Tobiah. How sad it is that they were so deceived as to not recognize Tobiah as the enemy that he was! But similar things happen among the saints of God today. How important it is that we take to heart the words of Eph 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Tobiah continued to send letters to Nehemiah with the object of putting him in fear. Did the nobles think these were good deeds?
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
THE WILES OF THE DEVIL
Nehemiah 6
Nehemiah has faced, and triumphed over, the open opposition of the enemy: he has met too the corruptions of the flesh: now he is called upon to “stand against the wiles of the devil.” Under the guise of friendly interest in Nehemiah and his work, the enemy will seek, by subtlety, to beguile him from the simplicity of faith in God, and so bring the work to nought by encompassing the fall of the leader in the work.
First, Nehemiah is called upon to face the wile of the friendly conference (2, 3). “Come let us meet together,” are the words of the enemy. And in reply the natural mind might suggest that, though actuated by very different motives, courtesy would at least demand that Nehemiah should accede to this request and hear what they have to say. There surely can be no harm in listening to their suggestions even if it be impossible to agree. However, no such arguments, if used, avail with Nehemiah. He realises that Sanballat and Geshem are entirely opposed to the principles by which he is governed. In such circumstances a meeting would hardly help Sanballat, and would certainly end in “mischief” to Nehemiah. He escapes the snare by the realisation of the greatness of the work that he is doing. Thus his answer is “I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down.”
Having escaped this snare, Nehemiah is now called upon to meet the wile of importunity (4). Not to be put off by Nehemiah’s firm answer, the enemy repeats his request “four times.” It was by this wile that Satan encompassed the fall of Samson in an earlier day. Delilah “pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death.” Finally Samson falls before the importunity of his treacherous wife and “told her all his heart.” In result he was robbed of his strength, the Lord departed from him, and he fell a prey to his enemies (Jdg 16:15-21). The devil knows the weakness of human nature and under persistent pressure it will often betray the saint to give way from sheer weariness. Nehemiah escapes this wile by simply repeating his former answer, as he says, “I answered them after the same manner.” He is occupied with a great work and he is not prepared to discuss it with those who are well known to be opposed to the work.
The third snare Is the wile of the “open letter” (6, 7). It is couched in friendly terms and affects great concern for Nehemiah’s reputation, which it is feared will suffer from certain derogatory reports concerning Nehemiah and his work. But being an “open letter” it is purposely designed to damage Nehemiah by spreading abroad evil reports. If true the charges would indeed be serious. For it is said that Nehemiah – the cupbearer and appointed governor of the king – is going to “rebel.” This is truly alarming for rebellion is an ugly word. Moreover a witness can be produced to support the charge for “Gashmu saith it.” Further it is said that Nehemiah’s ultimate aim, in building the walls, is to exalt himself to the throne as king. And finally, report has it, that Nehemiah has appointed prophets to preach in Jerusalem, and thus endeavour to substantiate his claim to royalty by a professed word from God.
Nehemiah declines to be drawn into any argument with the tempter, or give any explanation of his work or motives. With great wisdom and restraint he simply denies the accusation, and exposes the origin of these evil reports. He sees, too, that the real aim of the “open letter” is to terrify the people by leading them to suppose they are linked up with one who is a rebel plotting against the king. Thus terrified their hands would be “weakened from the work.” But, as ever with Nehemiah, God was his resource. The enemy attacked Nehemiah to weaken the hands of the people, Nehemiah turns to God to strengthen his hands that he might support the people (8, 9).
The wile of the open letter is followed by a fourth and more subtle snare. For now Nehemiah has to meet the wile of the false friend (10-14). Alas there were those within the city who professed great friendship for Nehemiah and yet were in the hire of the enemy without. Under the guise of friendship Shemaiah would associate with Nehemiah in order to betray him to his enemies. His words are “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple: and let us shut the door of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.” Such language might lead the unsuspecting to conclude that Shemaiah was a real friend seeking to frustrate the enemy’s evil designs and secure the safety of Nehemiah. But in the eyes of this God-fearing man the very methods suggested to secure his safety, arouse his suspicions. For it is suggested that Nehemiah – the leader in the work should flee from the work that God has put into his heart to do. Like David, in an earlier day, he could say, “In the Lord I put my trust: now say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain” (Psa 11:1). Moreover it is suggested that he should do what was unlawful (being neither a priest nor a Levite) in order to save his life. With the usual directness of this simple-hearted man, Nehemiah says, “I will not go in.”
Having withstood this snare, the whole evil of the wile stands revealed to Nehemiah. He detects that Shemaiah, though a prophet, was not sent from God, but was in the hire of the enemy, and therefore working for the enemy under the guise of friendship for Nehemiah. With Shemaiah also were associated “the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets.” To the profession of friendship they would add the weight of a professed prophetic utterance from God. What more terrible wile than for one who is in league with the enemy to approach a godly man, professing to be a warm friend with a message from God.
In the former wile the enemy falsely charges Nehemiah with using prophets for an evil purpose. In this wile the enemy does in fact use the prophets for his own evil ends. By means of gold he acquires an unholy influence over the very men, who by reason of their prophetic office, should have been the first to help in the Lord’s work by communicating the Lord’s mind.
Having received the gold of those opposed to the work they cease to be the mouthpiece of the Lord, or a help to His people, and their efforts are all directed to stopping the work by ruining the character of the man who was leading in the work. This Nehemiah clearly perceives for he says of Shemaiah, “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” (13).
In the presence of this terrible wile, now fully exposed to Nehemiah, God is his unfailing resource (14). He makes no open attack upon the enemy, and apparently takes no active measures against his tools, but he spreads the matter before God, mentioning the names of the enemies without, and the woman within who is working behind the scenes. As one has said, “There are many forms of evil which cannot be openly assailed without damage to ourselves and to others, and many evil workers in the church of God that must be left alone. To attack them would only serve the cause of the enemy; but our resource in such circumstances is to cry to God against them.”
Such an appeal to God, is owned by God; for in spite of the wiles of the enemy, the work proceeds and the wall is finished. The fact that it was accomplished by a people so weak outwardly, in the presence of enemies so strong actually, becomes a witness even to the enemy “that the work was wrought of our God” (15, 16).
But there is one more wile that Nehemiah is called to meet, the wile of the good report (17-19). There were those amongst the remnant within, who were for ever sounding the praises of the enemy without. “They reported” the “good deeds” of Tobiah before Nehemiah. Doubtless they would argue “‘Tobiah does not see eye to eye with us, as to the necessity of building the wall, but he is such a good man,” and in proof “they reported his good deeds.” But while praising the enemy without to Nehemiah, they were equally ready to belittle Nehemiah before the enemy, for, says Nehemiah, “They uttered my words to him.” It would appear from these nobles of Judah, that Tobiah was marked by good works, while Nehemiah at best was only a man of “words.” However, the solemn fact was that those who were so forward to praise the enemy were in constant communication with the enemy, and sworn to him by reason of alliances with him. Thus, in different measures, it ever is, with those who, whilst professing to be at one with those who seek to build the wall, are, at the same time, loud in the praises of those who are opposed to the wall.
In all the conflicts of God’s people, who, In these last days, have sought to maintain separation, have they not again and again been faced by these different wiles? Have we not known the wile of the friendly conference between those who hold opposing principles about which there can be no compromise: the wile of importunity which may lead the godly into a doubtful course for the sake of peace; the wile of the open letter – courteous in tone but malicious in motive; the wile of the false friend – who professes to give warnings from God though actually in the hire of those opposed to the truth; and finally the wile of the good report as to those without, from the lips of some within?
In all these wiles It Is noticeable that the efforts of the enemy are in the main directed against individuals. In Nehemiah’s day the enemy, wrongly or rightly, believed that if once the fall of Nehemiah could be encompassed it would be comparatively easy to overcome the mass of the people and stop the work. They might indeed be right in thinking that the mass are easily led into a wrong course, but they are entirely wrong inasmuch as they leave God out, and are ignorant of God’s ways. They do not see that it is usually God’s way to stem the tide of evil by one or two men, and that if they have done their work, or if they fail, or are overcome by the enemy, God can raise up others to carry on His work.
Nehemiah triumphed through knowing God and bringing God into all his difficulties. The enemy failed through ignorance of God, and leaving God out of all his calculations.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
6:1 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 {a} breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
(a) That is, that they were joined together, as in Neh 4:6.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. The attacks against Nehemiah 6:1-14
Nehemiah recorded three separate plots the Jews’ enemies instigated to frustrate his effective leadership.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The plot to distract Nehemiah 6:1-4
The plain of Ono, to which Nehemiah’s adversaries invited him for a meeting (Neh 6:2), lay about 25 miles west and a little north of Jerusalem near Ashdod and Judah’s border with Samaria. Israel’s present international airport at Lod, just east of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast, is very close to this site. It was in a kind of no-man’s land between Judah and Samaria. If Nehemiah had accepted this invitation he would have been many miles from Jerusalem for at least two days. This would have given the people of the land opportunity to attack the Jewish workmen.
"Chephirim" (Neh 6:2) may be the proper name of a town. However since it is the plural of the Hebrew word for village it may be a general reference to the towns on the Ono plain. Another possibility is that this Hebrew word should be translated "with the lions" and that this is a figurative reference to the princes of the surrounding provinces. [Note: Richard Schiemann, "Covenanting with the Princes: Neh. VI:2," Vetus Testamentum 17 (July 1967):367-69.] Nehemiah turned down four invitations to this meeting (Neh 6:4).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
WISE AS SERPENTS
Neh 6:1-19
OPEN opposition had totally failed. The watchful garrison had not once permitted a surprise. In spite of the persistent malignity of his enemies, Nehemiah had raised the walls all round the city till not a breach remained anywhere. The doors had yet to be hung at the great gateways, but the fortification of Jerusalem had proceeded so far that it was hopeless for the enemy to attempt any longer to hinder it by violence. Accordingly the leading antagonists changed their tactics. They turned from force to fraud – a method of strategy which was a confession of weakness. The antagonism to the Jews was now in a very different position from that which it had attained before Nehemiah had appeared on the scene, and when all Syria was moved and Artaxerxes himself won over to the Samaritan view. It had no support from the Satrap. It was directly against the policy sanctioned by the king. In its impotence it was driven to adopt humilitating devices of cunning and deceit, and even these expedients proved to be ineffectual. It has been well remarked that the rustic tricksters from Samaria were no match for a trained courtier. Nehemiah easily detected the clumsy snares that were set to entrap him. Thus he illustrates that wisdom of the serpent which our Lord commends to His disciples as a useful weapon for meeting the temptations and dangers they must be prepared to encounter. The serpent, repulsive and noxious, the common symbol of sin, to some the very incarnation of the devil, was credited with a quality worthy of imitation by One who could see the “soul of goodness in things evil.” The subtlety of the keen-eyed, sinuous beast appeared to Him in the light of a real excellence, which should be rescued from its degradation in the crawling reptile and set to a worthy use. He rejoiced in the revelation made to babes, but it would be an insult to the children whom He set before us as the typical members of the kingdom of heaven to mistake this for a benediction of stupidity. The fact is, dulness is often nothing but the result of indolence, it comes from negligence in the cultivation of faculties God has given to men more generously than they will acknowledge. Surely, true religion, since it consists in a Divine life, must bring vitality to the whole man, and thus quicken the intellect as well as the heart. St. James refers to the highest wisdom as a gift which God bestows liberally and without upbraiding on those who ask for it. {Jam 1:5} Our plain duty, therefore, is not to permit ourselves to be befooled to our ruin.
But when we compare the wisdom of Nehemiah with the cunning of his enemies we notice a broad distinction between the two qualities. Sanballat and his fellow-conspirator, the Arab Geshem, condescend to the meanness of deceit; they try to allure their victim into their power; they invite him to trust himself to their hospitality while intending to reward his confidence with treachery; they concoct false reports to blacken the reputation of the man whom they dare not openly attack with diabolical craft one of their agents endeavours to tempt Nehemiah to an act of cowardice that would involve apparently a culpable breach of religious propriety, in order that his influence may be undermined by the destruction of his reputation. From beginning to end this is all a policy of lies. On the other hand, there is not a shadow of insincerity in Nehemiahs method of frustrating it. He uses his keen intelligence in discovering the plots of his foes; he never degrades it by weaving counterplots. In the game of diplomacy he outwits his opponents at every stage. If he would lend himself to their mendacious methods, he might turn them round his finger. But he will do nothing of the kind. One after another he breaks up the petty schemes of the dishonest men who continue to worry him with their devices, and quietly hands them back the fragments, to their bitter chagrin. His replies are perfectly frank; his policy is clear as the day. Wise as the serpent, he is harmless as the dove. A man of astounding discernment, he is nevertheless “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.”
The first proposal had danger written on the face of it, and the persistence with which so lame a device was repeated does not do much credit to the ingenuity of the conspirators. Their very malignity seems to have blinded them to the fact that they were not deceiving Nehemiah. Perhaps they thought that he would yield to sheer importunity. Their suggestion was that he should come out of Jerusalem and confer with Sanballat and his friends some miles away in the plain of Sharon. The Jews were known to be hard-pressed, weary, and famine-stricken, and any overtures that promised an amicable settlement, or even a temporary truce, might be viewed acceptably by the anxious governor on whose sole care the social troubles of the citizens as well as the military protection of the city depended. Very likely information gleaned from spies within Jerusalem guided the conspirators in choosing the opportunities for their successive overtures. These would seem most timely when the social troubles of the Jews were most serious. In another way the invitation to a parley might be thought attractive to Nehemiah. It would appeal to his nobler feelings. A generous man is unwilling to suspect the dishonesty of his neighbours.
But Nehemiah was not caught by the “confidence trick.” He knew the conspirators intended to do him mischief. Yet as this intention was not actually proved against them, he put no accusation into his reply. The inference from it was clear enough. But the message itself could not be construed into any indication of discourtesy. Nehemiah was doing a great work. Therefore he could not come down. This was a perfectly genuine answer. For the governor to have left Jerusalem at the present crisis would have been disastrous to the city. The conspirators then tried another plan for getting Nehemiah to meet them outside Jerusalem. They pretended that it was reported that his work of fortifying the city was carried on with the object of rebelling against the Persian government, and that this report had gone so far as to convey the impression that he had induced prophets to preach his kingship. Some such suspicion had been hinted at before, at the time of Nehemiahs coming up to Jerusalem, {Neh 2:19} but then its own absurdity had prevented it from taking root. Now the actual appearance of the walls round the once ruinous city, and the rising reputation of Nehemiah as a man of resource and energy, might give some colour to the calumny. The point of the conspirators device, however, is not to be found in the actual spreading of the dangerous turnout, but in the alarm to be suggested to Nehemiah by the thought that it was being spread. Nehemiah would know very well how much mischief is wrought by idle and quite groundless talk. The libel may be totally false, and yet it may be impossible for its victim to follow it up and clear his character in every nook and cranny to which it penetrates. A lie, like a weed, if it is not nipped in the bud, sheds seeds which every wind of gossip, will spread far and wide, so that it soon becomes impossible to stamp it out.
In their effort to frighten Nehemiah the conspirators suggested that the rumour would reach the king. They as much as hinted that they would undertake the business of reporting it themselves if he would not come to terms with them. This was an attempt at extracting blackmail. Having failed in their appeal to his generous instincts, the conspirators tried to work on his fears. For any one of less heroic mind than Nehemiah their diabolical threat would have been overwhelmingly powerful. Even he could not but feel the force of it. It calls to mind the last word of the Jews that determined Pilate to surrender Jesus to the death he knew was not merited. “If thou let this Man go, thou art not Caesars friend.” The suspicion that always haunts the mind of an autocratic sovereign gives undue weight to any charges of treason. Artaxerxes was not a Tiberius. But the good-natured monarch was liable to persuasion. Nehemiah must have had occasion to witness many instances of the fatal consequences of royal displeasure. Could he rely on the continuance of his masters favour now he was far from the court, while lying tongues were trying to poison the ears of the king? Before first speaking of his project for helping his people, he had trembled at the risk he was about to incur; how then could he now learn with equanimity that a cruelly mendacious representation of it was being made to Artaxerxes? His sense of the gravity of the situation is seen in the way in which he met it. Nehemiah indignantly repudiated the charge. He boldly asserted that it had been invented by the conspirators. To them he showed an unwavering front. But we are able to look behind the scenes. It is one advantage of this autobiographical sketch of Nehemiahs that in it the writer repeatedly lifts the veil and reveals to us the secret of his thoughts. Heroic in the world before men, he still knew his real human weakness. But he knew too that his strength was in God. Such heroism as his is not like the stolidity of the lifeless rock. It resembles the strength of the living oak which grows more massive just in proportion as it is supplied with fresh sap. According to his custom in every critical moment of his life, Nehemiah resorted to prayer, and thus again we come upon one of those brief ejaculations uttered in the midst of the stress and strain of a busy life that light up the pages of his narrative from time to time. The point of his prayer is simple and definite. It is just that his hands may be strengthened. This would have a twofold bearing. In the first place, it would certainly seek a revival of inward energy. Nehemiah waits on the Lord that He may renew his strength. He knows that God helps him through his own exercise of energy, so that if he is to be protected he must be made strong. But the prayer means more than this. For the hands to be strengthened is for their work to prosper. Nehemiah craves the aid of God that all may go right in spite of the terrible danger from lying calumnies with which he is confronted, and his prayer is answered. The second device was frustrated.
The third was managed very differently. This time Nehemiah was attacked within the city, for it was now apparent that no attempts to lure him outside the walls could succeed. A curious characteristic of the new incident is that Nehemiah himself paid a visit to the man who was the treacherous instrument of his enemies devices. He went in person to the house of Shemaiah the prophet-a most mysterious proceeding. We have no explanation of his reason for going. Had the prophet sent for Nehemiah? or is it possible that in the dread perplexity of the crisis, amid the snares that surrounded him, oppressed with the loneliness of his position of supreme responsibility, Nehemiah hungered for a Divine message from an inspired oracle? It is plain from this chapter that the common, everyday prophets-so much below the great messengers of Jehovah whose writings represent Hebrew prophecy to us today-had survived the captivity, and were still practising divination much after the manner of heathen soothsayers, as their fathers had done before them from the time when a young farmers son was sent to Samuel to learn the whereabouts of a lost team of asses. If Nehemiah had resorted to the prophet of his own accord, his danger was indeed serious. In this case it would be the more to his credit that he did not permit himself to be duped.
Another feature of the strange incident is not very clear to us. Nehemiah tells us that the prophet was “shut up.” {Neh 6:10} What does this mean? Was the man ceremonially unclean? or ill? or in custody under some accusation? None of these three explanations can be accepted, because Shemaiah proposed to proceed at once to the temple with Nehemiah, and thus confessed his seclusion to be voluntary. Can we give a metaphorical interpretation to the expression, and understand the prophet to be representing himself as under a Divine compulsion, the thought of which may give the more urgency to the advice he tenders to Nehemiah? In this case we should look for a more explicit statement, for the whole force of his message would depend upon the authority thus attributed to it. A simpler interpretation, to which the language of Shemaiah points, and one in accordance with all the wretched, scheming policy of the enemies of Nehemiah, is that the prophet pretended that he was himself in personal danger as a friend and supporter of the governor, and that therefore he found it necessary to keep himself in seclusion. Thus by his own attitude he would try to work on the fears of Nehemiah.
The proposal that the prophet should accompany Nehemiah to the shelter of the temple, even into the “Holy Place,” was temptingly plausible. The heathen regarded the shrines of their gods as sanctuaries, and similar notions seem to have attached themselves to the Jewish altar. Moreover, the massive structure of the temple was itself a defence-the temple of Herod was the last fortress to be taken in the great final siege. In the temple, too, Nehemiah might hope to be safe from the surprise of a street emeute among the disaffected sections of the population. Above all, the presence and counsel of a prophet would seem to sanction and authorise the course indicated. Yet it was all a cruel snare. This time the purpose was to discredit Nehemiah in the eyes of the Jews, inasmuch as his influence depended largely on his reputation. But again Nehemiah could see through the tricks of his enemies. He was neither blinded by self-interest nor overawed by prophetic authority. The use of that authority was the last arrow in the quiver of his foes. They would attack him through his religious faith. Their mistake was that they took too low a view of that faith. This is the common mistake of the irreligious in their treatment of truly devout men. Nehemiah knew that a prophet could err. Had there not been lying prophets in the days of Jeremiah? It is a proof of his true spiritual insight that he could discern one in his pretended protector. The test is clear to a man with so true a conscience as we see in Nehemiah. If the prophet says what we know to be morally wrong, he cannot be speaking from God. It is not the teaching of the Bible-not the teaching of the Old Testament any more than that of the New-that revelation supersedes conscience, that we are ever to take on authority what our moral nature abhors. The humility that would lay conscience under the heel of authority is false and degrading, and it is utterly contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture. One great sign of the worth of a prophecy is its character. Thus the devout man is to try the spirits, whether they be of God. {1Jn 4:1} Nehemiah has the clear, serene conscience that detects sin when it appears in the guise of sanctity. He sees at a glance that it would be wrong for him to follow Shemaiahs advice. It would involve a cowardly desertion of his post. It would also involve a desecration of the sacred temple enclosure. How could he, being such as he was-i.e., a layman-go into the temple, even to save his life. {Neh 6:11} But did not our Lord excuse David for an analogous action in eating the shewbread? True. But Nehemiah did not enjoy the primitive freedom of David, nor the later enlightened liberty of Christ. In his intermediate position, in his age of nascent ceremonialism, it was impossible for him to see that simple human necessities could ever override the claims of ritual. His duty was shaped to him by his beliefs. So is it with every man. To him that esteemeth anything sin it is sin. {Rom 14:14}
Nehemiahs answer to the proposal of the wily prophet is very blunt-“I will not go in.” Bluntness is the best reply to sophistry. The whole scheme was open to Nehemiah. He perceived that God had not sent the prophet, that this man was but a tool in the hands of the Samaritan conspirators. In solemnly committing the leaders of the vile conspiracy to the judgment of Heaven, Nehemiah includes a prophetess, Noadiah-degenerate successor of the patriotic Deborah!-and the whole gang of corrupt, traitorous prophets. Thus the wrongness of Shemaiahs proposal not only discredited his mission, it also revealed the secret of his whole undertaking and that of his unworthy coadjutors. While Nehemiah detected the character of the false prophecy by means of his clear perceptions of right and wrong, those perceptions helped him to discover the hidden hand of his foe. He was not to be sheltered in the temple, as Shemaiah suggested, but he was saved through the keenness of his own conscience. In this case the wisdom of the serpent in him was the direct outcome of his high moral nature and the care with which he kept “conscience as the noontide clear.”
Nehemiah adds two items by way of postscripts to his account of the building of the walls.
The first is the completion of the work, with its effect on the jealous enemies of the Jews. It was finished in fifty-two days-an almost incredibly short time, especially when the hindrances of internal troubles and external attacks are taken into account. The building must have been hasty and rough. Still it was sufficient for its purpose. The moral effect of it was the chief result gained. The sense of discouragement now passed over to the enemy. It was the natural reaction from the mockery with which they had assailed the commencement of the work, that at the sight of the completion of it they should be “much cast down.” {Neh 6:16} We can imagine the grim satisfaction with which Nehemiah would write these words. But they tell of more than the humiliation of insulting and deceitful enemies; they complete an act in a great drama of Providence, in which the courage that stands to duty in face of all danger and the faith that looks to God in prayer are vindicated.
The second postscript describes yet another source of danger to Nehemiah-one possibly remaining after the walls were up. Tobiah, “the servant,” had not been included in the previous conspiracies But he was playing a little game of his own. The intermarriage of leading Jewish families with foreigners was bearing dangerous fruit in his case. Tobiah had married a Jewess, and his son had followed his example. In each case the alliance had brought him into connection with a well-known family in Jerusalem. These two families pleaded his merits with Nehemiah, and at the same time acted as spies and reported the words of the governor to Tobiah. The consequence was the receipt of alarmist letters from this man by Nehemiah. The worst danger might thus be found among the disaffected citizens within the walls who were irritated at the rigorously exclusive policy of Ezra, which Nehemiah had not discouraged, although he had not yet had occasion to push it further. The stoutest walls will not protect from treason within the ramparts. So after all the labour of completing the fortifications Nehemiahs trust must still be in God alone.