10Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live?c I will not go in.” 12And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
What seems to be the temptations here; why is it not a good idea? Have you faced similar situations in life?
Share and pray for one another with your team.
Once again the enemy switches his tactics, reverting again to [deceit]. A word comes in the form of a prophecy, but this man is a false prophet. He claims to have hidden knowledge that men are coming to kill Nehemiah and advises him to go into the temple to save his life. This false prophet may be involved in the occult, because that is what is suggested here by the explanation that he was shut in at his home (Nehemiah 6:10). Being shut in suggests that for some religious reason he was secluding himself.
What he says sounds logical. Some people are out to get you. They are going to kill you, he charges. Nehemiah certainly knows that! The man suggests, Come on up here, and we will go into the temple and shut the doors. They will not dare attack you there. That sounds good, but immediately Nehemiah detects something wrong. He knows that as a layman, he is not permitted to go into the temple, for only priests could enter the temple. It was simply not right for him to enter the temple.
He realizes that a prophet who was really from the Lord wouldn’t say anything that was not in line with the commands of God. There was an altar of asylum in the temple courtyard to which people who were under threat could flee and be safe, but this man is proposing they actually go into the temple and shut the doors.
Nehemiah says it was all part of a plan to discourage the people from following his lead. Fueled by jealousy and ambition, these enemies slandered him and tried to trick him into yielding to their demands. We must be aware of this kind of attack on our lives in these days. Do not take people’s advice just because they are friendly to you. It may be completely wrong advice. Nothing substitutes for a knowledge of the Word of God. That is how you can detect error and tell what is wrong. The best response to such an approach is what Nehemiah uses here–a deep sense of his true identity as a believer. Should a man like me run and hide and try to save his life by wrong approaches and unlawful practices? He falls back upon his clear consciousness of who he is. He is a believer in the living God, and thus he need not resort to trickery to save his life.
This is exactly what the New Testament calls us to as well. Writing to the Thessalonians, faced with the normal pressures and problems of life, the apostle Paul’s word is, live lives worthy of God (1 Thessalonians 2:12). We are called to walk with God. You are a child of His. You belong to Him. You are therefore living at a different level from those around you. If you remember who you are, you will not go along with the wrong things that people are being pressured into today.
Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden Pond, If I seem not to keep step with others, it is because I am listening to another drumbeat. Christians also listen to another drumbeat. They are following their Lord, not the voices they hear around them. Nothing will free us more from the subtle pressures and temptations of today than to remember who we are.
How important is it to know or remember our true identity as a believer? Where can we find out who we are in Christ?
Challenges kept coming Nehemiah’s way, thus making his discernment so inspiring! He continues to assess the difficult situations and see what is true and right. His continual prayer and dependency on God helps him to navigate through these challenging times. It encourages me to do likewise. I want to cultivate a better prayer life.
From brother Don
When the open letter failed to intimidate Nehemiah into stopping the work and coming to a meeting, his enemies decided to try intimidation from within. They hired the false prophet, Shemaiah, to lure Nehemiah into the Holy Place in the temple for refuge from a murder plot. Interestingly, the NKJV translates the description of Shemaiah as one “who was a secret informer” in place of one “who was confined to his house.” (Also, I discovered that Shemaiah was the son of a priest who was an intimate friend of Nehemiah.) For Nehemiah to enter and shut himself in the Holy Place would have been a desecration of the house of God and would have caused people to question his reverence for God. This plan would give them grounds to raise an evil report against Nehemiah, who was not a priest and had no right to go into the Holy Place. It may also have caused the people to question his courage. Once again, Nehemiah sees right through the ploy and responds appropriately. Then, ultimately, he places the situation in God’s hands.
The situation I’ve faced that would be most similar to this, (though admittedly not quite on the same level,) would be times when I have been deceptively tempted to sin by another person so that this person would have accusations against me. Unlike Nehemiah though, I have had to learn the hard way not to fall into this trap. Suffice it to say that there is much to be learned from Nehemiah here. His faith is so strong that he simply cannot be intimidated nor manipulated into sinning against God! And furthermore, he has the wisdom to place his adversaries in the hands of God, whose justice is perfect.
Lord, increase my faith! Give me the wisdom and courage to put You above all else, that I would not be able to be manipulated into sinning against You. You died for us so that we may live for You. Perfect us in Your love, that we would have nothing to fear. Guide us by the light of Your truth, that we would not be deceived. Lead us on into salvation.
Reading this, Im just impressed by Nehemiah’s ability to decipher God’s people and his will. This passage was really inspirational, and if God wills it, I hope I can be able to discern when he’s speaking. And also discern who he is sending people.
I think in my life I’ve failed to discern when God’s speaking multiple times. I’ve also often gotten excited thinking I’ve met another believer, only to be let down.
Wow Nehemiah! What a man rooted in the Word of God. If I was in trouble and someone offered me protection, I’d probably say thanks and take it. However, as I read deeper into this, Nehemiah would have been a coward, leaving his people with no leader in scary times and Jerusalem would have fallen into the hands of the enemy. We must be rooted in God’s Word to have this selfish love and discern what is right. Only when we know our true identity as God’s child will we be able to flee what is wrong and discern what is right.
The temptation here is being safe and comfortable living life instead of fulfilling God’s will. If Nehemiah were to follow this path then He would be distancing himself from God and his purpose of doing God’s will. However, he saw through the trap and stood firm in his faith towards the Lord. This temptation of comfortable conforming to the world is a constant struggle in my life because it keeps me from doing God’s purpose and spreading the Gospel. It currently shows that I am not fully rooted and trusting in the Lord. I pray Lord that my heart be softened to allow You to work within me to spread the Good News and do Your work.