Nehemiah 6

Nehemiah 6:1

6:1-4 Having failed to obstruct the Jews by other means, the enemy next tried to destroy Nehemiah. Four times Sanballat and Geshem the Arab tried to get Nehemiah to leave his work and meet with them in the plain of Ono. Four times Nehemiah refused, knowing that they were plotting to do him harm. Such a great work must not be stopped. 6:5-9 Still pretending to be his ally, Sanballat accused Nehemiah in a letter of planning to make himself king of Judah in rebellion against the king of Persia. Sanballat said he wanted to help Nehemiah avoid trouble with the king and suggested that they get together to discuss the matter. But Nehemiah refused, knowing all too well that Sanballat did not have his best interests at heart. Besides, the slanderous charges were false. Nehemiah’s loyalty spoke for itself. 6:10-14 It was no secret that Nehemiah was a devout man and one who feared the Word of the Lord. So false prophets were hired to trick him into sinning and incurring God’s displeasure. A Jew named Shemaiah, who was a secret informer for the enemy, warned Nehemiah about a supposed plot on his life and suggested that the governor accompany him into the temple for safety. Nehemiah saw through the prophet’s ruse. God’s Word forbade any but the priests to enter the temple. Nehemiah would rather lose his life than violate the law. And so Sanballat’s third scheme fell harmlessly to the ground. Verses 9 and 14 are examples of the “arrow prayers” that characterized Nehemiah’s life (see also Neh_2:4; Neh_4:9; Neh_5:19). He habitually turned to God in times of crisis. Matthew Henry comments: 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.” 6:15-19 Despite continued opposition, the wall was completed in fifty-two days, a remarkable feat. This evidence of divine blessing demoralized Judah’s enemies. One further grief Nehemiah endured while the walls were going up is added in verses 17-19. Many of the nobles in Jerusalem stayed on friendly terms with the wicked Tobiah because they were related to him by marriage. (Tobiah was governor of the AmmonitesNeh_2:10.) The nobles reported Nehemiah’s words to Tobiah on the one hand and praised Tobiah in Nehemiah’s hearing on the other. We meet Tobiah again in chapter 13. Although it took only fifty-two days to finish the walls, Nehemiah had plenty of other duties to fill up his twelve or more years as governor.