Triumph and Treachery
- David Fairchild
- Apr 19, 2009
- Series: Nehemiah
Nehemiah 6:1-15: "Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, 'Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.' But they intended to do me harm. 3 And 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 to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, 'It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, "There is a king in Judah." And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.' 8 Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.' 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, 'Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.' But now, O God, strengthen my hands. 10 Now 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.' 11 But I said, 'Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.' 12 And 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. 13 For 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. 14 Remember 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. 15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days."
As we've been in the great book of Nehemiah, we've been learning that this book is about so much more than simply building a wall. God didn't preserve this historical work for us to simply stand in awe of a speedy construction project. It's about more than broken walls; it's about broken people. It's about more than burnt and destroyed gates; it's about burnt lives in need of restoration. The walls, though important, are kind of a stage prop to tell the real story of God's people.
God's people had grown accustomed to disappointment and heartache. They had become comfortably numb and had lost all hope that their God would come and restore them and let His beauty rest again in their midst. They didn't seem to think it would happen in their lifetime. Maybe God had loved His people in the past and perhaps He would come again in love for those in future generations. But for them, they stopped expecting and anticipating God's return and instead just got on with their lives as their city, their families, and their lives began to look alike-toppled, rusted, and hopeless.
In an amazing turn in their history, God breaks the heart of an outsider named Nehemiah who comes to his people to call them out of their hopelessness and cancerous apathy into a living faith in their living God. He gives himself away to lead these people to once again experience the joy, praise, and glory He intended for this great city. In fact, this is what God said He would do with them in Jeremiah 33.
Jeremiah 33:9: "And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them..."
God's plan for His people was that He would bring about their restoration, and in restoring His people and His city, the nations of the earth would watch and hear of all the good that this God did for them and it would cause them to stand in awe.
This is why this book is so powerful for us today. God intends this same transformation for His church, the city of God. As we're redeemed and rebuilt, as we're restored and renewed, we'll be a name of joy, praise, and glory before our neighbors, our city, and our nation.
God wants those outside His family to hear of all the good that He does for us. He wants us brag about His grace. He wants us to gossip the Gospel to one another as we rehearse and rejoice in the victory of His Son. As we live out of this incredible grace and the forgiveness we have, others will hear of the reputation of a God who is willing to forgive and restore even the most broken lives.
This is the way of mission to our city: God's glory being put on display through the cross of Jesus and this grace being given to a people who rejoice and praise Him together before all their neighbors and all the nations as they are welcomed to join.
And like Nehemiah, when we begin to experience and celebrate how grace is restoring us and when we begin to tell others of this good news, we will, without a doubt, experience opposition. We'll be misunderstood. We'll be laughed at. We'll be mocked. We'll be taunted. We'll even experience others withdrawing from us. We may even be hated.
Jesus said, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you" (John 15:18).
Why? Because the choke-hold that Satan has upon those who have yet to believe in and experience God's restoring and forgiving power, will be tightened and he will fight with all his power, and all his deceit, to keep hearts enslaved and held captive to do his will (2 Tim. 2:26).
This great enemy does not want lives to be renewed and rebuilt. Satan despises God's glory and the last thing he wants is for God's people to find their greatest joy in Him alone. He doesn't want anyone to be changed into Christ's image. He doesn't want people to worship the true God with new hearts.
So he plots, schemes, deceives and tries to make God's people tremble in fear. Whenever something is done out of love for God and His glory, Satan accuses them of evil and questions their motives. He destroys reputations through gossip and slander. He distracts them through flattery or busyness.
Have you ever experienced this? Have you ever done something for someone out of love for them and with the hopes that they would come to love Jesus, only for them to accuse you of doing it for selfish reasons or even claim you're trying to harm them?
Have you ever been misunderstood by those you're really trying to love?
Have you ever been threatened by someone when they find out you're doing something to help someone they hate?
How about someone trying to ruin your reputation by lying about you to others?
Anytime we stop complaining and become accountable for what's wrong in our lives, our family, our community, and our city, we're joining Nehemiah by saying, "The problem with the world is me." When that happens, we not only experience the incredible freedom of God's triumphant grace, we also experience opposition from those who like things the way they are.
Nehemiah experiences all of these attacks from God's enemies and knows something about being misunderstood, slandered, and threatened.
Let's read what this great leader endures and how he handles such opposition.
Verses 1-4: "Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, 'Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.' But they intended to do me harm. 3 And 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 to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner."
First tactic: Distraction (focus)
Again his enemies show themselves by their actions. They have tried to distract, deceive, and threaten the people and all that has happened is that they looked to God and God thwarted their plans.
Now it becomes personal. Since they can't stop the people they want to take out the leader of the people. So they try to lure him 27 miles away to the plain of Ono under the pretense of having a peaceful meeting together.
Nehemiah, realizing that they have no intention of making peace but want to bring him harm, sends messengers back to them and tells them no.
You can imagine having all the nations surrounding Jerusalem against you. How tiring and difficult it would be to stay focused while they kept coming at you. They don't want the city restored because the people will begin to be restored, and for the enemies, this meant they will have effectively lost control over them.
But they kept sending messengers to Nehemiah. Four times they sent for him and four times Nehemiah said no.
What they were hoping for was a distraction. The work had moved so quickly and the people worked so effectively together that their enemies couldn't stop the wall from being built. In fact, the only thing left was to hang the restored gates so that the city would be safe.
This was a critical moment for Nehemiah and this project. He needed to be there to ensure that the city would be secured.
I'll bet the enemies were hoping that Nehemiah would be so tired and so worn out from all the struggles against them that he would jump at any chance for peace. They were banking on his need to be accepted by them.
What does Nehemiah do? He says, "I am doing a great work and can't come down."
He was so possessed by this great work that there was no way-no matter how tired he was, no matter how much he wanted peace-that he was going to stop even for a moment. He was not going to be distracted from what God had called him to.
Is there anything in your life so important that you would say no to other things? Is there a great work in your life to which you feel compelled? Do you have something you're living for that is so strong that you can clearly distinguish the difference between what is most important and what is less important?
If not, your life will be continuously interrupted and controlled by stronger voices. You will be pulled by things that always seem more important than what you're doing. The vast majority of successful people aren't successful because they're great; they're successful because they believe the work is great. They know how to say "no" to lesser things.
Nehemiah was so compelled by God's call that he knew this work was great. Do you believe that God called you into a great work?
Now, this doesn't mean that every person, every day, woke up with a smile and skipped all the way to work so they could lift dirty old stones to repair this wall. Remember, they were hated and knew that any day someone might kill them because of the work they were doing. I'm sure they felt tired. I'm sure their emotions got the best of them at times. And I'm sure it wasn't all whistles while they worked. But what kept them going was the realization that it was great work.
Do you have a great work to which you've been called, or do you only have a great past of which you've been forgiven? God does both. He calls us away from our sin and past and into something great. His plan is to free us so that He can accomplish His purpose through us.
This is what we've been trying to unpack every week. God has called you to a great work; to see your life restored and to see the lives of others restored as you love and serve the needs of others because your God has loved and served your greatest need. There are many other works that want to compete with this great work, but for those who have been so loved by God, no other work is greater.
Why do we fail to be like Nehemiah?
Why do we fail to say "no" to lesser things?
Because we don't have a clear sense of what God has called us to in His great work, it's easy to be mastered by the tyranny of the urgent.
We are distracted by so many things because we don't know what we're really living for. We may realize that what we lived for in the past was only killing us, but since we struggle with understanding God's call for us to engage in His great work, we are easily drawn away to lesser things.
It's almost as if we can't say no to anything. The question this raises is an important one: What is ultimately controlling our lives?
You see, if you don't sense God's call into His great work, you'll be controlled by other things that seem important because you can't distinguish which is more important.
You might have a family and because you have no greater calling than your family, you might find yourself idolatrously having to serve the agenda of your kids. You become enslaved to and need their approval so you give them what they want and never say no. You run from this event to that event and all the while you think you're doing a great work.
But our children need to be led into the great work of God's mission, not the great work of their hobbies and sports. Do we say no to our kids so that we might say yes to a greater work? How about instead of saying yes to every request of theirs, we teach them what it looks like to sacrifice and give themselves away? How about when they want to take on another activity we say no to them because it will keep us from being able to love our neighbors and be with our brothers and sisters in Christ?
You might be working a job and doing it well. Perhaps you think your greatest work is to have job security, so anytime your boss asks you to work extra hours or anytime a promotion comes up, even if it means sacrificing more of your life, you say yes.
Maybe you don't need more money to buy more things you don't need, to impress people you don't know or like. What if instead of saying yes to every opportunity to give your employer more of your life, you say no? What if you tell them that your weekends are spent helping the older folks that live next door and if you take on this responsibility you won't be able to love them or care for them? What if you explain that you spend time with your family in Christ and in doing so are able to serve your city or neighborhood and if you take the promotion you won't be able to do that anymore? What if you explain that you love your wife so much that even though the money would be great, it would take you away from your time with her and your time with your friends?
We act as if we're on a trajectory in which we have no choice but to say yes to these things.
Nehemiah could say no because he wasn't living for their approval.
Verses 5-7: "In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, 'It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, "There is a king in Judah." And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.'"
Second tactic: Deception (reputation)
Because they couldn't bend Nehemiah through distracting him, they began to ratchet up their manipulation. Satan is so conniving and cunning and he won't stop trying to trip you up until you are dead.
A fifth time Sanballat sent his servant to him, but this time it was an open letter to him. An open letter meant that instead of it being sealed, which meant only the person it was written to could read it, this letter was already opened and the purpose was for others to read it before Nehemiah received it.
His enemies figured if he wasn't going to stop the work and come to them, they'd ruin his reputation and raise questions about whether or not he was really doing this for God and others.
They openly assail his character by saying that he's only doing what he's doing for himself. He's trying to rebel and make himself a king over Jerusalem. They even claim that Nehemiah set up prophets to proclaim himself as a king in Judah.
Certainly having his reputation smashed would make him meet with them. That's what they want, they want him to be so worried about this slander that he finally gives in and takes counsel with them.
This must be so difficult for Nehemiah. To know that what has moved you to leave everything to come and serve these people is now being twisted into a selfish, self-serving motive.
I imagine the temptation to want to protect his name or to try and correct their misunderstanding would be almost like a black hole for any of us who want to live for God's glory and love God's people.
But how does Nehemiah respond?
Verses 8-9: "Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.' 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, 'Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.' But now, O God, strengthen my hands."
Basically, Nehemiah says they're crazy. They're making this up out of their mind. He perceives what their real motive is. They want to frighten Nehemiah and the people by threatening to tell the king Artaxerxes that they're rebelling against him.
The enemies are counting on the weariness of this great mission, that Nehemiah and his people would be so tired that they would drop their hands from the work and simply give up under such threats.
However, Nehemiah turns to His God and instead of asking for protection, instead of asking for his reputation to be restored, he simply asks God to strengthen his hands.
Nehemiah rolls up his sleeves and dives deeper into this great work. He refuses to live for his reputation.
Why is this so hard for us? Because too often we're concerned with what others think of us.
If we live for what others think of us, we'll never be secure. We'll never be free. We will only be the sum total of the opinions of others. All the verdicts passed against us become our identity. So, to secure ourselves and protect our identity, we become overly worried and concerned about what others think.
You might say things like, "I can't show up looking like this" or "I can't tell them that or they'll think I'm a nut job." Or you might be tempted to go along with the comments and gossip about others so you don't look like you're a prude by walking away. You may even fear what people will say about you if you don't do this or that thing you think they want you to do.
What are some other ways we live for our reputation?
Don't these seem so small in comparison to what Nehemiah was facing? His life was at stake and yet he refused to run around correcting and protecting his name.
If we're living for our name, we'll fall apart when it's questioned. It's how we gain our righteousness. But we're to live for another name, the name and fame of our glorious God, not our own. Nehemiah understands this. He understands that his name isn't important, it's God's name that should be protected and if he stops building this wall, God's name might be diminished. A greater name replaces the need for his own name to be made great.
Satan tries to distract Nehemiah, and us, and Satan tries to deceive us into believing that we should live for our name instead of God's. This was the reason for his own fall. But he doesn't stop there. These enemies go right after man's greatest fear, his own life.
Verses 10-13: "Now 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.' 11 But I said, 'Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.' 12 And 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. 13 For 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."
Third tactic: Fear (safety)
Now enemies within his own people emerge. They try to stop him through fear of his own life. They're banking on him hiding, even though he's courageous, if he knows his life is in danger.
Why was fear connected to sin for Nehemiah? (Because sin isn't just doing what we're not supposed to do, it's not doing the thing we are supposed to do).
What things in our life are giving us fear? What fear is mastering us?
Why are we so willing to cave in when our reputations are on the line? Why do we need a good name from others? How do we turn our safety and our name into an idol?
What exposes these idols? A great work like this will often show us what we're relying on and trusting in. The idolatry of safety won't be exposed unless we're called to a great work. The idolatry of our reputation isn't exposed until we do something specifically in Jesus' name. We can be nice people, never mention Jesus, and our reputation will be incredible. But once we give all the glory to our Savior and serve others in His name, our reputation will take a hit.
Nehemiah and the better Nehemiah
Verses 14-15: "Remember 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. 15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days."
Where has Jesus succeeded where we've failed?
How is Jesus similar to Nehemiah?
- He was misunderstood.
- They accused him of trying to be a false king.
- Nehemiah's greatest temptation was to save himself (fear) and protect his reputation, and Jesus' greatest temptation was to save Himself (after the 40 days and on the cross) and to protect His reputation ("if you were a prophet...")
- Jesus was sent on mission from His Father to come and restore lives by building His kingdom, His city, His church.
- All the various enemies came together against Jesus like they did to Nehemiah.
- In the Garden, with the threat of His enemies coming to take Him by night, He stayed. Had He gone, He would have sinned because of what the Father had called Him to.
- Nehemiah remembers God's faithfulness and character and His promise to redeem His people and this strengthens him in the moment of testing. Jesus remembers God's character that He experienced in the Trinity and the promise of His future reign and blessing, and it strengthens Him in the moment of testing.
How is Jesus different than Nehemiah?
So much of Nehemiah's incredible focus, clarity of calling, and willingness to give his life is like Jesus. But Nehemiah is only a shadow of the real thing. Nehemiah also falls short so that we never forget there is a greater Nehemiah.
Nehemiah's example only leaves us guilty and defeated. We all admit we've shaken in our boots at the first sign of our safety being stripped. And we've all caved in and lived for our reputation instead of His. If I were simply to say, now go be Nehemiah, you'd be weighted down with the reality that you've already failed to be like Nehemiah, that's the problem! That's why we fear. That's why we let others control us.
There has to be a better solution than just "try harder." And there is. Jesus is different than Nehemiah in the most important way.
I think the difference is found in verse 14. Nehemiah is deceived, ridiculed, betrayed, slandered, and threatened by his enemies and his response is, "Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid." During Nehemiah's darkest hour of being personally threatened, he calls a covenantal curse upon them.
Yet Jesus, in His darkest hour, not only being threatened, but actually being taken in the night, dragged through false trials, slandered, ridiculed, mocked, punched in the face repeatedly, flogged, and nailed to a cross, doesn't cry out to His God to remember their sin, but instead cries out to His God, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing" (Luke 23:34).
Jesus knows that this prayer is going to cost Him His life. In order for the Father to forgive His enemies, He's going to have to treat His Son like He's the enemy. He's going to have to put a covenant curse upon Jesus instead. He's going to have to bear their sin for them, in their place.
And just as this great work was finished in 52 days, so Jesus' work was finished and the restoration God had promised would come and never be taken away. The greatest work of all was completed.
Jesus' triumph came through tears. Jesus' victory came through loss. Jesus' strength was demonstrated through His weakness.
Don't you see, because Jesus took our failure upon Himself, our fear upon Himself, our slavery upon Himself for us, in the eyes of the Father we're not failures. In fact, through receiving Jesus' life and death for us by faith, our Father sees us freed from our fear, because perfect love casts out all fear and His love is perfect for us. He sees us freed from our reputation, because Jesus is now our reputation. When He thinks of our past and future, He only sees Jesus' name and reputation.
This means we don't have to be afraid and enslaved any longer. We're free! It is finished!
And the work He now calls us to is to pray for and bless those who ridicule and revile us, to love and care for those who would malign us and slander us. Their power is broken by a greater power that now possesses us. We can love them because we're loved already.
How do we deal with others who deceive us, mistreat us, threaten us, and misunderstand us? By saying today, Father forgive them, they don't understand what they're doing. Help me to love them as you have loved me. Help me to not cling to my life and need their approval. Help me to love and fear only you. Thank you for freeing me from the need to control my life and to need approval from others. Let me live out of that truth as you restore me so that others can see how good you are.
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