Nehemiah 6:1-19
Conspiracy Against Nehemiah
1 Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), 2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm.
3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”
4 But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.
5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written:
It is reported among the nations, and Geshem 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. 7 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.
8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”
9 For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”
Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.
10 Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”
11 And I said, “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!” 12 Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
14 My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.
The Wall Completed
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.
17 Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. 18 For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. 19 Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.
When the enemies of God’s people heard that Nehemiah had rebuilt the city wall without any breaks left in it, but had not yet hung the gate doors, they concocted a conspiracy to lure him outside the city to kill him. He was wise in the LORD to see through their evil plan and told them he was doing an important work and could not leave it to meet them. After trying this four times, then Sanballat threatened to write a slanderous letter to the king accusing him of setting himself up as ruler in rebellion against Babylon. He even blasphemed God by accusing Nehemiah of setting up his own prophets to proclaim him the king of Judah, which he obviously had no intention of doing. Nehemiah responded by telling Sanballat and the other enemies opposing him and the work of the LORD that he had only invented them in his own heart to stop him serving God by instilling fear of harm by their threats. Then Tobiah and Sanballat hired a hitman named Shemaiah to lure Nehemiah to a secret meeting and kill him, but God once more opened his eyes to perceive the plot and cause him to sin in believing a false prophecy to stop God’s plan and saw the conspiracy to derail him from it. One of the first conspiracy theories was born that day in opposition to the truth of God’s word by false prophecy, which thing still occurs today. Nehemiah prayed that God allay his fears and would hold Tobiah and Sanballat accountable for their sin along with the others such as the false prophet Noadiah used against him. They completed the work on the wall of Jerusalem in fifty-two days even in the face of the conspiracies and their enemies were disheartened in the face of the work clearly done by the LORD God who was on the side of Nehemiah and God’s people who finished the work as promised. While Tobiah continued to send threatening letters to dishearten Nehemiah, other nobles kept praising Tobiah for his good deeds because he was of important standing in the unbelieving community. Nehemiah trusted God and feared him more than those conspiring against the work until he completed it faithfully in the face of the conspiracy theories and threats against his character with blasphemous false prophecies to try to thwart the work of the LORD. God had the final say as always. We can learn from this to stay the course of proclaiming the gospel and its truths to both unbelievers set against us and His word, as well as to believers who might be misled by false proclamations (Matthew 7:15, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 John 4:1) passed as God’s word intended to frustrate His work to deliver souls and build His house of the invisible church. We read this account and there set our own hands to the work of the gospel and look to the Lord for wisdom to see the truth by the leading of understanding by His Spirit and follow the final word of proven prophetic scriptures (Hebrews 1:1-2, 2 Peter 1:18-19) to complete the tasks we have been given according to our gifts, no matter the worldly opposition (Ephesians 3:10, 6:12) set on stopping us. We must see the work of building God’s house (Ephesians 4:12-13, 14-15, 16, 1 Peter 2:5) through to completion in the face of conspiracy of our slanderous enemy.
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