Nehemiah 6:10

Nehemiah 6:10 says, Afterward 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 to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.  Nehemiah then went to the house of Shamiah, who claimed to be a prophet, who told him that they needed to go and shut themselves up in the temple so they would be safe.  This would have caused Nehemiah to stop building the wall, which is what his enemies wanted him to do, but was advised to be done as the will of God.  We cannot just hide away in fear of the world today but must be doing what God has called us to do, even if the leaders of the church might tell us otherwise. 

Verse eleven adds, 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.  Nehamiah asked Shemaiah why would a man like him, a man who professed faith in God, go into the temple and hide for his own safety.  We serve the most powerful God in the world, so there should never be a time that we put personal safety above doing what God tells us to do.  I know in some parts of the world it may be a death sentence to proclaim ourselves to be Christians, and God may tell us to proclaim the gospel quietly, but I believe as a general rule, we need to boldly stand openly for Him. 

Verse twelve continues, And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.  Nehemiah said he recognized that Shemaiah was not proclaiming God’s word but was telling him what Tobiah and Sanballat had paid him to say.  It is sad to think that a man who proclaimed to speak for God could be paid to proclaim anything but the truth of God.  If we are followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit will always let us know when someone is speaking anything that is not the truth of God, even if they are doing it in the name of God.  

Verse thirteen concludes, 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.  Nehemiah said they had done this so that if he followed the advice of Shemaiah, he would be discredited with the people who were doing the work.  If we begin to follow the ways of the world for our own safety instead of following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, people in the church and in the world may discredit our profession that we are following God, and Christians may even be le to doubt our profession about the power of God.  The people of the world already discredit His word, but they may use our lack of faith to try and prove that God is not Who He says He is.