Thursday, March 27, 2025

Nehemiah 6:5

Nehemiah 6:5 says, Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;  After four refusals, Sanballat sent another letter to Nehemiah, this one said to be an open letter, by his servant.  This time, he made his intentions known not just Nehemiah, but to all the people of Jerusalem, hoping to intimidate him in to doing what he wantedThe whole world should know the intentions of Satan and his forces, but that should never intimidate those who are followers of Christ 

Verse six adds, Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.  Sanballat in the letter accused Nehemiah of wanting to rebel against the Persians and make himself king of JudahHe even said he had someone who would attest to the factIf this were true, it could have caused the people to quit following Nehemiah out of fear of the Persians.  We may be falsely accused of following Jesus Christ for our own worldly benefit, but as Christians, this should never be the case

Verse seven continues, And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.  Since Nehemiah was accused of plotting to overthrow the government and having prophets say he should be king of Judah, the letter said this had been reported to the king of BabylonNehemiah was once again invited to come and counsel with SanballatHe was still trying to get Nehemiah to come to him, but not so he could help himPeople still use any method they can to destroy our work for God today, but we can never hope to be successful by compromising our faith

Verse eight states, Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.  Nehemiah sent word back to Sanballat that there was no plot as he had claimed, but that he was saying this because of his own fearSanballat was trying to either stop Nehemiah from doing the work God called him to do or to get him in a position where he could capture him because he was afraid that once the walls were built, that Jerusalem would be too powerful to defeatWe may have people who lie about us today to stop us from doing what God has called us to do, but we should never allow that to stop us from doing it or to compromise our beliefs because we are afraid

Verse nine adds, For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.  Nehemiah said he recognized that Sanballat was doing this to get the people to stop building the wall, in the hope that if he was successful that it would never be completedWe should never allow fear of what the world may do to us if we continue to serve God and proclaim His word to keep us from doing what He has called us to doNehemiah then asked God to strengthen his hand, and this is what we need to do if we are called to compromise our faith out of fear todayGod has already secured the everlasting victory, so we have no need to fear any power in his world. 

 


Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Nehemiah 6:1

Nehemiah 6:1 says, Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates.  The enemies of Judah heard that the wall had been completed, except for the doors to the gatesThey decided the time to kill Nehemiah was now or never, and they knew they couldn’t do it by an outright attack.  We as Christians have the security of God’s protection, but our freewill still leaves an open door through which we can be attacked spiritually Often, these attacks are not an open assault but a subtle appeal to our desires which are not in accordance with what God’s word tells us.

Verse two adds, That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.  These two rulers, Sanballat and Geshem, invited Nehemiah to meet with them in another city to talk about common interests they might have, but their intention was to either kill or imprison himIf people invite us to meet them anywhere except where we are safely in the will God and under His protection, no matter what they may be offering us, we should never goWe must remain where God wants us to be, and if we do, there is nothing that the world can offer us that we need. 

Verse three continues, And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?  Nehemiah sent word to these two rulers that he was doing a great work and asked why he should come to themIf we are doing God’s work today, we need to ask why we would leave that off in order to meet with someone who is not a part of that workWe need to always put God’s work first and never allow the things of this world to come between God’s work and us

Verse four adds, Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.  Sanballat and Geshem sent the invitation to Nehemiah four times, and he answered them the same way each time, and that was to say that God’s work came firstWe need this same resolve today, no matter how many times we may be tempted to put the things of the world ahead of the things of God. 

   


Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Nehemiah 5:12

Nehemiah 5:12 says, Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.  After Nehemiah rebuked the nobles and rulers in Judah who had been charging their fellow Jews usury and otherwise mistreating them, they at least listened and said they would restore what they had taken from them and no longer continue the practiceIf we have been mistreating people, especially our fellow Christians, it is not enough to simply acknowledge that we know we haveWe need to do our best to restore what we have taken from them, even if we could justify it in the eyes of the worldNehemiah also called the priests to have them witness what the nobles and rulers promised.  We shouldn’t have to have someone witness our promises to do what we believe God would have us do, but sometimes other people may require it of us.

Verse thirteen adds, Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise.  In a symbolic gesture, it says that Nehemiah shook things out of his lap, I believe would be the accurate way to understand this and said that if any of those making this promise did not live up to it, that God should shake them out of their houses and leave with nothing.  God may not shake us materially if we fail to follow His commandments concerning our treatment of other people, but he may shake us spiritually, which is even worse

Verse fourteen continues, Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.  Nehemiah said in his own life he had taken nothing from others unfairlyHe had relied on his own abilities and did not expect others to support himThis is not to say that I believe that those who are in full-time ministry shouldn’t be supported, but they shouldn’t expect their fellow Christians to suffer in order to help them maintain a richer lifestyle

Verse fifteen states, But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.  Nehemiah said that governors who had come before him had taken bread and wine from the people as well as money, and that their servants had done likewiseHe said he didn’t do this because of his fear of GodAs I have often stated, I don’t believe that this means he was afraid of God, but that he recognized that God hated sin, and he didn’t want to give Him a reason to be upset with himAs Christians we should never be afraid of God, but we also need to recognize that some of our actions may often make Him upset with us. 

Verse sixteen adds, Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.  Nehemiah added that he also didn’t buy any land but that he and his servants just continued to work on the wallWe need to do what God has called us to do, whether we benefit from it materially or notHe could not be accused of helping to build the wall because doing so somehow benefitted him materiallyHe wasn’t doing this to protect his own land, but he was doing it because God had called him to do itWe should never make personal benefit or profit our reason to join in or not join in God’s work.   

Verse seventeen continues, Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.  Nehemiah said he fed a hundred and fifty Jews and plus some non-Jews, who had come to help with the work. Matthew Henry says he did this from what he had gotten from the king of Persia and from his own estate, even though he could have required the people to help support himWe may have the right to make a demand on someone, but if they are struggling just to survive, we probably shouldn’t

Verse eighteen says, Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.  Nehemiah said it took a lot to feed all these people every day, but he still didn’t require anything from his fellow believersJust because we may need a lot to do God’s work, we should never demand that those who are in need themselves support us in the workInstead, we should look to God in obedience to Him and rely on Him to meet our needs without burdening those who are in need themself

Verse nineteen adds, Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.  Nehemiah asked that God look on him as someone who had done good for all these peopleHe didn’t ask God to materially reward him, but simply to look on him with good.  We don’t serve God for material reward but because we know that we are doing what He has called us to doThen, we should leave it up to Him to note what we are doing.