Book of Nehemiah Series #9
Nehemiah Chapter 6
Geshem and Worldly Compromise.
By Pastor Jim May
Nehemiah 6:1-2, "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;) 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."
Last week we saw that one of the greatest enemies of Israel wasn’t an enemy from without the camp, but an enemy that sprang up from within their own ranks. That enemy is called Division in the Ranks. Satan knows the Word of God better than most of God’s own people, and he knows that a “house divided against itself cannot stand”. It was his plan to destroy Israel and stop Nehemiah from the work of rebuilding Jerusalem by bringing Jew against Jew.
God moved on Nehemiah, a court was held and the matter was settled and they began to work once again. The walls were finished, the breaches filled, and the frames of all of Jerusalem’s gates were repaired and ready for service. The work was nearly done, but the time for rejoicing was not yet. A wall nearly finished is still a wall that’s not finished.
In our walk with the Lord let us never give up, or stop to rest, even for a moment, but let’s continue to build our relationship with the Lord until he calls us home. It won’t do to live for God for 5 years, 10 years, or 50 years, only to give up and backslide at the last minute. The end will be the same if we don’t finish the race. We have to cross that finish line and we can’t allow anything, or anyone to stop us. The closer we get to winning the race, the more devious Satan’s attacks become. He is a relentless foe and will never stop trying to stop the Kingdom of God from growing in us.
When the work began on the wall, it was Sanballat’s mind games that were Israel’s enemy. This corresponds to the newborn Christian who faces fear and mockery as his old friends and family try to tell him that he has “gone off the deep end”, “got religion”, or will never make it.
Then, when the walls were half height with breaches still in them, the attacks took on the form of physical threats. This is a picture of a Christian who is a little older and a little wiser. He has had time to build a better relationship with the Lord and has better defenses against the attacks of the devil. Mind games don’t bother him anymore because he has learned that God give us a Spirit of Love and a Sound Mind. The helmet of Salvation now protects him from the mind games of the devil.
Nehemiah started to build when there was no wall at all: just the wreckage of a ruined life, under the bondage of the enemy. Then the wall comes up, but it’s not secure yet. There is much to learn and do in our walk with the Lord, and Satan attacks us all along the way. Then finally the wall is built. Now we have a defense against the devil’s attacks. Our faith has grown; our trust has grown; and now we aren’t so easy to defeat whenever the devil comes knocking. Now he has to find a new tactic to come against us.
I’m not tempted to drink. I’m no longer tempted with many of the things of the world. I’m not tempted to rob, steal, kill or do anything so obvious that the entire world could see my mistake. But I haven’t arrived yet. There are some things that are still tempting, even though my faith in Jesus and love for him is strong.
We become a mature believer in Christ who has learned to stand strong in the Lord. So what could penetrate our defenses now? What can Satan, or Sanballat bring against us now to bring down our walls?
Jesus gives us the answer to this question in Matthew 13:22 when he said that the seed of salvation can be overcome by, "… the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches” that choke the Word and make us become unfruitful.
Once the wall is finished, a frontal attack won’t work. If there are no breaches in the wall for the enemy to sneak in, where does he go from there? If his army is not powerful enough to overcome your defenses and Satan cannot enter because of the presence of the Lord in your life, then how can he possible bring you down?
The answer is very simple. He will try to get you to come out to him! If Sanballat could lure Nehemiah out from behind his secure walls and set up a meeting with Geshem (the world) in the plain of Ono, then the battle could still be won and the rebuilding of God’s city would cease.
The Valley of Ono has a special meaning to us. Of course we could simply say, OH NO, Nehemiah. Don’t go down into that valley. It’s a trap.” But that word “Ono” has a special meaning that we need to see. Its translation is “grief or strength or iniquity of him”. In that Valley of Ono was the Sanballat’s strength found.
The Valley of Ono to you and is that place where the world tries to draw us so that we may gain “ability, power or wealth”, and it is a place of sure destruction at the hands of the enemy.
This Valley of Ono is a dangerous place because it’s effect upon the heart isn’t felt all at once. Little by little, one visit at time, one day at a time, the walls of salvation begin to crumble away. Slowly, but surely; behind the scenes; out of view, the devil deceives us through the wealth, power and cares of this life.
The modern church world has seen many walls of salvation torn down by Geshem and his deception in the Valley of Ono. Several big name Televangelists have gone down into that valley and never came out again. Their ability to reach people, to keep their power and control over their ministry and those who work for them, and the wealth and lifestyle that can be lived in the Valley of Ono makes many who go there, just want to stay. They cast aside that fact that they are there at the invitation of the enemy. Let us never forget to realize what Nehemiah saw in this invitation. He knew that it was all nothing more than a trap to draw him out where he could be defeated.
What was Nehemiah’s response? In Nehemiah 6:3 he sent his answer back, "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?"
In this verse we can see the answer to help us defeat the temptations and pull of the world. Though we may defeat this attack, there will always be another. The things of this world loom ever larger, until we learn, once and for all, that they really don’t mean anything in the end.
The lure of the world and its wealth has been an enemy of mankind since the fall in the Garden and it is even stronger today. With each passing day, the world offers more sports, more toys, more travel, more money, than it did the day before, and more and more people are coming down off the wall to meet Geshem in the Valley of Ono where he can finally defeat them. Playing with the world is a very dangerous game and one that few, if any, Christian can win.
Matthew 6:24 says, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
Nehemiah wasn’t fooled. He wasn’t going down into that Valley of Ono. He had a work to do and he didn’t have time to get involved in that valley. Let that be a lesson to all of us. Never count the things of this world more valuable than the things of God.
Nehemiah didn’t accept this invitation but the devil doesn’t give up that easy. There was more to come.
Nehemiah 6:4-7, "Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; 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. 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.”
When the deceptive plan of Sanballat and Geshem’s plans didn’t work, they hatched a new plan. If you can’t get the Christian to come down to the Valley of Ono and get involved with the wealth, prosperity and worldly power; then spread some gossip and create a bit of slander to keep him unproductive in the work of God.
My Name Is Gossip. I have no respect for justice. I maim without killing. I break hearts and ruin lives. I am cunning and malicious and gather strength with age.
The more I am quoted the more I am believed. I flourish at every level of society. My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face.
To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become. I am nobody’s friend. Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same. I topple governments and ruin marriages. I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heartache and indigestion. I spawn suspicion and generate grief.
I make innocent people cry in their pillows. Even my name hisses.
I AM CALLED GOSSIP
**Winston Churchill exemplified integrity and respect in the face of opposition. During his last year in office, he attended an official ceremony. Several rows behind him two gentlemen began whispering. "That’s Winston Churchill." "They say he is getting senile." "They say he should step aside and leave the running of the nation to more dynamic and capable men." When the ceremony was over, Churchill turned to the men and said, "Gentlemen, they also say he is deaf!"**
Jewish literature offers us a tale about gossipers. One man had gossiped so much about the local rabbi that he became burdened by guilt and overcome by remorse, so he begged the rabbi to forgive him. "Rabbi, tell me how I can make amends." The rabbi said, "Take two pillows, go to the public square and there cut the pillows open. Wave them in the air. Then come back." The gossiper quickly went home, got two pillows and a knife, hastened to the square, cut the pillows open, waved them in the air and ran back to the rabbi. "I did just what you ordered Rabbi!" "Good." The rabbi said. "Now, to realize how much harm is done by gossip, go back to the square and when you have collected all the feathers that you have cast into the wind, come back and I will forgive you."
One thing you must always remember. Gossip kills, but it can only bring us down if we yield to it and listen to it. Nehemiah wouldn’t listen to their lies or let them get him down. He recognized what they were doing and it only forced him to dig in deeper and stay inside the walls of safety.
Nehemiah 6:8-9, "Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. 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."
Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe."
Geshem’s rumors among the nations were designed to frighten Nehemiah’s men. The intended result was to paralyze the workers through fear. The fear of man is a snare. It can paralyze us, making us totally inactive for Gods kingdom. What’s sad is that a lot of the time when we’re scared of what people are thinking, when the fact is that they aren’t thinking of us at all. They are too busy thinking about themselves to think about us.
Nehemiah responded by asking God to turn his fear to faith, and his doubt into determination! He would not let slander or the fear of man stand in his way. Nor would he buckle to worldly compromise. He prayed to God and found the strength to finish that wall.
We can see through this story that Satan will try his best to bring us down. Firstly, through luring us out into a state of compromise. And secondly, through making us fearful of what “they”, whomever they might be, will think of us.
What is the answer to defeating these attacks of the devil?
1) We must recognize, like Nehemiah, that the work we have to do for the Lord is just too great to leave it behind and go chasing after the world.
Through our life and testimony souls can be saved from the pits of hell. We must also realize that what we have to gain by finishing this race is just too valuable to take a chance on losing it.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." The world lives only for now. They live to build their empires, giving little or no thought to the life to come. Christians can’t think like that. We must see an eternal picture, going beyond this present life. Our heart and treasure should be set on things far greater than this world.
2) We must realize that we are working for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We should count His work, through us, more important than all the world can offer.
But that wasn’t the end of the battle against Nehemiah quite yet. Sanballat still had another trick up his sleeve, and it was time for another round.
Nehemiah 6:10, "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."
Satan, and Sanballat, were pretty good at coming up with new angles of deceit and attacks to try and stop Nehemiah from finishing the walls and the gates. They just don’t ever quit trying. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, here he comes with a new temptation to stop the work.
What other tactics can the enemy use to bring you out of your wall of protection in God? If he can’t use the world and gossip to draw you out into his territory, then he will try to get you from within. In order to do that Satan often finds a way, as did Sanballat, to infiltrate Nehemiah’s ranks, plant a spy, and then use his plant to try to bring Nehemiah down.
Satan’s greatest, and most dangerous form of attack, is when he appears as an Angel of Light. Sometimes he is so good at copying what God does in the realm of the Spirit that it’s hard to discern the real from what is fake.
Nehemiah suddenly gets a prophetic word from one of the priests in the temple. He is told to hide in the temple for his enemies are coming to kill him.
What would you do? I’m sure Nehemiah didn’t want to die but how do you evaluate what’s been said? People may come to you, from within the church, with a “word from the Lord”, or a “revelation” for your life. We don’t want to miss God’s will, but we don’t want to fall prey to false teachers either. What can you do? How can you overcome this attack?
The prophetic word that came to Nehemiah sounded realistic when you think of all the previous attacks by his enemies. How could he know what to do? I’m sure that he was tempted to receive this word and to run and hide. What would you do?
How do you defeat this kind of attack?
Nehemiah 6:11, "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."
The steps to take to keep from being led astray by false prophets are simple.
1)Who are they, and how well do I know them? Be very careful of taking any word from the Lord that may come to you from people you don’t know and trust very well.
2)Always prove what they have said by the Word of the Lord.
3)Always pray for God to reveal to you His perfect will in every situation.
Only when you have clearly confirmed the Word through scripture, and you have proven the life of the one who told you, and you have received confirmation and direction from the Holy Spirit, should you ever act on any “special word from the Lord”.
Nehemiah 6:12-19, "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. 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. My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear. So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them. For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear."
Even though Nehemiah was able to overcome all of the attacks of the enemy and finish the wall, he was ever troubled by Sanballat and Tobiah. They were enemies that just wouldn’t go away to leave him in peace. He had invaded their conquered territory and rebuilt a walled city right in the midst of the enemy’s camp. Even though Nehemiah was living inside the walls, protected from the power of his enemies, he was still living as a stranger in a foreign land. His battles were not over. His ultimate victory wasn’t won, but for now – the walls were finished. The work of rebuilding the city walls and gates was completed, and now there was the task of rebuilding the nation and the faith of that nation.
Tobiah was forever tormenting him, never letting Nehemiah forget that he was still in a warfare that would never end until his dying day.
That’s where we are right now. We are saved by the blood of Jesus, living inside the hedge of fire that Jesus placed all around us. We are safe from the fiery darts of the devil. He cannot cross the bloodline. And yet, we cannot let our guard down. We too, are fighting a spiritual warfare that will never end, until we step over into that new life in Christ beyond the grave.
