Today’s passage: Nehemiah 6
Helpful thoughts:
- Make no mistake, the letter read to Nehemiah in verses 6-7 is a threat. It basically says, if you do not meet with us, we will accuse you of treason against the king of Persia.
- Perhaps the most cutting of the lies is the idea that Nehemiah would have hired false prophets to lie about God’s will…that he should be king. That accusation is worse than treason against any human king.
- Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s main method of undermining the work was to induce fear.
- The final letter came to Nehemiah “open” (Verse 5) as a sign of disrespect and to signify that it’s contents were public knowledge. They wanted Nehemiah to think “everyone” believed he was a traitor.
- After the wall’s completion the Gentiles outside begrudgingly realized God had given favor to the Jews while the Jewish nobles continued to undercut the work!
- The pagans had a better perception of what was going on than some of the Jews.
Questions to consider:
- Who was ultimately to receive the credit for the completion of this major project, over and above Nehemiah (Verse 16)? How does the mention of the surrounding people (Even enemies) drive this point home even further?
- Who were Sanballat and Tobiah trying to stop? Who had they truly picked a fight with? Was Nehemiah their biggest adversary?
- How does the victory we already have guaranteed in Christ give us confidence to move ahead when we see opposition and lack of approval in this world?