Nehemiah 6 (Part 1) Bible Study (Conspiracy Against Nehemiah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (9/4/26)

Would you please meet me in the book of Nehemiah in chapter six. Nehemiah chapter six. And as you turn there, I'll give you a moment. We'll pray together before we look at these verses tonight. Nehemiah chapter six.

Let's pray together. Father, we love you. Oh, we thank you that you've given us your word. You've given us all that we need to know about you, about ourselves, about this world. Everything pertaining to life and godliness is here at our disposal.

But, Lord, we also understand that apart from the spirit of God, we can't know truth. We can't interpret it right. We can't apply it correctly. So we we confess gladly in your presence, father. How we need your help to look at this text tonight.

You've been so gracious to us throughout the years, and we pray, Lord, that your grace will be poured out once more upon our hearts in this moment. And we ask, Lord, that your son would be more real to us. We pray that our hearts would be enlarged to run-in the way of your commandments. We pray that any area of compromise, any area of stubbornness would be confronted by your truth and that it would lead us to repentance. Any area that is wounded, that needs healing, binding, Lord, use these truths to bring us to that restoration.

Any blind spots, oh, Lord, bring illumination. Equip us, Lord. We are your people, and and we desire to serve you and honor you with our lives, and use this Bible study to that end. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

As I was reading and reflecting on the section of scripture that we'll be looking at in this chapter, there was a title for it that flashed into my mind. When the Enemy Gets Desperate. When the Enemy Gets Desperate. Why that title? Because what we have before us tonight is yet another series of attacks by the adversaries of the Jewish people against the efforts to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

And if you look at it at first glance, it seems to be schemes that we have seen already before, things that we've already encountered in our study of this book, threats, lies, deception, intimidation, different tactics to try to discourage and bring a halt to this work altogether. But I wanna let you know from the outset that although these assaults will sound like echoes, they are indeed unique. There is something different about what we find here, and there are two things that we have to mark that will help us frame our study in these verses. First of all, the Holy Spirit highlights the timing of this fresh attack. Look at verse one with me, Nehemiah six.

Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it, although up to that time, I had not set up the doors in the gates. What is Nehemiah revealing to us here? The near completion of this project. The walls are rebuilt. The damage has been repaired.

The vulnerable access points have been sealed. The only thing left to install are the gates. And that's significant to recognize because you would think that reaching this point against all odds, the opponents of the Jewish people would not attempt any kind of hindrance, any kind of attack, any kind of obstacle. Right? It's too late.

Just a few more days and it's done. We failed. Wrong. The enemy is relentless. He does not give up.

Instead, what we read here is a final attempt to ensure that the security and the identity of the Jewish people will not reach its complete recovery. And the only way for that to happen is if they come up with a new strategy, a different emphasis if you will. And that leads us to the second distinctive, the second characteristic that makes this attack different from what we've seen in the past. We talked about the timing of the attack. They're almost done.

But the target of the attack is different. Look at verse two. Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, come, and let us meet together at Heciphorim in the Plain Of Ono, but they intended to do me harm. What you and I are going to see in the remainder of this chapter is that the enemies of Judah have now narrowed their focus to one singular objective, Nehemiah. We have to get rid of Nehemiah.

You see in the past, we saw that Nehemiah, for example, in chapter five had to address the internal conflict and injustice among his own people. You had the rich Jewish people taking advantage of the poor Jewish people. He had to solve that. But Nehemiah chapter four, near the beginning of the work, we saw the initial movements of the adversaries of Judah and their focus was different then. And I want us to turn there to Nehemiah chapter four verse one to see the contrast, to see how it's a different playbook that we have before us here in chapter six.

Nehemiah four beginning in verse one. Nehemiah writes, now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered, highlight this, at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice?

Will they finish up in the day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish and burn ones at that? Do you see the difference? When the enemy reared its ugly head, they targeted the Jews collectively at first. Their primary concern was to sow confusion and fear in the hearts of the people as a whole.

But that tactic failed, didn't it? So there's a change of approach now as we come to chapter six. No longer are they looking at the people in their minds, the only option left was to point the barrel at one man. The one who inspired them to begin this work in the first place, Nehemiah. This helps us structure our study, I believe.

Because what we have before us is a series of insights of how the enemy seeks to bring down leaders in the Kingdom of God. How he seeks to bring down those like Nehemiah who are advancing the work of God in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does Satan do? What what kind of ammunition does he use to target those who hold positions of authority and leadership and oversight within the context of the church. That's what I want to discuss with you tonight with this text.

And I am fully aware that most people here are not in positions of leadership within the context of the local church. And you might be wondering, will this Bible study benefit me in any way? And I'm here to assure you absolutely it will. Not only for you and I to know how to pray and support those who are serving the church through their leadership, but to also remember that an attack against leaders is an indirect attack upon the people of God. You have to remember that.

There is some practical truth to that prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ in Zechariah thirteen seven. In the second part of that verse, it says, strike the shepherd and what will happen? And the sheep will scatter. Satan knows that if he affects, if he derails, if he destroys a leader, it will inevitably impact the people under such leadership. And the enemies of Judah at this point in history understood that as well.

If we can just get rid of Nehemiah, we can take over. We we can cause the people to be fearful. We can cause them to scatter and we can bring down whatever they built up. So this is for all of us because we're all in this together. And what we have here are three specific attacks.

These are not the only assaults. These are not the only things that the enemy hurls against leaders, but they are the ones that the Holy Spirit wants to bring to our attention here and now. So I want to look at these truths more carefully. Let's begin by looking at the first three verses of chapter six. Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it, although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates.

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, come, let us meet together at Hecaphirim in the Plain Of Ono, but they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? I love this answer. I'm so eager to get to it.

But for now, we want to underscore this truth. One way that Satan attacks leaders in the church is by constantly attempting to distract leaders. Distraction. This is the first scheme that's presented to us, and it's quite clear, and it's apparently innocent. Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, they just wanted to have a conversation with Nehemiah.

They just want to have some kind of a conference, and we don't know the nature of this proposed forum. Is it diplomatic? Most likely. And you can imagine the allure for Nehemiah. You can imagine what's going on through his mind when he received that initial invitation.

We're almost done. Who can really stop us now? It might it might actually be a good idea to have a fresh start with those that we had some friction with. Maybe we can arrive at a deal. Maybe we can reach peace with our neighbors.

Wouldn't it be nice to dedicate these walls knowing that those who are our neighbors don't have any hostility toward us? So this is perhaps attractive. However, Nehemiah informs us that he learned that this is all a trap, and he refused to participate. But besides the fact that he learned, he got some kind of intel that this was a plan against them. He highlights the area where they wanted to meet, which is an important element to this whole proposal.

Why does he tell us about the location that they want to meet at? Look at it again in verse two. They say, come let us meet together at Hekaphirim in the Plain Of Ono. He could have just said they wanted to meet, and I refuse, but he wants to tell us where they wanted to meet. Well, when you look up where the Plain Of Ono is or where this region Ono is in the scriptures, you find that in first Chronicles eight, it is an area within the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

Now at this point in Judah's history and Israel's history really, those borders and those tribal allocations, they're not really relevant, but it helps us know where it's located. This is about 25 miles northwest from Jerusalem. And you might wonder why did they choose this area, and one likely answer is that because remember, Sanballat comes from Samaria. He seems to have a high profile position there. This is almost like a halfway point.

It's almost like neutral territory. So it would it would reduce any suspicion on their part. Let's let's meet here in a place that's not near your hometown, not near my hometown. Let's just kinda meet in the middle. We don't have the explanation for the exact strategy behind this location and the choice for it, But what we do know with absolute certainty is the distance.

I just said it and shared it with you. It's about 25 miles north. Remember, they didn't have vehicles like we do now. So it would take some considerable time by foot or by mule to get there, and then you have the conversation, then you have the return. And so this would take easily a few days with the planning and everything else sorted out.

And Nehemiah understood that this was enough distance to remove him from the protection of God's people, and it was enough to separate him from the people who depended on his guidance and inspiration. It was too far. It was not ideal. So at worst, going to Ono could get Nehemiah killed. This could be an ambush.

This could be an assassination plot. At best, it would be a waste of time that would cause unnecessary delay to the work that they were about to finish. And that latter reason, the delay, the distance was enough for Nehemiah to reject this invitation. Because before he came to Jerusalem, he fasted and prayed about Jerusalem. He received a miraculous open door to go to Jerusalem.

When he came to Jerusalem, he determined to finish what he started in Jerusalem. His heart was set upon this place. God made it clear that this was his mission, and the plane of Ono had nothing to do with his calling. And so he refused, and that's why he answers the way he answers in verse three. Look at it with me.

Oh, I love this answer. And I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? There is a principle here that is extremely important for leaders to grasp. At virtually every stage of ministry, there will be a variety of temptations in the form of distractions that will lure you away from investing the time and energy that God has called you to in the ministry that he has invited you to until you virtually have nothing left to give it to produce meaningful results.

Distractions of various forms is a constant threat to leaders and all Christians alike from diverting and distancing yourself from what it is that God asks you to give your heart to and your life for. And Nehemiah Nehemiah understood this. Nehemiah saw the great danger, and I believe his example shows us how we can protect ourselves from drifting. One, Nehemiah shows us here that you have to be aware of what your purpose is. You have to be aware.

That might seem obvious. Right? But you'd be amazed to know how many Christians are aimless in their ministry, not just leaders. I'm now speaking to all of us here. They don't have a concrete sense of what God has called them to in this season of life.

I'm aware that it doesn't have to be one thing for the rest of your life. Things can evolve and change. We saw that with Philip, didn't we last weekend? He started out serving tables, he became an evangelist. But one thing I see in Philip is that whenever and wherever he was, he knew what God asked him to do.

He took advantage of the the opportunities that came to him and he walked at them and he trusted God's leadership all the way. And you and I have to understand that if you don't have an idea, a vision of some sort, a sense where you know what your job description is in the church, what it is that you contribute to the ministry of Jesus Christ through your local church. It's gonna become very frustrating for you, and not just for you, it's gonna be frustrating for other people. You're gonna find yourself spreading instead of focusing your energy and your time and your resources strategically. And ultimately, you will not be able to identify other matters that either help or hinder your ministry.

Nehemiah knew why he was in Jerusalem. He wasn't here to just have meetings. He wasn't here just to play nice. He wasn't here to make friends. He wasn't here to play politics.

He wasn't running in every direction. Nehemiah knew this is my calling. This is what God has me here for, and and more than that, he understood if there was nothing that was gonna support that and strengthen that and help me do this more effectively, then I'm not gonna participate. I'm not gonna have anything to do with it. And I wanna...

I want you to know also that the Lord Jesus Christ knew his purpose. He's our ultimate example. And though he ultimately came to die on the cross, he understood in his short time of ministry what he was supposed to do, what the father asked of him at different points of his ministry. Did you know that? Let me prove this to you.

Go to the gospel of Luke with me. Go to Luke chapter four. Luke chapter four and verse 42. Luke four forty two. And when it was day, he departed and went to a desolate place.

And the people sought him and came to him and would have kept him from leaving them. That was common for the Lord. He comes and he preaches with unprecedented incomparable authority, miracles backing up his message. You don't want this guest speaker to leave. You want this kind of guest speaker to stay.

And so that was a natural reaction though the motives were not pure most of the time, but look at verse 43. But he said to them, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose. Do you see? Jesus Christ, our lord, our savior knew his purpose. What was his purpose at this phase of his ministry?

To go to different towns and preach the the gospel. His ultimate purpose to go to the cross, but again, at this point, it was to preach. He knew his purpose. And because he knew his purpose when he had all these opportunities and all these invitations, he says, no. That doesn't line up with what the father asked of me.

Not every opportunity is from God. Not every open door is from the Holy Spirit. Not every invitation should be accepted. And the way you can know what to say yes to what to say no to is to be clear on your purpose. What does it look like for me now as a father?

What does it look for me now as a as a mother, as a student, as a businessman, as whatever it is? What is the purpose? It can be small in your eyes. It can be a series of things. It can be a big thing.

It can be a transitional thing, but you have to know because Satan loves to use distraction. And in this case, it was a conversation that's very relatable, isn't it? You go online, now everybody's talking about everything. You can spend all your days listening in on conversations. It's kind of a weird concept.

It's very effective. We saw it in our politics how you can gain people's trust and you can give more information in the forum of two people talking into microphones than buying television time with all the fancy stuff that you can add to it. But all all these things, all these thumbnails, all these conspiracies, all these things trying to draw us in, you know, distraction is more prevalent than ever. And a true servant of God knows. That's just one example.

Is this going to help me? Is this going to serve the purpose that I believe God has impressed on my life? So know your purpose. Nehemiah knew his purpose. But secondly, you have to value the work that you are involved in.

I love how in verse three, Nehemiah six, he says, I am doing a great work. That's not arrogant. That's honesty. And that word great can mean great in terms of size, immensity. It can also mean of importance.

Either way, Nehemiah is being diplomatic here. He's not accusing them. He's not saying, I know what you guys have set up for me there in the plane of... Oh, no. He he he just simply gives them the main reason.

I have a great work to do. This isn't going to help. It's gonna be a waste of time. Thank you for the invitation. And I think sometimes why believers are inconsistent in their ministries or uncommitted is because they don't truly see the privilege or the importance of their service.

That's why they give in to lesser things so easily. That's why they surrender to distractions so quickly. But when you know, oh, this is something from God. This is what the Lord has laid out for me. This is this is actually contributing to to people's lives being transformed, to things running in a certain way so that the word of God can go forth.

When you see it that way, you have an anchor, a heavier anchor at least. So So that when the winds of distraction blow from either direction, you you stay firm. You know, I love... I thought of different ways that this could apply. And one thing that came to mind, I truly believe that all of us need time to get away.

All of us need to spend time with our families and loved ones. That's that's imperative. But I love sometimes talking to to some of the members even here who plan to be away, but they already expressed their desire to be back. Why? Because, oh, I can't wait to serve.

I can't wait to be here on the platform or wherever with the kids or and sometimes they even structure their whole plans around what? What they're doing in ministry? What they're doing in service to the Lord? That's wonderful because you're you're showcasing the joy it is to serve God. How valuable it is to you.

Nehemiah was so serious about what God asked of him. It it was very difficult to pry this out of his hands. No. This is a great work. I'm not gonna cheapen my time here.

I'm not gonna give even a day, especially at this critical point to something that does not line up with this awesome thing that God asked of me. Do you see what you're doing for the Lord as something wonderful? Do you see it as a honor? Do you see it as something that's truly effective? Only when you believe that, will you be able to raise up a shield against this kind of bait.

But if not, you're gonna be one of those believers that are in and out. You get excited about something, and then you lose that enthusiasm. And then you jump into this, and you jump into that. You disappear for a few weeks, and then you... Nehemiah is consistent because Nehemiah has the right attitude and the right perspective about what God asked of him.

Didn't know just his purpose. He knew the value of it, and he wasn't ashamed to express it. Now, notice the persistence of this particular temptation. Look at verse four. And they sent to me of...

Nehemiah six verse four. And they sent to me four times in this way. And I answered them in the same manner. Four times. That's commitment.

You would think one no is enough. Two, three. No. Four. Four times.

And sometimes a leader especially can eventually drift simply because they get tired of saying no. Alright. Fine. You wanna do it that way? Fine.

You want this for me? Take it. Nehemiah reminds us, no. You can't. You can't afford to do that.

And I believe it also ties into the nature of distraction. It's always going to be there. It's always gonna knock on the door of your heart. It's always gonna appear before your eyes. It's always gonna call for your for your attention.

And the nature of spiritual warfare, the nature of the flesh is that you can't give up when you say no the first time and it comes again. That lust. Let's just talk about temptation generally. That lust, that pride that keeps coming up, that jealousy that you thought you dealt with last week at conference. Whatever it is that may appear once more, don't become the surge because it shows its ugly face.

Yet again, unashamedly. Ephesians six tells us that we are are wrestling not against flesh above, wrestling that that's a back and forth kind of struggle. Oh, how wonderful it will be that once temptation comes, you just nail it once with the truth. You resist it and you say no, and it never comes. That's not the nature of temptate.

That's heaven. We're not there yet. That's glorification. So I love here Nehemiah's persistence. Every single time he answered in the same way.

No. It's a great work. I'm sorry. You haven't changed my mind, guys. I'm not going anywhere.

The enemy seeks to and attempts to distract leaders. But secondly, when that doesn't work, we find here that the enemy will sometimes slander leaders. Let's read verse five to verse seven. In the same way, Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, it is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel.

That is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports, you wish to become their king. And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem. There is a king in Judah and now the king will hear of these reports. So now come, and let us take counsel together.

So that bait didn't work. Nehemiah's enemies changed strategies. This time, they tried to jerk him out of Jerusalem by alarming him that his reputation was being misrepresented. And they wanted to offer their help and their counsel to help him solve it. How nice of them.

Now I'm sure some of you remember that this was not the first time that Nehemiah had his motives. Accused falsely, being charged for sedition and treason. It was one of the first things that these... This troublesome trio said in our story, in our study of this book. Let me remind you.

Go back to Nehemiah two verse 19. This is going to be helpful. Nehemiah chapter two verse 19. Look what the same band of men did early on, even before the rebuilding began. Chapter two verse 19.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem, the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, what is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? So is this the same thing? No. It's not.

There is a difference with the questioning of chapter six. I want you to notice a few details surrounding this charge in chapter six that make it much more dramatic and dangerous for Nehemiah. So again, back to chapter six. Look at verse five and read it slowly with me. In the same way, Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.

Do you have that in your Bibles? With an open letter. Why would the Holy Spirit tell us that? Because at this time, it was common for things to be transported and delivered, letters especially, that were sealed. They would be rolled up.

There would be a wax seal usually. It would be covered. You would not be able to look into it. And that was more true when it was intended for government officials. But Sambalah intentionally gives it to his servant, gives it to the mailman, open face.

Why did he do that? Because we know human nature. Right? Imagine that journey from Samaria to Jerusalem, and here you have a letter from one official to another. I'm sure that there is a few peaks.

I'm sure that they read it. And that was the goal for it not only to be read, but for that to be the spark for the content within it to spread. And for news to get around that Nehemiah might have different ideas behind why he is doing what he is doing in Jerusalem. Now you might not feel the weight of that, so let me give you an illustration. The concept of an open letter here is equivalent to an email from a government official being leaked on the Internet.

Oh, that would be plastered everywhere, wouldn't it? To see the correspondence, to see the conversation, to see what's taking place between these individuals who are high profile figures. It's one thing for a random individual to make these kind of claims, but it's another thing when it is signed by somebody like Sanballat. This must be serious. They they must have some kind of knowledge about Nehemiah for them to make this kind of confrontation.

And so it's open face. It's an open letter. And Nehemiah would have felt, he would have felt the fear receiving it, and and it being delivered in this manner. This is something that is known. This is something that's public.

This is something that people saw. And the way that these allegations were presented to Nehemiah adds credibility to disturbing content within it. Let me show you what I mean. Look at verse six now. In it was written, it is reported among the nations.

And Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel. That is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports, nations is plural, reports is plural. You wish to become their king. How does that translate?

Nehemiah, there are multiple sources that are spreading and circulating, not just locally, internationally. And they're all saying the same thing, that you are rebuilding the wall because you wanna be in power. Do you understand that this can potentially reach the king of Persia? We read that earlier. And so what do they propose?

Why don't we come together? We'll help you fix this. Clever. Here's what this means for us. When the enemy recognizes a great work being done, and he's tried so much to to stop it.

It is one of his favorite go to weapons to bring defamation against the leaders behind that work. And you would think, yeah, that's obvious. So that their names would be spoiled in the eyes of others, and that would rob them of their reliability and their testimony. It's not just for that. Nehemiah shows us another reason.

Nehemiah shows us that this kind of slander and this kind of deception would also be employed in order to torment the one who is being slandered. To cause a man like Nehemiah to be so preoccupied with the things that are being said about his name that he would what? Be distracted. He would be distracted. That's why they say, come.

Let's talk about this. Now, this is so important because you have to connect what we're looking at here with what we saw in our last bible study. Remember, at the end of chapter five, we saw Nehemiah taking time out of his memoirs to explain to us how he was innocent. That he was blameless in this whole scandal within the community. After exposing and confronting those nobles and officials within Jerusalem and Judah for taxing and asking for more than what the Bible asked them to give and to receive.

Nehemiah said, listen, I I have to let you know that I was not involved with this. In fact, not only was I not involved with this, I gave her my resources. I sought to help the poor brethren among us. And the impression that you get from that is that Nehemiah truly valued and treasured and wanted to protect his reputation, his testimony. He did not take it lightly when his name was smeared.

He wanted to remove himself as as far away as possible from anything that would put a question and and making people question his motives ultimately. His enemies were spreading lies that he was in Jerusalem helping rebuild the walls in order to establish his own kingdom. By the way, that's one of Satan's favorite things to spread about leaders in the church, Especially leaders who are doing something for the Lord Jesus Christ. They're doing it for power. They're doing it because they love to be in control.

They're doing it so that they can boss people around. They're doing it because they're insecure and they wanna sit on their little throne. Is that true sometimes? Yes. Are there dictators and behind pulpits pulpits?

Absolutely. But that doesn't stop Satan from spreading that about those like Nehemiah, who are genuinely innocent, who show through their attitude and their actions otherwise. And if one is not careful, so much time can be wasted for leaders and anybody within the church who is again, serving the Lord with all their hearts and is making an impact. If you're not careful, you can spend so much time running around trying to explain yourself, trying to investigate and figure out where this rumor started, answering anonymous emails. Listen, if it's anonymous, they don't care about you.

They didn't care enough to put the name behind their criticism. They don't care most of the time. And staying up all night wondering how how did it get to this point? How did so and so hear about it? Why did they post that on a blog?

Why is it on that specific website that I'm not gonna name, but some of you know that there are people who specialize in trying to find fault with leaders in the church. Instead of being focused on what God has called you to do. It's one of Satan's go to schemes. Does Nehemiah give us any kind of inspiration to prepare for attacks like this? Absolutely.

Look here at verse eight of Nehemiah six. Then I sent to him saying, no such things as you say have been done for you are inventing them out of your own mind. He just gets better and better with his responses, doesn't he? But how can Nehemiah say this? Because it was true.

And so the first thing that he shows us and what to do when the enemy begins to tamper with our names is to always maintain a clear conscience. Always. As one preacher said, if you take care of your character, God will take care of everything else. And Nehemiah wants to show us here, this is all coming from your own imagination. Your accusations are groundless.

They're void of evidence, and ultimately, you have nothing substantial to point to that gives weight to your charge. Only those who walk in genuine integrity can have such courage. Nehemiah shows us here that his life, his example, his ministry is free from even the appearance of evil. And so there was nothing ultimately for these enemies to work with. That is the best way to respond to slander.

That is the most effective way to avoid being bogged down and overwhelmed by what people say. Let your actions and let your attitude defend you. Give slanders and gospheres nothing to work with. Let their allegations be as baseless as possible. But the second thing that Nehemiah does is found in verse nine.

Nehemiah six verse nine. For they all wanted to frighten us thinking, their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done. But now, oh, God, strengthen my hands. So in context here, Nehemiah, who does this frequently throughout this book, doesn't just offer a quick prayer for endurance. He's actually praying as he entrust himself to God to guard his reputation.

That's the context, isn't it? He's seeking the Lord and asking the Lord to take care of this. And leaders especially need to be convinced of this. When people lie about you, when they misrepresent you, when they question your motives, the only thing that will bring you to bed so sweetly and to wake up with joy, is to trust that God knows everything. And that no matter what word spread, no matter what people say, no matter how convincing their slander is, nobody can determine your ministry, and whether it survives or not.

That is something God alone can determine. You have to believe that. So often people don't. They give more credit to the power of people's lives than God's grace over your life. God's willingness to defend you.

And God's willingness to even shut the mouths of those who would dare speak up against his work. The words and judgments of others may cause you to worry, just as the rumors tempted Nehemiah to fear. However, they cannot determine the longevity and the survival and the fruitfulness of what God has asked you to do in his name. Never. And so many verses came to mind.

One verses that say... One verse that saved me from much unnecessary turmoil in light of what we're looking at here with this second tactic is in Romans chapter 14. Maybe this will help some of you as it helped me. I pray it helps you more than it helped me. Look at Romans 14 with me.

Paul is dealing with Jew and Gentile in the church that have disagreements about certain non essential matters. And they began to judge each other. You're less holy, you're more holy. You're less spiritual, you're more spiritual. You don't understand grace, you don't understand holiness.

This is what the bickering was about. And Paul understood that this was getting dangerous because now they're actually judging each other's character and their relationship with God for things that should not bring about such accusations. And notice what he says here in verse four, Romans 14. Who are you pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls.

Isn't that powerful? And he will be upheld for the Lord is able to make him stand. You see what he's saying? You're wasting your time judging somebody else the way you're judging them. Why?

Because God alone is the one who can make him stand, and if he doesn't want him to stand, he will make him fall. He will allow him to fall. I saw that. I remember reading that years ago and I said, Lord, thank you. Thank you.

You have to really believe this about ministry. God is the one who ultimately hires, and God is the one who ultimately fires. It's not a board. It's not a vote. You have to trust in God's sovereignty.

And if he wants you there, he'll keep you there no matter how many people stand against you. And if he doesn't want you there, it doesn't matter how many people support you. And so Nehemiah here is an active faith is demonstrating that, oh God, strengthen my hands. They're coming after me. And the Lord heard that prayer.

So if the enemy can't distract the leader, if you can't distract a Christian for that matter, if you can't distract him from slander specifically, well, there's a third and final thing in our study, and this is probably the scariest one. If you're taking notes, the enemy will use credible voices to mislead leaders. Look at verse 10. Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah, the son of Dalia, son of Meathabel, who was confined to his home, he said, let us meet together in the house of God within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple for they are coming to kill you.

They're coming to kill you by night. But I said, should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in. And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

For this purpose, he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin. And so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, oh my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess, Noah died and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. So after successfully prevailing over the first two schemes, Nehemiah now encounters a new one. They couldn't get Nehemiah to come out of Jerusalem, so they're gonna do something within Jerusalem.

And it's gonna take place at the house of a man named Shemaiah. Who is this man? We don't have much information about him, but what we know with the verses that we just read, is that number one, he was a prophet in Judah. He was a prophet in Judah. Nehemiah already tells us that he prophesied against him.

He gave him a word apparently from God. But he was more than just a prophet. I believe he was also a priest. That's implied how... Because Shemaiah invited Nehemiah to go where to hide?

The temple. And Nehemiah in his righteousness rejected such a notion and we'll get to why in a moment, but he doesn't accuse Shemaiah of any kind of violation perhaps because he was allowed to go into the temple as a priest. So keep this in mind, Shemaiah is a prophet. He's a... He has a prophetic voice and he's also a minister.

And though we don't have much more to know about this man, it's clear that Nehemiah had some kind of prior relationship with him, or else he wouldn't have gone to his home. It's it's very unlikely that Nehemiah, especially at this critical moment for the walls and for this mission, to go into the home of an individual that he did not know or who at least was not aware of. It could also mean that Shemaiah was a trusted voice in Nehemiah's short career as a governor. Why is all that important? Well, Nehemiah is about to discover something very disturbing about this particular associate and others.

He was hired by his enemies to give wrong counsel. And why was this counsel so egregious? Why was it so vile? Why was it so heartbreaking? It was given in the form of a prophecy.

God told me, thus says the Lord, you have to hide in the temple if you're going to evade this looming assassination. Notice the wording of verse 10 carefully, within the temple. What does that suggest? We're We're not talking about just around the vicinity, we're talking about going into the holy place. Perhaps even the most holy place.

And you might be thinking, well, what's wrong with that? If you're able, turn with me to numbers 18. And notice what God told his people before they even had a temple. They had the tabernacle, but before they even came into the promised land, notice what the Lord says in numbers 18 verse seven. And this is a verse worth putting in the margins of Nehemiah six.

Nehemiah 18 verse seven. The Lord says, and you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death. Only the priests are allowed in the temple. Was Was Nehemiah a priest?

No. He was not. Which means that he was not allowed to go into the temple under any circumstance. So you have to understand, whatever this prophet slash priest said, Nehemiah quickly discerned, this is a violation. This is a violation of God's law.

And here's what makes it even more terrifying. Shemaiah was hiding in his house. Now there's different reasons that people come up with for this. Why was he in his house? Why was he confined to his home?

I believe the best explanation is because he wanted to give the impression that Judas enemies were closing in. It was an act. It was like a play, designed to make the warning that much more believable. So he summons Nehemiah. Nehemiah comes in here Shemaiah under his sheets saying, you know the Lord told me something.

This is getting really dangerous for you. It's gonna be dangerous for the people. You have to listen to me. You have to go into the temple. I will go with you, which is a second thing that makes us absolutely appalling.

The prophet priest is willing to go into the temple with him. It's a lot easier to compromise when people participate in your compromise. Right? And factor in what we just learned that this is a man of authority. This is a man who is a respected individual in their community, making this all the more a pressuring encounter.

So how does this translate to our own experience? Well, there are different ways that we can see this kind of example manifest in our own lives. You know what one thing came to mind? And maybe you don't know this. I would know this serving the Lord the way I've served them over the years, that it is very common for leaders to look to other leaders, to see how they respond or act, especially in times of societal chaos and cultural upheaval.

When things are uncertain, when courage is demanded, when there seems to be on the surface confusion about how to navigate certain waters. It's very common for leaders to peek over and say, what's pastor so and so gonna do about this? What's this trusted evangelical voice going to say about this? I saw it during COVID. Are we still allowed to say that word or no?

I saw it during COVID. It was so so so common for leaders at different churches at different sizes to look over and wonder, what are they gonna do? What are they gonna do in Chicago? What are they gonna do across the nation? And so it was almost like people were waiting for somebody to make a move or no move.

We saw it during black lives matter. Remember that? They're still around. When culture was pressuring even Christian voices behind pulpits to give answers, and more than just answers to pledge allegiance to this movement no matter what, if you truly love God and love justice. And people in positions of authority were wondering, what what is so and so going to say?

Are they gonna say anything? Should I post? They posted that. And while there is some wisdom, and seeing how a beloved brother, somebody who has a reputation of being faithful to God's word, and wanting to know what they will do, how will they act, to glean some kind of wisdom, some kind of direction. If you are not discerning, it can also be extremely dangerous.

Because what Nehemiah shows me, and I wanna tell you, there are plenty of Shemaiahs in 2026. And they have the title, and they have a reputation in the community. And they, like Shamaiah, perhaps may have been known for faithfulness and fidelity to the truth. But perhaps with... And because of a lapse of weakness or even worse, selling themselves for a price, what they say can no longer be trusted.

Or what they say in a moment of weakness, must be evaluated carefully. You need to understand something. And I know this is hard to believe, but it's true. There are people within the realm of Christendom who are leaders and do what they do, not because they love God, not because they love God's people, but because somebody's writing them a check. And sometimes, there are checks that are coming from ungodly institutions, and ungodly in Christ hating organizations.

Because Satan doesn't just wanna influence culture, he wants to get in the church, and he's looking for hirelings. He's looking for people like Shemaiah who are willing to be bought, just give me the right price, And I'll use my prophetic office and I'll use my priestly ministry to do your bidding. Just name the right price. They're out there. They're not just here in Nehemiah's day.

And what's so sad is because all they have to say is thus says the Lord. All they have to say this is God's will or they misapply God's word. Christian just eat it up. They just eat it up. Oh, he's a pastor.

Oh, he has this. Look at all the followings on YouTube. Oh, he was invited to this. Oh, look at that. Oh, he must be a trusted voice.

He might be a Shemaiah. Have you ever considered that? And there are a lot of them. There are a lot of them in Nehemiah's. They look down at verse 14 again.

Look what Nehemiah prays. Remember Tobiah and Samba, oh my God, according to these things that they did. And also the prophetess Noah died. And the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. So it wasn't just one.

They must have had a lot of money these guys. They hired a whole roster. They come up with their own team within Jerusalem. So Nehemiah received more than one prophetic word. Can you imagine the pressure?

So how do you discern? How do you know? As a leader especially, that may, in your humility, even consider what's going on in the rest of the terrain? What are other people saying? Who am I allowing to speak into my life?

How can you be on guard? How can you protect yourself from being manipulated? Or being drawn away from where God has asked you to be and do? Well notice what Nehemiah does in verse 11 again. But I said, should such a man as I run away?

And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in. That's how the ESV renders it. So Nehemiah immediately, before he even knew, I believe that these men were hired, he understood something's wrong. A red flag popped up in his spirit because he knew, hold on, you're asking me to do something that clearly breaks God's law.

And that's why he says what he says here in verse 12. Look at the first part, and I understood and saw that God had not sent him. How did he know that this was not a prophet of God? He knew the word. And even though Shemaiah presented himself as somebody who was concerned for his safety.

People do that. I'm just looking out for you brother. I'm concerned about your well-being. I don't want you to be killed. And even though it was the popular message of the day, Nehemiah stood his ground because Nehemiah was immersed in the Bible.

You wanna know which voice is true and which voice is false? Get familiar with God's voice. There is no other way. Unfortunately, I know some people, they want... All they want is the prophetic word.

I need a spontaneous supernatural word from God, and they'll take that over the scriptures. You're treading on dangerous territory, my friend. Very dangerous. All it takes is for the popular void to vote to come in and that's all it takes to persuade them. What about God's vote on the matter?

What about his decision on the issue? What about his verdict? You see, until this word becomes superior, until it is the ultimate authority of your life and mine, we will not know success and whatever God has asked us to do. We will fall for the ploys of Satan, because Satan according to this, uses mouthpieces that seem credible or that once were credible. And Nehemiah here shows us, I will stand by God's word every time.

And I think it's so interesting that Nehemiah's choice in this is so intimately connected with the completion of the walls. Peek over at verse 15 of chapter six of Nehemiah. So the wall was finished on the twenty fifth day of the month Elul in fifty two days. I don't think that's coincidental. I believe here that his unreserved obedience to the scriptures was one way the spirit is showing us to the secret of his victory.

He stuck with the word of God no matter what. Isaiah the prophet gives one of my favorite charges concerning who to listen to, and how to listen to them well, and what to reject, and what to accept. This is our last verse for our study tonight. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter eight. The context of this is that there were conspiracies.

And what I mean by conspiracies is that there were talks of nations coming together to rally around the people of God. And there were all these voices, necromancers, and those involved in the occult that were tempting people to receive a word that was not from God, but would seem to offer some kind of direction or comfort. And look at Isaiah eight twenty. Look at the charge this mighty man of God makes to them and to us. Isaiah eight twenty reads, to the teaching and to the testimony.

If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. You see what Isaiah is saying? If anybody claims to speak on behalf of God, if anybody wants to give you direction, if anybody wants to give you inspiration, if anybody wants to give you counsel or wisdom, here's what Isaiah says. If they are not giving it in accordance to the clear teaching of God's word, if they're not using God's principles to fashion their words of counsel and advice, it means they have no doubt. In other words, there's no light in them.

No light in them. And Nehemiah had light in him, even though he was surrounded by so much darkness, Because this man who was a contractor, this man who was a governor, this man who knew how to do so much practically was informed in the scriptures. And that was his safety. That was his shield. That was the key to his success.

And I believe that as we continue to be the church in these last days, and as more and more people are speaking out, you have to understand that Satan uses the voices of others to deceive leaders who then ultimately deceive the flock. Sometimes he bypasses leaders in the church and goes directly for our hearts. The only way that you can withstand the bombardment of lies, even that thus says the Lord, from false prophets, is by knowing this book inside and out. I'll tell you, you can come to a point. You can come to a point where you hear something and most of it sounds right, but 1% is wrong and you go, there's something off with this.

I may not be able to put my finger on it, but something doesn't sound right. It looks pretty. It sounds righteous. It seems to be Christian, but it ain't. And sure enough, because of what you've invested in your soul through the word of God, the Holy Spirit will work with that and bring things to light.

He'll bring things to the surface. It was Spurgeon who said that true discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong, it's knowing the difference between right and almost right. Nehemiah can say this is wrong because he had true discernment. And how do you have true discernment? Because he knew numbers 18 verse seven among other passages.

My dear brothers and sisters, there is an ongoing attack against leaders. In these last few years, we've seen one leader after the next fault. It's almost like it doesn't even jar us anymore. It's a shame. But God has given us Satan's playbook.

He's exposed in his word. We can see it, we can know it, and we can prepare for it. And the things that he's willing to point at leaders, he's also willing to point at you. So we must work together and and be aware that there are distractions out there that is satanically inspired, that there is slander out there, that is satanically induced. And there are voices out there that seem to be holy, that seem to be insightful and filled with wisdom, but has Satan's breath all over it.

And Nehemiah shows us what to do. Know your purpose, believe in how valuable it is, keep a clear conscience, know how to commit your reputation to God, and know coat your heart with the word of God every day. So that when the Shemaiah shows up on your algorithm, or Shemiah shows up at a church you may be visiting, God forbid it would ever happen here. You would say, no. I'm standing by what God has said, and he will reward you for that.

Let's pray. Let's thank him for it. Lord, we thank you. We thank you that you've enriched us yet again through your word. And Lord, what we have been brought to is a study on Satan's attacks against, especially our leaders, so we pray for our leadership.

We pray for the leadership of this church. We pray for aspiring leaders. We pray for leaders in different spheres that represent your name. And we pray for your great protection over them. We pray for churches in the city of Chicago who love your word and who fear you.

Protect them. Those who don't win them to yourself, Lord. Bring them to you, oh God. We pray that you would convict the Shemaiahs for thinking that they can they can occupy the post of a priest in the new covenant, as a prophet in the new covenant, and be motivated by by mammon. Oh Lord, for those who are there, awaken them before it's too late.

Awaken them before it's too late. Lord, we pray that as a church, we would not be unaware of Satan's schemes. That for our own lives, we would we would see the distractions that are eating away at our potential, that are draining us of the things that are needed to serve you well. Lord, we pray that you would protect our ears against lies and slander. Things that people unashamedly say about Christians.

Maybe be a church that that never enjoys the delicacies of gossip. But may may we be repulsed by it. May we be fearful of it. May we always be for the truth. And finally, Lord, thank you for this church that loves the word.

We pray that in this day of greater deception, that we would cling to our Bibles. Make us brands who take everything, even from men like Paul, and compare it with scripture, so that we would be kept from deadly traps. We would be kept from sin that would destroy our name. We wanna finish well. Lord, we wanna finish well.

Thank you that Nehemiah shows us it's possible to finish well. In Jesus name we pray, amen and amen. As the praise team comes up to help us sing to the Lord, if you wanna stay seated in worship as you speak to God, you can do that. If you wanna stand up and lift your hands and your heart and your voice, you can do that as well. Let's just respond to the Lord in thanksgiving that he has helped us.

He's helped us know how to win this warfare.