Commentary - Nehemiah 6:1-9

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, the enemies of God's people shift their tactics. Having failed at direct opposition and intimidation through force, they now resort to subtler and more insidious methods: deception and slander. The wall around Jerusalem is nearly complete, a testimony to God's faithfulness and the diligence of His people. Seeing this, Sanballat and his cronies attempt first to lure Nehemiah into a trap under the guise of diplomacy. When that fails four times, they escalate to a public smear campaign, accusing Nehemiah of treason against the Persian king. The entire strategy is a form of spiritual and psychological warfare, designed to induce fear, discouragement, and paralysis. Nehemiah's response is a model of godly leadership: he remains focused on his God-given task, discerns the enemy's intent, refutes the lies succinctly, and turns immediately to God in prayer for strength. This is a master class in dealing with the wiles of the devil.

The core conflict is between doing a "great work" for God and the constant pressure to "come down" and engage with the distractions and threats of the world. The enemy's goal is simple: stop the work. Whether by a physical ambush in Ono or by making Nehemiah's hands "limp" with fear, the objective is the same. Nehemiah understands this, and his steadfastness is rooted not in his own cleverness or strength, but in his clear sense of calling and his utter reliance upon God.

Outline

Context In Nehemiah

By the time we reach chapter 6, the physical work on the wall of Jerusalem is almost finished. This represents a monumental achievement in the face of intense opposition. In chapter 4, the enemies tried mockery, which escalated to threats of a full-scale military assault. Nehemiah countered that by arming the builders and setting a watch, demonstrating both faith in God and practical wisdom. In chapter 5, the threat came from within, with economic injustice threatening to tear the community apart. Nehemiah dealt with that decisively, calling the nobles to repentance. Now, with the external wall secure and the internal community rectified, the enemies launch their last-ditch efforts. These are not attacks on the wall itself, but on the leader, Nehemiah. They rightly perceive that if they can neutralize the leader, the work will grind to a halt. This chapter details three such personal attacks: the lure to a false summit, the smear of a public letter, and later in the chapter, the hiring of a false prophet. This section is the climax of the opposition before the wall is finally dedicated in the subsequent chapters.

Key Issues

No Time for Ono

There is a profound spiritual principle at work in this chapter, and it is this: when God's people are on the verge of a great victory, the enemy's attacks become more focused, more personal, and more deceptive. The devil is not a fool. He knows when his time is short. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem see a fortified Jerusalem as a direct threat to their power and influence in the region. A strong Jerusalem means a strong covenant people, which means the advance of the kingdom of God. Their opposition is not merely political; it is a manifestation of the ancient enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And so, when the bricks and mortar have failed to stop the work, they turn to lies and manipulation, seeking to do what no army could: make Nehemiah's own hands fall limp.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Now it happened when it was heard by Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not made the doors to stand in the gates,

The report comes to the unholy trinity of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. The wall is done. The perimeter is secure. This is a game-changing development. Their window for a direct military strike has closed. The one remaining vulnerability is that the gates have not yet been hung. The city is sealed, but not yet lockable. This detail is important because it highlights the critical moment we are in. The project is at its most vulnerable right before it is completely finished. The enemy knows this and sees one last chance to sabotage the entire endeavor.

2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to do me harm.

Their new strategy is deception. The invitation sounds reasonable, diplomatic. "Come, let us meet together." They propose a summit on the "plain of Ono," which was located in territory outside of Judah's direct control, about 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem. It was neutral ground, which was precisely the point. They wanted to lure Nehemiah away from the safety of his city and his men. But Nehemiah, through either good intelligence or godly discernment, knows their true intent. "They were planning to do me harm." This was not a peace conference; it was a planned assassination or kidnapping. The world's invitations to "dialogue" are often traps, designed to pull the man of God off the wall of his convictions and onto the flat, featureless plain of compromise, where he can be easily ambushed.

3 So 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?”

Nehemiah's response is brilliant in its simplicity and strength. First, he defines his reality: "I am doing a great work." He understands his divine commission. This is not his personal project; it is God's. This understanding is the bedrock of his resolve. Second, he states his refusal: "I cannot come down." It is not a matter of inconvenience; it is a matter of impossibility. His calling forbids it. To go to Ono would be an act of disobedience. Third, he exposes the foolishness of their request with a rhetorical question: "Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" He correctly identifies their true motive, which is to stop the work. He refuses to play their game and calls them out on it. He will not sacrifice the permanent for the urgent, the great for the seemingly important.

4 And they sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I responded to them in the same manner.

The enemy is persistent. A single "no" is not enough. They try the same tactic four times, hoping to wear Nehemiah down. This is a war of attrition. Many a good man has won the first battle, only to lose the fourth. But Nehemiah's resolve is as persistent as their pressure. His answer does not change because the situation has not changed. He is still doing a great work, and Ono is still a distraction. Faithfulness is not just about making the right decision once; it is about sticking to it when the pressure is repeated.

5-6 Then Sanballat sent his young man to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, “It is heard among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these words.

The fifth attempt marks a significant escalation. When private enticement fails, the enemy turns to public slander. Sanballat sends an "open letter." Normally, a letter to a governor would be sealed for privacy. An open letter was a deliberate act of public dissemination. It was the ancient equivalent of a malicious press release. The content is a series of calculated, poisonous lies. He starts with a vague appeal to rumor: "It is heard among the nations." Then he gives it a veneer of credibility by citing a source, "Gashmu says" (Gashmu being another name for Geshem the Arab, one of the conspirators). The charge is treason. He claims the wall is not for protection, but for rebellion, and that Nehemiah's ultimate goal is to usurp the Persian throne and make himself king.

7 You have also set up prophets to call out in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ So now it will be heard by the king according to these words. So now, come, let us take counsel together.”

The lie deepens. Now Sanballat accuses Nehemiah of orchestrating a religious propaganda campaign, hiring prophets to anoint him as king. This was a particularly clever lie, as it mimicked the way legitimate kings of Israel were once proclaimed. The letter ends with a veiled threat. The message is clear: these rumors are going to get to King Artaxerxes, and when they do, you will be executed for treason. The final invitation, "So now, come, let us take counsel together," is dripping with menace. It means, "Come meet with us, or we will send this report to the king." It is political blackmail.

8 Then I sent a message to him, saying, “Such words as you are saying have not been done, but you are devising them in your own heart.”

Once again, Nehemiah's response is a model of wisdom. He does not engage in a point-by-point refutation. He does not say, "Let me show you the minutes from my meetings where we did not plan to rebel." To do so would be to grant the lie a measure of dignity it does not deserve. Instead, he issues a flat, categorical denial. "Nothing of what you say is happening." Then, he correctly diagnoses the source of the lie: "you are devising them in your own heart." The problem is not a misunderstanding; the problem is a wicked and inventive heart. He refuses to be drawn down into the mud. He stands on the wall of truth and exposes the lie for what it is: a complete fabrication.

9 For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will become limp in doing the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

Nehemiah summarizes the entire strategy of the enemy. The letters, the rumors, the threats, they all had one purpose: "to frighten us." The goal was psychological, not military. They wanted to demoralize the builders, to make their hands "become limp" from fear and anxiety, so that the work would cease. And what is Nehemiah's response to this campaign of fear? He turns instantly to prayer. It is not a long, elaborate prayer. It is a short, desperate, potent arrow prayer shot straight to the throne of grace: "But now, O God, strengthen my hands." He does not pray for his enemies to be struck down. He does not pray for the circumstances to change. He prays for his own hands to be strengthened for the work. He knows that the only thing that can truly stop him is his own weakness, and he knows that the only cure for that weakness is the strength that comes from God alone.

Application

The Christian life is a "great work." Whether you are a pastor, a mother, a carpenter, or a student, if you are doing your work as unto the Lord, you are building a wall for the kingdom of God. And because of this, you can be sure that you will face opposition. That opposition will often take the forms described in this chapter.

First, there will be the invitation to Ono. The world will constantly invite you to "come down" from your post. It will offer seemingly reasonable compromises, dialogues, and meetings, all with the hidden purpose of distracting you from your primary calling and neutralizing your effectiveness. We must have the discernment of Nehemiah to see these traps for what they are and the courage to say, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down."

Second, when you refuse to be distracted, you will face the open letter. The enemy will resort to slander. Your motives will be impugned, your words will be twisted, and you will be accused of the very things you stand against. The temptation is to become consumed with defending yourself, to get down in the mud and argue with liars. Nehemiah teaches us a better way. State the truth plainly, identify the wicked source of the lies, and then get back to work. Do not let slander dictate your agenda.

Finally, we must recognize that the enemy's primary weapon is fear. He wants to make our hands go limp. He wants us to be so consumed with what might happen that we become paralyzed in the present. The only answer to this is prayer. Not a prayer that we might feel brave, but a prayer that God would make us strong. Our strength is not in our resolve, but in His grace. When the threats come, when the accusations fly, when fear begins to creep into your heart, the response of the faithful is to say, "But now, O God, strengthen my hands." And He will.