No Time for Ono
Introduction: The Desperation of the Devil
When you are faithfully engaged in the work of God's kingdom, you must understand that the nature of the opposition will change as you get closer to finishing the task. In the beginning, the enemy's attacks are often overt mockery and brute force. Sanballat and Tobiah started with scorn, then they moved to threats of violence. But what happens when the wall is nearly complete? What happens when the scoffers are proven wrong and the threats are shown to be empty? This is when the enemy gets desperate, and a desperate enemy is a subtle and vicious enemy.
When you are on the verge of a significant victory for the gospel, do not expect the attacks to cease. Expect them to escalate. Expect them to change shape. The Devil is not a fool. If blunt force isn't working, he will try flattery. If threats don't work, he will try talks. If private invitations are rejected, he will resort to public slander. The goal is always, always the same: stop the work. Paralyze the builders. Make their hands go limp.
The sixth chapter of Nehemiah is a master class in spiritual warfare for those of us called to build in the ruins. Nehemiah has the wall rebuilt. There are no breaches left. The only thing remaining is to hang the gates. The project is at the ninety-nine percent mark. And it is precisely at this moment that the enemy unleashes a rapid-fire series of temptations designed to do what threats of swords and spears could not do: get Nehemiah to come down from the wall. This passage shows us the progression of satanic strategy, from the lure of compromise to the lie of slander, and it gives us a divinely inspired playbook for how to respond.
The Text
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, 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. 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?” And they sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I responded to them in the same manner. 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. 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.” 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.” 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 6:1-9 LSB)
The Treacherous Invitation (v. 1-4)
The first tactic is the invitation to a reasonable-sounding meeting. It is the lure of compromise, the siren song of dialogue.
"Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono. But they were planning to do me harm." (Nehemiah 6:2)
Notice the setup. The wall is up, but the gates are not hung. The city is secure, but not yet sealed. The enemy sees this small window of opportunity. The invitation from Sanballat and Geshem sounds diplomatic. "Let us meet together." The location is significant. The plain of Ono was about twenty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem, down in the coastal plain, well away from Nehemiah's position of strength. To go to Ono would be to leave the work, abandon his post, and walk onto the enemy's turf. It was a summons to come down, both literally and figuratively.
Nehemiah, guided by godly wisdom, sees right through it. "But they were planning to do me harm." This is spiritual discernment. He did not take their words at face value. He understood their character. These were the same men who had mocked and threatened him. A change in tactics does not mean a change in heart. The world constantly invites the church to have a "dialogue" on the plain of Ono. It says, "Come down from your dogmatic walls. Let's find common ground on ethics, on sexuality, on the definition of marriage." But it is a trap. The goal is not understanding; it is neutralization. The goal is to get us to stop the great work of proclaiming the exclusive lordship of Jesus Christ.
Nehemiah's response is a model of principled leadership.
"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 6:3)
He does not equivocate. He does not form a committee to study the invitation. He states his mission: "I am doing a great work." A man who knows his calling is a man who cannot be easily distracted. His refusal is based on this great work. To come down would be to halt the work, and that is a dereliction of duty. This is the answer every faithful Christian must have ready. Why don't you moderate your tone? Why don't you stop talking about sin? Why are you so exclusive? "I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down." The enemy is persistent; they ask four times. And Nehemiah is just as persistent. His "no" remains "no."
The Public Slander (v. 5-7)
When the private invitation to compromise fails, the enemy escalates to public character assassination.
"Then Sanballat sent his young man to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand." (Nehemiah 6:5)
An "open letter" was not a friendly gesture. A sealed letter was for the recipient's eyes only. An open letter was meant to be read by everyone who handled it on its way to the destination. It was the ancient equivalent of a malicious press release or a viral, slanderous tweet. The intent was to spread the lies as widely as possible, to undermine Nehemiah's authority and stir up trouble among the people.
And what were the lies? They are the classic accusations leveled against God's faithful servants in every generation. First, the charge of rebellion: "you and the Jews are planning to rebel." Second, the charge of personal ambition: "you are to be their king." Third, the charge of religious fraud: "You have also set up prophets to call out... 'A king is in Judah!'" They take the godly work of rebuilding and twist it into a sinister political plot. The reference to "Gashmu says" is a clever touch. It is an attempt to give the rumor credibility, like a modern journalist citing "unnamed sources."
This is precisely the playbook used against the church today. When we build Christian schools, we are accused of being isolationist rebels. When we call for a Christian public square, we are accused of wanting a tyrannical theocracy. When we preach the kingship of Christ, we are accused of sedition against Caesar. The enemy takes our highest motives and paints them in the darkest colors. The letter ends with the same invitation, now dripping with threat: "So now, come, let us take counsel together." It is a summons disguised as a subpoena.
The Godly Rebuttal and Prayer (v. 8-9)
Nehemiah's response to this public slander is brilliant in its brevity and power.
"Such words as you are saying have not been done, but you are devising them in your own heart." (Nehemiah 6:8)
He does not engage in a point-by-point refutation. To do so would be to grant the lie a dignity it does not deserve. He does not get down in the mud with his accusers. He issues a flat denial and then, crucially, he identifies the source of the lie. This is not a misunderstanding. This is a malicious invention. "You are devising them in your own heart." He exposes the wicked imagination of his enemy. When you are slandered for your faithfulness to God, your first duty is not to win the argument in the court of public opinion. Your first duty is to stand in the truth, deny the lie, and entrust your reputation to God.
Nehemiah then diagnoses the enemy's core strategy and turns to the only true source of strength.
"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 6:9)
Here is the whole battle in a nutshell. The invitations, the rumors, the open letter, the threats, they all had one ultimate goal: fear. The enemy knows that a frightened builder is an ineffective builder. Fear leads to paralysis. Fear makes the hands go limp. If the Devil can make you afraid of what men might say about you, or what they might do to you, he can make you stop building.
And what is the antidote to this satanic fear-mongering? It is not human courage or a stiff upper lip. It is a desperate, faithful, battlefield prayer. Look at the prayer: "But now, O God, strengthen my hands." He does not pray, "O God, smite Sanballat." He does not pray, "O God, make them stop lying about me." He does not pray for his circumstances to be removed. He prays for strength to do the work in the midst of his circumstances. He asks for stronger hands. He asks for the divine enablement to keep holding the trowel, to keep laying the stones, to keep doing the great work he has been called to do. This is the prayer of a man whose gaze is fixed on the mission, not the opposition.
Conclusion: The Un-distractible Builder
This entire episode is a picture of the Christian life. We have been called by God to a great work. We are building our families, our churches, and our communities for the glory of King Jesus. We are living stones being built up into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). And as we build, the Sanballats and Tobiahs of this world will do everything they can to make us stop.
They will invite us to come down from the wall for a friendly chat on the plains of Ono. They will flatter us and appeal to our desire for reasonableness and respectability. And when we refuse, they will circulate open letters full of slander, accusing us of the very worst motives. They will do everything in their power to frighten us into paralysis.
Our Lord Jesus, the master builder, faced this same opposition. They tried to trap Him with questions. They slandered Him as a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of sinners. They accused Him of rebellion against Caesar. But He would not be distracted from the great work His Father had given Him to do. He set His face like flint toward Jerusalem and the cross. He would not come down.
Therefore, we must have the same resolve. We must know our calling. We must be so consumed with the great work of the gospel that we have no time for Ono. We must refuse to be distracted by the lures of compromise or frightened by the lies of our enemies. And when our hands grow weary and our hearts grow faint, we must turn to God with that simple, powerful prayer: "But now, O God, strengthen my hands." For the work is His, the glory is His, and the strength is His also.