Bird's-eye view
In this section of Nehemiah, the external pressure from Sanballat and Tobiah transforms into a more insidious form of attack, internal subversion. With the wall nearly complete, the enemies of God's people resort to hiring a false prophet, Shemaiah, to trap Nehemiah. The scheme is designed to play on a natural human instinct, self preservation, in order to make Nehemiah sin. The proposed sin is subtle, cloaked in piety and urgent concern, hide in the Temple to save your life. Nehemiah's response is a model of godly leadership. He demonstrates courage rooted in his calling, discernment grounded in the law of God, and a faith that entrusts vengeance and justice to the Lord through imprecatory prayer. This passage is a master class in dealing with spiritual warfare, particularly when the enemy comes dressed in religious garb.
Outline
- 1. The Treacherous Plot (v. 10)
- a. The Setting: A Confined Prophet
- b. The Proposal: A Pious Sanctuary
- c. The Threat: An Imminent Assassination
- 2. The Principled Rejection (v. 11)
- a. A Question of Calling: "Should a man like me flee?"
- b. A Question of Lawfulness: "Could one such as I go into the temple just to live?"
- c. A Resolute Refusal: "I will not go in."
- 3. The Spiritual Discernment (vv. 12-13)
- a. The Source Revealed: "God had not sent him"
- b. The Conspiracy Uncovered: "Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him"
- c. The Strategy Exposed: Fear > Sin > Slander
- 4. The Judicial Appeal (v. 14)
- a. A Prayer to a Just God: "Remember, O my God"
- b. The Guilty Parties Named: Tobiah, Sanballat, Noadiah, and the rest
- c. The Nature of Their Sin: Trying to instill fear
Commentary
10 Now I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.”
The scene shifts. Nehemiah goes to the house of a man named Shemaiah, who was "confined at home." This detail is likely part of the act. A man shut in, perhaps feigning a vow or a state of ritual purity, would appear to be receiving a special word from God. He is setting the stage for a dramatic prophecy. The proposal he makes seems, on the surface, to be born of deep concern. He suggests a secret meeting in the most secure place imaginable, the Temple itself. The reason is urgent, a death threat. "They are coming to kill you," he says, repeating the warning for emphasis, "at night." The devil rarely proposes that we do something obviously wicked. His best trick is to propose something that is almost right, something that appears wise and prudent. The bait here is safety, and the hook is disobedience.
11 But I said, “Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple just to live? I will not go in.”
Nehemiah's response is magnificent and cuts right through the pious fog. His first question is one of identity and calling. "Should a man like me flee?" He is the governor, the leader appointed by God to restore Jerusalem. For him to run and hide would be to abandon his post and demoralize the entire populace. Leaders must not flee. His second question gets to the heart of the law. As a layman, a civil governor, it was unlawful for him to enter the holy place of the Temple (Num. 18:7). Only the priests could go there. Shemaiah was tempting him to save his physical life by committing spiritual treason. Nehemiah understood that it is better to die in obedience than to live in sin. His fear of God was greater than his fear of assassins. His conclusion is therefore firm and absolute: "I will not go in." There is no negotiation with this kind of temptation.
12 Then I recognized that surely God had not sent him, but he spoke his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
Here we see Nehemiah's discernment kicking in. How did he know this wasn't from God? Because the counsel contradicted the character and law of God. God would not tell His appointed leader to be a coward, nor would He command him to profane the Temple. A word from the Lord will never direct you to sin. Once he understood the nature of the message, he could see the source. This was not a word from Yahweh; it was a paid political hit job, a prophecy for hire. The usual suspects, Tobiah and Sanballat, were pulling the strings. When you can't defeat a man with arrows and spears, you hire a prophet to whisper fear and compromise into his ear.
13 He was hired for this reason, that I might become afraid and act accordingly and sin, so that they could give me a bad name in order that they could reproach me.
Nehemiah lays out the enemy's entire strategy. It is a three step process. First, make him afraid. Fear is a potent weapon because it short circuits reason and faith. Second, this fear was intended to make him "act accordingly and sin." The sin would have been twofold: cowardice and sacrilege. Third, the sin would then become the basis for a smear campaign. They wanted to give him a "bad name," a public relations disaster. If the governor himself breaks God's law to save his own skin, how can he be trusted to lead God's people? The goal was to reproach him, to discredit his leadership and bring the whole work to a halt. This is how the world and the devil operate. They lay a trap, and if you fall into it, they use your fall to mock you and the God you serve.
14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to make me afraid.
Nehemiah does not form a committee to investigate the fifth columnists. He does not launch his own counter intelligence operation. He takes it to the supreme court of the universe. This is an imprecatory prayer. He is not asking for personal vengeance; he is appealing for divine justice. He asks God to "remember" them, which in biblical language means to act upon what He knows. He names the ringleaders, Tobiah and Sanballat, but also reveals the depth of the rot. It wasn't just Shemaiah. There was a prophetess, Noadiah, and a whole cabal of "the rest of the prophets" who were on the take. The spiritual leadership was compromised. Their great sin was that they were "trying to make me afraid." Nehemiah rightly identifies the attempt to instill fear as a direct assault on the work of God. He hands them over to God, who judges righteously. This is the proper response to treacherous opposition.
Key Issues
- The Piety Trap: How the enemy uses religious language and apparent concern to lure believers into sin.
- Courage and Calling: The necessity of standing firm in one's God given identity and responsibilities, especially for leaders.
- The Fear of God vs. The Fear of Man: Recognizing that obedience to God's law is more important than self preservation.
- The Anatomy of Slander: Understanding the strategy of inducing sin in order to create a public reproach.
- Righteous Imprecation: The biblical practice of appealing to God for justice against those who oppose His kingdom.
Application
The Christian life is a construction project. We are building the walls of God's kingdom, and we should expect opposition. This passage teaches us that the most dangerous opposition is not always the overt, external threat, but rather the subtle, internal temptation that comes disguised as friendly, spiritual advice.
Like Nehemiah, we must have our convictions rooted in the Word of God. When a course of action, no matter how pragmatic or safe it seems, requires us to disobey a clear command of Scripture, we must refuse it absolutely. Our identity in Christ should make us courageous. "Should a man like me flee?" A child of the King, redeemed by the blood of Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, should not be governed by fear.
We must cultivate spiritual discernment. A message is not from God if it leads to sin. Finally, when we are betrayed, slandered, and attacked, our first resort should be prayer. We can confidently entrust our enemies to a just God, asking Him to vindicate His own name and protect His own work. We are not to take vengeance, but we are to pray for justice, and then get back to the work on the wall.