Should a Man Like Me Flee? Text: Nehemiah 6:10-14
Introduction: The Treachery of Pious Advice
In the work of God's kingdom, the most dangerous attacks are rarely the ones you see coming. The frontal assault, the open mockery, the political threat, these things are obvious. A man knows how to brace himself for a punch in the mouth. Nehemiah had already faced this kind of opposition from Sanballat and Tobiah, and he had faced it with prayer, courage, and a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. But the devil is a student of tactics, and when the frontal assault fails, he resorts to subversion. The most perilous temptations are the ones that come cloaked in piety, whispered by a supposed friend, and framed as eminently reasonable, spiritual advice.
This is the kind of attack that aims not at the body, but at the conscience. It is designed to make a man sin for his own safety, to trade his integrity for a few more years of breath. The goal is to make the leader compromise, to make him a hypocrite, so that his moral authority evaporates and the work he is leading grinds to a halt, discredited from the inside out. The enemy knows that one act of disobedience from the man in charge can do more damage than a thousand enemy soldiers. If he can get the shepherd to violate the law of God, the sheep will scatter in confusion.
We live in an age that worships at the altar of safety. We are told constantly that the highest good is the preservation of one's own life and well being. And this sentiment has crept into the church, producing a kind of timid, risk averse Christianity that would be unrecognizable to our forefathers in the faith. When a man's highest ethic is "staying safe," he is ripe for the kind of temptation Nehemiah faces here. The enemy comes disguised as a prophet, with a word of warning and a sensible escape plan that requires just one small, lawless act. This is the test of true leadership: will you obey God, even if it costs you your life, or will you disobey God in order to save it?
The Text
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." 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." Then I recognized that surely God had not sent him, but he spoke his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 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. 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 6:10-14 LSB)
The Sanctimonious Trap (v. 10)
The attack comes from an unexpected quarter, a man named Shemaiah, who presents himself as a prophet.
"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.'" (Nehemiah 6:10)
Notice the stagecraft. Shemaiah is "confined at home," or shut up. This was likely a bit of theater on his part, a way of signaling that he had received a special, urgent revelation from God that kept him from going out. He is creating an atmosphere of crisis and divine secrecy. He lures Nehemiah in for a private consultation.
And what is his proposal? It sounds intensely spiritual. "Let us meet together in the house of God." He wants to have a prayer meeting in the temple. He couches his treacherous advice in the language of piety. This is the classic Judas move, betraying with a kiss, destroying with a word of feigned concern. The core of his message is an appeal to fear and self preservation: "they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night." He presents the threat as imminent and deadly.
His solution is for them to hide in the Holy Place of the temple, a place where only the priests were permitted to enter. He is advising Nehemiah, a layman, to commit sacrilege in order to save his own skin. He is telling him to break the second table of the law (love your neighbor, which includes leading them faithfully) by breaking the first table (honor God and His holy things). This is always the nature of temptation. It presents sin as a necessary, practical solution to a pressing problem.
The Courage of Identity (v. 11)
Nehemiah's response is a master class in godly leadership. He doesn't argue about the reality of the threat. He answers from the foundation of his identity and his calling.
"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 6:11)
His first question is about his station: "Should a man like me flee?" He is the governor, the leader appointed by God to this task. If he runs and hides, the people's morale will shatter. The entire project depends on his steadfastness. A leader cannot indulge in the luxury of personal safety at the expense of his people's confidence. His courage is not his own; it belongs to the people he leads. For him to flee would be an abdication of his office and a betrayal of his calling.
His second question is about the law of God: "And could one such as I go into the temple just to live?" He recognizes the sinfulness of Shemaiah's proposal. He is not a priest. To enter the Holy Place would be a profane act, a violation of God's explicit commands. Nehemiah understands a fundamental truth that our generation has forgotten: it is better to die in a state of obedience than to live in a state of sin. He will not purchase a few more hours of life at the cost of his integrity before God. His life is not the ultimate value; God's law is.
His conclusion is resolute and final: "I will not go in." There is no hesitation, no waffling. This is the clarity that comes from a man who knows who he is and who his God is. When your convictions are clear, your decisions can be swift.
Discernment and the Devil's Payroll (v. 12-13)
Nehemiah's righteous response leads immediately to spiritual discernment. He sees the trap for what it is.
"Then I recognized that surely God had not sent him, but he spoke his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 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 6:12-13)
How did he recognize this was a false prophecy? Not through some mystical feeling in his gut, but by testing the prophecy against the written Word of God. Any spiritual guidance, any prophecy, any counsel that directs you to sin is, by definition, not from God. God will never contradict Himself. This is the bedrock of biblical discernment. We do not need a special gift to unmask a false prophet who tells us to disobey God's law.
Nehemiah sees the whole sordid scheme. Shemaiah is a hireling. He is on the payroll of the enemy. Tobiah and Sanballat, having failed with external pressure, have resorted to bribery and internal subversion. They have paid a prophet to deliver a lying message.
And Nehemiah diagnoses their strategy perfectly. The goal was to make him afraid. Fear is the great motivator for sin. When a man is afraid, he will do things he would never do otherwise. The fear was meant to drive him to the sinful act of entering the temple unlawfully. And why? So that his enemies could get a "bad name" for him and "reproach" him. They wanted to destroy his reputation. If the great, godly leader Nehemiah desecrates the temple to save his own neck, he is exposed as a fraud and a coward. His moral authority is gone. The work on the wall would cease, not because of an invading army, but because of the moral collapse of its leader. This is what the enemy was after: not just to stop the project, but to ruin the man.
A Prayer for Justice (v. 14)
Nehemiah's response to this treachery is not to form a committee or to launch his own counter-intelligence operation. He takes it to the Lord in prayer.
"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 6:14)
This is an imprecatory prayer. It is a prayer for divine justice. Nehemiah is not asking God to help him feel better about his enemies. He is asking the righteous Judge of all the earth to take note of their wickedness and to act accordingly. He is handing them over to God for judgment. This is not sinful vindictiveness. It is a righteous appeal for God to vindicate His own name, His own work, and His own people against those who would actively subvert it.
Notice also that the conspiracy was wider than just one man. He names "Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets" who were in on the scheme. There was a cabal of corrupt, hired prophets working to undermine him. This is a sober reminder that the visible church is always a mixed multitude. There will always be hirelings, false teachers, and those who use the language of Zion for the purposes of Babylon. The faithful leader must be aware of this and must, like Nehemiah, commit them to the justice of God.
Conclusion: No Place to Flee
The question Nehemiah asks, "Should a man like me flee?" is a question every Christian man and woman must ask themselves. Should a person bought by the blood of the Son of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and called to be an ambassador for the kingdom of heaven, flee when the culture applies pressure? Should we sin in order to be safe? Should we violate the clear commands of God's Word in order to preserve our reputation, our job, or our comfort?
Nehemiah's resolute "I will not go in" must be our answer. We will not go into the temple of cultural approval by disobeying our God. We will not hide in the sanctuary of compromise.
This kind of courage is not something we muster up on our own. It is a gift of grace, rooted in the work of the greater Nehemiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. When He was tempted to preserve His own life by turning stones into bread, He refused, choosing obedience to the Word. When He was faced with the cross, He did not flee, though He could have called legions of angels. He did not sin to save His life; He laid down His life in perfect obedience to save us from our sin. He is the ultimate man who did not flee.
Because He stood firm for us, we can stand firm in Him. Because He was reproached for us, we can bear the reproach of our enemies. Our identity is not in our own strength or our own office, but in Him. And because we are in Him, we can say with courage when the hired prophets of our age tell us to compromise, "Should a man like me flee? I will not go in."