Nehemiah Chapter 6:10-14
Sanballat Strikes Back –
The angel of light!
By I
Gordon
6:10-14 And when I entered the house of
Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, 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 to save his life? I will not go in.” Then I
perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy
against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired for this
reason that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they
might have an evil report 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 frighten
me.
Very
resourceful this Sanballat. You'd sort of think he'd just give up wouldn't you?
Why does he bother so much and what else can he try? Well, the answer was not
long in coming for we read in vs 10 "When
I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, 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." What other tactics can the enemy use when the
walls of salvation are rebuilt? If he can't use Geshem to get you out, maybe he
can get you from within? Of course he would have to get one of his men in.
The Angel of Light
And when
I entered the house of Shemaiah… 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… he uttered his
prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.”
This
next attack then is the angel of light, and again, the tactics and players used
are completely accurate with biblical teaching on this subject. So what do we
have so far? Well, having seen off the other attacks, Nehemiah suddenly gets a
prophecy to hide in the temple for his enemies are coming to kill him. What
would you do? I'm sure Nehemiah didn't want to die but how do you evaluate
what's been said? Before we look at his answer, lets first look at the source
of this prophecy. We read later on in the chapter that Shemaiah had "uttered his prophecy against me
because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him." (vs 12). Shemaiah was
coming under the influence of that dynamic duo, the sinful nature and Satan.
Two guesses where the New Testament says the source of false prophecies come
from! So what does
the bible have to say about false teachers and false prophets? Quite a lot
actually! Probably the worrying aspect is that
nearly all of the verses on this topic speak of how it will increase in the
last days. So getting back to the original question, how then do you evaluate a
prophecy such as this? It sounded realistic given the previous attacks by
Nehemiah's enemies. How do you know? I'm sure the temptation for Nehemiah, was
to just go with it, and run and hide. What would you do?
Our defence: How much do
you love the truth?
But I said, “Should a man like me flee? And
could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”
Nehemiah's
response gives a good insight into how to discern between true and false
prophecies. What did he do? In vs 11 we read "But I said, 'should a man like me flee? And could one such as I
go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.' " Nehemiah
judged the word by two means; Firstly, whether or not it lined up with what he
knew to be the will of God for his life. And secondly, whether it lined up with
Gods word. His first thought was whether a man like himself should flee. Up
until this point Nehemiah had always stood strong and had defeated the enemy by
not compromising or acting through fear. Should he now run? He had always said
that "the God of Heaven shall grant
us success; therefore we his servants will arise and build, but you have no
portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem." (Ch 2:20) He had, up until
this point, always acted in faith and with determination. Should he now go
against what he believed God was asking from him? Clearly, what the prophet had
said was not from God. There was however, a clearer test that had to be
applied.
Nehemiah's
second thought was 'And could one such as
I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.' Nehemiah had to
judge the prophecy by Gods word. The word of God stated that only the Levites "shall attend to the priesthood for
everything concerning the altar and inside the veil...but the outsider who
comes near shall be put to death."
(Num 18:7) And yes, Nehemiah was not a Levite. Thankfully however,
in a time when most of Israel had forgotten the word of God, Nehemiah still
knew the word and judged and acted by its truth! Many could learn from his
actions today. One question that keeps coming back
is just how important is truth? Does it matter what we believe or what is being
taught to Gods people? Should we make a deal out of error in the church or just
let it ride? From what we have seen of Nehemiah,
he was a man of integrity who committed his life and actions to the truth of
God's word. He loved the truth! And as we shall now see, through that love and
knowledge of Gods word he was able to discern the true from the counterfeit,
even when Israel's other leaders could not.
Yeah,
sort of given it away haven't I? False words and prophecies only come from one
of two places:
1) They
are inspired by Satan as warned by Jesus that in the last days false Christ's
and false prophets will deceive many. (Matt 24:5, 11, 24) This is Sanballat
again at work.
2) The
words and prophecies can come from the flesh, and its usually the religious
flesh (Tobiah) seeking honour and glory for himself that’s says such things. As
in Col 2:18 where Paul warns against those who "take their stand on visions
they have seen, inflated without cause by their fleshly mind."
The
Corinthian Church were involved in some horrendous sins like sexual immorality,
lawsuits amongst believers, drunk at the Lords supper, divisions and following
men instead of the Lord.... but Paul still wrote to them and blessed them as
Christians (1Cor.1-9). Now read the intro to the Galatians’ Church, who had
listened to another gospel. "I am amazed at how quickly you deserted
him... for another gospel...But even if we or an angel from heaven should
preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be
eternally condemned." Didn't hold much back did he? The bible teaches
"Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not
surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of
righteousness." (2Cor 11:14-15)
Peter also spoke of the false prophets and teachers "and in their
greed they will exploit you with their false words." (2 Pet 2:1-3) John
spoke of them in 1John 2:18-19, 4:1-6. Paul spoke about them a lot, especially
at the end of his ministry as in Acts 20:28-32 'Be on your guard for yourselves
and the flock...I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among
you, not sparing the flock..' Also in 1Tim 4:1-5, 2Tim 3:1-9, 4:3-4 etc
Both
Old and New Testaments tell us to go to the word to judge things. Why is it
that this is now frowned upon? Isn't it the attitude of the world to tolerate
all things and not have any base to judge things by? But Gods word still gives
us the attitude that God is after. "When they say to you, 'Consult the
mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter'...To the word and to the
testimony! If they do not speak according to this word it is because they have
no light." (Isa 8:19-20) The New Test. tells us 'not to exceed what is
written' (1Cor 4:6) and when Paul preached to the Bereans it is written that
the Bereans 'were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica, for they
received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see
whether these things were so.' (Acts 17:11) Paul didn't just want them to
accept everything he said (even though it was true). These Bereans were
commended because they went back to the word each day to see whether what Paul
was saying was the truth or not. I believe that the prophetic gift is a gift of
the Spirit and is still for use today. Just don't be naive. 1 Thess 5:20-21 '
Do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully and hold
on to what is good.' Christians should be able to discern by the word. It is
only spiritual babies who cannot. (Heb 5:12-14)
Now
this is an important question so I will spend a bit of time on it. On the one
hand we should never get to the stage where all we are trying to do is make
issues out of tiny errors or cause disagreement in areas where judgment is not
allowed. (Rom 14). That is a critical spirit and is plain wrong! I do believe though, that the word of God
tells us to watch and guard the truth of the gospel. Jesus himself is the truth
(Jn 14:6) and its the truth of who he is and what he did that sets us free. It
is always the action of the enemy to try to corrupt the truth by sowing seeds
of error among the true seed. If we end up with a gospel of half-truths, we'll
have converts that are half set free! And as we saw earlier, its the belt of
truth that holds all the armour together. If your theology is loose, so is your
belt of truth and then so is your armour, and then we're back to where we began
- with disciples half set free, trying to live the Christian life without the
armour (spiritual protection) God provides! And that's when the Christian life
becomes a drag and a chore. Anyway, lets look at what the word of God says. The
next few verses are what Paul wrote to Timothy. Having now come to the end of
his ministry, he was passing on important truths for this young leader. I
believe that what he stressed most was guarding and preaching the truth! In 1
Timothy:
1:3 'As I urged you upon my departure.
stay on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange
doctrines.' 4:6 'In pointing out these
things (correcting wrong teaching in verses 1-5) you will be a good servant of
Jesus Christ, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound
doctrine which you have been following.'
4:13 'Until I come, give attention to the public reading of scripture,
to exhortation and teaching.' 4:16 'Pay
close attention to yourself and to your teaching.. for as you do so you will
ensure salvation for yourself and for those who hear you.' Plus 5:17, 6:2-3,
6:17-18
In 2
Timothy: 2:15 'Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who
does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.' 3:16 'All scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good
work.' 4:1-2 'I solemnly charge you...
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort,
with great patience and instruction.' Also 1:13-14, 2:2, 2:24-26, 3:10-15
I hope
you can see where Paul’s heart was. Truth is important. A man may say he
believes, but if what he believes is a lie, his faith is in vain. Paul
described the word of God as being for teaching, reproof, correction, training
in righteousness. Two seem positive, two negative. But they are all for the
positive in the long run. Part of biblical love is to correct and train. They
go hand in hand. Look at the Fathers love. (Heb 12:5-11)
