by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n
Of all the leaders in the Bible, Nehemiah is one of my favorites. He confronts a wide variety of problems, but through them all, he remains steadfast in his purpose, trusts God, and eventually achieves success.<\/p>\n
One of Nehemiah’s most revealing actions, though, is something that he does not do. Nehemiah 6:10-13 tells the story. At this point in the book, the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem is nearly completed. The enemies of the Jews, led by Tobiah, Sanballat, and Geshem, have already tried the threat of force, assassination, and a whispering campaign. However, due to Nehemiah’s determination, none of these schemes have worked.<\/p>\n
Their next attempt is even subtler. Beginning in Nehemiah 6:10, Nehemiah visits the house of a prophet named Shemaiah. Shemaiah reports that Nehemiah’s enemies are coming to kill him, so in order to save his life, Nehemiah needs to flee into the temple and bar the doors behind him.<\/p>\n
Nehemiah reacts with outrage, and he does so for two reasons. First, such cowardice would be exactly the opposite of the example that the people need. Second, Nehemiah isn’t a priest. He knows that he isn’t allowed to enter the temple, into which only the priests can go as part of their daily and yearly service. In Nehemiah’s view, it would be better for him to die outside the temple than to flee into the temple and save his life.<\/p>\n
At some point, Nehemiah realizes that Shemaiah has only said these things because Tobiah and Sanballat have paid him to do so. However, whether we are faced with hired liars or not, Nehemiah’s resolution has much to teach us. In our lives too, there are those who encourage disobedience to the law of God because it appears to be expedient. These false counselors will advise us to reject God’s pattern for worship because you need a praise band up on stage in order to draw young people. They’ll tell us that we should use anything from raffles to free food to attract those whom the gospel won’t attract so that maybe they’ll get a little gospel on the side.<\/p>\n
Though such advice appears wise to the world, it can only bring disaster to the kingdom of God. First, it requires us to abandon our conviction that God’s way works. I believe in the power of the gospel to touch hearts and change lives just as it did 2000 years ago. I believe that the simple pattern of the New Testament will still please God and edify men as it did in the first century. Why abandon the perfect wisdom of God for the wisdom of men, which has proven to be anything but perfect?<\/p>\n
Even if God’s way isn’t working anymore, even if we are living in a time like the time of Noah, there’s no point in using clever tricks to expose sinners to a powerless gospel. If those who will have no interest in God come for the sake of free food, their interest will continue to be in free food and not in God. They will remain unconverted. Conversely, if the power of God can reach them, free food is unnecessary.<\/p>\n
No matter how threatening the times may seem to be, the example of Nehemiah shows us that the best course is to remain steadfast. What is right always has been right and will continue to be right. The ancient paths will lead us to success, but listening to Shemaiahs can only entice us into failure.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bassford Of all the leaders in the Bible, Nehemiah is one of my favorites. He confronts a wide variety of problems, but through them all, he remains steadfast in his purpose, trusts God, and eventually achieves success. One of Nehemiah’s most revealing actions, though, is something that he does not do. Nehemiah…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1560,1288],"class_list":["post-54718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-false-prophets","tag-steadfastness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62670,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/handling-opposition\/","url_meta":{"origin":54718,"position":0},"title":"Handling Opposition","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Nehemiah 6:15-19 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nehemiah took on an ambitious project to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He completed the project in just 52 days - Nehemiah 6:15 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That alone is an amazing feat, but we can\u2019t overlook the fact that the project did not go smoothly.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/both-ezra-264-and-nehemiah-766-agree-that-the-totals-for-the-whole-assembly-were-42360-yet-ezra-adds-up-to-29818-and-nehemiah-to-31089\/","url_meta":{"origin":54718,"position":1},"title":"Both Ezra 2:64 and Nehemiah 7:66 agree that the totals for the whole assembly were 42,360, yet Ezra adds up to 29,818 and Nehemiah to 31,089","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Both Ezra 2:64 and Nehemiah 7:66 agree that the totals for the whole assembly was 42,360, yet Ezra adds up to 29,818 and Nehemiah to 31,089? Answer: Ezra gives a detailed listing of families of Judah, Benjamin, the priests, and the Levites. (Ezra 1:5). That listing is from Ezra\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53555,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-nehemiah-threaten-violence\/","url_meta":{"origin":54718,"position":2},"title":"Why did Nehemiah threaten violence?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question: I know Hebrews speaks about how the Old Testament was just a shadow of the New Testament. I was reading Nehemiah and noticed that when the people disobeyed (in chapters 12 and 13) he executed violence and threatened to lay hands on outsiders trying to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23972,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-the-lists-in-ezra-2-and-nehemiah-7-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":54718,"position":3},"title":"Why are the lists in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 different?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When I read Ezra and Nehemiah, I had some problems with the counting numbers recorded in both books. I believe the list of names in Ezra chapter 2 and Nehemiah chapter 7 are the same thing. But the number of singers and porters are different in these two books.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-should-we-preach\/","url_meta":{"origin":54718,"position":4},"title":"What Should We Preach?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Schmidt via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 Much has been said and written lately about preaching and teaching. Some see a \"new apostasy\" underway, with this departure being fueled by a change in what is being preached. Some have taken lists of topics from meeting announcements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5823,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-proof-is-there-that-jews-returned-with-nehemiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":54718,"position":5},"title":"What proof is there that Jews returned with Nehemiah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I saw your web page Q&A regarding how many waves of people were taken to Babylon. You also list three return groups. Is there any scriptural support for any Jews returning with Nehemiah? Answer: The list of those who returned with Zerubbabel is found in Ezra 2:2-67. The total\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}