10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Sanballat and Tobiah tried a third way to get Nehemiah to fail. Nehemiah was summoned by Shemaiah the son of Delaiah who was confined to his home. This must have been someone Nehemiah trusted for him to go meet him in secret. Shemaiah’s plan was to get Nehemiah afraid for his life and then go into the temple and hide to save himself. But Nehemiah perceived the deceit because the plan couldn’t have come from God. The plan would have caused Nehemiah to sin by going into the temple (Num 3:10; 18:7). If he had hidden in the temple, not himself a priest, he would have desecrated the temple and brought himself under God’s judgement. If he had survived (God’s mercy means we don’t always receive the full punishment our sin deserves) then the people would have known that Nehemiah disregarded God’s commands and his reputation would have been ruined. Nehemiah figured out that Shemaiah had been hired by Tobiah and Sanballat to invoke fear and cause him to sin. Nehemiah prayed that God would deal with Tobiah, and Sanballat, and the prophets who had conspired against him. One of the qualities of a godly leader is to be above reproach (1 Tim 3:2,10). Do not let fear (a lack of faith) cause you to seek ungodly ways to solve your particular problems. Satan will tempt you to find some sinful shortcut that may even appear right but will bring you, and God, into disrepute. God will provide a way for you to finish His work His way.
After fifty-two days the wall was complete. Hearing the news Judah’s enemies were afraid as they recognised that this work had been done with God’s help.
Tobiah continued to send and receive letters with the nobles of Judah. He had ties with the Jews because of his father-in-law and his daughter-in-law. These letters were sent to leak information about Nehemiah’s dealings and to cause Nehemiah to be afraid.