NEHEMIAH 6 - NEVER ENDING SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Nehemiah 6
Just when the people thought they could let down their guard, their enemies showed up again. The wall was near completion. All that was left was to hang the doors in the gates (v. 1). When their enemies heard about it, they schemed to do harm, being driven by bitter envy.
Envy occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.
The enemies didn’t want to accept that the Jews had a new wall that would allow them to reclaim their city. So this time the attack was directed intently at the leader, Nehemiah (v. 2). A pattern is beginning to show in Nehemiah’s life, which is that spiritual warfare never really ends.
The spiritual battle is always changing, both in strategy and intensity, but it is never over in this life.
The first approach was to entice Nehemiah to take a break from the work. He was asked to come down for a nice getaway in the plains of Ono (v. 2). Nehemiah thankfully had the discernment to say, oh no! He sent a message telling them that he would not come down from the work that he had purposed to finish (v. 3).
Our spiritual enemies will always try to get us to come up short. We’ll be tempted to think that almost done might as well be enough. However, finishing well is a godly virtue. And if they can’t get you to succumb the first time, they will annoy to see if you eventually give in (v. 4).
We must be steadfast in our convictions to do what we’ve been called to do, and not get sidetracked.
A soon as the enemies saw that Nehemiah was firm in his convictions; they spread rumors about him (v. 6). The rumor mill is deadly for a leader – especially if the rumors are true. In Nehemiah’s case, they were lies and he was able to defend himself (v. 8). The best and easiest way to overcome rumors is to make sure they’re not actually true.
Sadly, slander of spiritual leaders is often done by other spiritual leaders (v. 10-14).
Because of resilient resistance to their enemies, the people finished the wall. The wall that lay ruined for almost 100 years was rebuilt in only 52 days (v. 15). This put the enemies to shame and they realized that God had been in it (v. 16). Jerusalem was now secure, but as for Nehemiah, the enemies would show up again (v. 19).