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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 13 January 2025:
Nehemiah 6:1 — Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates)….
The closer God’s work gets to completion, the more urgent the enemy becomes. There’s “no breach,” but the doors aren’t hung, meaning the city is almost secure, but still vulnerable. Opposition often spikes at the finish line because the enemy knows momentum is about to turn into permanence.
This is a New Testament pattern: when the Gospel advances, resistance intensifies (Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12). And it’s not always persecution — it can be pressure, distraction, and subtle sabotage. The enemy doesn’t need you to “quit believing.” He just needs you to stop building.
Nehemiah 6:2 — Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together….” But they intended to do me harm.
The invitation sounds collaborative. It’s not. This is weaponized “relationship.” The goal isn’t dialogue, it’s distraction and demobilization. If they can pull Nehemiah away from the wall, they can neutralize leadership, fracture unity, and stall the mission.
Christ faced the same strategy. The crowds tried to redirect His mission more than once (John 6:15). Even well-meaning voices tried to turn Him from the cross (Matthew 16:22-23). Jesus stayed locked on the Father’s will. Nehemiah is doing the same on his scale.
Nehemiah 6:3 — And I sent messengers… “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
This is disciplined focus. Nehemiah doesn’t argue details. He refuses the premise. His answer is governance language: “I’m on-mission.” He understands a core leadership truth: your calendar is a battlefield. If the enemy can own your time, he can slow your obedience.
New Testament alignment: “Look carefully then how you walk… making the best use of the time” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Also: “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him” (2 Timothy 2:4). Nehemiah refuses entanglement.
Nehemiah 6:4 — And they sent to me four times… and I answered them in the same manner.
Persistence is part of temptation. The enemy repeats the ask hoping repetition will wear down discernment. Nehemiah’s repeated “no” is spiritual stamina. This is what it looks like to be steadfast without being dramatic. James calls this maturity: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial” (James 1:12). Temptations are not normally blatant calls for drastic sin but subtle nagging to compromise a little, then a little more, and a little more. As someone once said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” People will normally tempt you by offering an easier path — some form of pain avoidance and pleasure seeking, a path which only leads to regret. “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons….” Jim Rohn
– Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Nehemiah 6:5 — …the fifth time… with an open letter in his hand.
Now the tactic shifts. An “open letter” is designed to be public, read by others, spread as a narrative, leveraged as social pressure. This is reputational warfare: if they can’t stop the wall with swords, they’ll try with optics.
Christ endured this constantly. False testimony and public narrative were major tools used against Him (Matthew 26:59-61). The servant of God must be ready: obedience often attracts slander.
Nehemiah 6:6 — In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel… and you wish to become their king.”
This is rumor-as-weapon: insecure people assume the worst motives of God’s people and then broadcast it as “everyone knows.” Notice how cowardly it is: no evidence, just “it is reported.”
This maps directly to today’s cultural reality — narratives travel faster than truth. Character assassination is cheap. The enemy wants you managing perception instead of doing the work.
Jesus warns that people will falsely speak evil against His people (Matthew 5:11). Peter tells believers not to be shocked when slander comes, but to keep doing good so the lie collapses under observable fruit (1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 3:16). Nehemiah does exactly that.
Nehemiah 6:7 — “And you have also set up prophets to proclaim… ‘There is a king in Judah!’….”
Now the accusation escalates: not just politics, but religion — “you hired prophets.” This is clever because it tries to make Nehemiah look both treasonous and spiritually manipulative. It’s an attempt to destroy credibility on every front.
This mirrors how opponents attacked Jesus: political threat (“king”), religious threat (“blasphemy”), social threat (“stirs up the people”). Same playbook, different century.
Nehemiah 6:8 — Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”
Nehemiah doesn’t over-explain. He doesn’t run a PR campaign. He calls it what it is: invention. Then he returns to work.
There’s wisdom here for believers who get sucked into endless defensiveness. Some accusations are not misunderstandings, they are strategies. You answer plainly, you keep your integrity, and you keep moving. Jesus often refused the trap of endless self-justification (Luke 23:9). Silence can be faith. Brief truth can be faith. The key is staying obedient.
Nehemiah 6:9 — For they all wanted to frighten us… “Their hands will drop from the work….” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
This is the enemy’s key measure of effectiveness: frightened hands. Not defeated theology — discouraged obedience. Their objective is fatigue, not debate.
Nehemiah’s response is exactly right: he prays for strength, not applause. This is leadership under God: when pressure rises, you don’t posture — you intercede, you encourage faithfulness and set the example. Your strength will strengthen others.
“Be watchful. Stand firm… Be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13). And the source of strength is not personality but Christ: “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). Nehemiah essentially prays Ephesians 6 before Ephesians 6 existed.
– Romans 8:31-39 — What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nehemiah 6:10 — Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah… he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God… for they are coming to kill you.”
Now the enemy goes religious. This is more dangerous than rumor because it wears “holy” clothing. Fear is still the driver, but now it’s fear baptized with sanctuary language. In fear, sometimes people are tempted to use religion to control the situation rather than draw closer to God and seek His will, regardless the cost. How often people use God’s name simply to get what they want.
This is why discernment is not optional. Some counsel sounds spiritual and still leads you into disobedience. The devil quoted Scripture to Jesus too (Matthew 4:6). The issue is never “Did someone mention God?” The issue is: does it align with God’s Word, God’s character, and the fruit of the Spirit?
Nehemiah 6:11 — But I said, “Should such a man as I run away?… I will not go in.”
Nehemiah refuses fear-driven leadership and refuses unlawful action. He understands that cowardice and compromise would do more damage than any enemy letter. If the leader panics, the people crumble.
“God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Nehemiah’s “I will not” is Spirit-shaped courage: steady, lawful, obedient.
Nehemiah 6:12 — And I understood and saw that God had not sent him… because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
Here’s the painful truth: not everyone who claims to speak for God is sent by God. Some are bought. Some are self-deceived. Some are using “God told me” to manipulate.
Jesus gave the diagnostic: you recognize false prophets by fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). And the fruit isn’t charisma; it’s Christlikeness — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). In Nehemiah 6, the “prophecy” produces fear, compromise, and sin, not faith, obedience, and peace. That’s a dead giveaway.
Nehemiah 6:13 — For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin….
The endgame is sin, because sin discredits the work and gives the enemy legitimate ammunition. This is critical: opposition often tries to bait you into “winning” the short-term while losing your integrity. The enemy loves moral shortcuts.
“Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:14). The bait is safety and reputation. The hook is disobedience. Nehemiah refuses the hook.
Nehemiah 6:14 — Remember Tobiah and Sanballat… and the prophetess Noadiah… who wanted to make me afraid.
Nehemiah hands it to God. He doesn’t spiral into paranoia. He doesn’t become obsessed with counterattacks. He prays, stays clean, keeps building. That is how you outlast sabotage.
Romans 12:19 captures the same posture: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Staying focused is not passivity—it’s faith.
Nehemiah 6:15 — So the wall was finished… in fifty-two days.
Completion is the proof that fear did not win. The mission didn’t die under rumor, intimidation, or religious manipulation. Fifty-two days is also a rebuke to “it can’t be done.” God can accelerate what’s been broken for generations when He gives vision, unity, and endurance.
“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6). Nehemiah’s wall is a physical picture of God’s spiritual promise: He finishes what He starts.
Nehemiah 6:16– …they were afraid… for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.
This is the witness outcome: God’s fingerprints become undeniable. The nations don’t merely say, “Nehemiah is impressive.” They conclude, “God is with them.”
Jesus said the same dynamic should mark His people: “Let your light shine… so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father” (Matthew 5:16). The goal isn’t personal brand. It’s God’s name made weighty.
Nehemiah 6:17 — Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah….
The wall is finished, but the internal leak remains. Influence channels still exist inside the community. “Nobles” should be protectors; instead, they function like a backchannel to the enemy.
This is painfully realistic: even when God is clearly at work, not everyone in the visible community is aligned in heart. Jesus built the church with Judas in the room. Nehemiah builds with compromised nobles nearby.
Nehemiah 6:18 — For many in Judah were bound by oath to him… through marriage alliances….
Entanglements create divided loyalties. Oaths, alliances, and relationships can quietly become leverage points for fear and compromise. This isn’t just “ancient politics.” This is the modern risk of being yoked to interests that don’t share God’s priorities.
“Do not be unequally yoked” (2 Corinthians 6:14). And also: “Bad company ruins good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Nehemiah can’t fully control their ties, but he can control his obedience.
Nehemiah 6:19 — Also they spoke of his good deeds… and Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.
This is a classic: compromised insiders normalize the threat by highlighting “good deeds” while ignoring the actual sabotage. Meanwhile Tobiah continues fear campaigns. Nehemiah doesn’t let it dominate his attention. He stays mission-locked.
This is where your John 15 theme matters: external commitment without heart conviction dies. Nehemiah’s endurance is not mere grit; it’s rooted dependence — “O God, strengthen my hands.” That’s abiding language before the word “abide” is used. The work lives because the worker is leaning on God.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 13 January 2025: Where is the enemy trying to pull me “down from the wall”—through distraction, rumor, intimidation, or spiritual-sounding counsel that leads to compromise? Today, (1) name the tactic, (2) refuse one specific distraction that would stall obedience, and (3) pray Nehemiah’s prayer with action: “O God, strengthen my hands,” then take the next faithful step in front of you. Measure “God’s guidance” by Scripture and by fruit — choosing the path that produces Christlike obedience rather than fear-driven sin.
Pray: Father, You see every scheme that tries to derail obedience—friendly invitations that are traps, rumors that poison motives, threats that aim at frightened hands, and even religious words that mask deception. Strengthen my hands today. Give me discernment that is anchored in Your Word and sensitive to Your Spirit, so I can recognize false counsel by its fruit and refuse fear-based compromise. Keep me from obsessing over what people say and fix my heart on what You say. Lord Jesus, You endured slander, manipulation, and the lie of false witnesses, and You stayed faithful all the way to the cross—finishing the work the Father gave You to do. Teach me to abide in You so my obedience has life and lasting fruit. Protect Your church from divided loyalties and backchannel compromise. Let my steady faithfulness point others to You, so even those watching can perceive: this work is done with the help of our God. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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