Nehemiah 6:10–14

Enemies inside join enemies outside

One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”

11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.

14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to intimidate me.

When pressure from outside failed, the enemies tried to apply pressure through their allies in Jerusalem. Nehemiah’s aid to the oppressed, which we heard about in chapter 5, may have been one reason that some of the upper class in Judah worked to undermine his leadership. Marriage and commercial alliances with the neighboring peoples were additional causes of this treachery.

The enemies reached a new low when they recruited false prophets to try to deceive Nehemiah. Such false prophets were nothing new. They had often opposed the leaders sent by God. This was especially true at the time of Jeremiah when he was warning the people of the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah chapter 23 describes the false prophets in detail: “‘I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,’ declares the LORD” (verse 32).

Some commentators maintain that the temptation was for Nehemiah to enter an area of the temple restricted to priests. Nehemiah’s reply, however, seems to indicate that he was being urged to follow the ancient practice of seeking sanctuary from danger in the temple. Since prophets sometimes acted out their prophecies, Shemaiah’s being “shut in” may refer to some symbolic act that he was performing to urge Nehemiah to seek refuge in the temple.

Such flight would have been wrong because Nehemiah would be deserting his followers, who were daily exposed to danger on the walls. If Nehemiah were afraid to face the enemies, why should his followers face them? But Nehemiah rejected the temptation. And, as he had done so often, he entrusted his case to God in prayer.