Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20110206.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Nehemiah: Excelling In Leadership In Hard Times
Part IX: Handling Potential Harmful Entrapment By Benignly Doing God's Will
(Nehemiah 6:1-4)
  1. Introduction
    1. A difficult situation a believer in oversight can face is the threat of potential harmful entrapment.
    2. God had Nehemiah lead Israel in the rebuilding of the Jerusalem city wall though he faced such a trial, and his response to it in Nehemiah 6:1-4 provides an invaluable lesson on handling it (as follows):
  2. Handling Potential Harmful Entrapment By Benignly Doing God's Will, Nehemiah 6:1-4.
    1. When Israel's and Nehemiah's past foes to the Jerusalem city wall rebuilding project learned that there was no longer any breach in the wall to where Israel enjoyed some degree of military defense, two of their foes, Sanballat and Geshem, approached Nehemiah with an outwardly friendly proposal, Neh. 6:1-2a.
    2. They sent Nehemiah word, asking him to meet with them in a village on the Plain of Ono, Nehemiah 6:2b.
    3. Nehemiah knew that this offer was a potential harmful trap that meant he had to be very careful how he responded (Nehemiah 6:2c) for the following reasons:
      1. First, Sanballat and Geshem had previously ardently opposed the wall rebuilding project even to the point of threatening to attack and kill Nehemiah and his men (Neh. 4:7-8, 11). For them now to want to meet for peace because the Hebrews could partly protect themselves thus seemed rather suspect!
      2. Second, the Plain of Ono was located in the lowlands near Joppa nearly 30 miles west northwest of Jerusalem (The MacMillan Bible Atlas, 1968, p. 109, map 171), so it seemed unreasonable for Nehemiah to meet with these men so far from Jerusalem unless they planned one for one of two possible evil actions: (a) Either they wanted to draw Nehemiah away from the workers on the wall so they could assassinate him, effectively ending the work on the wall at the loss of its leader, or (b) they planned to move Nehemiah so far from Jerusalem that when they attacked the wall, the Hebrews without access to him as their effective leader would be less able to defend themselves, and Israel's foes could slay the workers and end the reconstruction of the wall!
      3. However, for Nehemiah to respond to their proposal by publicly critiquing the motives of Sanballat and Geshem could give these foes an occasion to discredit Nehemiah before his peers as being warlike, and that could harm his credibility as Israel's leader and effectively sabotage the work on the wall!
    4. Thus, Nehemiah avoided potential entrapment by benignly voicing his need to keep at God's work, 6:3-4:
      1. Nehemiah sent messengers back to Sanballat and Geshem with the BENIGN but TRUE claim that he was busy doing a great work on the wall, and he could not go off to the distant Plain of Ono, Neh. 6:3a.
      2. He added that it was wrong for the work to cease on the wall were he to come down to meet with Sanballat and Geshem, continuing to voice his need to stay focused on the work God had for him to do in reference to the wall, Nehemiah 6:3b.
      3. This was a wise move for Nehemiah for two reasons: (a) it kept his foes from entrapping him, and (b) it opened the door for Sanballat and Geshem to show by their response their true motives, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 685: were they honestly wanting to make peace with Nehemiah, they would have been willing to meet with him much closer to Jerusalem, so Nehemiah gave them opportunity to change the meeting location so they could demonstrate that their peace proposal was a genuine one.
      4. However, Sanballat and Geshem continued to send Nehemiah messengers asking that he meet them on the distant Plain of Ono, Nehemiah 6:4. This occurred four times, so each time Nehemiah refused to meet with them, giving the same reason he had given, but becoming more sure by each repeat response that Sanballat and Geshem only planned evil against him and the workers on the wall! (Nehemiah 6:4)
      5. Nevertheless, Nehemiah's answer, even if it were made public, would uphold his credibility before all because it was a benign, credible answer that his enemies could not use to harm either him or his work!
Lesson: By responding to potential harmful entrapment efforts through benignly focusing on God's assignment for him, Nehemiah kept his foes from taking harmful advantage of him.

Application: May we stay focused on doing God's assignment as even a PROTECTIVE measure against harmful intrigue and potential harmful entrapment by spiritual foes!