From the rest of this chapter we learn something of Nehemiah’s conduct while he was governor. He had taken no pay for all his services, and not only had he provided for himself, but also for 150 others, Jews and rulers, who ate at his table, besides some of the heathen who came there. Nehemiah was given to hospitality and was not forgetful to entertain strangers. (1 Tim. 3:22A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; (1 Timothy 3:2).)
In his prayer Nehemiah says, “Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.” This prayer might seem unusual to us, but we must remember that the Lord Jesus had not yet come into this world and revealed to us salvation, according to the riches of His grace. We do not read in the New Testament of any of the apostles or servants of the Lord praying like this. Nevertheless in Nehemiah we see a rare devotedness to the Lord and His people, an upright conscience, and a forgetfulness of self, so that he had this simple confidence in God that he would not lose his reward.
In chapter 6 the enemies adopt a new method to attempt to hinder the building of the wall. First they had laughed the Jews to scorn; then they mocked them; then they became very angry and conspired to overcome them by force. But now they try to entice Nehemiah to leave the work on the pretense of having him confer and hold a counsel with them.
In the New Testament we learn that Satan works principally in either of two ways — by subtlety, or openly as a “roaring lion.” Ephesians 6:11, 1211Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:11‑12), tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” But in 1 Peter 5:88Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8), the word is, “Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith.” But the Lord Jesus overcame him when He was here, so now he is a defeated foe. Therefore it says in James 4:77Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7): “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Here the enemy works subtly and seeks to get Nehemiah to compromise. When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, and the rest, saw that the wall was built, and that the breaches were stopped, though at that time the doors had not been set up, they feigned themselves as friends, and sent a message to Nehemiah. “Come,” they said, “Let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of One.” But Nehemiah perceived that this was an attempt only to do him mischief, so he sent a message back saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you.” The enemy often seeks to get the child of God to leave the ground of truth to which grace has called him and to come down to the level of the world. Nehemiah knew there could be no communion of light with darkness and so the attempt of the enemy to stop the work was, again thwarted.
Though the work he was doing might seem small and despised in the eyes of men, nevertheless Nehemiah saw that the Lord’s glory was connected with it so he could speak of it as a “great work.” Furthermore the Lord’s work was not something to be taken up and laid down at will, so he refuses to turn aside from pursuing the path the Lord had called him to.
ML 08/16/1959