Nehemiah 6:1-19

I'm very thankful for being here today.

If you were not aware, Sam and I went on a family vacation this past week and we were not here last Sunday.

I want to say thank you to Kyle for filling in for me, preaching in Nehemiah.

I was hoping to come back to you refreshed and rested.

I'm exhausted and I brought a cold with me.

I'm actually going to have a seat today so I don't fall over.

I'm a little bit medicated.

But I really wanted to be here today and continue our work through the book of Nehemiah.

We have thus far seen, beginning in chapter 1, Nehemiah is the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes.

They are wintering in Susa, quite a bit of a journey from Israel.

But he receives word from his brother that the wall is still in shambles.

This is following Babylonian exile.

If you haven't been with us, Babylon as a judgment on Israel has come,

has conquered, has torn down the wall, has made Israel itself, Jerusalem a shambles,

and has carried away the people of God.

They have now in a couple of movements, as God promised, been returning to Jerusalem.

And at this time, this is some 90 years after the first exiles return.

And here we see the hand, the power, the world power has changed.

And now it's Persia that's in control.

And that's where we find Nehemiah still exiled, serving as the cupbearer to the king.

And he hears that the wall has yet to be rebuilt.

I want to remind you that the reason this troubles him,

you'll see in chapter 1 that he weeps and he mourns for days,

is not because he has a particular care for the wall,

that it's a special wall to him by any means,

but that the nature of what's happening with Israel,

the condition of God's people,

was the display of who God was.

So the fact that Israel's in shambles

meant that the view of God was not as high as it ought to be.

And this is why it grieves him so.

So we see him pray to God for months before he approaches the king.

And the king, by God's providence, grants him the ability to go back

and to lead in the building of this wall.

The king, in fact, makes him governor of the province

and basically gives him his credit cards

so that he can get all of the needs that he has for the rebuilding of this wall.

We saw the work that has happened.

They've begun to work.

They've strengthened their hands to work.

And in chapter 3, they began to rebuild the wall.

And we saw all the effort, the group effort that went in to this great task.

And then two weeks ago in chapter 4,

we talked about the opposition to the work.

There were some that weren't too happy about the work that was being done,

namely Sambalot and Tobiah.

Last week, Kyle, and Kyle, I apologize,

I have yet to listen to your sermon, but I promise that I will.

Kyle talked about chapter 5

and some of the spiritual work that begins to happen

as Nehemiah stops some of the oppression of the poor

and he himself is incredibly generous

to the servants that are living within his house.

But we see then again in chapter 6

a further expression of the opposition to this work.

And so this morning I want to talk a bit about that.

I want to show you specifically the opposition

that came up against Nehemiah.

A man that was called to lead God's people.

A man that was given a very special task

to accomplish and offer leadership to.

Before we do that, let's pray together.

Father God, I thank you for your goodness to us.

I thank you that an aspect of your character

is that you are good.

You are loving.

And your loving kindness towards us never fails.

You have shown us that in the greatest way in Christ.

I pray, Father, that all of us this morning

can say with confidence

that we have placed our faith in Him.

That we know that our souls have been redeemed

because of the work that He has done on our behalf.

Thank you for the blessing,

the grace to us of your Word.

That it is the guide and rule of our lives.

That it ultimately speaks of Christ.

That it is the grace of God.

Drawing us to Him.

Drawing us into holiness in Him.

And I pray, Father, this day it will have its way with us.

It will work in our hearts the way you see fit.

That we might look more like your Son

as a result of our work here together today.

And I pray this in Christ's precious and holy name.

Amen.

Amen.

So, as we've worked before,

typically I read the passage to you.

We're going to be looking at all of chapter 6.

Today I'm going to bring it to you in pieces.

So I just want to make you aware of that

so you're not wondering,

why has Nathan not read the text?

I'm so confused.

What's going on right now?

It's coming.

I'm going to read it to you in little pieces.

But I just first wanted to say to you

that any time that God calls us into leadership

with a holy ambition,

there will be opposition to that work.

I was surprised as I began to pastor this church

of what that opposition ended up looking like.

I came to realize that working in this setting

is not simply work, it's warfare.

It's a great task that is ahead of us

when we get called to a holy ambition for our Lord.

Now I want you to know at the outset this morning

that I am an exceedingly happy pastor.

Nothing I'm going to talk about today

has anything to do with any of you specifically.

Praise God for that,

that as I was studying through this,

I was seeing the way in which these men

were working to oppose the work,

that I couldn't think of a single example

of anybody that I knew would be sitting here this morning

having done this to me.

That's a blessing.

That's an incredible blessing,

and I thank you for that.

It has happened, though,

and I was surprised by that,

by people who have come here

and sat and said they were people of God

and opposed the very work of God.

The kind of opposition that came,

the personal criticism,

calling into question things like my age.

And if you don't know, I'm 33,

just in case you're wondering,

which is young.

Calling into question my motivations.

Calling into question my training.

Also, very surprised by the source of that opposition.

I was ready to take on the world,

not oblivious to that,

that the world hates us as it hates Christ.

Not at all.

I'm ready to contend for those types of things,

but I was so surprised that much of that opposition

came from those professing to be the people of God.

A holy ambition for the glory of God

will be met with unceasing opposition.

It's part of the game,

both from without and from within.

And the reason for this

is that God's enemy and ours,

the devil,

does not want to see the work accomplished.

He's a rather delusional character, right?

We all know the work is going to be accomplished.

We know that God is the sovereign

that reigns over all things.

And yet, the devil,

Satan, bucks against it

with all of his might.

His name, devil, means slander.

In the book of Revelation,

he's called Apollyon in Greek,

the destroyer, right?

The scriptures refer to him as a murderer,

a liar, a deceiver, the evil one,

a roaring, devouring lion,

and a great red dragon.

And he works most divisively in the church

by doing everything that he can

to impede God's ends,

knowing full well that he can't,

but he does everything that he can

to impede God's ends

by doing everything he can

to impede God's means.

And that is us, the church.

He roots his way in

to our meetings,

into our relationships,

and causes division

with this type of opposition.

We see that here with Nehemiah.

Not that Sanballat and Tobiah

and Geshem the Arab

are people of God,

but we see the way the enemy

works with them

and manipulates them

to try to stop the work

that Nehemiah is doing.

Some of you may ask the question,

wasn't Nehemiah doing the will of God?

Right?

Had God's blessing?

We saw that.

The good hand of God was upon me

is the record we see in Nehemiah.

And certainly he was.

In fact, the opposition

is the proof of this.

We're trying to help you see

that the book of Nehemiah

is not this far-removed

historical account

that we read about and say,

isn't that interesting

the way God and Nehemiah

and the people of Israel

worked then,

but it has real implications

for us now.

As God has set us to the task

of building the church.

As that is now

the visible display

of his glory.

The condition of our church

has something to say

about who our God is.

And if we want proper praise

to be ascribed to him

the way it ought to be

ascribed to him

we'll be about the work

of building the church.

And I've said to you

that all of us

are called into that.

Right?

We're all called to be holy

and to see holiness

come about in other people's lives.

To be disciples

that make disciples.

To put it as simply

as I possibly can for you.

And there will be

opposition to that work.

Paul writes in 2 Timothy

3.12

All who desire to live

a godly, holy,

be a disciple,

life in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted.

It's a promise

given to us

if we're to live

in this way.

And we ought not be

surprised by it.

Now, some of you

may be saying,

okay, this is great.

The record here,

chapter 6 of Nehemiah,

the opposition

that came to him

as a leader

with this holy ambition

for the glory of God

is great,

but it doesn't really

apply to me.

But it does.

Hear what I'm saying to you.

We've all been called

to lead

in some regard.

And,

we've all been called

to follow

in some regard.

So there's many lessons

for us to learn here.

Both about how we ought

to respond

to opposition

and also about how we ought

to not be

that opposition.

We ought not let

the enemy come in

and have us

be the very ones

that are opposing

the leadership

of God.

Some of you,

I think many of you,

desire to spend

your lives

in vocational ministry.

Really believe

that God is leading

you into

a life

spent 24-7.

My vocation

is to lead

the people

of God.

And you ought

to be aware

of the opposition

that's going to come

against you

and how to deal

with it.

We all need to know

what our leaders

deal with

so that we can

best know

how to pray for them.

I covet

your prayers.

I need

your prayers.

I try to be

up here

so openly

honest with you.

Some people even say

to a fault

that I'm too

self-abasing.

But I want you to know

that I need grace

as much

as you do.

I battle

with my flesh

as much

as you do.

And I need

your prayers.

Much,

much opposition

will come against us.

Let me give you

just a small example.

This is,

again,

no one in the room.

So don't

cut eyes

at anybody in here.

There's nobody

in this room.

But my preaching

has been criticized.

The internet

is a really,

really fantastic tool.

How amazing.

All the things

we have at our fingertips.

You can spend

your week

listening to

wonderful,

wonderful

preaching.

We record

these sermons.

That's the primary

reason I wear

this little mic.

We put them up

on our website

so if you missed

one,

you can catch up.

That's the idea

behind that.

Not so everyone

can hear

really great preaching

which I'm not

claiming to do.

So you can catch up

if you normally

meet with us

and can do that.

You can hop on

Desiring God

the app

on your phone.

Get it.

It's fantastic.

Right?

You can hear

John Piper preach

any time

you want to.

But guess what?

It's also been

really damaging

to the local church.

Because now

everyone expects

their pastor

to be John Piper

or Tim Keller

or Mark Driscoll.

Right?

I'm not ever

going to be

those men.

Right?

I really, really

labor to be

the best possible

preacher I can be.

I am not going

to be Charles Spurgeon.

Right?

Get it out of your head.

I'm not going to do it.

Right?

He was a master

with words.

I sometimes

make up words

on the spot.

Right?

Right?

So everyone

wants entertainment.

Everybody wants

celebrity.

Right?

Over content.

Right?

What did Paul say

to the Corinthians?

I came to you

speaking simply

to you.

Right?

I didn't want you

to praise me

like you did

all the Greek orators

which was what was

going on in Corinth.

These wonderful

deliverers of speech.

Paul, Taman said,

I spoke simply

to you.

I simply told you

about Christ crucified.

Right?

We need to elevate

truth over entertainment.

I hope to engage you

with the truth.

Right?

That's the good labor

is to give you the truth

and give it to you

in an engaging way

that goes through your head

and right to your heart

so that you change

the way you live.

Right?

I will not be

John Piper

or Tim Keller

or Charles Spurgeon.

Right?

So let's look

at the opposition.

Let's see who we have

coming up against him.

And it's an ever

increasing group

of people.

Right?

People who are

critics love to gather

other critics to themselves.

So we see

initially in chapter 1

right at the very end

we see Sambalat

and we see

Tobiah.

They add to their number

Geshem

and later we see

a widening group

that doesn't even get

named.

But understand

what was going on

with Sambalat and Tobiah

and why they were

so set against

what was going on.

It's not that they

praised King Artaxerxes

they wanted all glory

to King Artaxerxes

no it's that they

ultimately worshipped

themselves.

We see Sambalat

is the Horonite

right?

Which just means

he was born in Beth

Haran

and he was Samaritan

that's what that means.

Right?

And there was an intense

racial tension

between the Samaritans

and the Jews

just from the outset

they didn't like

one another.

Right?

But beyond that

he was the governor

of the Samaritan province

just north

of Judea.

Right?

And more than likely

most scholars say

that it was probably

under his control

as well.

So when King Artaxerxes

puts Nehemiah

over

Judea

the town of Judah

the province of Judah

he was cutting out

some of

Sambalat's property.

Right?

He was cutting it out

some of his control.

Right?

So Sambalat

hated him.

Right?

We see Tobiah

the governor

of Ammon.

Now recognize

if you're looking at a map

you're seeing that little strip of land

just to the east

of the Mediterranean.

Right?

Picture above

just north of that

you've got Sambalat's property

and just to the west of that

to the coast

you've got Tobiah's property.

This is where

they reign.

Now throughout history

Jerusalem was a major

major

trade route.

Right?

All the trade routes

of the region

crossed through

Jerusalem.

But when Babylon

came in and overthrew

the Israelites

that ceased to be the case.

The city was in ruins.

There was no reason

to go there and trade

so guess where the trade shifted?

Right?

To the west

and to the north.

So Sambalat and Tobiah

were profiting greatly

as the governors

of these regions.

So what would happen

if they rebuilt the wall

and restored the city?

The trade routes

would shift back

and they would lose out.

Right?

They would become

poorer regions

as a result

of that very thing.

So recognize

that the opposition here

is ultimately

because they worship

themselves

and what they could gain

by keeping the wall

from being built.

Right?

Now look

as you see

the first little example

here.

We know that

at the end of chapter 1

Sambalat and Tobiah

are not happy

with what's going on

but they approach him

for the first time

at the end of chapter 2

verse 19.

But when Sambalat the Horonite

and Tobiah the Ammonite

servant and Geshem

here comes Geshem

the Arab

heard of it

they jeered at us

and despised us

and said

what is this thing

that you are doing?

Are you rebelling

against the king?

Then I replied to them

the God of heaven

will make us prosper

and we his servants

will arise and build

but you have

no portion

or right

or claim

in Jerusalem.

I love his response here.

Okay?

So recognize

that these are not

people

who simply need

their perspective

adjusted a little bit.

It can be a very

healthy thing

to be constructively

critical of things

that are going on

in your churches.

I need feedback.

That's what I'm trying

to say to you.

Come and talk to me.

And there will be times

that I will be wrong

and I hope that I have

been given the grace

to be humble

to accept that

and to make adjustments.

There will be times

that you're wrong

and you simply need

your perspective

adjusted a little bit.

Right?

That's going to happen.

That's a good

healthy process

to take place here.

But these are not men

who just need

a little nuancing

of their perspective.

Right?

These are men

that need to be told

to be quiet.

Right?

And to get out of the way.

That's a painful thing

to do.

I've had to do that

in the life of this church

already.

Right?

With grace and love

to tell somebody

be quiet

and get out of our way.

Right?

So this is his response

to him.

The God of heaven

will make us prosper

and we as servants

will rise and build

but you have no portion

or right

or claim

in Jerusalem.

So these are the people

that we're talking about.

And what I hope

you're hearing from me

is that I don't want you

to be one of these people.

Right?

Have any character quality

of a person

that really

what I would respond

to you is

be quiet

and just get out of the way.

Right?

I want to have a bunch

of people

who need just a little

perspective adjustment

occasionally

and not ones

that need to be shown

the door.

Right?

So let's look now

at our text.

Nehemiah was tempted

in four common ways.

Right?

And I want to show you those

and I want to see

I want you to see

how he responded

appropriately

to these temptations.

Right?

Number one

the temptation

to be distracted

by the daunting nature

of the work.

Right?

And we've got to look

a little bit before

chapter 6

to see that.

Beginning of chapter 6

we see that

he has completed

the wall

the breaches

the gaps in the wall

have been filled in

except that the doors

the huge gate doors

which is a huge task

in and of itself

they have yet to be set

so it's not quite done

we're almost there.

But let's back up

just a little bit

in chapter 4

to see the temptation

verse 10.

Right?

The temptation

to be distracted

by the daunting nature

of the work.

Chapter 4 verse 10

we have record

of what was

happening in Judah

what was being said.

they've half completed

the wall at this point.

It says

in Judah it was said

the strength of those

who bear the burdens

is failing.

There is too much rubble.

By ourselves

we will not be able

to rebuild the wall.

And our English

doesn't quite capture here

what this phrase

would have looked like

to the Hebrew people.

It was actually

a Hebrew couplet.

It was a little song

a little ditty

that had been written.

It took them 52 days

to build the wall.

And at this point

it's half built

and somebody

has come up

with a song

and been passing it

around Jerusalem

about how

they're going to fail.

Right?

A little sing song thing.

The strength of those

who bear the burden

is failing.

There's too much rubble.

By ourselves

we will not be able

to rebuild

the wall.

Right?

Look carefully

at who was saying it.

Right?

So here's

we've got opposition

coming from without

Sambalat, Tobiah,

Geshem the Arab.

But from within

it was in Judah

that this was being said.

Right?

The people of Judah

had become whiners.

My father

who's sitting in the room

is really famous

at least

most of you may not

have ever heard him say this

but for me

he's really famous

for always saying

we want winners

not whiners.

Right?

I just had to interject that

at this point.

Right?

The people of Judah

were being whiners.

How is it

that in the face

of this kind of

sing song

opposition

to the work?

Right?

People are walking around

saying it's never

going to be accomplished.

Right?

We've written

a little lyrical poem

that we're singing

about that very thing

that Nehemiah

who's trying to lead

this great work

doesn't become

just absolutely

distracted

by the daunting

nature of it.

Just crushed

by how much

is ahead of him

when it seems

that the people

of Judah

are not for

the work.

He did so

by resting

in the fact

that God

will

accomplish

his purposes.

We've been talking

a lot about

the providence

of God

and what God

sets out to do

he does in fact

accomplish

and this is a very

great motivation

for us

to see the work

get done.

Verse 14

of chapter 4

He says

that I looked

and arose

and I said

to the nobles

and to the officials

and to the rest

of the people

do not be afraid

of them

in light of this

physical opposition

that could be

coming from without

do not be afraid

of them

remember the Lord

who is great

and awesome

and fight for your

brothers, your sons,

your daughters,

your wives

and your homes

and then in verse 20

he says

our God

will fight

for us.

So Nehemiah

rested in the fact

that God

was providentially

in control

he knew

that it was God's

will

that the wall

be built

and therefore

he wasn't distracted

by the daunting

nature

of the work.

Secondly

Nehemiah

was tempted

to be distracted

by prestige

or position

look now

in chapter 6

finally here we go

chapter 6

beginning in verse 2

Sanbalat and Geshem

sent to me

saying

come and let us

meet together

at Hakafurim

in the plain

of Ono

but they intended

to do me harm

and I sent

messengers to them

saying

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

and they sent

to me four times

in this way

and I answered

them in the same

manner.

So two of these

leaders

we've already talked

about

Sambalite

and Geshem

they send to him

and they say

let's go and meet

in a place

that's only recorded

here in the scriptures

so I tried to do

some research on it

don't really know

a lot about

Hecathurim

however

it's likely

that this was a place

in the plain

of Ono

that was a

lush place

a nice

place

to meet

and these

other governors

were saying to him

hey as a governor

let's come together

and meet

let's talk about

this work

that you're setting

out to do

now he perceives

that they intended

to do him harm

but he was not

distracted

by a meeting

a day's journey

away

to go and meet

in this nice

place

with the other

governors

of the provinces

surrounding

but instead

what does he say

to them

I'm doing a great

work

and I cannot

come down

why should

the work

stop

while I

leave it

and come

down

to you

so he

battled

against

this

temptation

to be

distracted

by position

by possessing

a focused

understanding

of his

God-given

task

Nehemiah

knew exactly

what it was

he was there

to do

Nehemiah

knew that

his position

any prestige

that belonged

to him

was not

for him

it was for

the work

that was to

be done

he was made

governor of the

providence

so he could

lead the

people

in that

very

work

there is a

great difference

between being a

man or woman

of God

and a puppet

of people

God has given

us a task

he's given

you

tasks

laid them out

before you

prepared them

beforehand

that you might

walk in them

have a

single-mindedness

towards

accomplishing

those

tasks

be a

man or

woman of

God

and not

a puppet

of people

on our

vacation

Sam and I

got away

from the

beach

which was

a blessing

to me

for an

afternoon

with the

kids

and we

went to

a place

called

Brook

Green

Gardens

have you

ever been

to Brook

Green

Myrtle

Beach

nobody

okay

beautiful

place

just

just

south

of

Myrtle

Beach

that was

built by

in the

early

late

property

bought

in

29

built

into

the

early

30s

by

Archer

and

Anna

Huntington

and

it's

just a

beautiful

garden

to walk

around

Anna

was a

sculptor

so there's

all these

huge bronze

sculptures

all over

the gardens

and as I was

thinking about

this text

and thinking

about the

work that

was ahead

of them

in doing

this

task

of rebuilding

the wall

I saw a

comparison

here

because

Archer

and Anna

had to

have vision

for this

place

because

this

place

has

these

huge

live

oak

trees

you know

they're

kind of

split off

from the

bottom

of the

ground

and grow

up

they're

massive

massive

oak

trees

and the

property's

been planned

around them

the pathways

these types

of things

there are hedges

everywhere

there's a hedge

maze

you don't just

go build a hedge

maze

you've got to

plant it

and plant

the hedges

and wait

for them

to grow

and trim

them back

and shape

them

and keep

doing this

type of

thing

this was

a work

that they

knew

they would

never see

the completion

of

when they

set out

to build

this

magnificent

garden

they knew

that it

wouldn't

reach

its full

glory

until

I don't

even know

is it

in its full

glory

I don't

know

it's

beautiful

right

these hedges

are you know

ten feet

tall now

blocking off

these things

with these

sculptures

and all

this stuff

and they

must have

had a

single

mindedness

to

accomplishing

this

work

draws my

mind also

to Noah

and the

work that

was set

before him

God

told Noah

to build

a boat

in the

middle

of a

desert

and his

friends

thought he

was insane

and yet

he built

it

right

and praise

God

for his

grace to

Noah

to have

such

single mindedness

that we

live today

because the

human race

was preserved

in Noah's

family

right

we should

not be

distracted

by the place

that God

has put us

I think a

lot of

Christians

are

because

we're

the children

of God

right

we want

to have

our special

meetings

we get

together

and we

feel good

about

ourselves

because God

has picked

us out of

the muck

and the mire

right

and we sit

and we revel

in that

rather than

recognizing that

he's done

so for a

very important

work

thirdly

Nehemiah

was tempted

to be

distracted

by fear

let's look

at chapter 6

verse 5

through 9

in the same

way Sambalot

for the fifth

time sent

his servant

to me

with an

open letter

in his

hand

in it

was written

it is

reported

among the

nations

and Geshem

also says

it

that you

and the

Jews

intend

to rebel

that is

why you

are building

the wall

and according

to these

reports

you wish

to become

their king

and you

have also

set up

prophets

to proclaim

concerning you

in Jerusalem

there is a

king in

Judah

and now

the king

will hear

of these

reports

so now

come and

let us

take

counsel

together

so after

four requests

have gone

the fifth

comes

Sambalot

writes

with an

open letter

and letters

in these days

were sealed

which meant

that the letter

was intended

for a particular

person

and it was only

that person

that broke

the seal

and read it

if a letter

was sent

open

without a seal

it was intended

to be read

by everybody

the messenger

would say

I've got an

open letter

and he'd open

it up

and he'd read

it

and walking

along the way

he'd share

it with others

hey the

open letter

so what

Sambalot's

doing here

is he's

spreading

the rumor

far and

wide

about what

Nehemiah

is supposedly

doing

he makes

this accusation

to him

that the reason

he's there

to build

the wall

is so that

the Israelites

will rebel

he will be

their king

they will

overthrow

the king

of Persia

listen to his

response

then I

sent to him

saying

no such

thing

as you

say

have been

done

for you

are

inventing

them

out of

your

own

mind

for they

all

wanted

to

frighten

us

thinking

their

hands

will

drop

from

the

work

and

it

will

not

be

done

but

now

oh

God

strengthen

my

hands

his

response

to him

is

liar

and

that's

it

right

he

simply

says

the

things

you're

saying

of

me

are

not

true

I

will

not

allow

your

false

accusations

to

cause

me

to

fear

I

will

continue

to

work

another

example

here

another

instance

of it

beginning

in

verse

10

now

when I

went

into

the

house

of

Shemaiah

the son

of

Deliah

son

of

Mehedabel

who

was

confined

to

his

home

he

said

let

us

meet

together

in

the

house

of

God

within

the

temple

let

us

close

the

doors

of

the

temple

for

they

are

coming

to

kill

you

they

are

coming

to

kill

you

by

night

so

notice

here

he

now

goes

to

visit

a

friend

someone

that

he

knows

he's

in

his

house

he's

confined

to

his

home

and

he

goes

to

visit

this

man

who

has

been

bought

out

by

Tobiah

and

Sambalot

his

response

is

but

I

said

should

such

a

man

as

I

run

away

and

what

man

such

as

I

could

go

into

the

so

what

Shemaiah

had

suggested

to

him

is

that

out

of

fear

he

go

into

the

holy

place

the

holy

of

holies

in

the

temple

a

place

that

the

Israelites

were

clearly

instructed

not

to

go

unless

they

were

the

high

priest

it

was

off

limits

place

to

go

and

he

would

have

either

been

killed

which

is

what

the

law

prescribed

probably

would

have

taken

place

God

would

have

struck

him

dead

his

reputation

the

Israelites

would

not

have

followed

him

any

longer

because

of

the

travesty

that

would

have

been

committed

here

so

he

said

should

such

a

man

as

I

run

away

and

what

man

such

as

I

could

go

into

the

temple

and

live

I

will

not

go

in

verse

12

and

I

understood

and saw

that

God

had

not

sent

him

but

he

had

pronounced

the

prophecy

against

me

because

Tobiah

and

Sambalot

had

hired

him

speaking

of

Shemaiah

there

for

this

purpose

he

was

hired

that

I

should

be

afraid

and

act

in

this

way

and

sin

and

so

they

could

give

me

a

bad

name

in

order

to

taunt

me

so

he

was

tempted

to be

distracted

by

fear

to

lose

the

point

of

the

work

that

he

was

to

be

doing

So

what

is

!

his

!

how

does

he

properly

deal

with

it?

He

prays

and

then

he

acts

simple

he

prays