22.152 | Should Such A Man As I Run Away? | Nehemiah 6:10-14 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

God’s Word For Today

Neh 6:10-14 ESV

10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, 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.” 11 But I 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.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 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. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

SHOULD SUCH A MAN AS I RUN AWAY?

Certainly, courage is one of the prominent characteristics of an effective leader, is it not? Cowrds are easily intimidated but a courageous person is fearless, like Nehemiah. Here, a certain false prophet Shemaiah, offered him a safe haven in the temple. He knew how to use religious talk, but it was a trap. What he proposed sounded reasonable, was it not? Did not David say, that is,

“ One thing have I asked of the Lord,

that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.

5 For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will lift me high upon a rock.”? [Psa 27:4,5]

Nehemiah discerned that an end does not justify the means. To use the temple as a place of refuge to a non-priest like him is prohibited. King Uzziah, at one time, went into the temple. Resultingly, God instantly struck him with leprosy. The author Redpath says, “An easy-going, compromising religion that will shirk persecution, that will carry no cross, and that is governed by fear of the opinions of other people."

Nehemiah stood bravely against this religious deception. In his commitment to obedience, God revealed to him the heart of Shemaiah, who was a false prophet but was in Sanballat's side.

How Nehemiah handled his enemies should remind us of Jesus. They said to Jesus, "come down from the cross." But Jesus was doing a great work - the greatest work - on the cross, and would not be stopped. Jesus was also slandered, and did not debate His critics - He spoke the truth and trusted in His Father in heaven. Jesus was also offered a way out of the cross by Satan. Satan said to Him to worship him and all the kingdoms of the world would be delivered to Him. Jesus, instead rebuked him to flee away.

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