Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Nehemiah 6

• About the title: The name of a plain is “Ono”, a place of harm.

Conspiracy Against Nehemiah

Nehemiah 6:¹ Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem (Heb. Gashmu) the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), ² that Sanballat and Geshem (Heb. Gashmu) sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages (Or in Kephirim, exact location unknown) in the plain of Ono (See Title).” But they thought to do me harm.

• The first communication with their enemies.

• Geshem (Gusham) the Arab, mentioned in Nehemia 6:1,6 is likely the same person as Gusham, king of Kedar, found in two inscriptions in Dedan and Tell el-Mashkutah (near the Suez Canal)
  Extra-Biblical Sources

Nehemiah 6:³ So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

Nehemiah 6:⁴ But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

• They tried again two, three and four times.

Nehemiah 6:⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written:

“It is reported among the nations, and Geshem (Heb. Gashmu) says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. ⁷ And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.”

• The fifth attempt at subterfuge. Satan’s tactics is to be persistent.

Nehemiah 6:⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”

• Another of Satan’s tactics is to invent a lie and then use it to accuse others.

Nehemiah 6:⁹ For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”

• Satan’s tactic: Make them afraid.

Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

Nehemiah 6:¹⁰ Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God (‘ĕlōhîm), within the temple (Lit. house), and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”

Nehemiah 6:¹¹ And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” ¹² Then I perceived that God (‘ĕlōhîm) had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

• The Hebrew word for pretense (actor) is hypocrite which amounts to wearing a mask to disguise evil intentions. Satan puts lipstick on evil.
• Satan’s tactic is to set a trap forcing someone to sin and then use that sin against them.

Nehemiah 6:¹⁴ My God (‘ĕlōhîm), remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

• THE SIX PROPHETESS’ MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE:
  
  • 1. Miriam Exodus 15:20
  • 2. Deborah, judge of Israel, wife of Lapidoth Judges 4:4
  • 3. Huldah, wife of Shallum II Kings 22:14, II Chronicles 34:22
  • 4. Noadiah, Nehemiah 6:14 – The UNGODLY prophetess.
  • 5. The unnamed wife of Isaiah, Isaiah 8:3 who bore a son and named him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Lit. Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty)
  • 6. Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. Luke 2:36. She identified the Messiah.
    
• WHO IS NOADIAH?
  
  • An influential prophetess who opposed Nehemiah thus opposing God.

The Wall Completed

Nehemiah 6:¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God (‘ĕlōhîm).

Nehemiah 6:¹⁷ Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. ¹⁹ Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words (Or affairs) to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

• Fear is never from God.

Satan “sold” me on fear, anxiety, hate, and suffering, but God “changed” me.

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Questions:

1. Can you identify at least one of Satan’s Tactics used by Nehemiah’s enemies?
2. Who is the ungodly prophetess?
3. How did family connections influence the project of the building of the Wall?