Nehemiah
– Becoming A Disciplined Leader
Lesson 10: "When People Try to Hurt You" Nehemiah 6
"But I prayed, ‘Now strengthen my hands’." Neh. 6:9
The Big Picture
- They mocked and despised us (2:10,19)
- They became angry and conspired together (4:1,8)
- Now comes an attack against Nehemiah personally
A Peace Conference
- Nehemiah’s enemies come with promises of peace (6:1-4)
- Nehemiah was between and a rock and a hard place (6:17-19)
- Notice Nehemiah’s response; rather like fight fire with water (6:3)
- Nehemiah simply waited for them to tip their hand, which they did (6:5-9)
- Sanballat’s corrupt tactics
- They made it seem they had Nehemiah’s welfare at heart
- They were attempting to get Nehemiah to respond out of fear
- They pressured Nehemiah to respond publicly
- Nehemiah’s response
- He denied the accusations
- He made his response public
- He prayed
Hiring a traitor
- A man on the inside (6:10-12; also see 6:17-19 and 13:28)
- This plot was designed to destroy Nehemiah’s credibility
- Nehemiah knew God wouldn’t want Nehemiah to run at this point, and Nehemiah knew it was forbidden for him to enter the temple (Num. 18:7)
6 Principles
#1) When criticized, we must not counterattack by questioning the other person’s motives
- Chuck Colson’s experience
#2)
We must be patient and wait for motives to be revealed
#3)
When criticized by unbelievers follow the New Testament
- I Peter 2:12,15; 3:15,16; Matthew 5:10-12
#4)
When criticized unjustly, we must be bold and honest in our responses to rumors, but never take revenge
#5)
When falsely accused, we must not allow fear to cloud our perceptions and cause us to act impulsively and do something foolish
- The example of Jesus (Heb. 12:1-3)
#6)
When we follow God’s principles for handling false accusations, He will ultimately defend us
For next week, read Nehemiah Chapters 8 and 9
