Nehemiah 6 — Finishing Amid Distraction
The Lure of Ono Sanballat and Geshem invite Nehemiah to the plain of Ono—neutral ground that is anything but safe. Four times they press, and four times Nehemiah holds his line: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down” (Nehemiah 6:3, New International Version). This is holy focus. Jesus’s steady “I must keep going” (Luke 13:32–33) echoes it. The Hebrew rhythm intensifies the pressure by repetition; faith answers with the simplicity of vocation.
Slander in an Open Letter A fifth message arrives as a “sepher patuach,” an open letter—public smear intended to spread fear. Nehemiah denies the fiction, then prays a dart of grace: “Strengthen my hands” (chazzeq yaday; 6:9). His reflex prayers, a motif throughout the book, turn crisis into communion (cf. 2:4). Calvin commends this sober courage—neither credulous nor cynical.
Sanctuary as Snare Hired prophet Shemaiah urges Nehemiah to hide in the temple. Nehemiah refuses: a layman cannot intrude on sacred space (Numbers 18:7). Prudence never tramples Torah. Think of the false prophet in 1 Kings 13, or Satan’s temple-ledge temptation (Matthew 4). Holiness guards the mission as much as strategy does.
Fifty-Two Days and Frayed Alliances The wall is finished in 52 days—plausible given earlier fortifications many archaeologists trace beneath Persian-period repairs. Enemies lose heart, yet internal compromise remains: Judah’s nobles are bound to Tobiah by marriage. Yesterday we saw how injustice corrodes community; today, kinship politics test integrity (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58; Ephesians 6:10–13). Elephantine papyri likely name Sanballat; later inscriptions recall the Tobiads—history shadows the text.
Practice - Name your Ono: worthy-sounding distractions that dilute calling. - Answer slander with clarity, not frenzy; then pray chazzeq yaday. - Let Scripture set the fence: no “safe” shortcut that violates holiness.
Suggested hymn: How Firm a Foundation.
Cross-references: Psalm 27; Amos 7:10–17; 1 Peter 2:12.
Prayer Lord of the work and Lord of my hands, fix my focus, sift my advisors, and keep me from every pious shortcut. Strengthen my hands, steady my heart, and finish Your wall in me. Amen.