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Q4. Subtle Temptations


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  • 2 months later...
On ‎8‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 3:36 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q4. (Nehemiah 6:1-14) Why do Nehemiah’s enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem?

The wall was completed but the doors had not yet been set in the gates. They were furious that they had failed to prevent the wall from being built. They thought to lure him away from the protection within the walls,  to a village where he would be vulnerable to their plot to murder him.

Why do his enemies bribe the prophets?

Their plan was to intimidate and frighten Nehemiah through lies and deception the prophets were paid to speak to him "as prophecies".

How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah’s integrity, will, and authority?

He met with Shemaiah who was shut up in his house for some reason (v10) who tried to get him to seek refuge in the temple (which was forbidden for others than the Priests) after telling Nehemiah there was a plot to kill him. God revealed the truth to him and that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired Shemaiah to try to lure him into sin, reproach and ridicule.

How is your enemy trying to make you stumble?

Holy Spirit showed me  that the enemy has had a stronghold  where he would hit me with a fiery dart of fear to stun me then remind me of things which were true in the past (but which stopped being true when I became a new creature in Christ, but the fear would already have me confused! That had gone on for too long, and now I've been given weapons to fight with....#1 is to speak with my voice "That is a lie!" then speak the truth which is the Word of God! (There is a spider which bites its victim with enough poison to stun it, but not kill it, then spins a web around it to hold it there until the spider wants to devour it...still "fresh". ) That's  the "picture" the Lord showed me regarding how the enemy was tormenting me! Praise God for freedom!

 

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On 8/15/2017 at 6:36 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q4. (Nehemiah 6:1-14) Why do Nehemiah’s enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem?

Nehemiah's enemies were scheming to lure him away so they could kill him.

Why do his enemies bribe the prophets?

His enemies bribed the prophets because they were corrupted due to money and greed.  They knew that the prophets would do anything to maintain their status quo.

How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah’s integrity, will, and authority?

They were hoping that they could get Nehemiah to break the Mosaic Law.  This would discredit him among the Jews.

How is your enemy trying to make you stumble?

Being in leadership position, the enemy tries to make me stumble by non-participation of ministry members.  No one wants to give their time and expect me to do it all.  Sometimes I just want to step down from leadership.  Then I am reminded I am doing this to give God the glory and not man!

 

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Nehemiah enemies wanted away so that they could kill him and stop the building of the wall.

They felt that since prophets were supposed to be men of God, they might be able to get him to listen to them and do their bidding. 

They were trying to get Nehemiah to enter the temple so that they could accuse him of breaking the Mosaic Law and thus discredit him among the Jews.   He was not a priest and therefore could not enter the temple.

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 (Nehemiah 6:1-14) Why do Nehemiah’s enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem? Why do his enemies bribe the prophets? How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah’s integrity, will, and authority? How is your enemy trying to make you stumble? Nehemiah's enemies were plotting to get him killed, therefore they were trying to steer him from Jerusalem where they could easily attack him. They went as far as to bribe the prophets, who were corrupted by money, to try to manipulate Nehemiah through fear to induce him to commit sin by going into the temple building. They were certain Nehemiah would fall for this trap being that they were considered prophets of God, surely he would listen to the voice of God. This, also didn't work, as Nehemiah had discernment of spirits and learned this was a work of satan.  Their plan was for Nehemiah to believe the prophet and obey his instructions in taking refuge in the temple, thereby committing a grave sin against God, for only priests and ministering levites were allowed in the temple. Also, if by chance Nehemiah was a eunich, he would have been excluded from temple worship according to Mosaic law. This would cause the people to question Nehemiah's integrity and loyalty to God. The people would question Nehemiah's authority and turn against him. This would put a halt to the work being done and the enemies to prevail.

Satan uses these same tactics in our daily lives to stop us from fulfilling the will of God. He will use any means to stop the work of God from moving forward. An example would be to attack our marriages, to question our ability to do something(spirit of doubt), or through a sickness.  It's very important to know who our enemy is and what his tactics are, so we won't be easy targets. Therefore, we must put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the enemy. It is by the power of His might that we are able to have the victory!     

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Q4. (Nehemiah 6:1-14) 
Why do Nehemiah's enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem? 
Why do his enemies bribe the prophets? 
How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah's integrity, will, and authority? 
How is your enemy trying to make you stumble? 

Having failed to stop the Jews by other means, Nehemiah’s enemies now try to destroy him. Four times Sanballat and Geshem the Arab tried to get Nehemiah to leave his work and meet with them; planning to do him harm and at the same time getting the work on the wall stopped. They then try another tactic; pretending to be his ally, Sanballat accused Nehemiah in a letter of planning to make himself king of Judah in rebellion against the king of Persia. Sanballat said he wanted to help Nehemiah avoid trouble with the king and suggested that they get together to discuss the matter. But Nehemiah refused, knowing all too well that Sanballat did not have his best interests at heart. Besides, the slanderous charges were false. They are getting desperate and now make use of a false prophet, Shemaiah, to trick Nehemiah into sinning and getting into trouble with God. However, Nehemiah was a devout man and one who feared the Lord. They used Shemaiah as a secret informer, warning Nehemiah that there was a plot on his life and suggested that he accompanies him into the temple.
Nehemiah saw through the prophet's deceptive plan. God's Word forbade any but the priests to enter the temple. Nehemiah would rather lose his life than violate the law. And so Sanballat's third scheme failed as well. Just like Nehemiah’s enemies, we face constant attacks where Satan tries to get us to stumble. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Although we should not worry, we must be most careful and vigilant, because we have a powerful adversary, the devil. There must also be constant alertness, a preparedness to meet every attack. Our adversary is described as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. We must remember he has different poses. Sometimes he comes like a snake, seeking to lure people into moral corruption. Sometimes he disguises himself as an angel of light, attempting to deceive people in the spiritual realm. Here, as a roaring lion, he is bent on terrorizing God's people through persecution. We resist him through prayer and God’s Word, and by standing firm in the faith – acknowledging our dependence on the Lord. 
 

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Q4. (Nehemiah 6:1-14) Why do Nehemiah's enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem? Why do his enemies bribe the prophets? How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah's integrity, will, and authority? How is your enemy trying to make you stumble?

A case of the wolf separating the lamb from the herd. Once Nehemiah would have left his post (position) at Jerusalem he would have been vulnerable with no walls of army for protection. Nehemiah was aware of what they were trying to do and continued working.

The prophets were bribed with the hope that Nehemiah would buy into just one of the false prophecies and leave the safety of the flock. He had problems enough to deal with, not to mention false reports coming from outsiders.

They tried to get Nehemiah to cross the line by attempting to lure him into the temple, a move, if Nehemiah bought into it he would be breaking Mosaic law in one of the worst ways possible. Not only would they have him in a bad situation be entering the temple and breaking God’s law but they could have paraded his dead body around the work the Jews had accomplished so far and when word got back to Artaxerxes there would been a permanent stop to the work, at least under this king.

The enemy is always trying to get me on his dark path, so he can yank on a trip wire and bring me down. It gets hard sometimes because he is always trying to wear me down with the same non-rewarding temptations he has always used but now that I’ve quit buying into them his persistence has become even stronger. I must be on total alert at all times because having come close to the mid-60s’ age group, I don’t want to crawl out of any more pits like the ones I have found myself in.

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Q4. (Nehemiah 6:1-14) Why do Nehemiah’s enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem? Why do his enemies bribe the prophets? How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah’s integrity, will, and authority? How is your enemy trying to make you stumble?

 the enemies of Nehemiah want   him away from Jerusalem so that they can more easily assassinate him.

 the prophets  are bribed so that the enemies of Nehemiah will be able to assault him with these new charges.

if the enemy can make a Nehemiah stumble then they will be able to undermine his authority with the people and thus be able to stop the project of the rebuilding of the walls.

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Q4. (Nehemiah 6:1-14)

Q. Why do Nehemiah's enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem?

A. So that they will assassinate him and stop the work of building the wall.

Q. Why do his enemies bribe the prophets?

A. They hope that the prophets will  lure him to go into the temple

Q. How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah's integrity, will, and authority? 

A. They knew that Nehemiah was a eunuch  thus not allowed into the temple, ie,  his entry into the temple is forbidden by Jewish law, thus if he went into the temple, his reputation would have been jeopardized and he would loose his status as a leader  and thus his inability to supervise the building of the wall will achieve his enemies plan

Q. How is your enemy trying to make you stumble?

A. Satan is our number one enemy who temps us to make us fall into sin. There are also human enemies that are jealous and can make plans that will make us err and loose our reputation.  



 

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To tempt him either to sin or kill him--anything to get him to get his eyes off "the project."

to lure him into sin

they knew if he was to go into the temple he would be greatly sinning and lose everything

my enemy makes me stumble when he encourages me to do more church things and put church above Christ......

 

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Q4. (Nehemiah 6:1-14) Why do Nehemiah's enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem? Why do his enemies bribe the prophets? How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah's integrity, will, and authority? How is your enemy trying to make you stumble?

 1. Nehemiah enemies wanted to assassinate him and stop the building of the wall. 

 2. They hoped that the prophets will lure him to go into the temple and because the prophets were corrupted due to money and greed.

 3. They were trying to get Nehemiah to break the Mosaic Law. This would discredit him among the Jews.  

 4. The enemy tries to get me to talk about people.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/15/2017 at 6:36 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q4. (Nehemiah 6:1-14) Why do Nehemiah’s enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem? Why do his enemies bribe the prophets? How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah’s integrity, will, and authority? How is your enemy trying to make you stumble?

Nehemiah’s enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem to harm him.  His enemies bribe the prophets because they sought every means to stop the rebuilding of the wall.  They were hoping to hurt Nehemiah’s integrity, will, and authority by tempting him to break the mosaic law.  My enemy that  is trying to make  me stumble is busyness and diverting time to temporal rather than eternal work.

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Why do Nehemiah's enemies want him to travel away from Jerusalem? Because they were scheming to harm him.

 Why do his enemies bribe the prophets? The prophets are paid to try to manipulate Nehemiah through fear to induce him to commit sin by going into the temple building.

 How are they hoping to hurt Nehemiah's integrity, will, and authority? By manipulating Nehemiah through fear to induce him to commit sin by going into the temple building. They wished they could get him to break Mosaic Law, so that they discredit him among the Jews, destroying his reputation and ability to lead, and thus derailing the wall-building project just before it can be completed.

 Temptations to sin in order to undermine moral authority.

 How is your enemy trying to make you stumble? By laying traps for me.

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  • 2 years later...

Nehemiah’s enemies hoped that by asking Nehemiah to meet them away from Jerusalem that he would not have the security of the city and he would be more vulnerable. Nehemiah was shrewd he knew what they were up to so he refused four times to meet with them saying  he was far too busy on a great project to meet them. Having failed in their devious tactics they try something else. They bribed a prophet called Shemaiah to frighten Nehemiah by telling him that there was a plot to kill him and that he should take refuge in the temple. Nehemiah knew from God that he was lying and trying to disgrace him by getting  him to enter the temple . This was forbidden because he was possibly a eunuch and therefore forbidden by Mosaic law to enter the temple but also because he was not a Levite or a priest. Nehemiah was a godly man and would not commit sin to save himself. All Sanballat and Tobiah’s attempts to stop the building of the wall failed. They also failed in disgracing Nehemiah, and getting him to sin against God. 
This lesson shows me the importance of fixing my eyes on Jesus and walking close to Him so that I can discern when a thought or an idea is of God or is of Satan.

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