Page 60 - Principles of Leadership - Nehemiah

in place to help lead the people into spiritual revival. But what would be the criteria that Nehemiah would look
for when appointing people to the various leadership positions? Let’s find out….

The Lesson ...

Nehemiah 6:1-19
The Servant’s Protection

The first thing that is glaringly obvious as we come to a new chapter is Nehemiah’s refusal to quit in the face of
opposition. In chapter one, Nehemiah continued on the vision path that God had placed on his heart. He
refused to quit in the face of discouragement, divisions, and discord. The walls are about to be completed, so
the enemy attempts to attack Nehemiah personally on many fronts to stop the process. Nehemiah refused to
quit. We will discover some life lessons from this chapter that kept him on the vision path that God had planted
in his heart.

1. A plot to kidnap him (6:1-4)
Nehemiah 6:1 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt
the wall and that no gap was left in it—though at that time I had not installed the doors in the gates—
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message: “Come, let’s meet together in the villages of the Ono Valley.”
But they were planning to harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and
cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent
me the same proposal, and I gave them the same reply.

The first life lesson that I see from this passage of Scripture is that Nehemiah kept working despite distractions.
Nehemiah realized that it was vital to keep the main thing the main thing. He was unwilling to allow himself to
become distracted from the main thing. The longer you are in ministry, the more you will find that many things
will try to sidetrack you from the main thing. Perhaps nothing is more distracting than criticism. Rick Warren is
probably the most criticized pastor in the world. He says this about Nehemiah’s response to criticism. Life
would be a continual flea hunt if he tried to fight all the criticism and rumors that were being spread about him.

Nehemiah had a discerning spirit and realized the evil intentions of those who were planning to harm me.
Notice how Nehemiah responded to the request of Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our
enemies. He said, “I am doing great work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it
and go down to you?” His response was not well received, and they badgered him yet three more times to try
to get him to respond differently. They sent me the same proposal four times, and I gave them the same
reply. Notice that there must be more intensity to these attacks as the scriptures add these words and the rest
of our enemies. Nehemiah was indicating an all-hands-on-deck approach to their attempts to stop the work.

Further on in this chapter, we will discover that all these things were done so that Nehemiah would be
intimidated, sin, and get a bad reputation to discredit me. God had evidently given Nehemiah spiritual
discernment to realize that it would be just as easy for Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem to come to Jerusalem to
meet with him. The Ono Valley was located about thirty miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Jerusalem, where
the Benjaminites resettled. (Nehemiah 11:31-35) Nehemiah did not try to argue with them about their
intentions. However, God had revealed to him that they were planning to harm me. Therefore, he waited for
God to reveal their true intentions.

I must expound a bit more on the phrase and the rest of our enemies. Today, especially in Western culture, this
phrase would be considered an unloving statement. There is such an emphasis on love that everything is
considered acceptable. For example, an abortion clinic is considered a choice, a person working on a movie that
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