The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Nehemiah 6:1-9, “Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the
Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach
remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,
2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet
together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.
3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come
down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the
same way.
5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand.
6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports.
7 “You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A
king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports.
So come now, let us take counsel together.”
8 Then I sent a message to him saying, “Such things as you are saying have not
been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.”
9 For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, “They will become discouraged
with the work and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

Have you ever mentally questioned an invitation that just seemed suspicious? Someone invited you to join him and his friends when they had never before invited you to anything? Suddenly, it just seemed to them that you were the perfect person to be their guest. Does such an invitation seem a bit questionable?

Well, this is precisely what Nehemiah thought when Sanballat and Geshem wanted to meet with him. They had heard, they said, that Sanballat was intending to rebel and become king himself. It was not true, of course, so Sanballat declined their invitation. That should have been the end of the matter, but it wasn’t. Five times Nehemiah received the same invitation. He sensed that “something nefarious was up.” And it was!

I’ve received similar invitations in the course of my life and work. I’m sure you have, too. What are we to do? The last verse of our Scripture above is a prayer that says, “But now, O God, strengthen my hands.” Let me suggest that you remain calm (not something of which I’m particularly capable) and breathe a prayer –but resist, all the same, those “invitations” that are clearly not from the LORD. An excellent respose is that that is issued by Sanballat: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come…”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom