12 And I perceived, and behold, God had not sent him; for he pronounced this prophecy against me; and Tobijah and Sanballat had hired him.
Because with falsehood ye have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and have strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, to save his life:
but the spiritual discerns all things, and *he* is discerned of no one.
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, if they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
And through covetousness, with well-turned words, will they make merchandise of you: for whom judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction slumbers not.
For the overseer must be free from all charge [against him] as God's steward; not headstrong, not passionate, not disorderly through wine, not a striker, not seeking gain by base means;
not given to excesses from wine, not a striker, but mild, not addicted to contention, not fond of money,
and the dogs are greedy, they know not to be satisfied, and these are shepherds that know not how to discern: they all turn to their own way, every one for his gain, even to the last of them:
I have coveted [the] silver or gold or clothing of no one.
And will ye profane me among my people for handfuls of barley and for morsels of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that listen to lying?
Have ye not seen a vain vision, and spoken a lying divination, when ye say, Jehovah saith; and I have not spoken?
I have heard what the prophets say, who prophesy falsehood in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they lead you to vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of Jehovah.
And Jehovah said unto me, The prophets prophesy falsehood in my name; I have not sent them, neither have I commanded them, nor spoken unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 6
Commentary on Nehemiah 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
The cries of oppressed poverty being stilled, we are now to enquire how the building of the wall goes forward, and in this chapter we find it carried on with vigour and finished with joy, notwithstanding the restless attempts of the gates of hell to hinder it. How the Jews' enemies were baffled in their design to put a stop to it by force we read before, ch. 4. Here we find how their endeavours to drive Nehemiah off from it were frustrated.
Such as these were the struggles between the church and its enemies. But great is God's cause and it will be prosperous and victorious.
Neh 6:1-9
Two plots upon Nehemiah we have here an account of, how cunningly they were laid by his enemies and how happily frustrated by God's good providence and his prudence.
In the midst of his complaint of their malice, in endeavouring to frighten him, and so weaken his hands, he lifts up his heart to Heaven in this short prayer: Now therefore, O God! strengthen my hands. It is the great support and relief of good people that in all their straits and difficulties they have a good God to go to, from whom, by faith and prayer, they may fetch in grace to silence their fears and strengthen their hands when their enemies are endeavouring to fill them with fears and weaken their hands. When, in our Christian work and warfare, we are entering upon any particular services or conflicts, this is a good prayer for us to put up: "I have such a duty to do, such a temptation to grapple with; now therefore, O God! strengthen my hands.' Some read it, not as a prayer, but as a holy resolution (for O God is supplied in our translation): Now therefore I will strengthen my hands. Note, Christian fortitude will be sharpened by opposition. Every temptation to draw us from duty should quicken us so much the more to duty.
Neh 6:10-14
The Jews' enemies leave no stone unturned, no way untried, to take Nehemiah off from building the wall about Jerusalem. In order to this they had tried to fetch him into the country to them, but in vain; now they try to drive him into the temple for his own safety; let him be any where but at his work. Observing him to be a cautious man, they will endeavour to gain their point by making him cowardly. Observe,
Neh 6:15-19
Nehemiah is here finishing the wall of Jerusalem, and yet still has trouble created him by his enemies.