Nehemiah 6:11 “Should such a man as I flee?
Introduction: In Nehemiah chapter 1, Nehemiah hears that the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
In Chapter 2, Nehemiah tells King Artaxerxes about his burden and asks permission to go unto Judah, so it pleased the King to send him.
In Chapter 3, the repairing and reconstruction of the wall begins.
In Chapter 4, Sanballat and Tobiah, conspired together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
In Chapter 5, There is opposition because of greed.
In Chapter 6, There is opposition by trickery. Read Chapter 6:1-2 and 10-11
– In verse 11, when Nehemiah is confronted with adversity, he asks himself if a man like him should flee and hide. Nehemiah immediately gives his response and decides that he will not go in to the temple and hide or flee the adversity.
Because Nehemiah decided to stay put, in time of adversity, we want to see what Nehemiah did, which led him to the decision of staying put, and not flee in this time of adversity.
A man like Nehemiah will not flee in time of adversity because:
I. He has a Consistent Prayer Life– Nehemiah 1:4-6 & 11
– A man like Nehemiah that prays to God consistently, is a man that believes and is confident that God hears and answers his prayers.
– Prayer with God develops a comfort and confidence in time of adversity that only God can give. It helps you not to flee.
– Prayer in time of adversity will allow you to be cautious and circumspect about the situation. Proverbs 22:3 “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hidethhimself, but the simple pass on, and are punished.” In this case, Nehemiah saw the evil and hid himself from the people trying to do him harm.
– Jesus said in Matthew 11:24 “Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
– When the adversity came, Nehemiah was so used to praying to God that he was able to perceive from Godthat God had not sent Shemaiah to “help him hide or flee”. (To perceive- something understood or observed). Ch6:11 “I perceived that God had not sent him”.
II. He Obeys God No Matter the Situation– Nehemiah 2:12
– A man like Nehemiah that is used to obeying what God tells him to do, will do what God puts in his heart to do until that order or burden from God changes.
– If God puts something in your heart to do it, then it’s as simple as obeying God.
– In Genesis 12:7, “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give his land”.
– Genesis 22:9-12 Abram is about to sacrifice Isaac and God blessed him because of his obedience in vs 17-18.
– Abram received an order from God to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham did what God said, until the point that God changed the order that he had given him, sparing Isaac.
– Because Nehemiah was used to obeying God, when Shemaiah shows up and tells Nehemiah to go and hide for his life, Nehemiah does not go to the temple to hide because that would be disobedience to what God had already put in his heart to do.
– If God puts it in our heart to do, then we should do it until God changes that.
III. He is Trusting in God and Not in Man– Nehemiah 4:9, 14, &20
– A man like Nehemiah that is used to trusting in God will know that God will be the one to deliver him out of adversity, and not a man who is hired by his enemies who wants to see this work fail.
– II Corinthians 1:8-11 (God is the only one who can ultimately deliver us from any trouble). Trust in God.
– Romans 8:31- “If God be for us, who can be against us”. Trust in God just like Nehemiah did and you won’t have to flee in time of adversity.
– Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man”.
– Because Nehemiah’s trust was in God and not in man, he was able to make the next right step when adversity showed up in his life.
Conclusion: Nehemiah did not flee in time of adversity because of his prayers, his obedience, and trust in God. If we, like Nehemiah, develop these habits in our own life, when adversity comes, we will not flee and try to hide, instead we will be able to stand and face the situation at hand.
When you consider your own life, before adversity comes your way, and you think about fleeing like Nehemiah did, meditate on these things that Nehemiah did, and your faith will be strengthened by following a good example.