Attack Two, Public Scandal

Scripture: Nehemiah 6:5-9

Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. 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. "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." 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." 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.

Insights: Nehemiah did not succumb to the private strike against him, so the villains of our story now try public scandal.  They send an open letter, which is nothing more than gathering together of the assembly and spreading rumor and gossip about Nehemiah.  Verses six and seven tell us the content of their message which was twofold.  First, Nehemiah came to Jerusalem with evil motives.  Those motives were to start a revolt against king Artaxerxes. Second, Nehemiah used evil methods, which were to place prophets throughout the land to proclaim himself king on an appointed day.  Before I write a few words about Nehemiah’s response, let me make a couple observations about rumor and gossip.  One, the source of the rumor is never stated.  In today’s verses all it says is, “It is reported….”  The source is that ambiguous committee of “THEY”.  When pressed to find out who “they” are, the identity of such individuals must be kept protected.  Two, the rumor is always exaggerated and inaccurate.  Nehemiah did not wish to be king, nor did he desire to lead a revolt against the king.  How did Nehemiah respond to such public scandal?  He did two things.  First, he calmly denied the charge and told them they were inventing these rumors in their own minds.  Second, he took his pain to the Lord.  I wrote pain because whenever you are the object of such attacks, it hurts.  Notice the passage tells us the purpose behind the rumors and gossip was to frighten and discourage Nehemiah from finishing the wall.  At those times, we need to run to the Father and ask Him to give us the capacity to forgive and to finish strong.

Questions:

1. Do you regular participate in spreading rumor and gossip?
2. How have you felt when rumor and gossip has been spread about you?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when I have spread rumor and gossip about people.  Purge my tongue of its wicked and painful lies.  Give me the capacity to forgive those who have gossiped about me.   Amen.