Satan's schemes, part IV

Have you read our chapter all the way through?
Then you know what's coming next . . .
Satan's next scheme is intimidation - but it's from an unusual place. Let's refresh our memories:

One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.
14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me. (Nehemiah 6:10-14, NIV)

Satan can use even religious people to scare us into wrong behavior. They can influence us to ruin our own reputations, or to sin.
Here, the devil uses a combo; like a boxing combination that should put an opponent down for the count, the devil is using deception again, but combining it with intimidation. He knows that fear is a powerful thing. It can cause us to forget things we know well, and the devil is hoping this will happen to Nehemiah.
A prophet named Shemaiah was confined at home. I guess today we'd say he was housebound, or a "shut in." Now, we don't know if he was ill; he could have been doing this for the sheer drama of it, as some prophets did. It wasn't well known that he was with the enemy, but later Nehemiah would discern that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired Shemaiah to frighten him. Apparently, they'd also hired a prophetess named Noadiah and others to try to scare him.
Back to our story -- Shemaiah called for Nehemiah and suggested that the two of them meet within the temple and close the doors. He said, they are coming to kill you!
Here was a man claiming to have a word from God that could save Nehemiah's life. What a wonderful thing. How grateful and appreciative Nehemiah must have been . . .
Uh, no.
If Nehemiah had done what Shemaiah suggested, he would not have been a good leader. But MORE importantly, he would have sinned.
Why?
If he had gone into hiding, his example of fear would have spread to the people working hard on the gates and finishing the walls.
But like I said, here is the more important thing: Nehemiah was not a priest. A godly man, yes. A priest, no. He would have disobeyed God's law by going into the temple. Non-priests could find protection and safe harbor at the horns of the altar in the temple courtyard, but they could not enter inside the "curtain," the temple itself.

But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.” (Numbers 18:7)

But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar.  (I Kings 1:50)

When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar. (I Kings 2:28)

If Nehemiah had allowed himself to be consumed with fear and had fled to the temple, his enemies would spread the report to ruin his reputation.
This must have been the point at which Nehemiah realized that God had not sent Shemaiah. He now knew that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. It must have been that Nehemiah was so immersed in God's Word; and he knew that a true prophet would never suggest that someone do something against God's Word. Applying this to our lives today, we must be ever so careful if someone who claims to be a Christian invites us to do something that we know is wrong. "Everyone is doing this. If you don't, nobody will like you."  "If you don't (drink, do drugs, have sex, etc) you won't have any more friends."  Fellow Christian, don't yield! Stand firm . . . it's the enemy, trying to scare you into sinful behavior and ruin your testimony.
Fearlessly obey God. It's always right to obey His Word, no matter what the threatened consequences may be.
And the other side of the coin --  even if it looks like disobedience would gain us something good? Nope, it's still wrong to disobey His Word.
So, our old friend Nehemiah refused Shemaiah's counsel and obeyed God. Then he returned to his common practice of lifting up his situation to God in prayer (just as we should!).
When Satan sends people to intimidate us to disobey God, we should respond first with obedience, and then follow that up with prayer.

The end result of Nehemiah's resisting all of Satan's schemes?

So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. (v 15)

Congratulations and high fives all around!!
Are you ready for this?
Satan's not finished yet . . .