Trickery and Deception

They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination. [Nehemiah 6.9]

The enemies of Nehemiah (and Israel) used every form of intimidation they possibly could to interrupt the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem.

In today's reading in particular, Nehemiah's enemies attempted to use trickery and lies to stop the work he was leading.

Jesus identified Satan as a liar:

For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. [John 8.44]

When God leads us to do something, we can count on His enemy, Satan, to try to interrupt that work. Satan will use trickery and deception - it is his character. This would include our own human reasoning:

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. [2 Corinthians 10.3-5]

Armed with this knowledge, we should be much more prepared to understand our own circumstances when doing the work of the Lord. Truth is something Satan is incapable of so we are more than safe by staying with God's Word and God's Son because, one and the same, they are Truth! We cannot rely on human reasoning because this is where Satan's trickery and deception are most prevalent and successful. Faith and human reasoning are opposites.

Nehemiah stayed with God's instruction to rebuild the wall. We should remain committed to the call upon our lives to live "in Christ" and all the we are told that looks like in the Bible. Anything that is contrary to God's Word is the trickery and deception of Satan.

Father, help us to be knowledgeable of Your Word so that we might quickly identify and avoid the trickery and deception of our enemy.