"(Though even unto that time I had not set up the doors in the gates )" Nehemiah 6:1

 

OLD TESTAMENT PARENTHESES (19)

"(Though even unto that time I had not set up the doors in the gates )" Nehemiah 6:1

IT is when God is most prospering our labours that Satan's wiliest attacks come against us. In an incredibly short time the whole wall around Jerusalem had been restored; "there was no breach left therein." It was a period when God's servant might have relaxed and it was just at that very time when the subtle enemies of the work of God suggested the advisability of a new 'dialogue' between them and invited Nehemiah to share their hospitality in the plain of Ono for that purpose.

IT was a trick. The sole purpose was to lure Nehemiah away from the work of restoration, with the probability that he would never have been able to return to it. I know, to my sorrow, how real that temptation was.

 Many years ago, at a time of great blessing, several of us were lured into something of this nature. My discerning colleague, dear George Taylor, urged us to get on with the work and refuse to discuss things with our attackers, saying that this would mean, 'going down to the plain of Ono.' I am sorry to say that we ignored his counsel and found later that we had got out of the will of God.

NEHEMIAH avoided this trap, and he did so by realising the importance of what remained to be done: "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down." So he refused to be drawn into idle arguments by concentrating on the work which God had given him to do.

OUR parenthesis tells us what constituted that 'great work' which yet remained; there were no doors to make the various gateways effective. It was this that detained him and enabled him to reject their repeated requests for him to come down. 

What was the use of closing gaps and building gates if the doors were not in their place? 

What was the use of closing gaps and building gates if the work was left in this unfinished state? 

The whole city was vulnerable while those entrances were not capable of being closed against intruders.

IN Nehemiah's days the doors were needed to guard the city during the hours of darkness (7:3) and to ensure the sanctity of the Sabbath (13:19). 

For us they emphasise the need for excluding from our lives and fellowships all that might dishonour the name of the Lord. Whether in our assemblies, our homes or our private lives, the wall of testimony must be adequately protected from defiling intrusions. 

The doors must be set up in the gates.