Faith Baptist Church

                I Heard It Through The Grape Vine                   
                                        Nehemiah 6:1-9 (#10)

”I Heard It Through The Grapevine” is today’s title in series, “You Can Make A Difference.”

Nehemiah 6:1-9 

In 1899, four reporters from Denver, Colorado, met by chance on a Saturday night in a Denver railroad station.

Al Stevens,
Jack Tournay,
John Lewis
(and) Hal Wilshire

worked for the four Denver papers: 

…The Post,
…The Times,
…The Republican and
…The Rocky Mountain News.

Each had the unenviable task of finding a scoop for the Sunday edition. They hoped to spot a visiting celebrity or prominent political figure arriving that evening by train.

However, none showed up, so the reporters wondered what on earth they would do.  As they discussed options in a nearby saloon, Al Stevens suggested they make up a story. The other three laughed—at first. But before long they were all agreed—they would come up with such a whopper that no one would question,  and their respective editions would commend them for their work.

A phony local story would be too obvious, so they decided to write about someplace far away. They agreed on China. “What if we say that some American engineers, on their way to China, told us they were bidding on a major job: the Chinese government is planning to demolish the Great Wall?”

Harold was not sure the story would be believable. Why would the Chinese ever tear down the Great Wall of China?  “As a sign of international goodwill, to invite foreign trade.”
 
By 11 PM, the four reporters had worked out the details, and the next day all four Denver newspapers carried the story—on the front page. The Times headline that Sunday read:  “Great Chinese Wall Doomed!  Peking Seeks World Trade.”

It was a spoof, but amazingly the story was taken seriously and soon ran in newspapers in the Eastern US, and even abroad.

When the citizens of China heard that the Americans were sending a demolition crew to dismantle the Great Wall, most were indignant, even enraged…nationalism erupted. Moved to action by the news, Chinese patriots attacked for foreign embassies in Peking and murdered hundreds of foreign missionaries.

In the next six months twelve hundred troops coalition forces from six countries, invaded China to protect their citizens.

The bloodshed, born out a journalistic hoax fabricated in a saloon in Denver, was a time of violence remembered in history as the Boxer Rebellion.

Rumor has the power of life and death in its hand.

When a certain newspaper reported that that Mark Twain had died prematurely while visiting in London, Twain sent the editor a terse statement that ended with, “The report of my death is greatly exaggerated.

Rumor, and its first cousin, gossip, seem to expose something in the dark side of human nature.  D. L. Moody said that a rumor can travel halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.

Tabloid “journalism,” (in quotation marks), never ceases to amaze
thinking people. The “National Enquirer” reports,

“’Dog the bounty hunter is a crack addict,”
”Kirsties’s secret Liposuction” (as if five people in America care),
       I suppose they do.
”(and) “Katie (Couric) Fired!”  I wonder if Katie knows about this.

Rumor was a powerful weapon in the enemy’s efforts to stop the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall. With the dissention precipitated by  selfish nobles behind them, the people picked up their tools and went back to work…and so did the enemy.

With only the metal covered gates left to be hung, there is a flurry of very different—yet contemporary—tactics!
 
In chapters 4-5, the people building the wall are the target.  There is…

…Ridicule (4:1-6)
…Intimidation (4:7-9)
…Fear (4:11-23)
…Discouragement (4:10)
…Selfishness (5:1-13)

Now the enemy turns up the heat even more. There is a tone of desperation.  The evil one pulls out the stops.

The Principle: Beware of temptations that come on the verge of
       breakthroughs, momentous miles markers, or
       accomplishments.

The evil one will save his most potentially damaging weapons for last.

In chapter 6, —Nehemiah, the leader, is the target.  It the old “sack the quarterback,” “shot the officers first,” tactic. 

If he can be lured away from the wall, discredited, or killed, last moment victorious would be assured.

We saw the evil one’s approach as a roaring lion (from without) and a subtle serpent (from within).  Now, there is a variation:  A roaring lion and a subtle serpent from without.

I. In Verses 1-4—The is Intrigue  (A Secret Scheme)
II. Verses 5-9—Innuendo  (A Subtle attack on the leader’s
               character)
III. Verses 10-14—Intimidation—Threats designed to produce fear.
                The enemy knows that fear destroys faith and paralyses
                life.

As the wall is within days of completion, a messenger shows up at the gate with a message from Sanballat and Geshem:

               ”Come and meet with us in a neutral place, in a village on
                the plain of Ono.”

Ono was an area 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem. It’s the current location of the Tella Vive Airport.

This simple invitation was a masterpiece.  To refuse it, would expose Nehemiah to criticism and censure from his own people on the wall as an narrow, rigid, unreasonable leader.

”Nehemiah, the one thing we need is peace. What’s wrong with
          talking to them?”
”The impact upon our economy would be significant.”

       There are always those who believe, if the economy is well, all
       is well.

”Sanballat and Geshem have been misunderstood.  They are reasonable men, who want all of us to benefit from a revitalized Jerusalem.”

Their message has the ring of a concession speech by a person who has just lost a political campaign.

How does Nehemiah respond to the Ono invitation?  “Oh, no!” he says.

At the very least, the invitation represented distraction.  Nehemiah’s place at that time in his life was on the wall.

Distraction is any activity or opportunity to which you give a higher priority than it deserves. It something that may be good in and of itself, but takes you away from some commitment or responsibility that you should be giving greater priority and attention.

A leisurely motorcycle ride through Monroe County is often needed and grand therapy! But if I should be visiting, studying or being at the wall with you, I have given it greater priority than it deserves.

You have to learn to say “no” to the culture, the flesh and their allurements.

However, there is a greater fish that Sanballat and Geshem intend to fry. They tempt Nehemiah with the prospect of peace; The path to compromise. But peace at any price isn’t peace; which is just the postponement of disaster.

Britain’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain was committed to keeping Britain out of WW II.  He was convinced that Adolph Hitler was a reasonable and trustworthy man. He was sure that if he met some of the Nazi leader’s demands, he would be satisfied and live peacefully with the rest of Europe.

So on September 29, 1938, along with France and Italy, he signed the Munich Pact with Germany,. He returned home in triumphant, waving a copy of the pact, proclaiming that it meant “peace in our time, peace with honor.”

One man was not convinced.  Winston Churchill growled that “an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”

Britain and the world learned a timeless principle—Moral compromise is a deadly game!

There’s a tale about an old mountaineer on the trail of a bear. He had visions of a new fur coat for the approaching winter. The bear, finally out of breath, stopped, turned around with paws raised:

      “Wait, a minute, let’s talk about this,” he said. “You want a fur
       coat, and all I want is a meal. Let’s sit down and talk about
       this.”

The hunter thought that was reasonable.  He sat down on a log with the bear. And sure enough:  the bear got a meal, and the hunter wore a fur coat!

Nehemiah’s answers:  “I’m doing a great work and I can’t come down.”   Underscore the little word “great.”  Take a concordance or Bible program, and note the “great” things in the book.  It’s a great work, not because of who is doing it, but because it is God’s work!

Whatever you are doing that you have been called to do; whatever you are doing vocationally, or in your ministry for God’s glory, is a great work, because it is a God’s work!

The enemy is so desperate, they send the message four times! Repeated temptation is always the most dangerous!

On the 5^th time, the menacing messenger has a letter in his hand.
It is described as an “open letter.” Normally the papyrus scroll would have been rolled up and a spot of wax on the closure.

We would say, “It was posted on the Web.”  It was intended for anybody and everybody to read; the contents was sure to make its way to the palace of King Artexerxes back at home in Persia.

First, Sanballat says, “We want to life in peace with you.”  Now, he says, “We’ll tell everybody about you.”

It reports a rumor that Nehemiah is building a wall with a view to rebelling against the king and setting himself up as king in Jerusalem.  That all he’s interested in is power and control. It’s nothing short of treason.

And that he’s hired a prophet to twist the Scriptures—Zechariah 9:9— to present him as the king the nation was expecting—The Messiah!

The Message reads, “The king is going to be told all this—don’t you
            think we should sit down and have a talk?”

It begins with rumor.  Not all rumors are negative.  One elderly spinster was approached by an acquaintance who said, “I hear you are engaged to be married.”  “No,” she replied, “It’s not true, but I thank God for the rumor.”

Negative rumor has the power to strike fear, ruin a reputation and divide a church.

In the last decades of the first century it was rumored that Emperor Nero, who committed suicide June ’68 AD, wasn’t dead at all, but—like Elvis sightings in our day—was alive, hiding in Parthia. This struck fear into the hearts of believers!

It’s important you be able to identify a rumor, and know how to respond to it.

1. One characteristics of a rumor is that its source is never
    quoted—  “It is reported…”  You can paraphrase it, “They say…”

I know a dear lady who for many years has kept her pastors and her church on edge with her “they say” comments.  Whatever she and her little circle of gossiping sisters think need to be addressed takes on a “they say” report.
When someone brings you an anonymous, hear-say, report, it’s good to ask, ““Who is ‘they,” or say, “May I quote you on this?”  If the source is not quoted or creditable, be careful not to pass it along!

I heard a pastor tell about a man who approached him regularly before the morning service and said with a smile:

       “Pastor, I don’t care what they say, I want you to know I’m with
        you.”

I approached occasionally by people who say, “Pastor, I can’t tell you who told me but I think you ought to know…” That’s the devil’s work; it’s like an anonymous letter—The apex of cowardice. Never do that.

2.  A rumor is marked by exaggeration and inaccuracy.

Nehemiah is accused of wanting inappropriate control. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Someone defined gossip as, “news you have to hurry and tell somebody else before you find out it isn’t true.”

Chuck Swindoll says:

      “I am personally convinced that the number one enemy of
       Christian unity is the tongue. It’s not drink, or drugs, not poor
       homes, not inflation, not even a bad church program—it’s the
       tongue.”

Someone says, “I’ve checked it out; it’s true.” That doesn’t give you license to pass it on.  Let me give you an acrostic to help you be discerning in this matter:  T-H-I-N-K.  Five questions:

T—  Is it true?  Do you have first hand knowledge of it?
H—Is it Helpful?
I—Is it important?
N—Is it necessary?
K—Is it kind?

3. A Rumor monger has lost sight of the proper setting for
    sharing information.

It must be ask:

   (a) “Will this benefit the person who hears it?”  Negatives shared
          with a new convert or weak believer can destroy them!

   (b) “Can the person I share this with do anything about it?”

Bill Gotherd defines ‘gossip’ as:

       “Communicating something to someone who is not a part of the
        problem or the solution.”

Look at Ephesians 4:29—

       “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is
        good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the
        hearer.”  (Quote that with me.)

The Message renders it:

         “Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of
          your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.”

If you are the object of rumor, or gossip, look carefully at verses 8 & 9:

1. Nehemiah calmly denied the rumor— Those who trust you will
    believe it; those who don’t won’t believe you if you write it in
    blood.

2. Prayer is an antidote for Gossip— Read verse 9.

    a. “Strengthen my hands.” He’s saying, “Renew my energy and
          focus.”

    b. It is a prayer that God’s would thwart the purposes of the
        enemy.

3. Keep Working!

A four-year old misquoted the Model Prayer.  She said,

        “And forgive us for our trash baskets, as we forgive those who
         trash basket against us.”

This is what we must be alert to: When Satan tries to thwart God’s work, he attacks the leader (or leaders).  His most effective tools include:

Distraction
False Rumors
Negative Reports

”Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”