Nehemiah 6:7 Commentary and Bible Study

Then there's another charge in verse 7. ‘And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee’, about you at Jerusalem, ‘saying, There is a king in Judah’, so that the Jews in Jerusalem accept him as king. He will be proclaimed. ‘And now shall it be reported to the king [of Persia] according to these words.’ That's the threat; that is what everybody is saying. ‘Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.’ This is extremely devious. Of course Nehemiah had done no such things, and they knew it. In fact they were probably deeply frustrated that they were dealing with a man of such integrity, and were becoming desperate. Whether they had spread these false rumours through their own agents is not clear, but they wanted Nehemiah to behave in some ill-thought-out way and panic. But he was not going to panic; he was going to continue trusting in the Lord and praying about every difficulty he faced. He was going to seek the Lord’s face to help him handle every trial whether imaginary or real.