Nehemiah 6:12 – And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
Despite the failed efforts to divert and disgrace Nehemiah, his enemies persisted in attacking, trying to deceive the people supporting him (Nehemiah 6:10-14). They weaponized his faith in God against him.
A “prophet” who claimed to speak for God called Nehemiah to a meeting in his home to deliver a “prophecy”. The false prophet’s false prophecy was that Nehemiah would be killed at night, and God wanted him to flee to the temple to hide in seclusion for safety. This ever-popular tactic is to pay off a religious leader to speak lies and oppose the godly leader who actually speaks the truth.
Nehemiah was not conned by this charlatan. Just because someone is spiritual, or has even been greatly used of God in the past, what they say must not be immediately accepted but rather confirmed as truthful (e.g. Deuteronomy 13:1-5, 18:20-22; Isaiah 8:20; Romans 4:3). Jesus (Matthew 7:15, 24:11,24), Paul (Acts 20:29-31) and John (1 John 4:1) all promised false prophets would come in our day, just as they did in the days of Nehemiah.
Entering the Temple as the false prophet had commanded was suicide. The penalty was death (Numbers 18:7), and even King Uzziah was given only leprosy in God’s mercy for doing this very thing (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).
Nehemiah faced a false prophet motivated by false profit. Look up the following Scriptures to learn more about false prophets: Deuteronomy 13:1-5, 18:20-22; Isaiah 8:20; Romans 4:3.