Alesaggio
07-10-2006, 12:22 PM
Ono -- The valley of Compromise
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Nehemiah 6:1-2, "Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates). That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief."
The walls were finished, the breaches filled, and the frames of all of Jerusalem's gates were repaired and ready for service. The work was nearly done, but the time for rejoicing was not yet. A wall nearly finished is still a wall that's not finished.
When the work began on the wall, it was Sanballat?s mind games that were Israel's enemy. Then, when the walls were half height with breaches still in them, the attacks took on the form of physical threats.
Nehemiah started to build when there was no wall at all: just the wreckage of a ruined life, under the bondage of the enemy. Then the wall comes up, but it's not secure yet. Then finally the wall is built. There is now a defense against the enemy's attacks. Now Sanballat has to find a new tactic to come against them.
What can Sanballat bring against them now to bring down their walls?
Jesus gives us the answer to this question in Matthew 13:22 when He said that the heart defences can be overcome by, " the cares of this world, . . ." .
Once the wall is finished, a frontal attack won't work. If there are no breaches in the wall for the enemy to sneak in, where does he go from there? If his army is not powerful enough to overcome your defenses and the enemy cannot enter because of the strong walls then how can he possible bring you down?
The answer is very simple. He will try to get you to come out to him! If Sanballat deceptions could lure Nehemiah out from behind his secure walls and set up a meeting with Geshem (the world) in the plain of Ono, then the battle could still be won and the rebuilding of God's city would cease.
The Valley of Ono has a special meaning -- that word -Ono - meaning is "grief or strength or iniquity of him". In that Valley of Ono was Sanballat's strength found.
We have witnessed many walls of salvation torn down by Geshem and his deception in the Valley of Ono. Several worldly compromisers have gone down into that valley and never came out again. They cast aside that fact that they are there at the invitation of the enemy. Let us never forget to realize what Nehemiah saw in this invitation. He knew that it was all nothing more than a trap to draw him out where he could be defeated.
In Nehemiah 6:3 he sent his answer back, "And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"
To sad that many don't see the ploy of the enemy today. More and more people are coming down off the wall to meet Geshem in the Valley of Ono where he can finally defeat them. Playing with the world is a very dangerous game and one that few, if any, can win.
Matthew 6:24 says, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
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Nehemiah 6:1-2, "Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates). That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief."
The walls were finished, the breaches filled, and the frames of all of Jerusalem's gates were repaired and ready for service. The work was nearly done, but the time for rejoicing was not yet. A wall nearly finished is still a wall that's not finished.
When the work began on the wall, it was Sanballat?s mind games that were Israel's enemy. Then, when the walls were half height with breaches still in them, the attacks took on the form of physical threats.
Nehemiah started to build when there was no wall at all: just the wreckage of a ruined life, under the bondage of the enemy. Then the wall comes up, but it's not secure yet. Then finally the wall is built. There is now a defense against the enemy's attacks. Now Sanballat has to find a new tactic to come against them.
What can Sanballat bring against them now to bring down their walls?
Jesus gives us the answer to this question in Matthew 13:22 when He said that the heart defences can be overcome by, " the cares of this world, . . ." .
Once the wall is finished, a frontal attack won't work. If there are no breaches in the wall for the enemy to sneak in, where does he go from there? If his army is not powerful enough to overcome your defenses and the enemy cannot enter because of the strong walls then how can he possible bring you down?
The answer is very simple. He will try to get you to come out to him! If Sanballat deceptions could lure Nehemiah out from behind his secure walls and set up a meeting with Geshem (the world) in the plain of Ono, then the battle could still be won and the rebuilding of God's city would cease.
The Valley of Ono has a special meaning -- that word -Ono - meaning is "grief or strength or iniquity of him". In that Valley of Ono was Sanballat's strength found.
We have witnessed many walls of salvation torn down by Geshem and his deception in the Valley of Ono. Several worldly compromisers have gone down into that valley and never came out again. They cast aside that fact that they are there at the invitation of the enemy. Let us never forget to realize what Nehemiah saw in this invitation. He knew that it was all nothing more than a trap to draw him out where he could be defeated.
In Nehemiah 6:3 he sent his answer back, "And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"
To sad that many don't see the ploy of the enemy today. More and more people are coming down off the wall to meet Geshem in the Valley of Ono where he can finally defeat them. Playing with the world is a very dangerous game and one that few, if any, can win.
Matthew 6:24 says, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
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