Nehemiah “clave to the Lord, and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him.” Messengers were sent repeatedly, soliciting a conference with Nehemiah; but he refused to meet them. Bold threats were made of what they proposed to do, and messengers were sent to harangue the people engaged in the work of building. These presented flattering inducements and promised the builders freedom from restraint, and wonderful privileges, if they would unite their interest with them and cease their work of building. {3T 573.3}

Nehemias »holdt fast ved Herren og veg ikke fra han og han overholdt de bud, Herren havde givet Moses. Og Herren var mod ham«. Der blev gentagne gange sendt bud med anmodning om en samtale med Nehemias, men han afslog at møde dem. De fremkom med stærke trusler om, hvad de agtede at gøre og der blev udsendt mænd til at holde højtravende taler til folket, som var beskæftiget med genopbygningen. Disse fremkom med smigrende tillokkelser og lovede arbejderne fritagelse for restriktioner tilligemed vidunderlige privilegier, hvis de ville gøre fælles sag med dem og standse byggearbejdet.