Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Dealing with Traitors

Dealing with Traitors

Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me. – Nehemiah 6:17-19

Traitors are another beast that Nehemiah had to contend with during his reign as the governor of Judah and in the course of fulfilling his mandate of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

The passage above tells us many of the nobles of Judah were in god terms with Tobiah, one of Nehemiah’s main adversaries, and were also allied with his family through marriage. This means that Nehemiah was not just contending with external adversaries alone, he also had to grapple with enemies within, his own flesh and blood, who had sworn allegiance to the likes of Sanballat and Tobiah.

It can be very unsettling for anyone not to know who to trust among those close to them for fear of betrayal. You can imagine the state of mind Nehemiah must have been after realizing that prominent citizens among his kinsmen, individuals who should have his confidence, were nothing but informers for his opponents and could not be trusted with confidence. On the contrary, everything he said and did were reported by them to the other camp, thus leaving him exposed.

However, there was no indication that the activities of these traitors affected Nehemiah much or derailed his project. That means he must have resorted to his trademark discretion in dealing with them, keeping them at arm’s length, where he could help it, or exercising tact in their company where he could not. Thankfully, he succeeded in curbing the harm they could have caused him and his work and in so doing presented us another trick from his leadership playbook on how to neutralize traitors.

You will Succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:

• Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Dealing with Scaremongers
• Winning the Race
• There is Always Hope, I am God’s Living Proof