The definition of counterfeit is – made in exact imitation of something valuable or important with the intention to deceive or defraud. There are some really convincing counterfeits in the world. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between the real and the fake.
Nehemiah 2:9-13 (MSG)
9 They were trying to intimidate us into quitting. They thought, “They’ll give up; they’ll never finish it.”
I prayed, “Give me strength.”
10 Then I met secretly with Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, at his house. He said:
Let’s meet at the house of God,
inside The Temple;
Let’s find safety behind locked doors
because they’re coming to kill you,
Yes, coming by night to kill you.
11 I said, “Why would a man like me run for cover? And why would a man like me use The Temple as a hideout? I won’t do it.”
12-13 I sensed that God hadn’t sent this man. The so-called prophecy he spoke to me was the work of Tobiah and Sanballat; they had hired him. He had been hired to scare me off—trick me—a layman, into desecrating The Temple and ruining my good reputation so they could accuse me.
Nehemiah had been given permission by King Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem. He already had trouble with the old enemies of Judah who were constantly harassing the workers and trying to stop the work. Now there were some nobles of Judah who had ties to these enemies and worked with them to try to intimidate Nehemiah.
Nehemiah had just prayed for strength to finish the wall when he was asked to meet with one of the locals who was working with the enemy. This man gave Nehemiah a false “message from God”, but Nehemiah sensed that he was lying and did not follow this man’s advice. Soon after this he finished the work on the wall of Jerusalem. The enemies seeing the completion lost their nerve and knew that God was behind the project.
Whenever we are pursuing God and trying to accomplish His will, the enemy will come around and try to intimidate us into stopping. Whether by humans or by thoughts, the enemies’ ultimate mission is to get us to give up or change direction. Their message on the surface will be one that may seem logical and in the natural appeals to our own security. Many times we will think that we have received an answer to prayer from God but it may be a counterfeit.
When we pray, as Nehemiah did, the enemy will try to send us a counterfeit answer. Many times the enemy will do this hoping to get us on the wrong track, to stop us in our pursuit. He knows that God is going to answer our prayer, because he knows that God is good. So he will send a quick counterfeit hoping we will assume that this is the answer.
If Nehemiah had fallen for this tactic he would not have finished the wall and would have ruined his reputation. However, Nehemiah sensed this message was a lie. If we are sensitive to the Spirit of God, He gives us the ability to discern truth from lies, counterfeit from real.
We have to take time to pray and ask God “Is this from You?” When Nehemiah ignored the false message, the counterfeit, we see he finished the wall and that the enemy lost their nerve. In other words not only did Nehemiah accomplish what God had instructed him to do, but also the enemy who had been harassing him gave up. The opposite of what the enemy had intended happened. When the wall was finished all the surrounding countries knew that God was behind the completion.
When we read God’s Word and begin to follow what is written, the enemy of our soul will send false messengers to try to get us to give up and ruin our witness. However, we need to pray and ask God for discernment. Only by discernment can we distinguish counterfeit from truth.
We need to stay on course with God’s instructions and His Word. When we do this we will find that His Words will come to pass and all those around us will see and know that God is for us! The enemy will leave because he knows he has been defeated.