Leadership: Knowing Your Enemies

The rich Jews had oppressed Nehemiah’s poor Jewish workers by charging them interest on loans and selling their children as slaves to foreign nations. When Nehemiah assembled the people and charged the rich Jews with their sin this was their response…

"We will give it back, they said. And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say."

Okay… so far so good, the only thing was that Nehemiah didn’t take them at their word so he called in the priests and made the rich Jews swear an oath that they would do exactly what they said they would do…

“Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised.”

Nehemiah must have really distrusted them because their oath was not enough… he issued a curse against them if they went against their word…

“I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!"

Like Nehemiah, today’s leaders need to “know their enemies” many times we can take people exactly at their word but frequently people need to be watched to make sure they do exactly what they say they are going to do.

Someone told me once that the best Veterinary diagnosticians have an acute sense of paranoia. Leaders need to be a little paranoid too.