Trust the sales person who gives you time to verify the facts and compare before you buy. Stay away the one who insists that you act impulsively. Verse 4 takes this principle a step further. An oft-repeated lie is still a lie. It sounds better the more it is articulated.
Deceivers know that.
Therefore one of the clues to falsehood is the effort to reiterate the message over and over again. Repetition by itself is an effective teaching tool, and just the fact that something is said more than once is not by itself an indication that it isn t true. But coupled with some of the other issues we are raising, it might be another red flag. Sanballat s name is repeated in verse 5, as his aide sends Nehemiah the same message as before, now for the fifth time. This might be an appropriate place to toss in the consider the source test for truth.