Handling your Sanballat and Tobiah By Babatunde Olugboji
We all have at least one Sanballat in our life. If you’ve been a believer for any period of time, you would likely have come across somebody trying to discourage you along the way. Whether they tried to kill your enthusiasm for something you are doing, said bad things about you behind your back or tell you that you can’t achieve what you are trying to get done, a Sanballat is around just about every corner.
Which is probably what made Nehemiah’s completion of Jerusalem’s wall in 52 days such a remarkable feat. It was amazing that he was able to pull off the construction and logistics necessary to accomplish such a massive task. But the task is harder when you have men like Sanballat and Tobiah constantly in your space.
That Nehemiah overcame them to complete the work tells me that we can also complete the good work we are doing for God in God’s house. In this series, we’ll examine why Sanballat and Tobiah tried to discourage Nehemiah and how Nehemiah overcame them.
If you are not reading this narrative with an eye of the spirit, it may appear that Sanballat and Tobiah actions were purely personal; you may think that maybe they just didn’t like the Israelites, or maybe they didn’t like Nehemiah. But their feud with Israel ran far deeper. 
Tobiah was an Ammonite, which meant his people had a centuries long feud with the Israelites. His motivation for opposing Nehemiah was clear. But Sanballat was a different matter. As a leading man in Samaria (Nehemiah 2), he would’ve had a vested interest in the fall of Judah and the rise of Samaria. According to Nehemiah 2:10, “Sanballat from Horon and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about what I was doing. They were very upset and angry that someone had come to help the Israelites.”
They found Nehemiah’s assignment distressing, because he had “come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.” Can you imagine some people being unhappy because someone is performing a worthy task designed to improve the situation of others? 
Doesn’t that remind you of the reaction of Herod to the birth of the messiah? When King Herod heard of the birth of Jesus, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him (Matthew 2:3). King Herod was unhappy with the birth of Jesus because the wise men came to him announcing a “newborn king of the Jews,” which threatened his own power as the ruling king of Judea, causing him to fear a potential uprising and feel the need to eliminate any possible threat to his throne. This paranoia caused him to order the massacre of infants in Bethlehem where Jesus was born, hoping to kill baby Jesus as well.
Sanballat and Tobiah felt threatened by anything that would strengthen the nation of Israel, just like Herod felt threatened by baby Jesus. After all, the Samaritans – at least in their own eyes – were the ones that stayed in the nation while the Israelites were taken into exile for 70 years. That made them purer, and more holy, in their own eyes.
Rebuilding the stone wall in Jerusalem would be a direct blow to his belief that Samaria should reign supreme. And, as demonstrated in the book named after Nehemiah, he would stop at nothing to ensure that didn’t happen. But God had another plan, just like he has another plan for you and I today.
To be continued.
Have a great week.
For Questions or comments?
Reach out on (WhatsApp): +1-609 887 6610
