Pray for those
who have trouble dealing with fear, opposition, conflict or adversity.
Time for some historical context!
Nehemiah
4 is good evidence that human nature hasn’t changed much in the past 2,500
years. Sanballat, governor of
Samaria, is mad because Nehemiah is orchestrating the reconstruction of
Jerusalem’s wall… so he makes fun of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Tobiah the Ammonite ruler, a
prototypical bully’s sidekick, joins him: “any fox going up on [that wall]
would break it down!”
Sanballat’s
irritation reflects Samaria’s desire to establish control over Judah—a desire
that had been eating away now at Samaria since the fall of Jerusalem over one
hundred years before. Remember,
“Samaria” was also the “Kingdom of Israel.” This was the territory of the northern tribes, the territory
that split from not-so-good King Rehoboam, son of Solomon, back in 930
B.C. Sanballat was a real threat,
not just because of geography but because he could feasibly lay some claim to
Judah. The two lands were
historically linked.
That
said, Sanballat’s plan clearly wasn’t God’s plan. We’ll see how all this plays out. While Sanballat plotted and jeered, Nehemiah planned, and he
prayed… and he faced adversity with strength.
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