Fame or Faithfulness?
Sanballat was an important person, or at least he thought he was. Sanballat was a native of Palestine who is spoken of in the Old Testament. He was born near Jerusalem. He was born at a time of tremendous upheaval in Israel's history. Because of Israel's unfaithfulness to God, Jerusalem was destroyed and most of its citizens were carried off into exile. The Persians allowed foreign people to take over and settle Palestine. Sanballat's family was part of this settlement. Sanballat was picked by Persia to be the governor of Samaria (an area that had been Northern Israel). Sanballat eventually married his daughter into the Jewish High Priest's family. Sanballat's formula for fame was going well.
Several thousand miles to the east, God was making other plans. God was working in the life of a young man named Nehemiah. Nehemiah was cupbearer to the Persian King. Through God's help Nehemiah gained permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. It is at this point that our story comes into focus. We will see the crossing of paths. What happens when a self‑made man collides with a God‑serving man? Let's look and see.
Nehemiah was sent by the Persian King Artaxerxes to Jerusalem as its governor. As soon as Nehemiah arrived, he became the victim of Sanballat's wrath. Why did it displease Sanballat that someone would "see to the welfare of God's people"? (Nehemiah 2:10) We are not told. Evidently Sanballat had plans, and God was not a part of them. Scripture records several attempts by Sanballat to stop the work that God was doing through Nehemiah.
The first ploy that Sanballat used in his attempt to stop the work of Nehemiah was slander. He said that Nehemiah was rebelling against the King by rebuilding the wall. When no one listened to his lies, Sanballat then resorted to ridicule. He tried to discourage the Jews by making fun of their labor. Sanballat and his friends yelled out, "if a fox should jump on it, their wall would fall down!" (Nehemiah 4:3) When God's servants heard these things they kept working and praying. Finally, Sanballat turned to threats. He and his thugs threatened to kill the Jews. Sanballat was determined to stop God's work one way or another. Nehemiah blocked this threat by dividing the Jews into two groups. One group would build the wall, and the other group would carry weapons to protect their brothers. God's work went on!
The story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem is not only an inspiring story, it is also relevant for us today. We, Christians, are called to be a part of God's “kingdom building” program. Every one of us has a part of the wall to build. The sad truth is that Satan will do everything in his power to stop the work that God has given us to do. I want to challenge everyone to be a Nehemiah, not a Sanballat. Rather than being self‑made, let us be a God‑serving people. Grab some bricks and let's head for the wall. Keep looking up!