Sanballat and Tobia

Sanballat and Tobia

Introduction

This essay is about Sanballat and Topiah that are mentioned in Nehemiah Chapter 4 of the Bible. It also represents what these two represent in today's world. A brief summary of Chapter 4 of Bible has also been written to get knowledge of what the chapter is about.

Discussion

Sanballat

Sanballat was a samaritan leader. He was one of the main opponents of the governor Nehemiah who wanted to rebuild Jerusalem's walls. Sanballat was called the Horonite in the Jewish tradition. When Nehemiah returned from his exile along with his company, Sanballat and his partners became infuriated. Nehemiah was trying to protect the welfare of the Jews. He further strengthened his point by saying that he will be building the walls of Jerusalem. This decision of Nehemiah was ridiculed and as soon as the news regarding Nahemiah's intention of building the walls of Jerusalem reached Sanballat. Sanballat along with his partners decided to fight against Nehemiah. On the other hand, Nehemiah kept working on the walls along with preparing for the opposition. Nahemiah was challenged by Sanballat five different times to meet them and fight. Then Sanballat along with his Jewish associates tried to trap Nehemiah in the temple, but the plan failed. The Jewish allies of Sanballat kept giving him information regarding the progress on the walls of Jerusalem. But Nehemiah's ability to have far sightedness saved him from these neighboring enemies (www.jewishencyclopedia.com).

Tobiah

Tobiah was an official of Ammonite. He with his allies namely Sanballat and Geshem made propaganda against Nehemiah to stop his efforts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Tobiah along with his allies tried to bring Nehemiah to Ono in Benjamin so as to stop his rebuilding motive. For this, they requested him five times, but he did not accept their request. They made a final effort to stop the restoration by trying to capture Nehemiah in temple. But this final plan failed too. Tobiah was married to a daughter of a Judahite leader which gave him enough power to make the Jewish themselves praise about Tobiah to Nehemiah. This was done to wane the resolution of Nehemiah to keep Tobiah away from rebuilding of Jerusalem (biblescripture.net). Summary of Nehemiah Chapter 4

Sanballat represents a Satan. But he did not hide what he felt for Nehemia and the Jews that were building the walls of Jerusalem. It represents the true nature of Satan. The Satan has the hatred for the entire mankind, but he but people who are not Christians do not believe that he exists. The reason why these people are not becoming Christians is that they are blinded by Satan. All of this changes when people start building the rescue wall around them and restore to the glory of the right owner which is the God. Anyone who tries to build the walls of rescue in their life, the Satan tries to confuse him and create doubt in his mind. If the Satan is able to capture his emotions, ...