Sanballat And Tobiah

Two rebel leaders (Sanballat and Tobiah) wan stop Nehemiah to repair Jerusalem wall, but dem fail. Di enemies ridiculed Nehemiah and hin team as dem make some efforts to rebuild God cities. The bible report di attacks from Sanballat and Tobiah, “But e happen, wen Sanballat hear sey we dey rebuild di wall, sey hin dey furious and very indignant, and mock di Jews. And he speak before hin brethren and di army of Samaria, and say, “Wetin all these feeble Jews dey do? Shey dem go fit fortify demsefs? Shey dem go offer sacrifice? Shey dem go fit komplete am fo one day? Shey dem go fit revive di stones from di heaps of rubbish—stones weh don burn?” Now Tobiah di Ammonite dey beside am, and hin say, “Anything dem build, even if one fox go ontop am, he go break down dea stone wall” (Nehemiah 4:1-3). Nehemiah and hin men dey determined to shun opposition and rebuild Jerusalem wall. Dem pray against dea enemies, and also stand up to defend demsefs. Nehemiah and his hin men pray and say, “Hear, O our God, because we dey despised; make you turn dea reproach to dea own heads, and give dem as plunder to land of captivity! Make you no cover dea iniquity, and no let dea sin be blotted out from before you; because dem don provoke you to anger before di builders… fo dis reason I (Nehemiah) position men behind di lower parts of di wall, fo di openings; and i set di pipu as dea families bi, with dea swords, dea spears, and dea bows. And i look, and arise and say to di nobles, to di leaders, and to di rest of di pipu, “Make una no fear dem. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight fo your pipu, your sons, your daughters, your wife dem, and your house” (Nehemiah 4:4-5; Nehemiah 4:13-14).

LESSON

Kristian opposition like Sanballat and Tobiah sometimes come around to frustrate di efforts of God pikin. Dem fit mount physical or spiritual opposition, but dea ultimate goal nah make God pikin dem compromise dea stand with God. These enemies no dey encourage good adventures. Fo fis reason, God pikin must dey sensitive make dem no allow di enemies to fulfill dea mission. Believers must dey sensitive to identify enemies scheme, and stop dem. We must make significant efforts through prayer and fasting to stop our opponents. We must also no hesitate to take any physical action weh dey necessary to stop di enemies. More importantly, believers must get konfidence inside God. We must get assurance sey God bi ever able to help us overcome our foes!