Nehemiah chapter 4

The spirit of Sanballat is that spirit that gets angry when you want to do something for God, it is that spirit that will mock you from the inside when you desire to do something for God.  It is the same kind of taunting spirit that was in Goliath.   It is a spirit that tells you; it cannot be done; it is a spirit that would want to distract you from what you have to do for God,  a spirit that tells you who do you think you are; what are you talking about; what nonsense are you thinking of doing?

Verse 1 When Sanballat heard that we were building the wall of Jerusalem, he was very angry and upset. He started making fun of the Jews.² Sanballat talked with his friends and the army at Samaria and said, “What are these weak Jews doing? Do they think we will leave them alone? Do they think they will offer sacrifices? Maybe they think they can finish building in only one day. They cannot bring stones back to life from these piles of trash and dirt. These are just piles of ashes and dirt!”  ³ Tobiah the Ammonite was with Sanballat. Tobiah said, “What do these Jews think they are building? If even a small fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!”

Tobiah is a mocking spirit, a spirit that will belittle your dream and your destiny and your purpose that God has put in you to do for Him.

In the midst of all this mockings, there was a man of God called Nehemiah; who was focused, who knew to pray to the Lord God of Hosts. Nehemiah was able to stand before God and was bold in telling or asking God what He should do to them.  We know that these spirits exist even today.  And our way of dealing with them is to pray against the spirit of Sanballat and Tobiah and ask to shame them, as Nehemiah did.  Verse ⁴ Nehemiah prayed and said, “Our God, listen to our prayer. These men hate us. Sanballat and Tobiah are insulting us. Make bad things happen to them. Make them ashamed, like people taken away as prisoners.⁵ Don’t take away their guilt or forgive the sins they have done in your sight. They have insulted and discouraged the builders.”

When Sanballat and Tobiah saw that the wall was being built, despite all what they had done, they decided that they will come and fight the children of Israel, for thinking to build the wall of Jerusalem.  Verse ⁷ But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men from Ashdod were very angry.  Of course, the builders got weary with all the evil report from the enemy because there will always be people who like to carry evil news about what the enemy was saying and wanting to do to disrupt the work of God.  Verse ¹⁰ And so at that time the people of Judah said, “The workers are becoming tired. There is too much dirt and trash in the way. We cannot continue to build the wall. ¹¹ And our enemies are saying, ‘Before the Jews know it or see us, we will be right there among them. We will kill them and that will stop the work.’”

But thank God for the spirit in Nehemiah, that is bold and confident like the spirit of David, when he confronted Goliath.  Nehemiah in vs 13  I said, “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember the Lord, who is great and powerful! You must fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters! You must fight for your wives and your homes!”

After Nehemiah’s prayer, we are told that  in verse ¹⁵ Then our enemies heard that we knew about their plans. They knew that God ruined their plans. So we all went back to work on the wall. Everyone went back to their own place and did their part. ¹⁶ From that day on, half of my men worked on the wall. The other half of my men were on guard, ready with spears, shields, bows, and armour. The army officers stood behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall.

Like I said at the beginning, it is time to stand up to the devil and confront him; it is time to stand up and call yet again on the God that you serve; it is time to not let the enemy continue to taunt you and steal your joy and also it is time for you to not believe the lies of the enemy.  Nehemiah did not seek revenge in the physical but took the battle to the heavenlies and prayed to God.

Tackle your Sanballat and Tobiah today and be encouraged, that God is the One who makes a way where there seems to be no way.  Believe God, because it is time for a turnaround in your life but you have to step up in faith and face your Sanballat and Tobiah in the spiritual realm.