Surrogate Spies for Sanballat

Nehemiah 6:17-19 KJV

Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.

For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.

Few of us would challenge the idea that Sanballat and Tobiah were not friends to Nehemiah nor to the work Nehemiah was called of God to do.

·         They had mocked the work

·         They had threatened the work with violence

·         They attempted to legally halt the work

Nehemiah had consistently repulsed the threats and mockings. When Tobiah and Sanballat had asked to meet with Nehemiah, he refused. When they asked to join with him in the work, Nehemiah rejected the offer. Still, Sanballat and Tobiah had been in Jerusalem much longer than Nehemiah and had built some very strong relationships among the Jews. The intertwined connections of marriages friendships and past business transactions created a loyalty even among some of the nobles of a Judah.

While working with Nehemiah on the walls, these same Jews continued their relationship with Tobiah. Perhaps well meaning in their hearts, it turned out that they served more or less as surrogate spies for Sanballat, giving Nehemiah cause for fear. Their opinion may have been that Tobiah's friendship would be a plus for their work. Perhaps they just could not understand why Nehemiah refused to make peace with him so they decided to make it happen on their own.  Nehemiah did not agree and obviously God agreed with Nehemiah.

Well meaning Christians may never know the damage they do to the work of God by maintaining friendships with those who are crosswise with the church God has placed them in. Viewing themselves as "ministers of peace" they don't get why a pastor will not bend just a bit to come to good terms with someone outside. Maintaining that friendship, and passing on information that the preacher would not himself pass brings, at the very least grief of heart to the man of God.

Nehemiah did not require these Jews to quit the work; neither did he prevent them from associating with Tobiah. But he never did compromise with Tobiah and he did register the grief they had caused in the pages of God's eternal Word.