From the very beginning, Sanballat sought to bring an end to the Jews’ labor to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. He began, first, by ridiculing their efforts to undo the destruction the Babylonian armies brought upon their city. When that failed, he used intimidation in an effort to accomplish his goal and cause the work to cease, hoping a military presence would make the Jews afraid to continue in their efforts (Nehemiah 4:1-2). When ridicule and threats failed, Sanballat conspired with his allies to use violence against the workers, and thereby bring an end to the work (Nehemiah 4:8), but their plans became known to Jews living in their lands, and those Jews made Sanballat’s secrets known to Nehemiah, who, then, took measures to cause their enemies’ plans of violence to fail (Nehemiah 4:11-15). When open opposition fails, other measures are often used by one’s enemies in their efforts to gain the victory they seek and accomplish their goal.
One of my family’s traditions at Christmastime is to watch Frank Capra’s classic film: “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, the main character of the film, whose Bailey Building and Loan is the sole opposition in the way of the film’s villain, Henry Potter, played by Lionel Barrymore. Potter wants to take full control of the town, Bedford Falls, and all his efforts to destroy George and take over the Bailey Building and Loan fail. Realizing that open opposition hasn’t worked, but, in fact, has put George in a position of offering the town better and more affordable homes than Potter’s slums, Potter devises a plan to offer George a comfortable position in his employ, hoping to thereby close the Bailey Building and Loan. Nevertheless, an uncomfortable handshake to close the deal alerts George to Potter’s scheme, and this, in my opinion, is very similar to what occurred next in Sanballat’s plan, vis-à-vis destroy Nehemiah by distracting him into believing he has beaten his enemies and, thereby, bring the building project at Jerusalem to an abrupt end.
All of the plans of the Jews’ enemies had failed up to this point. The walls of Jerusalem continued around the city without a single brake, except the gates of the city were not yet placed (Nehemiah 6:1), However, they would be set up last and wouldn’t be placed until Nehemiah’s second period of ministry, which came after his first tenure of twelve years (Nehemiah 5:14; cp. 13:6).
It was at this time that Sanballat and his allies (Geshem the Arabian and Tobiah, the Ammonite, and others), decided other measure needed to be taken, if they were to succeed in stopping the building project at Jerusalem. Therefore, they sent a message to Nehemiah, asking for a meeting in the plain of Ono, about 25 miles west of Jerusalem or about a day’s trip one way on horseback. The implication in the text is that Sanballat asked for an opportunity to reconcile their differences; Nehemiah had won the dispute, so how should we proceed from here on a more friendly basis? This was the intent the message should communicate to Nehemiah, but Nehemiah perceived that Sanballat had mischief planned (Nehemiah 6:2).
The text says Sanballat thought (H2803) to do mischief or evil. Sanballat had previously accused Nehemiah of thinking (H2803) to rebel from the king (Nehemiah 6:6). Joseph told his brethren that they thought to do evil against him, but God caused it for good (Genesis 50:20). Nehemiah had no proof of such thoughts, but he didn’t believe Sanballat was able to change his behavior or his attitude so quickly, when he had had been doing all he could to stop Nehemiah from building the wall around Jerusalem (Nehemiah 6:2).
Therefore, he sent messengers in return to Sanballat, saying his work, vis-à-vis Nehemiah’s work on the wall, was too great a project to stop in order to meet with him (Nehemiah 6:3). Thus, the text implies there was much more to be done than to simply place the gates of the city in their places. Contrary to what most scholars conclude, Nehemiah’s statement that the walls were finished in a mere fifty-two days, meant that the breaches in the walls were closed around the whole city. The height of the walls remained undone, and completing the whole project would take years (Nehemiah 6:3).
Four times Sanballat and his allies sent messages to Nehemiah in efforts to draw him away from the building project at Jerusalem in order to do him harm, most likely to assassinate him. However, Nehemiah replied to each attempt and plan to do him harm in the same manner (Nehemiah 6:4). Therefore, their conspiracy to distract Nehemiah from his work, and thereby stop the building project at Jerusalem, failed!
Smoodock's Blog 