Chapter 4: The Fox and the Wall

Families were assigned sections of the wall. The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate. The men of Jericho worked beside them. Goldsmiths and perfume makers put down their tools of trade and picked up construction tools instead. Shallum's daughters worked alongside the men. The entire city became a construction site, each family responsible for the section nearest to their own home. They were building their city and defending their own doorstep at the same time.

When Sanballat saw the wall actually going up, his mockery turned to rage. He gathered his associates and the army of Samaria and ridiculed the builders openly.

SANBALLAT“What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble, burned as they are?”— Nehemiah 4:2

TOBIAH“What they are building, even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”— Nehemiah 4:3

Nehemiah did not answer them. He turned to God instead and prayed one of the most raw prayers in all of Scripture.

NEHEMIAH“Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Do not cover over their guilt or blot out their sins from Your record, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.”— Nehemiah 4:4-5

The people kept building. The wall reached half its height. Scripture explains why in one sentence. The people worked with all their heart.

But Sanballat and Tobiah were not finished. When they saw that the gaps in the wall were closing, mockery gave way to something far more dangerous.