Nehemiah Bible Study Lesson Snippet
What Parallels are seen in the parable of the Sower and Nehemiah's walls?
Neh 6:1-2 Now it came about when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, that Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, 'Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.' But they were planning to harm me.
Now in chapter 6 we read that Nehemiah had "rebuilt the wall, and no breach remained in it, although at this time he had not set up the doors in the gates." (vs1). Here we have it; first no walls, then half its height, and now the wall fully completed. No more at the mercy of the enemies attacks!1 The picture is of a mature believer in Christ who has learned to stand strong in the Lord. So what could penetrate such strong walls? What attack could Satan try now? Actually, Jesus gives us the answer as to what happens at this stage of a believer's life. Now look at how the enemy's tactics seldom change! Jesus was speaking to his disciples and he told them a parable about the sower sowing seed.
Mat 13:3-9 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. (4) As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. (5) Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. (6) But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. (7) Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. (8) Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (9) He who has ears, let him hear."
Now for the lazy and semi-illiterate look at the table below to see the parallels between these attacks of the enemy and what we see in the book of Nehemiah:
| Seed Fell On | Trouble | Interpretation | Time of Growth | Stage of Wall |
| 1. Road | Birds | Snatched from the mind | None | No wall - Sanballat attacks the mind (Satan) |
| 2. Rocky Places | Sun | Persecution | Short - Grew Quickly | Half Height - Persecution (Satan) |
| 3. Thorns | Chocked by Thorns | Worldiness | Long - Mixed Soil | Full, No Gates - Geshem (world) tries to lure them out |
| 4. Good Soil | None | Great Growth! | Long - Good Soil | Completed - Safe from their enemies |
From the parable we see three stages to stop the seed from growing:
- Satan tries to snatch the word from the mind before it can begin to grow. (No wall, mind games - Neh 4:1-6)
- If the seed does grow, begin operation trials and persecutions (Wall going up, physical persecutions start Neh 4:7-15)
- For the strong seed, that has had time to grow, choke with worldliness (Full Wall, enter Geshem's call of compromise! Neh 6:1-9)
- But the seed in good soil produces a strong plant bearing much fruit. (Completed wall, strong salvation, enemies defeated!)
from: Nehemiah 6:1-9 The Trump Card: Geshem and Worldly Compromise