Nehemiah Bible Study Lesson Snippet
Who are the three enemies in the book of Nehemiah?
I believe that a 'big picture' survey of this book shows that Nehemiah is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who gave up his position with the Father to restore and rebuild our lives. Nehemiah's name means 'Yahweh consoles' or 'Yahweh comforts' and that certainly is what Jesus is to us. I will try to point out in the study when and where he is a type of the Lord. One thing is sure and that is in all that he does, we see the attitude and action of a man alive to God. One that is spiritually reborn and living by that Spirit. And then we have the 'baddies'!
Sanballat
The name "Sanballat" means "Hatred in secret". Lovely name! In the study to come we shall see that he is the main man behind most of the attacks. He was very wealthy, and had a lot of influence, power and control. As we shall see, he stands for our biggest enemy, Satan, the hater of Gods people.
Geshem
The name Geshem means "Corporealness", which, cause I didn't know, means "Physical, tangible, material, bodily". The second enemy then speaks of the world! - That which is physical, tangible etc. He might not be mentioned much, but his form of warfare against Nehemiah is very subtle indeed, and is used when others have failed.
Tobiah
The name Tobiah means, "Jehovah is good". A strange name indeed for someone who so vigorously opposes Jehovah's chosen people! In all of his operations Tobiah will clearly show himself to be our third enemy, Old Adam, the flesh. Tobiah speaks of the sinful nature that not only does bad, but has a great tendency to also do good! (And, as we shall see, he will trick a large percentage of Gods people through this means!)