17

Nehemiah and I had been having these conversations for long enough, I thought, that I could risk asking a question I’d been wondering about since chapter 2 of his memoir.

“Tell me about Tobiah,” I said to Nehemiah.

He sat silently for a long time. “You know he’s a painful person,” he replied. It was a statement, not a question. “But it’s a fair question. Tobiah was a very difficult opponent during my whole time in Jerusalem.  But his story should show you something about God’s kind of patience.”

I was intrigued with his response. Because I knew that Tobiah had been the single biggest opponent Nehemiah had faced. His influence lasted the whole time Nehemiah was involved with his great work in Jerusalem. Of the three opponents–Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem–Tobiah was the worst.

“I don’t know if I’d say ‘worst’,” Nehemiah commented. “However, he was the most persistent, most subtle, most politically astute, most connected. And he has a long family story.

“I first met Tobiah soon after we started the project. It was the day I met with the elders, the day after my late-night ride along the walls. The elders and the people had gathered, and I told them about the great work. I told them about all God had done to get me to Jerusalem. It was exhilarating.

“And then, as often happens when a project is just starting, the opposition showed up. We’ve talked before about the simplicity of my answer.^[1]”

I interrupted. “But I have wondered about what you said. There was a precision about your comment: ‘you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.'” ^[2]

“Ah yes,” Nehemiah said.  “That statement was pretty absolute, wasn’t it? I was actually quoting Moses. In his last message to the people in Deuteronomy, Moses said,

‘No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation. For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live.’ ^[3]

Nehemiah looked up from the scroll. “The mandate from Moses seemed pretty clear to me. Tobiah’s people were to be excluded. And I just wanted Tobiah to know that I knew the old stories.”

“That didn’t warn him off,” I said. “He’s around for the rest of the book. But there seems to be a bigger story here than I realized. Can you help me understand?”

Nehemiah leaned back, ready to teach.

“This is a long story, but I’ll try to give you the highlights. The story starts with Lot, back in Genesis. Lot was Abraham’s nephew.^[4] Many people have heard of Sodom and about Lot’s wife and the pillar of salt. But third grade Sunday school teachers don’t talk about the next part. After escaping the destruction of Sodom and settling in a cave, Lot avoided people. Lot’s daughter’s decided that their dad wouldn’t let them hook up with any of the local guys so they decided to sleep with Lot after getting him drunk. Each got pregnant. The older daughter named her son Moab, the younger, Ben-Ammi. ^[5]

“It’s not told how these cousins grew up. They aren’t mentioned by name again until several centuries later, as Moses is leading the descendants of Abraham out of Egypt. The Israelites are heading to the Promised Land. As God tells Moses about the travel plans toward Canaan, he specifically warns Moses about messing with the Moabites and the Ammonites. ‘I’ve given them their lands already,’ God said. ‘Because they are your relatives.’”^[6]

I looked up from my note-taking. “God gave them their lands?”

“You are going to have to read it yourself from Deuteronomy. But yes, just as God was giving Canaan to Israel, he had already given the land east of the Jordan River to these distant relatives. But the Moabites and Ammonites didn’t seem to care much for their cousins. They may not have known about God’s caution to Moses. They may not have understood that the land they had was at God’s pleasure.  First, they refused to offer any water to the Israelites. Then, they got a prophet named Balaam to curse them.”

“Is that the talking donkey story?”

“Exactly. But we don’t have time for that. Look it up for yourself.^[7] And then, after Balaam failed, they slept with the Israelites.”

“You mean made a treaty?”

“No. I mean some Moabite women seduced some Israelite men, both physically and spiritually.^[8] What Balaam couldn’t accomplish with curses had now been done.”

“So, now we’re back to what you said earlier. You were quoting Moses. And that’s why you were so vehement about Tobiah, with your ‘you have no share.’ That was all about Tobiah’s heritage.”

Nehemiah nodded. “Tobiah took notice. As you already mentioned, he emerged as my most sophisticated opponent. All through the planning and attacks, Tobiah is part of the team. And then you discover that Shecaniah, one of the nobles, was Tobiah’s father-in-law. And Tobiah’s son married the daughter of Meshullam, one of the most prolific builders of the wall.^[9]

“These alliances caused three big problems for me. First, Tobiah heard everything that was happening inside the rebuilding process. He knew exactly how well we were doing. Second, all of his friends and family kept telling me that Tobiah was a good guy, that he couldn’t be like the other opponents. And third, Tobiah kept writing me threatening letters, based on all his information and relationships.”^[10]

“So how long did all his work against you last? You got the wall built in spite of him, right?”

Nehemiah smiled, sadly. “But have you forgotten that rebuilding the wall was just the first step? And in many ways the simplest? I was also committed to rebuilding the nation, to restoring the people to faithful living. And Tobiah was persistent, as persistent as I was. As we already have discussed, while I was gone to Susa, Tobiah talked his way into a little apartment in a temple storeroom.”

“You know that he’s a perfect illustration of his family’s relationship with the Israelites,” I said. “Saul’s first battle after becoming king of Israel was responding to an attack by the Ammonite king.^[11] Then David and his army fought against them for two seasons of battle after an Ammonite king made David his first battle.”^[12]

Nehemiah nodded. “And did you notice that David’s seduction of Bathsheeba happened during the second of those campaigns? It’s almost like the situation with Balaam.”^[13]

“I wonder,” I reflected, “if David’s fierceness about destroying the Ammonites contributed to Tobiah’s resolve to frustrate you. David was brutal.”

“I’m not sure,” Nehemiah sounded thoughtful. “The shaming and brutality David demonstrated were consistent with the way conquests happened in those days. Be careful of using your standards of justice to judge peoples before you, or even people in your day.

“That said, in the centuries after this Ezekiel and Zephaniah both talk in prophecy about what will happen to the Ammonites because of their defiance of God and rejoicing over the destruction of the temple.^[14] Both of those prophets talk about what God will do to discipline Israel for disobedience, and that’s why we had so much work to do rebuilding the wall. But God also warned the Ammonites about their mocking of Him.”

We sat quietly for awhile. The story of the Ammonites is sobering. The way that it played out through Tobiah helped me understand again that Nehemiah’s memoirs are a remarkable summary of the whole story of God’s work with Israel.

Finally, I spoke. “I won’t make you go back into the  story  of Tobiah again. But I want to see if I understand.

1. Leaders need to know the full story of their opponents to guide their responses.
2. Resistance, especially spiritual resistance, can have deep roots.
3. Tribal tensions, family tensions, can last a long time.
4. Even after the rest of the people relax, leaders need to stay alert.
5. Little compromises can have big consequences.
6. God waits a long long time for people to change.”

“That’s pretty good,” he said. “I think we’re almost done with our conversations. I think you are almost ready to move on to your own great work.”

I turned away. I knew he was right. But I didn’t want that last conversation.