Grievous Greed
“When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel.” Nehemiah 2:10 NKJV http://bible.com/114/neh.2.10.nkjv In our competitive world, sometimes the basis for competition is totally envious and baseless. Continuous deprivation and destruction of Jerusalem had no single benefit to the welfare of satraps and governors of other regions, who are designated by the same Persian court. Yet, Saballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, who were probably alerted by the gracious grants to Nehemiah, were deeply disturbed by the apparent mercy of God on the Jews. Although the well-being of the children of Israel has no negative impact on the well-being of the citizen of Samaria, the territory probably under the governorship of Sanballat, these officials lost their peace without Persian persecution. Those who cannot live to celebrate the achievement of others deprive the...