But the restoration of the defenses of Jerusalem did not go forward unhindered. Satan was working to stir up opposition and bring discouragement. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, his principal agents in this movement, now set themselves to hinder the work of rebuilding. They endeavored to cause division among the workmen. They ridiculed the efforts of the builders, declaring the enterprise an impossibility and predicting failure. (PK 641.1) MC VC

“What do these feeble Jews?” exclaimed Sanballat mockingly; “will they fortify themselves? ... will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?” Nehemiah 4:2. Tobiah, still more contemptuous, added, “Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.” Nehemiah 4:3. (PK 641.2) MC VC