In the annals of sacred history, few figures embody the spirit of cynical opposition quite like the man known as Geshem the Arabian. As we cast our eyes back to the days of the restoration of Jerusalem’s walls, we find in Geshem a perennial type of the world’s enmity toward the work of the Living God. He was not merely a local chieftain; he was a centerpiece of a triune confederacy of spite, joined by Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite. These men stood as the ancient precursors to the mockers of our own age, those who look upon the rebuilding of the spiritual walls and the anticipation of the King’s return with a mixture of scorn and strategic malice.
The scriptures record that when the work began, the heart of Geshem was immediately stirred to derision. We read in the Word, “But it came to pass, that when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?” (Nehemiah 2:19). Herein lies the first weapon of the adversary: the laugh of the unbeliever. Geshem sought to frame the holy obedience of Nehemiah as mere political insurrection, attempting to use the fear of earthly monarchs to stifle the command of the King of Kings. He looked upon the broken stones and the weary laborers and saw only futility, failing to realize that “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build” (Nehemiah 2:20).
As the walls rose and the gaps were closed, the tactics of Geshem shifted from mockery to treachery. When the physical defense of the city became a reality, the opposition moved into the realm of the “conference table.” Geshem and his cohorts sent messages to Nehemiah, inviting him to a meeting in the villages in the plain of Ono. Yet, the discernment of the faithful recognized the snare. They “thought to do me mischief,” Nehemiah observed. Geshem’s name was even used as a primary source for the “reports” of the day—the ancient version of the whispering campaigns and false narratives that plague the remnant today. “It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel” (Nehemiah 6:6). Note how the scripture identifies him here as “Gashmu,” perhaps a more formal or colloquial rendering, but the intent remained the same: to manufacture a lie so loud that the truth might be intimidated into silence.
The legacy of Geshem is a sobering reminder that the work of God will always be met by those who have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem. His opposition was not based on a misunderstanding, but on a fundamental hatred for the restoration of God’s order. He was the voice of the “heathen” who feared the strength of a city set on a hill. Just as Geshem watched the gates being hung with a trembling heart, so too do the powers of this world watch the preparation of the Bride today. They spread rumors, they suggest compromise in the “plain of Ono,” and they mock the imminency of the Lord’s return. But like the walls of Jerusalem, the truth is built upon a foundation that no Arabian prince nor earthly power can shake. We must remain at the work, for as the scripture commands, “be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).