Have you ever noticed how that quite often if the pastor is gone for the weekend so are the people? How that when the boss is gone often the workers slow down. How that what we do in the dark is sometimes something we would never do in the light. We stray. We walk away thinking no one will see us. Here is the problem though, we are never alone. The Lord never sleeps or slumbers. After their revival and reforms what would Israel do when Nehemiah was gone? I believe in chapter 13 that we see what happened after Nehemiah had gone back to see the king, and now comes back home to Israel.
Nehemiah 13:1-9 ( ESV )
1On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the Assembly of God,
2for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.
4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,
5prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
6While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king
7and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.
9Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
On the day that Nehemiah had come back home to Israel the people of Israel were reading from Dt. 23:3-4. This passage dealt with how that the Lord did not want them to marry those from the people of Ammon and Moab. This was not a racial issue but rather a spiritual one as these people wanted to bring their false religion into the mainstream of God’s people. They wanted Israel to reject the God of their people. God had not forgotten how these people had treated Israel. They even had Balaam come in and try to prophesy against them. He was unable to do this deed. He did though, come up with a plan to bring their false religion into Israel by intermarriage of his people with Israel.
Even the priest of the people Eliashib had been affected by this type of thinking. He was to take care of the storage rooms of God. These were the places where grain offerings, frankincense, vessels, wine and oil were to be placed and to be used by the Levites, singers, gatekeepers and the priests. Eliashib, had turned this part of the temple into a place for Tobiah who was a relative by marriage. This is the same Eliashib who had helped with the building of the wall and now he was willing to profane the temple for this man. Surely there were exceptions to the rule might have been his thinking. Eliashib, who was once close to the Lord now allowed family to rule over that which was right. God wanted a cleansed temple, not one room was to be dedicated to another. In the same way this is what the Lord wants of us. We as believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God and He wishes to share us with no other.
I love Nehemiah’s reaction to what had taken place while he had been with King Artaxerxes. The Bible tells us that he became very angry, and threw out all the furniture that belonged to Tobiah. It was time for a house cleaning in the house of God. We should feel the same way in our own lives. We should become angry at our sin. When we see our sin we should toss it out, no matter the cost. I want to be cleansed and do the things that will bring me back to God. Is it time to clean your house? Are there rooms that you have let unwanted guests to stay in?
Nehemiah 13:10-13 ( ESV )
10I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.
11So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.
13And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers.
While Nehemiah was gone not only had a room been given to Tobiah the enemy but the people had not been giving to help out with the temple and its servants. Paul reminds us that we are to remember that the workers of God are worthy of their hire. It is our duty to make sure that the servants of God are taken care of. They had been willing to take care of the ungodly Tobiah and had forsaken God’s ministers.
Now I am not going to jump on the bandwagon of how a person must give. I realize that we have debts and bills but God and His work should always be given top priority. Are you substituting things, or other little gods for giving to the work of the Lord? He should be the one who takes of our firstfruits. He is not to be treated like a beggar on the street pleading for us to give. We should be willing to give thankfully to Him.
Nehemiah was blunt and asked very plainly, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” Do we have to be reminded about giving to the Lord? We should just do it without question.
Nehemiah 13:15-22 ( ESV )
15In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food.
16Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself!
17Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?
18Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster£ on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day.
21But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.
22Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
They had promised to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy. Yet, like many of us they became lax in their promise. The Sabbath was to be kept for the people of Israel, so that they would have a day of rest in which they could reflect on the goodness of their God. When Nehemiah came back home, he saw the Israelites, working with the winepresses, bringing in grains, and all kinds of loads being placed upon their donkeys. They were buying and selling products as well. If this was not enough they were allowing merchants from Tyre within their gates to sell their products. They could have used the Sabbath as a witnessing tool to these men of their devotion to their God. Israel chose instead to forsake the commands of the Lord and buy from the people from Tyre.
Once again, may we act like Nehemiah did when he saw a brother in sin, and that was simply to confront them. None of us like to confront or be confronted, but at times we must do this. We must stand in the gap for the Lord. He was blunt with them. Note how Nehemiah dealt with them. Nehemiah brought up how their Fathers had fallen into this sin. He also by doing this was using the scripture to prove his point on what they were doing was wrong. We need to be willing to confront but in a spirit of love and by using His Word.
Nehemiah not only told them not to fall into this sin. Nehemiah also, prevented the suppliers from Tyre and other places to come into the city. Nehemiah had the gates shut. He even threatened the sellers with physical harm if they came in. In the same way we must not only say something is wrong but we must be willing to prevent sin from coming into our sight. Abstain brothers and sisters, Run away. Guard your heart. Make a covenant with your eyes. Whatever you must do by the power of the Spirit, lock the gates of your heart from allowing the enemy even a foothold.
Nehemiah 13:23-31 ( ESV )
24And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but the language of each people.
25And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.
27Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”
28And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me.
29Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work;
31and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
Why be so hard, against those who would marry these unbelieving people from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab? Why make such a big deal out of it all? Who are we to get involved? I have even heard this from parents, who wonder why I make such a fuss about their children dating nonbelievers. Look at some of the results of what had happened. We know that for many they would be led astray to follow after other gods. Yet, here we see that because of this disobedience they could not speak the language of Judah but the language of each people. The children did not even know how to speak the Jewish language.
Once again this is not a racial issue in this passage. It is a passage though that says that the children were following after the traditions of their other nations. The end result, was that the Lord, was not being honored by them. Rather, they were influencing the Israelites to follow after other gods. If being married to a nonbeliever is not that important than what will be the influence of our Christianity upon our children in this type of a relationship. We live in a day of “Tolerance,” all religion is ok and all roads lead to heaven. This is a falsehood from the pits of Hell. Jesus declared that He is the only way to God. When we fall into this trap of marrying unbelievers, we teach our children that it does not matter what we believe. This teaching could be no further from the revealed truth of God.
How did Nehemiah respond? Everything was peace, love and Bobby Sherman? I don’t think so. Nehemiah grabbed some of them by the hair of their head and dragged them out. This was not a small issue to Him. He then confronted them with the follies of this type of sin by using the Word and reminding them of how Solomon had fallen into this sin. He reminded them with the Word how that God was not pleased, because Solomon’s heart was not as true as it had once been. It was an act of treason to fall into this type of sin.
It had so affected the people that once again we read of how Eliashib had fallen into the sin of compromise. Here he is again, with a family member who was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. His family had been compromised. God was not the most important thing in their lives. Nehemiah did not take this lightly, for the Bible tells us that he chased him from his sight. We will not tolerate sin.
Are we in need of being cleansed? What types of unholy alliances have we allowed ourselves to fall trap to? Are we willing to be cleansed? Look also at what Nehemiah did in verse 31. He never asked the people to do what he himself would do. He purposed to part of the solution to the problem.
One other phrase that I want to draw your attention to is found 4 times in this passage. The phrase, Remember me, O my God is brought up in verses 14, 22, 29 and 31. There will always be people who will remember us when we walk with the Lord and live radically for Him. They will mock us, be deceptive, plan behind our backs and even try to ruin our name. They will act this way and some will even try to destroy His name. Yet, what is more important is that the Lord remembers us. He remembers us during the darkest of trials and remembers us when we are striving to serve Him at all cost.
REMEMBER ME, O MY GOD.
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