Just Remember! Nehemiah 13

“It is not how you start, but how you finish that really counts.” This maxim is uniquely appropriate for God’s people in Nehemiah’s day and for God’s people assembled here as we complete our study of an incredible Old Testament account. As Nehemiah wraps up, God’s people have everything going for them: God had recently sent them a leader (Nehemiah) who inspired them out of laziness, He had helped them rebuild their embarrassment of a wall against all odds (enemies attacks, famine, time, etc.), and he had reacquainted them with His law, festivals, confession, and repentance. Most recently, God gave them the added grace of a sacred dedication service and amazing worship experience at the temple. You would think that with all of these graces showered on God’s people that they would have every reason to finish this chapter of their history on the up-and-up. However, this is unfortunately not the case. Nehemiah ends on a relatively low note as the inspiring leader responsible for this account is made to provide much needed correction, yes,….correction ALREADY! These five correctives remind the people of God in both Nehemiah’s day and in our day what is required to be useful to the Lord in this ever-darkening world.

Foreigners Must be Excluded From the Temple-13:1-3

On the day of the celebration mentioned last week (see Nehemiah 12:27-47), the people “read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, because they did not meet the Sons of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. So when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel…” (13:1-3). In order for the worship the people were enjoying in Nehemiah 12 to remain pure and God-glorifying, it had to be free of corrupting agents that were pervasive in foreign lands. If the Ammonites and Moabites were allowed admittance to into the temple area, it would completely destroy the distinction of the worship offered to God, which was, as mentioned in chapter 12, to be pure. Coming at the very end of this book, Nehemiah reminds the people that the present state of distinction they enjoyed was not going remain on its own; the people had to actively ward of corrupting agents in order to keep the worship meaningful and God-glorifying.

This is not unlike the instructions given before the Lord’s Supper at our church today. While everyone is welcome to attend our church, only those who have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ are invited to participate in communion.  In fact, anyone who takes communion in an unworthy manner runs the risk of being struck down by God himself in judgment. Why? Because unbelievers neither understand nor do they appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus that the Lord’s Supper celebrates. Therefore, their participation in it would dilute and even harm the message of this symbolic practice.

Ultimately, this is a corrective established to keep worship from being corrupted by the world. Though we are to live in the world and worship in the world, our worship is to be distinct from the world in an effort to show the world an other-worldly alternative to the world.

The Temple Must be Cleansed-13:4-9

While the first corrective is given to protect the worship of God from corruptive agents that exist on the outside, the second corrective given in this final chapter of Nehemiah deals with the kind of corruption that can come from the inside. One manifestation of this is dealt with in verses 4-9, “…Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, had prepared a large room for him where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests…” (13:4-5). Though this might seem like a small infraction (helping out a family member by moving some temple furniture/tools around to given him a place to stay in the worship building), ultimately, playing fast and loose with the things of God and using them in ways that they were not intended by God to be used is a serious offense. As the Temple was intended to accommodate the presence God on the earth during the Old Testament era, it was improper for a mere human with no right to a room to take up residence alongside so lofty a tenant in this way.

How did such a careless accommodation take place in a city like Jerusalem—a city who had just confessed, repented, and was doing their best to faithfully uphold the entire law because of God’s work through Nehemiah? Unfortunately, when the cat’s away, the mice will play. Nehemiah reveals that “during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time however, I asked leave from the king,…” (13:6). Imagine the reunion this cupbearer turned superintendent must have had with his old boss! No doubt Nehemiah must have shared with this ruler how God came through for them in a mighty way and how the provisions provided helped during his long endeavor. However, when Nehemiah returns to the land he helped restore, he witnesses signs of it returning back to what it once was as result of negligence and carelessness, ”… and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Elisashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God…” (13:7).

This is why Nehemiah responds with the following, “…It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense…” (13:8-9). The corrective given here is to refrain from using the things of God carelessly or for personal gain. The people of Nehemiah’s day did not own a thing, and because of this they had no right to do with it as they pleased. Instead, God owned it all and decides how it ought to be used—this is especially important when it comes to the temple and everything in it.

Tithes Must be Restored-13:10-14

As Nehemiah deals with one problem, another one surfaces. Like an unending game of whack-a-mole, the problems of Jerusalem raise their ugly heads, leaving Nehemiah to beat them down with the mallet of these strict correctives. The third one involves tithes. As Nehemiah returns from the capital of Babylon, he also discovers that tithes have not been going to the right places, “I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field…” (13:10).

In response, Nehemiah, “reprimanded the officials and said, ‘Why is the house of God forsaken? Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts. All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses…” (13:11-12). No doubt the deficiency of funds was already having a harmful effect on the worship experience in the temple precincts. Therefore, Nehemiah wanted to put an end to this as soon as possible.

However, not only does Nehemiah deal with this in the present, he puts checks in place to keep this from happening again in the future, “In charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for the were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen….” (13:13).

As mentioned several weeks ago, the principle of contributing to the ministry is something that translates in the New Testament and Church age. It is an offense against God to leave His agent for change in the world, the church, in need.

Exhausted by the work that has already been accomplished, the recent trip to the capitol and back, and the people’s return to the problems that plagued them in the past, Nehemiah declares “Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services…” (13:14). Not only is this a request for God to remember what Nehemiah is doing, it is also a plea for help. Nehemiah is tired and knows that his human efforts, no matter how effective, will only stave off the slow slide of regression for so long. This is why he calls upon the Lord to keep this people distinct in these areas. God had done so much to bring Jerusalem and its inhabitants to this point; only God could keep these people from returning from whence they came.

The Sabbath Must be Kept-13:15-22

Nehemiah’s return uncovers even more that has gone wrong since his brief trip back to capitol in 13:15-22—this time involving the neglect of the sabbath observance, “In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day…” (13:15-16).

Shocked by this gross oversight, Nehemiah reacts by saying, “…’What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day? Did not your fathers do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath…” (13:17-18). In essence, Nehemiah wonders how the people could be sooooo stupid as to repeat the same kinds of infractions that led their forefathers into the situation they had just been brought out of, namely exile and destruction!

The greater principle those in this passage were neglecting is rest. God’s people were to be a well-rested people and unfortunately, these were failing to take their naps!

Swift action, again, was required to correct this behavior, therefore, in Nehemiah’s own words, “I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the sabbath day…” (13:19-21). Nehemiah establishes the safeguards necessary to help the people keep the commands of Scripture. Already with these correctives, one can see Nehemiah’s tendency toward action and away from mere rhetoric. It is not enough to talk about fixing any one of these maladies, the people of God had to do things differently lest they continue down these deleterious paths. Therefore, when the temple was defiled, Nehemiah had it physically cleansed, when tithes were withheld, responsible leaders were placed in charge of it, and when the sabbath was neglected, the gates were locked and guards were posted to keep people at home resting.

Again, as in verse 14, Nehemiah calls upon God for help in making these safeguards stick, “….’For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your loving kindness….’” (13:22). For a second time in this passage, Nehemiah asks for God’s compassion and patience to be exacted on both him and his people as they work on mending these infractions.

Marriage Must be Sacred-13:23-30

Unfortunately, the disobedience did not stop at the corruption entering through foreigners, the impure temple, a withheld tithe, or an unkept sabbath. The parade of transgression continues and finally, Nehemiah is made to deal with intermarriage—something clearly prohibited in the law and reiterated in Nehemiah 10, “…In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people…” (13:23-24). 

Intermarriage was already taking a hold on the distinctive culture of God’s people with the introduction of foreign languages and the mainstreaming of extra-biblical practices. This could not be allowed if God’s people were to remain distinct (at least in the way designed in the Old Testament). Eventually, there would be no telling the difference between the Jews and the Ammonites or Moabites. Assimilation and syncretism would eventually erode what set God’s people apart.

Mixing with the world in the kinds of relationships that are prone to distract us from God can, in the same way, erode the distinction of Christians today. We are not called to assimilate into the world nor syncretize our beliefs with the world’s teachings. We are called to be set apart in the world, shining a light to the truth of the one true God through our peculiarly lived lives complete with excellent relationships lived out, in some cases, in the context of holy matrimony.

In order to correct this tendency for those in Nehemiah 13, Nehemiah “contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, ‘You shall not give your daughters to their sons nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves…’” (13:25-29). No doubt this “repeat after me” kind of exercise reiterated God’s high standard for marriage in the minds of those who voiced this promise.

Nehemiah concludes his account by saying, “Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task, and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good…” (13:30-31). As has been the case on countless occasions throughout this incredible book, Nehemiah offers prayer to the Lord, asking God, for a third time in this chapter, to remember Him for the good that he had done in His name and in His power. Truly, Nehemiah’s account ends in these final two verses by highlighting two themes that have propelled the book along: prayer to the Lord and action in His name. These are the two pillars upon which this book has been built and the design through which God has moved through His people to rebuild a wall and a distinguished community poised to change the world.

So What?

However, their success in changing the world for the glory of God would be in direct proportion to how well they kept these corrections given in this final chapter—i.e. to not allow foreign corruption to infiltrate the body, to set apart the things of God for His glory alone, to contribute meaningfully to the ministry, to make sure they take time to rest, and to thwart of distracting relationships that erode what makes them peculiar. These reiterated principles are excellent reminders for us as we leave this text and should challenge us to take inventory of our lives to see if we are a help or a hindrance to the community God is about the business of building here at Crystal Spring Baptist Church.

What, if any, foreign substances, relationships, or activities, are you allowing in your life that could corrupt your character or witness for God?  Have you set apart your life unto God and are you seeking for His glory to be realized over and above selfish gain? Are you contributing meaningfully of your life, time, and money to the ministry? Are you rested and find your rest in an all-powerful God? Do any distractions exist in your life that take your gaze away from that which is holy? If the answer is “yes” to any of these, I pray that that we take our cue from Nehemiah’s example and adopt a life of fervent prayer that relies on God’s grace to overwhelm our shortcomings. However, may we also predispose ourselves to action by making changes and putting up safeguards that keep us where we need to be. Then and only then will we be a distinct community that can be used by God to bless those around us.