Nehemiah 13:30-31

30 Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits.Remember me, O my God, for good.

The book of Nehemiah ends here. with a prayer that God remember what he’s done. I don’t think that Nehemiah is saying this because he thinks God will forget. In fact, I’m really not sure why he’s said it so much throughout this book.

It doesn’t make any sense for him to be saying, constantly, “Remember me, oh God, for good!,” unless it is more of a prayer, a calling out to God. Nehemiah is calling out, “REMEMBER ME! My life has been hard, but I’ve tried to do your commands. Remember the good I’ve done and not the bad. Remember when I followed you, and I’m praying that you’ll forget the times I failed you.”

Remember me, oh God.

As we end Nehemiah, this cry haunts me.

What will I be remembered for?

How do I want to be remembered?

What’s the difference between how I will be and how I want to be remembered? Where can I change?

Remember me, oh God, for good. Thank you for forgiving my sin through the sacrifice of your son on the cross. Thank you for the hope that you have given us, in raising your son from the dead – the resurrection power. Where, O death, is your victory?

Thank you God.

Nehemiah 13:28-29

[28] And 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. [29] Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

They desecrated the priesthood.

How? – Jehoiada was the son of the high priest, Eliashib. He had married Sanballat’s daughter. He had married a woman of foreign descent, which, in case you haven’t figured out, was a big no-no for the priests.

They took God’s command and broke it.

They took the covenant between God and the priesthood/Levites, and desecrated it.

I took God’s command and broke it…

Many times in my life I have broken God’s command, messed up, failed, fallen short. I’ve committed sins of commission, omission and of not having a mission.

Jesus says, “GO and MAKE disciples.” – I act like he actually means stay and only talk to people if you really have to.

Jesus says, “Love one another.” – Well, actually, I act like he means when they’re nice to us, we should love them.

God desires all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4) – Well, I act like he means only those I think should be saved, you know: not our enemies, not those who have killed innocents, not terrorists or tv evangelists.

I thank God that His ways are much higher than my ways.

I probably would have killed Saul, the murderer and terrorist, before he became Paul. Before he became a man whose only will was to do God’s, and only love was to Jesus Christ, our Lord.

What is God convicting you of today?

What command of God have you twisted to make it become your own?

Nehemiah 13:23-27

[23] In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. [24] And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. [25] And 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. [26] Did 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. [27] Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

Wow. 

Just… wow.

Not sure what to say about some of this passage. Nehemiah literally beats and pulls the hair out of some of the children, because they could not speak the language of Judah.

Harsh treatment, it seems, especially to the children. It isn’t their fault they don’t know the language, its their parents fault.

I wonder then, if this is another example of God showing us a fault of a great man of God. Nehemiah, in his anger, sins…

But, it could be that this is the only way that they would listen, turn and repent. Their bruises would heal, and the hair could probably grow back, but their spiritual souls mattered more. God’s commandment mattered more.

Either way you take it, it is a shocking passage.

What can we take from it?

Are we taking God’s commands seriously?

Are we allowing things of this world to come between us and God?

Are we in danger of sinning in our anger?

Just a few thoughts from a hard passage… What do you think?

Nehemiah 13:22

Then 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.

Purify yourselves – stand guard – keep the Sabbath day holy! I’ve been reading through Philippians and those exhortations by Nehemiah reminded me of Philippians 1:9-11:

⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

What am I approving of that isn’t excellent in my life?

That you may approve what is excellent – the Levites were allowing the Sabbath to be defiled, that’s not excellent.

Is my love abounding more and more in knowledge and discernment?

Am I making good or bad choices? What choices were the Levites making?

What do I need to stand guard against?

The Levites were to stand guard that no one defiles the Sabbath. What do I need to stand guard against in my life?

Just a few questions that convicted me as I read this passage.

What are your thoughts?

Nehemiah 13:19-21

[19] As 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. [20] Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. [21] But 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.

I will lay hands on you. From Nehemiah’s tone, you can infer that he’s not meaning the New Testament form of “laying on of  hands.” That form was much more gentle than what Nehemiah was meaning.

Nehemiah is ticked, once again. Indignant at the people’s disregard of the Sabbath, and the merchants who wouldn’t change their ways. So, he says, “I’m going to beat you if you logde outside of the city on the Sabbath!”

When was the last time you were mad enough to “lay hands” on someone?

Was it for a good reason?

Was it for a godly reason?

Nehemiah 13:15-18

[15] In 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. [16] Tyrians 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! [17] Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? [18] Did 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.”

Did not your fathers act in this way?

Didn’t you see how that turned out?

Why are you breaking the commands of God?

When has that ever turned out well?

I look at the Israelites, and I think, “Yeah, you stupid people! You know how this turns out, yet you keep doing it!”

Then I get a wake up call and see that I do the same. I know the commands of God are there to help us, but I break them, sometimes just to make life easier. Love one another – bah, only if they love me back. Bear one another’s burdens – bah, only if they help me out too. Go and make disciples – bah, I’ll let them come to me instead.

Did not Christians before you act in this way?

How did that turn out?

Today, remember that God’s commands are not there as a burdensome list that we have to continuously keep. They are commands meant to keep us from sin, and its consequences… to keep us from selfishness and from being unlovely.

Have you ever been repelled by a person who wants to love and care for you?

Let’s change the status quo – let’s be an example that future generations of Christians WANT to follow.

Nehemiah 13:10-14

[11] So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. [12] Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. [13] And 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. [14] Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

Why is the house of God forsaken?

Ouch.

Why ouch? I started thinking about the house of God, and we’ve discussed before how, as Christians, our bodies are the temple of God. Then I thought about how I’ve let the spiritual “rooms”, as it were, become dusty, full of cobwebs, and musty from disuse.

Why is the house of God, within me, forsaken?

Laziness? Busyness? Apathy?

All of the above?

Maybe it is time for you, as it is for me, to gather the troops, if you’ll pardon the metaphor, and clean up the house of God in yourself. I’m not sure what that means for you, but for me it will mean cutting back on something in order to make room for God. That sounds terrible, but that’s what it has come to. Busyness doesn’t equal success… especially when it comes to our relationship with God.

So, what do you need to do to “clean house”?

Nehemiah 13:10

[10] I 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.

Run away. That’s what I wanted to do last Friday. Good Friday, huh. I’ve always wondered why we call it good. Jesus is beaten, scourged, hung on a cross and dies. That part isn’t good.

Yes, I know, I know. He was the sacrifice for our sins, abolishing them in a way that the blood of bulls and goats never could. But still… Good Friday?

Back to the point, Friday we began the long process of repairing a crack in our foundation, which means digging down about 5 ft clearing the dirt out, then sealing the crack. All Friday I dug by hand, Saturday we had a backhoe come in to help… only to find a broken sewer pipe. Once we fixed that we were able to finally seal the cracks, but that needed time to dry. Yesterday we finally filled in the rest of the dirt, much to my joy.

Run away. That’s what I pondered. I didn’t want to dig, shovel, wheelbarrow and tar.

You ever feel like that? Like you want to run away?

Interestingly, the Levites who fled to their fields in this passage weren’t running because they didn’t want to do the work. They fled because they weren’t getting the tithes, the food, they needed to survive.

They ran because they needed to feed their families.

Once again, I find how selfish I can be. I want to run from work, because it is, well, work.

The Levites ran because they couldn’t feed their families, so they fled to work.

They ran toward work.

What do you need to run towards today?

Nehemiah 13:4-9

[4] Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, [5] prepared 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. [6] While 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 [7] and 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. [8] And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. [9] Then 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.

You may be reading this and wondering the same thing I did when I first read it – Why is Nehemiah so mad?

In verses 1-3, it was read from the law that no Ammonite was to enter in the assembly of God. Tobiah was an Ammonite, so Eliashib blatantly disrespects the law, and Nehemiah’s command, by allowing Tobiah to store things in a chamber that was once used for the grain offering, tithes of grain, wine and oil – things that only the Levites, singers, gatekeepers and priests were to have. He basically gave Tobiah a room in the court of God, which Eliashib was specifically just told not to do.

It’s like Eliashib waits until Nehemiah leaves, sticks his tongue out and rebels like a little child. You might also say he was passive-aggressive.

Nehemiah returns to find that Eliashib has blatantly disregarded not only his command, but God’s. And he is ticked – the Scripture says “very angry.” He threw all of the furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber and set out cleansing the chambers. He took it as a desecration that had to be cleansed/purified. It kind’ve sounds familiar to Jesus’ cleansing of the temple – both times – actually.

Jesus and Nehemiah both had indignation – a righteous anger. And in that they did not sin.

Therein lies the difference between my usual anger and theirs. Mine’s not necessarily righteous in the true sense of the word… I reckon it would be better denoted as selfish anger.

Indignation = righteous anger.

Temper Tantrum = selfish anger.

We should have indignation at the wrongs that occur in this world, and resolve to change them.

We shouldn’t have selfish anger that only seeks to put ourselves first – because that’s all that we end up doing.

So, the next time you get mad, think to yourself:

Is this righteous anger… or am I just having a temper tantrum?

Nehemiah 13:1-3

[1] On 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, [2] for 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. [3] As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.

The Israelites heard from the law. They found out they were doing something wrong, and then fixed it.

They were able to change quickly, because they believed that God’s Law was the final word.

Now, I know that God’s word is true, that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” – 2 Timothy 3:16

But I don’t act like it. I don’t try to change as quickly as I should… or rather, I do change quickly and end up in the wrong direction.

I’m a quick change artist… but I don’t make the right change.

or worse… I don’t read God’s word so I know what to change.

Instead, I go on selfishly, doing what I want. Doing what feels right – just what the Israelites were doing.

Thank God for forgiveness and grace. I’d be a dead man.

Open your eyes to the Scripture, and the only way to do that is to read it. Ask God to reveal to you what needs to be changing, or what needs to be changed. Then ask for strength to change it in yourself, or change it in the world.

We can’t do either without God… but with Him, we can do anything.