We could use someone like Nehemiah who isn’t willing to compromise the Word of God simply because the culture demands it. So, are you willing to stand on the truth of God’s word? Are you willing to say “thus says the Lord”
To understand what is happening here, well, we need to look at the first seven verses of chapter thirteen. Specifically we need to understand verse seven. In verse seven we are told that Nehemiah returned to King Artaxerxes in the 32nd year of his reign. This would put the year right around 432 BC. Why would Nehemiah do this? In the ancient near east it was customary for a servant to return to his king to reaffirm his allegiance to that king. The time away from the king was variable from king to king, but the custom remained. The servant was required to go before the king who had sent him and restate his loyalty to that king. So that is what Nehemiah had done.
Nehemiah returned sometime later – perhaps between 432 – 431 BC since the prophet Malachi reproved the Jews in Judah for the very things Nehemiah details in this chapter. What we find here are reforms that are in direct response to the violations listed in Nehemiah 10:29-32.
The Exclusion of Foreigners
On that day they 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. Nehemiah 13:1-3 NASB
Wow, this seems a bit harsh, doesn’t it. So what’s wrong with some Ammonites or Moabites living among the assembly of people? What is the problem with these folks living in and among those in Jerusalem? Doesn’t God like diversity?
There are a few things here that we need to understand. First, yes this is harsh. But God had set down His rules about this in Deuteronomy 23:3-4
No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of theLord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord, because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Deuteronomy 23:3-4 NASB
So the reason this happened was because these folks did not give the Israelites food and water? That event happened around a century before the current situation. Does God hold a grudge THAT long? It sure seems like it. But there is more to this issue. In Ezra 9 there is an account of when Ezra led a group back 30 years before Nehemiah to rebuild the Temple. What Ezra found was that the remaining Israelites had intermarried with, among others, the Ammonites and Moabites. These intermarriages, along with the aforementioned people’s detestable practices, spread impurity throughout the land and the Israelites. So in this light we see that God’s radical action was indeed necessary and preferred. When a person has cancer, that tumor must be removed somehow. That is what happened with vv. 1-3: the cancer of the Ammonites and Moabites was removed from Israel.
It was an issue of purity, not compatibility.
The Expulsion of Tobiah
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. But 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, and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. 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. Nehemiah 13:4-9 NASB
When I first read this section, my reaction was “Really!? This guy was living in the Temple? What’s up with that?” Remember Tobiah was one of the guys that was hurling insults towards the Israelites as they rebuilt the wall. He was one of the guys trying to intimidate and scare the Israelites off. So why is he in the Temple?
The Temple had many rooms used for different purposes. Some of these purposes included a storehouse for grain and such for the priests. Evidently Tobiah was an influential relative of the priest Eliashib. Eliashib cleared out a room and gave it to Tobiah so he’s have an apartment to live in the Temple.
Nehemiah was out of town when this happened. However he learned of it somehow and asked the king to return to deal with this. Now notice that the king (though it isn’t written here) gave Nehemiah permission to leave. This makes me want to respect Artaxerxes a little more. He knew Nehemiah’s burden for Jerusalem and didn’t demand that Nehemiah stay the entire time planned. That is a king who is concerned for his subjects.
So Nehemiah returns. Notice what he says about Eliashib’s actions: He calls them evil. They weren’t a mistake, a flub, or anything but evil. This gives another indicator of how serious Nehemiah was about the purity of Israel. Nehemiah returns and throws out Tobiah’s possessions and Tobiah himself. Nehemiah wasn’t playing around. Can you picture Nehemiah getting back into town and coming to Tobiah in the Temple? Imagine what Nehemiah said…imagine what Tobiah and Eliashib thought. Nehemiah wasn’t one to be trifled with. But it didn’t end there. Nehemiah gave an order to make that room ritualistically pure. The, after the room had been purified, Nehemiah returned to it it’s original contents.
Wow, Nehemiah was a great leader who knew what was right and was determined to do that which is right.
The Revival of Tithes
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. So I 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. 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 they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen. 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. Nehemiah 10-14 NASB
The final section in this week’s article is dealing with the lack of tithes. The priests who attended the Temple lived off the tithes (literally tenths*) of the people. There were three tithes that comprised all the compulsory giving. Think of these as taxes. The total of these tithes were between 22% and 30% depending how one calculated the third tithe. In any event these tithes were collected for various purposes, not the least was the pay for the priests so they could attend to their duties. When the tithes weren’t being given, the priests had to find other means of support to meet their daily needs. When the priests did this, the Temple service suffered. So Nehemiah once again makes sure that the tithes were restored. He brought the people together and told them that the House of God – the Temple – was being neglected because they had refused to tithe according to the Law. Well, the tithes were revived, reliable people from various walks of life were appointed to distribute according to the needs, and sanity restored.
An interesting thing to me is that the four who were considered reliable was a priest, a scribe, a person of the priestly tribe of Levi and a layman. Every walk of life is represented by these four men. Looks like all the people of Jerusalem were involved in the revival.
When I think about our own situation as the church in difficult times, I wonder where our Nehemiah is?
Where is the one who will stand up to those who pervert the word of God? Who will stand and say that God’s word is opposed to the social engineering that is happening? Homosexuality is a sin. Homosexual *marriage* is wrong. And yet we have entire denominations falling into line with the culture on this and many other issues. How have we fallen so far…
The Bald Theologian 