Reformations

Keep the fire burning!

William Booth (Founder of Salvation Army) once said “I want you young men always to bearing mind that it is the nature of a fire to go out; you must keep it stirred and fed and the ashes removed.”

Paul wrote Timothy to 2Tim1:6-8

2 Timothy 1:6–8 NASB95

6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,

If you do not fan the flames, feed the flames it will go out.

If you do not clean out the ashes eventually it will smother the flames too. So, both are needed. To be done.

Set up: Nehemiah had been the governor in Jerusalem for 12-years after the wall was completed (5:14) Nehemiah then had to return to his duties to the king as promised (Neh2:6)

Nehemiah 2:6 NASB95

6 Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.

Now it is sometime later, some say maybe a year, some say maybe longer, but scripture does not tell us the timing, but that Nehemiah returns and he finds that the flames, fire of devotion that were strong before he left have gone down and it is even worse that that.

(Transition) Tonight as we close out this great book on the heart of a prophet I want to look at what Nehemiah did upon his return.

Reformation of separation (Neh13:1-9, 23-31)

Reformation of the care for the temple (Neh13:10-14)

Reformation of the Sabbath (Neh13:15-22)

So may we look at these in three sections tonight.

Reformation of separation

Nehemiah 13:1–2 NASB95

1 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, 2 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.

Nehemiah 13:3–4 NASB95

3 So when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel. 4 Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah,

Nehemiah 13:5–6 NASB95

5 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. 6 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,

Nehemiah 13:7–8 NASB95

7 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. 8 It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.

Nehemiah 13:9 NASB95

9 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.

What do you notice in these verses that sticks out to you?

Nehemiah 13:23–24 NASB95

23 In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 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.

Nehemiah 13:25–26 NASB95

25 So I 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. 26 “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin.

Nehemiah 13:27–28 NASB95

27 “Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” 28 Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me.

Nehemiah 13:29–30 NASB95

29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. 30 Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task,

Nehemiah 13:31 NASB95

31 and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

How about verses (23-31)? Anything stick out?

Nehemiah starts looking back at (Neh8) when the law was read and the people were to be separate (vv.1-3)

The people had signed a covenant agreement after confessing their sins (Neh9-10)

They repopulated Jerusalem (Neh11)

They got all the people in place for restored worship (Neh12)

Again we do not know how long Nehemiah was gone, but what we can know is the spiritual leadership let the spiritual fire go out and the people strayed like lost sheep.

Kinda like Moses being gone for 40 days (Exo32) and the people strayed

Nehemiah returns to find spiritual compromise, defilement, apostasy

(Transition) Without strong leadership it is easy to slip into old ways, a compromise the truth. As we continue to look at this passage today you will clearly see that the people forgot the commitment to the covenant they signed. If we are not careful today we can loose sight of the commitment we made to Christ when we surrendered to Him.

First he finds Ammonites and Moabites inner-mixed with them, in violation of Jewish law (Deu23:3-4; ref: Neh10:28-29)

Back in (Neh10:28-29) the people had promised separation from people of the land who did not walk in the way of the Lord.

The mixed people, the mixed multitude created problems then, and create problems today. Today it is composed of unsaved people who want to belong to the fellowship of God’s people without trusting the Lord or submitting to His will. They want the blessings without the obligations, their appetite is still for the things of the world (Wiersbe)

The curse into blessing is illustrated in Balaam, who was called to curse Israel but ended up blessing (Num22-24). God can take any situation and make it for the good. I think we may have read that somewhere before.

Nehemiah reminds them they were committed to the reforms, and were separated (v.3) but now there are more problems

Tobiah crops his head up again, this time given space, room in the temple and he was a mixed person, who should not be there and was an enemy to the work of God in Jerusalem, but because of marriage was given way through Eliashib the priest. Speaking of crops, the place Tobiah was put was the place that the offerings were stored, the first fruits for the Levites, the singers, gatekeepers were kept. This is what Nehemiah came back to.

Reformation: Nehemiah threw out Tobiah, cleansed the rooms, returned the items of the house of God along with the offerings needed (v.9)

It does not take long for the enemy to capture, influence leadership, and too often the people will blindly follow their leaders in the path of compromise and disobedience.

Reformation of separation was needed too when it came to the mixed marriages (vv.23-31)

Previous commitment was found in (Neh10:30) and they did not honor what they agreed to.

Nehemiah’s response was expressing dismay with them (Neh10:25) and even pulled out his and their hair, oh wait, so did Ezra (Ezr9:3); by the way Ezra had people agree to dissolve mixed marriages (Ezr10)

Nehemiah reminded them that it was foreign women who created a problem for Solomon (1Kng11:4-8). The law was clear, and the people were clearly not adhering to the law. Yet this still would have to be addressed again with Malachi (Mal1-2).

Even today there may be mixed people, mixed marriages within the Christian community, our church, people of good will, honorable people, respectable people, yet have not received God’s covenant of salvation in Christ Jesus. We welcome these people and invite these people to be separate unto the Lord.

Reformation of care for temple

Nehemiah 13:10–11 NASB95

10 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. 11 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.

Nehemiah 13:12–13 NASB95

12 All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses. 13 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.

Nehemiah 13:14 NASB95

14 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.

What do you notice in these verses?

The people had stopped supporting the work in the temple with their tithes and offerings.

The Levites due to lack of support, committed support had to leave to earn support for themselves.

By stopping the tithes and offerings they were rebelling against God, stealing from God as Malachi would say.

This reform was promised back in (10:39), and a short time later they were not keeping it.

Nehemiah set everything back in place again for the tithes, offerings and the administration of such things.

Nehemiah contended, rebuked the people, he pleaded the case for God and the covenant agreement they had made, the people did respond.

“When God’s people start to decline spiritually, one of the first places it shows up is in their giving, ‘For where you treasure is, there you heart be also’ (Mt6:21) The believer who is happy in the Lord and walking in His will has a generous heart and wants to share with others. Giving is both a thermostat and a thermometer of the Christian life.” (Oglivie)

Reformation of Sabbath

Nehemiah 13:15–16 NASB95

15 In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading 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. So I admonished them on the day they sold food. 16 Also men of Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the sabbath, even in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 13:17–18 NASB95

17 Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day? 18 “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.”

Nehemiah 13:19–20 NASB95

19 It came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, 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. 20 Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 13:21–22 NASB95

21 Then I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will use force against you.” From that time on they did not come on the sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day. For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.

Anything stick out to you in this passage?

I know our time has to be short now, so need to accelerate some right now.

The covenant people of God had agreed not to do business on the Sabbath (Neh10:31) yet here there are doing it, again, they were not keeping the day holy, set apart for the Lord.

The child of God must choose spiritual wealth rather than material wealth to claim the promise of Mt6:33.

Nehemiah’s proactive steps in correcting the Sabbath problem

He rebuked the Jews who were buying and selling on Sabbath

He rebuked the nobles for allowing this to happen on the Sabbath.

He reminded the people that it was due to violation of the law that they went into captivity (ref: Jer17:21-27)

He gave clear direction, close the gates.

Levites, minister to the people.

We are to be people who set apart for the Lord, to make Him a priority as He made you one! We are to seek Him first. Where the law cannot save us, the law was a shadow to direct us to the one who can save us Jesus Christ who is our Sabbath. Consider

Romans 8:3 NASB95

3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

Romans 8:4 NASB95

4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

I know we are out of time for tonight, and this could go on even more, but I hope and pray that as we journeyed with Nehemiah we got a good glimpse of a heart of a prophet that is a great teaching for us.