Backsliding

History Repeats Itself

Last week, David took us through the renewal of Israel and we were reminded that Nehemiah was not just there to rebuild a wall, but a people.

This morning we are going to wrap up our exile series by finishing the book of Nehemiah.

The Jews were still in exile but were also still the chosen people of God. When the Word of God was proclaimed among them, revival broke out! There were festivals, sacrifices, covenant renewal, repentance, reestablishing corporate worship and repopulating the city.

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Chapter 9 - There was a corporate prayer of confession

Chapter 10 - ALL the people made a vow to honor God in very specific ways

Chapter 11 - People were selected to live in Jerusalem and the Levites were appointed to serve in the temple

Chapter 12 - We read about the dedication of the wall.

There is not a specific date mentioned for the wall dedication. It could have aligned with the events of earlier chapters and was just mentioned at the end because it is the climax of the work. It could have happened at a later date simply because of the logistics of such an event. It might have been the next event to take place after the renewal that just took place. For whatever reason, Nehemiah kept the date a mystery for us. He simply stated what took place, “at the dedication of the wall”.

What a celebration it was! Two groups marched up onto the wall - one heading south and one heading north while singers and musicians filled the air with music. Ezra led one group and Nehemiah followed the other. The march ended with both groups surrounding the temple of Yahweh, and it was a party!

Nehemiah 12:43 CSB

43 On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem’s rejoicing was heard far away.

On that same day, the support of the Levites, the temple workers, was established:

Nehemiah 12:44–47 CSB

44 On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths. The legally required portions for the priests and Levites were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving. 45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed. 46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were heads of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for Aaron’s descendants.

As we approach chapter 13, we continue the good news. There is a different mention of time. Instead of “on that same day”, we read, “at that time”.

"At that time the book of Moses was read publicly to the people.”

This could be referring to a specific, singular moment, or the fact that the public reading of scripture was a part of their life now. On one particular instance, while they were gathered at the temple to hear the Torah being read, they came across a passage from Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 23:3–5 CSB

3 No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the Lord’s assembly; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the Lord’s assembly. 4 This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you. 5 Yet the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but he turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you.

When the people heard this command, they responded:

Nehemiah 13:3 CSB

3 When they heard the law, they separated all those of mixed descent from Israel.

This is a glimmer of hope for the almost annihilated Jews. FINALLY! It only took hundreds of years and an exile to get them back on track, BUT they are back. They have their city back, their temple back, their people back, their worship back… and they have a renewed relationship with Yahweh.

Don’t you just LOVE happy endings?

I think we can even draw the conclusion that committed leadership that fears God can make a huge difference in the way a people group chooses to live for God.

However, what happens when leaders aren’t looking or are away seems to be a different story. At least it has been, historically:

Moses on the mountain for 40 days - Aaron makes a golden calf

Samuel was delayed in getting to Saul, so Saul offered burnt offerings and gave up his family’s future on the throne of Israel

If you go back to the beginning of our narrative on Nehemiah, there was a question the king asked:

Nehemiah 2:6 CSB

6 The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.

Nehemiah was only a temporary leader. He had given the king his word that he would return by a certain time, and we know from his character that he was a man of his word. That means that Nehemiah had to do all he could to establish and empower the people before he left and then things would be out of his control.

Neh 13:6 picks up with the story AFTER Nehemiah goes back to the king and then, after some time, he asks permission to return to Jerusalem.

What will happen when the leader is gone? Was the exile enough of a lesson to keep the people on track? Has the punishment of God been enough to command a fear of Yahweh?

And… our perfect paradise is shattered! Literally ALL that was accomplished in renewing the people will be undone, and the narrator is very careful to show that each and every commitment the people made was broken:

FAILURE 1 - Allowing an Ammonite in the Temple

Nehemiah 13:6–7 CSB

6 While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. It was only later that I asked the king for a leave of absence 7 so I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house.

What evil had the priest Eliashib done?

Nehemiah 13:4–5 CSB

4 Now before this, the priest Eliashib had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was a relative of Tobiah 5 and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and fresh oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.

He had turned one of the storerooms of the temple into a hotel room for, of all people, TOBIAH! This is one of the guys who threatened to kill the workers, to lie about them to get them in trouble with the king and the guy who bought off one of the priests to use him to try to discredit Nehemiah.

Obviously, Tobiah had a lot of pull and some of the priesthood was easily swayed. There is corruption among them for sure.

Nehemiah took some quick action and threw everything out:

Nehemiah 13:8–9 CSB

8 I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the room. 9 I ordered that the rooms be purified, and I had the articles of the house of God restored there, along with the grain offering and frankincense.

13:1-2 - “no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God”

13:7 - “the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house”

In the beginning of the chapter the people heard the word of God and removed the Ammonites from among them. Nehemiah leaves, and Eliashib allows an Ammonite to have a hotel room in the courts of the temple!

Their first failure is on the books.

FAILURE 2 - Neglecting the Temple

When Nehemiah returned, he found Tobiah living in one of the storerooms because they were EMPTY!

Nehemiah 13:10–13 CSB

10 I also found out that because the portions for the Levites had not been given, each of the Levites and the singers performing the service had gone back to his own field. 11 Therefore, I rebuked the officials, asking, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts. 12 Then all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and fresh oil into the storehouses. 13 I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for the distribution to their colleagues.

This was their second failure. They neglected the house of God that they promised NOT to neglect. Nehemiah uses the exact same word, “neglect” to make sure that we understand this is a direct failure of their previous vow:

10:32-39 the people imposed commands on themselves, vowing not to neglect the temple, giving first fruits and providing for the Levites.

10:34 bring wood

10:35-37 first fruits

10:37 a 10th for the Levites, which should go in the storerooms

Nehemiah 10:39 (CSB)

39 ... We will not neglect the house of our God.

Though the people were very specific to say they would not neglect the house of God, Nehemiah asks them, “why has the house of God been neglected?

And then Nehemiah throws out a popcorn prayer, one of the “prayers of remembrance”.

“Remember me”

Each of these failure sections ends with a prayer of remembrance.

Nehemiah 13:14 CSB

14 Remember me for this, my God, and don’t erase the deeds of faithful love I have done for the house of my God and for its services.

In other words, God, please don’t let their actions undo the things that I have done.

This might seem weird, but as a leader it is understandable. As a leader you feel responsible for the actions of the people you lead. If things go bad it is my fault, if things go good it is your credit. That is leadership.

However, in this case, Nehemiah uses some legal jargon to ask God not to hold him, as a leader, responsible for the failures of the people. Perhaps this is a good lesson for each of us that we cannot pin our own failures, or even all the failure of our nation, on our leaders.

FAILURE 3 - Profaning the Sabbath

Their third failure was profaning the Sabbath. What? How about this, “ignoring God’s command to rest on the seventh day”? That makes a little more sense in our modern English.

Nehemiah 13:15–18 CSB

15 At that time I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in stores of grain and loading them on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 The Tyrians living there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. 17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”

The people were buying food from merchants on the Sabbath and working on the Sabbath. Both of these violated the law of Moses. However, even more specifically, it violated the vows they made:

Nehemiah 10:31 CSB

31 When the surrounding peoples bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day. We will also leave the land uncultivated in the seventh year and will cancel every debt.

Again, there is a total reversal of what they promised. So, again, Nehemiah took quick action and locked the doors and threatened to take forceful action (military action) against the merchants if they kept showing up.

Remember me.

Nehemiah 13:22 (CSB)

22 ...Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion according to the abundance of your faithful love.

In other words, please do not judge me for what they have done. Again, a plea of innocence on his behalf and asking for favor because he corrected the situation.

FAILURE 4 - Intermarriage with non-Jews

Nehemiah 13:23–28 CSB

23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples but could not speak Hebrew. 25 I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves! 26 Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin. 27 Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” 28 Even one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. So I drove him away from me.

I love verse 25! Nehemiah rebuked, cursed, beat and de-bearded some of them! I am not suggesting this is a good practice for us today, but MAN what a passionate guy!

And the fact that the son of the high priest married the daughter of Sanballat - the enemy of the Jews is scandalous! Was it a power grab by the priests, a political alliance or true love? It doesn’t matter - it shouldn’t have happened!!

Again, the words used here in verse 25 are meant to echo back to the vows:

Nehemiah 10:30 CSB

30 We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons.

Remember THEM!

The prayer changes here. This time, Nehemiah asks God to hold the priests accountable for their actions. As spiritual leaders they should be held to a higher level of accountability for their actions as they are meant to model what it means to fear God and honor him.

Again, Nehemiah took action and purified the priests and got them back on track.

Remember me.

One last prayer the book ends with:

Nehemiah 13:31 (CSB)

31 … Remember me, my God, with favor.

I love this book! It has layers… like a good dessert.

On one layer this is an historical book designed to show the restoration of the city its walls after the exile. On another layer it is a book about restoration of a people back to their God and to obedience. On another layer it is a book on how God uses people - all his people to do his work: some as leaders (Nehemiah), some as teachers (Ezra), some to serve in public ministry (like the Levites) and others to do God’s work in their own neighborhood.

But there is yet another layer that overlaps with the grand narrative of Scripture. The commitment and then abandonment of people with God. There is a theme of people wanting to do what is right, and even making a commitment to do so, and then doing exactly the opposite of what they promise. This theme is very specifically pointed out by Nehemiah in the last chapter of the book.

⚡ There were three specific vows that the people made and one additional action that showed their allegiance to God. Every one of them was broken.

The order of the vows is:

10:30 - will not intermarry

10:31 - honor the sabbath

10:32-39 - not neglect temple

13:1-3 - separation from Ammon

The order of failures in chapter 13 goes in reverse:

13:4-8 - separation ignored

13:9-12 - temple neglected

13:15-16 - sabbath profaned

13:23 - marriage to foreigners

The narrator listed them in reverse order as if to peel away the layers of commitment until nothing is left. Such specific mappings and wording are not coincidence, they are intentional to show that there was an utter and total failure on the part of the Jews living in Jerusalem to keep their vows. Apparently, the EXILE was not lesson enough to force them to fear God! [Remember when we started the prophets with Malachi - the LAST of the prophets? He addressed these same issues. ]

So, if chapter 13 undoes everything vowed in chapter 10, then the only hope is chapter 9. Chapter 9 is the history of the Jews viewed through the lens of man’s failure and God’s great compassion. It is their prayer of confession. The only solution is to loop back to confession and then repentance.

This is the LOOP.

Confess, repent, live for God, fail -> repeat. Does that loop sound familiar to you?

My condition, and yours, is no different than Israel. We make many promises to God, and we fail. We have good days and bad. We have days where we are an example to the people around us and they see the glory of God in us. There are also days where we give God a black eye because we look no different than the rest of the world around us.

WE are the people of God - whom he called to take his image into the world - to point people back to him. We live in a charred, ruin of a creation that is a mere shadow of what once was as well as of what will some day be, just like the Jews did.

Chapters 9-13 shows us the pattern of humanity - to follow and to fail. To honor and to neglect. To promise and to backslide.

However, we also see in these chapters the compassion of God. It is the compassion of God that allowed them, and us, to renew and restart (and not get wiped out!) It is the compassion of God that the Jews were longing for in the promise of the Messiah - the seed of the woman from Genesis 3:15. And it is the compassion of God that we experience today through the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins so that we can stand before God unashamed.

Thank GOD for his compassion! The book of Nehemiah shows the compassion of God in keeping a remnant of Jews alive through the exile, returning them to their city - with walls and a temple to worship their God. Let’s read part of the prayer of confession from chapter 9 together:

Nehemiah 9:6–31 (CSB)

6 You, Lord, are the only God. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their stars, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and all the stars of heaven worship you.

7 You, the Lord, are the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and changed his name to Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful in your sight, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites— to give it to his descendants. You have fulfilled your promise, for you are righteous.

9 You saw the oppression of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea. 10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly they treated our ancestors. You made a name for yourself that endures to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging water. 12 You led them with a pillar of cloud by day, and with a pillar of fire by night, to illuminate the way they should go. 13 You came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them impartial ordinances, reliable instructions, and good statutes and commands. 14 You revealed your holy Sabbath to them, and gave them commands, statutes, and instruction through your servant Moses. 15 You provided bread from heaven for their hunger; you brought them water from the rock for their thirst. You told them to go in and possess the land you had sworn to give them.

16 But our ancestors acted arrogantly; they became stiff-necked and did not listen to your commands. 17 They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, and you did not abandon them. 18 Even after they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, “This is your god who brought you out of Egypt,” and they had committed terrible blasphemies, 19 you did not abandon them in the wilderness because of your great compassion.

During the day the pillar of cloud never turned away from them, guiding them on their journey. And during the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go. 20 You sent your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 You provided for them in the wilderness forty years, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. 22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples and established boundaries for them. They took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and of the land of King Og of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky and brought them to the land you told their ancestors to go in and possess. 24 So their descendants went in and possessed the land: You subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land before them and handed their kings and the surrounding peoples over to them, to do as they pleased with them. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took possession of well-supplied houses, cisterns cut out of rock, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate, were filled, became prosperous, and delighted in your great goodness.

26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They flung your law behind their backs and killed your prophets who warned them in order to turn them back to you. They committed terrible blasphemies. 27 So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. In their time of distress, they cried out to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the power of their enemies.

28 But as soon as they had relief, they again did what was evil in your sight. So you abandoned them to the power of their enemies, who dominated them. When they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven and rescued them many times in your compassion.

29 You warned them to turn back to your law, but they acted arrogantly and would not obey your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, which a person will live by if he does them. They stubbornly resisted, stiffened their necks, and would not obey. 30 You were patient with them for many years, and your Spirit warned them through your prophets, but they would not listen. Therefore, you handed them over to the surrounding peoples. 31 However, in your abundant compassion, you did not destroy them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and compassionate God.

Did you catch how many times it mentions the compassion of God?

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ASK: How often do you think about how compassionate God is towards you?

Not JUST that he would redeem us from our own sinfulness or that he would adopt us into his family, but the compassion he shows to us after that to continue to forgive, correct, rebuke, encourage, instruct and lead us. One of the lessons Nehemiah wants us to learn is how compassionate God really is.

When Moses (who also failed!) went to meet with God on the mountain, God revealed himself to Moses. He could have said anything about his power, knowledge, wisdom, foreknowledge - but he didn’t. Listen to what God wanted Moses to know about him:

Exodus 34:6–7 (CSB)

6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

You and I are broken humans with broken promises living in a broken creation, but through the compassion of God We are restored to the place of fellowship and communion with him through the sacrifice he made for us - sending Jesus to die for us.

Thank GOD for his compassion - and may his love and compassion create a desire in us to live faithfully for him.