Untitled Sermon (6)

Nehemiah 13 ESV

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, 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. As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent. Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 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. 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 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. And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 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. 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. 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. Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 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. 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. 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. 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! Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 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.” 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. Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 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. 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. In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 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. And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an 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. 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. Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?” 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. Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

Week 7 -

Big Ideas

Notice the centrality of the Word in their worship. (v1)

Notice the quick obedience they are displaying. (v3)

Reforms

The reforms of Chapter 13 are rooted in corrections in light of the covenant that the people make in Chapter 10. 3 Major parts...

v30 - We will not intermarry. Idolatry issue. Separation to remain faithful to the Lord.

v31 - We will honor the sabbath.

32 - We will care for the temple. We will give generously and provide for the priests and the temple and the ministry. Summarize it perfectly at the end of v39… “We will not neglect the house of our God.”

Beautiful repentance. True repentance. It was Christ-centered, it was transparent, it led to specific obedience. Yes, all of it.

But as Sam taught us, it was imperfect. That becomes painfully clear in Chapter 13.

Now, I should note the timeline here is very fuzzy. Nehemiah mentions in v6 the 32nd year of Artaxerxes. This would be 12-13 years after Nehemiah begins, a moment when he has to return to Artaxerxes, before returning again to Jerusalem. We get a lot of “in those days” and “before this” in this chapters. So we don’t really know exactly how and when this all played out. But our best guess is some measure of time has passed between the glorious repentance and confession and covenanting in Chapters 8-10, and in that time they have totally wandered away from their commitments.

In the specific three ways they promised.

They have not cared for the house of God.

A room has been setup for Tobiah, who was an Ammonite, never to be allowed to enter the assembly of God. Now space that was setup for the care of the priests, their storehouse, is being used for brother, against the law of God.

On top of that, the people have not been caring for the priests and Levites. Not bringing offerings, not bringing gifts. The priests are having to go to their own fields and spend their time growing food to feed their families rather than ministering in the temple.

That is the first issue, dealt with in verses 1-14.

Secondly, they have profaned the Sabbath.

v15, we see they are doing business on the Sabbath. Selling their own goods, buying from other merchants who might be selling.

All very specific violations once again of their covenant back in Chapter 10.

Third, v23 - they are intermarrying once again.

The issue that appeared in Ezra and was corrected then, the issue that they covenanted not to have any more, is back.

They are intermarrying with other peoples, giving their sons and daughters and mixing with people outside the people of God.

The issue here, again just as we saw back in Ezra, is not a racial issue, not looking for pure blood, Jew supremacy or anything.

The issue is about idolatry. Its clear, if these people will forsake their false gods and worship YHWH, they can be included in the people of God. But that is not what is happening, they are giving themselves to foreign marriages and intermixing their faithfulness to God.

Again, a clear violation of their covenant.

They have gone before God in Chapter 10 as a full community, all the men and women and children, everyone, and make this commitment together.

And now, some years later, it has been forgotten, it has been pushed aside, and they are right back in the same habits of disobedience that resulted in Israel being forgotten in the first place.

What I want us to see -- the biggest point of this chapter that I want to make sure we pay attention to, remember, and hold fast to especially in these challenging days that we live in is this… Please write this down...

God preserves his people though the Word among the Church.

Two major parts to this. I woud like to take a few minutes to talk through each.

First, through the Word.

Very clearly, in verses 1-3, you see what happens when the people of God encounter the Word of God.

The word confronts.

The people repent and obey.

This is the role of the Word in our lives as believers and followers of Jesus, and why we must cling to it, hold fast to it, always.

It is Gods word to us, living and active, able to divide between bone and marrow, leave us exposed before God, able to rebuke and correct us.

When we read it, we will be cut. We will see clearly the places where our lives are falling short of Gods standards, and we will see the things we need to do to repent and obey.

This is what Gods word does!

It is why Jesus prayed in , during the high priestly prayer, his prayer recorded during the last supper, that God would sanctify his disciples and his people in his truth. Declares - your word is truth.

Satan is a deceiver, he lies to us, distracts us from what is holy and righteous.

The Word is truth, fights against lies with reality, and exposes us to where we have been deceived.

We are sanctified as we read it, are confronted by it, and respond in repentance to it.

God uses the Word, when read, when studied, when responded to in obedience, to preserve his people.

We see that in action in this text. Yes, very clearly in v1-3, but throughout the entire chapter as well. Nehemiahs reforms in each of these areas of failure are rooted in obedience to scripture. Nehemiah studied the Word, and he is bringing obedience to bear upon the people.

Through it all, it is the Word in action that is preserving the people of God.

Application for us - We need to live in this book. We need to be in every sense of the word, Men of the Word. Men who are defined and dependant and reliant upon the Bible, trusting that God is holding us and will continue to hold us fast to him through this thing.

You want to be sure that through this season of social distancing and quarantine that you remain faithful to Jesus. That in the midst of the chaos and confusion you dont get swallowed in anxiety and despair and depression - then HOLD FAST TO THE WORD.

Wake up every morning, get in here, read it, let it confront you, respond to it with repentance and obedience.

You want to make sure your wife, your children, your family doesnt fall away from King Jesus in confusing and challenging moments, HOLD FAST TO THE WORD.

This is why we build every single ministry area of our church around the scriptures, because this book is useful and sufficient for preserving and growing Gods people in powerful ways, preserving them through challenging days.

Hold fast to the Word, because God preserves his people through it.

God preserves his people through the Word. Also, he preserves his people among the Church.

This is the second gold nugget in Chapter 13 that I want to bring up to the surface.

The Word working in the midst of the people of God, the church, is a clear way that God keeps his people holding fast to him, returning to him when they have been in sin.

It is a little anachronistic for me to use the word church here, because at this point, the ecclesia, the gathering, that word would not have been in use.

But the concept that becomes that word in the new testament, that is precisely the right word for our day, is present here, so I am using the word church anyways.

God preserves his people through his Word among his Church.

How do you see this here? Two ways.

First, through the gathering and the accountability of community. See this in v1-3.

Here, it is the Word that is doing the confronting, and the people as one are responding in obedience. That is a beautiful picture to me, its exactly as the church is to be.

Exhorting one another to obey. Brother to brother, sister to sister, all to all responding in obedience as God leads them together.

God uses the body to preserve the body. The word moving among the church helps us all hold fast to God more tightly.

It is why community is such a critical part of our church discipleship strategy, why we exhort all of you to be involved in MCs.

We need brothers and sisters following Jesus next to us, because scripture is clear, it helps us to follow Jesus.

During these days of isolation and distancing during quarantine, we need this more than ever! We must be people who engage, not detach.

I am glad you are here on this call. I hope you will join your MC calls. If you are not in an MC, you can join one right now - we will make it happen. Just let me know.

God uses his word working among his church - in and among the gathering itself - to preserve his people.

The other way he preserves among the church is through yes the gathering, but also through church leaders. We see this in Nehemiah.

In a very real sense, this is the primary tool God uses in this moment of history to preserve his people.

This brother Nehemiah nearly singlehandedly brings about repentance in each one of these areas. Its why this chapter has the heading “Nehemiah’s Reforms”

A few examples of this...

v8, as he discovers that this temple chamber is being improperly used for Tobiah, he gets “very angry” and throws all of the furniture out, gives orders for people to come and clean the room, reset it for its proper use.

Very reiminiscent to me of as Jesus cleanses the temple.

Also, side note, both of these are examples of good and holy anger. That is not the driving point of this passage, so I dont want to dig into this too much, but Jesus never sinned, and yet he clearly got angry in . Therefore, we know anger in itself is not sin. There is a such thing as holy anger. Anger against sin, against unrighteousness, against injustice, these are holy things to be angry about. Anger at your kids messy room, anger at your wife because she didnt do things just the way you like them. Thats not holy. Its greatly unholy.

Nehemiah has holy anger here.

But, I digress, back to our point here, God using leaders in the church to preserve his people. Nehemiah here, directing, leading this first moment of correction and reform.

He continues in v10-11. The people have neglected their tithes and offerings, the ministers are starving, neglecting the ministry to feed their families. Nehemiah steps in and confronts and corrects - “Why is the house of God forsaken.”

It is a direct confrontation of sin.

It is not beating around the bush.

It is not parsing words and finding the right way to say it so that it will be well received. It is direct confrontation.

It continues, next example v17 with the sabbath violations. Nehemiah says - “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day.” Again, direct confrontation.

Here, also, pay attention as a leader he doesnt just confront, he gives practical advice and application for obedience.

He confronts and corrects.

You see it one last time in v25. This is with the intermarriage issue. On this one, Nehemiah may cross lines into sinful anger and sinful confrontation here. Let me read it and you can decide...

I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an 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.”

It lacks grace, it lacks forbearance, in my assessment it crosses the line. But nonetheless, even confrontation that crosses the line can remain effective at resulting in repentance.

Here is what I want you to see and see clearly, God is using Nehemiah, this leader to accomplish a preservation of his people, to confront them with the truth of the word in the midst of their sin and pull them out.

OF note to me is the fact that he is not a priest. Nehemiah is not a levite, he is not a priest, he is not the spiritual leader of the church, he is simply a leader that God is using for the church.

The importnat thing there, is this is a role that we should all play as men within our church.

God uses his word working through leaders to as tools of confrontation of sin to bring about repentance.

THREE QUICK APPLICATIONS

We should hold fast to the Word. Already mentioned that, but let me drive it home again. We need this thing. This is what God uses to bring life and correction and vitality to our lives. You are always going to be a weak brother on spiritual life support until you learn to feast on the Word of God.

2. We should study and respond to the Word communally. We dont do this just in isolation, we engage with the community of God, the church, knowing that God uses us and them to collectively sanctify as we gather before the Word and respond to it together.

3. We should confront our brothers in sin.

There are other passages that speak to how we can do this well. For the sake of time, today, I am not going to go deep into them. If you want to study them, write these down...

But the big application I want us to see, is this…

When we see people in the church walking in opposition to scripture, we should confront. Four

good guidance that I think we do glean specifically from this text...

Confront clearly. Dont parse words, be very clear about what the sin is.

Confront directly. Dont go chit chat about it elsewhere, go and deal with it.

Confront with instruction. Give very specific advice to correct in the midst of it, so the person can obey.

Confront under control. Dont lose your temper like Nehemiah did. Dont beat someone up and rip out their hair.