Nehemiah 12-13
Notes
Transcript
In Chapter 10 the children of Israel sealed a covenant to follow God and his laws.
Chapter 11 was a list of names of those who lived inside Jerusalem and those who live outside..
Chapter 12 starts with naming the priests and Levites.
Starting in verse 23, Nehemiah dedicates the wall.
Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. And the sons of the singers gathered together from the countryside around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, from the house of Gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem. Then the priests and Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
So we have Levites, singers, musicians, and others coming from the surrounding villages gathered for the dedication.
Sounds like quite a party.
So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs. One went to the right hand on the wall toward the Refuse Gate.
There were two thanksgiving choirs, one went toward the right hand, the other would go toward the left.
And the next several verses list who was in those choirs.
So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, likewise I and the half of the rulers with me; and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Minjamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director.
Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.
There was loud singing, great sacrifices, and rejoicing, all for the joy that the wall of Jerusalem was finished.
As I said quite a party.
And at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ministered. Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification, according to the command of David and Solomon his son. For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. In the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah all Israel gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers, a portion for each day. They also consecrated holy things for the Levites, and the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron.
Next, they appointed people to oversee the storehouse.
Today, in larger churches, they have people that oversee not only their resources, but the building and their services.
Remember the advice Moses’ father-in-law?
So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
It is a good thing to share the work.
But what if the people you share the work with, don’t do their jobs properly?
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 come into the assembly of God, because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
First, we see that the leaders read the Book of Moses to the people.
And they were reminded of those who had tried to stop their ancestors from coming into the land God had promised.
But God had turned the curse Balaam was hired to give into a blessing.
And this reminded them if the need to be a unique people.
Now we go back to what happens when we share our responsibility with those who do not honor it.
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah. And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests.
Here we see Eliashib, who is in charge of the storerooms in the temple.
But he is allied to Tobiah.
Remember Tobiah?
The guy with Sanballot who was against the building of the wall?
Who mocked the work that Nehemiah and the rest were doing?
One of the guys who hired an informer and tried to trick Nehemiah into acting sinfully?
Yeah, that guy.
Eliashib took rooms that had been given to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers to store items for the temple and turned them into a warehouse for this enemy of Israel.
But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king, and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
One of the hardest thing to learn for many leaders is to delegate.
Not simple to put someone else in charge of something, but to do it well.
Nehemiah was back in Babylon, and one of the priests he had put in charge turned out to be corrupt.
Needless to say, when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he was not happy.
And he did a little “housekeeping” of his own.
He threw out all of Tobiah’s stuff, had the room cleansed, then brought back what was supposed to be there in the first place.
Compare that to how those who misuse their authority in the church are treated today.
Their deeds are hidden, until they come to light.
Then everyone is shamed by their actions.
I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field. So I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place.
Not only that, but the Levites were not getting paid.
They were not getting the portion that was set aside for them.
Not surprisingly, they went back to their farms so they could eat.
Again, this did not sit well with Nehemiah.
What’s the old saying, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Nehemiah was thinking something along that line himself.
Nehemiah doesn’t sit back a tsk-tsk about it,
He confronts the people he had left in charge.
“Why is the house of God forsaken?”
Why are you putting your agenda before God’s?
It’s not enough for a leader to delegate,
He must oversee what he has delegated, and train those who are doing the work.
Now that Nehemiah is back, things start to change.
Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.
Now that a trustworthy man is back in charge, the people start bringing their tithes in again.
Nehemiah appoints multiple people to oversee the storehouse,
Men who were considered faithful.
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 its services!
Please God, remember the good work that I have done.
We all make mistakes.
Rather than fear of making a mistake keeping us from bringing up others,
We should do out best and pray to God not to let our mistakes wide out the good we have done.
Don’t let my good work be ruined by the bad actions of others.
In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
Not only that, people were not honoring the Sabbath.
Well if the leaders are not honoring God, why should we expect those who follow them?
So who did Nehemiah confront about this?
Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
Sure, the people were doing wrong,
But it was the nobles, the leaders, who Nehemiah held responsible.
Why didn’t they teach the people?
Why didn’t they uphold God’s law?
Hadn’t they learned the lesson from their Fathers?
Apparently not.
So Nehemiah was going to do something about it.
So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.
Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!
OK, if you wont’ uphold God’s law, I will.
Nehemiah ordered the gates to be closed fore the Sabbath.
And he warned all those who hung around outside, if they did so again, he would have them arrested.
I wonder how many called Nehemiah uncaring or unloving?
Strong leadership led the people to honor the sabbath,
Not just by words, but by actions that helped prevent their temptation.
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.
So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin. Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?”
And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.
It seems that leaders in Israel failed to do everything they had promised in the covenant they made with God.
Nehemiah not only “contended” with them, he cursed the, struck some and pulled out their hair.
Even one of the sons of the high priest had married a daughter of Sanballat.
Rather than say, “thats OK. Go ahead and love who you want”, Nehemiah drove him away.
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service,
Nehemiah ask God to remember those who have defined the priesthood and the covenant.
He removed everything pagan.
He assigned priests and levites to their duties.
And asked God to remember him for the good work that he had done.
Even through others had tarnished it.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Nehemiah and the Israelites had finished the wall!
And they had a great celebration.
And when Nehemiah returned to his job in Babylon, he appointed leaders to help guide the people.
And they failed.
When Nehemiah returned and found out, what did he do?
Did he say “that’s OK”?
Did he go around blaming everyone?
He called out those who should have known better.
Who were supposed to lead the people in righteousness, not in sin.
He restored proper worship, and found better leaders.
Can you think of a church that has gone through what Nehemiah has with Jerusalem?
Can you think of other institutions where leadership has led the people astray?
What should they do about it?
What should they do to return to God?
What should YOU do?