The Tobiah's in your Closet

Does everyone here remember Blockbuster?

Well if you do not Blockbuster was a video rental store that was huge in the 1990s and early 2000s

and in fact it at the time it was considered one of the most successful businesses out there, so much so that for a period at its peak Blockbuster would actually open a new store every few minutes.

However somthing changed because between then and now the majority of blockbusters are closed and there is actually only one left.

And I was watching a documentary about this a few weeks ago, and most people think the reason Blockbuster closed was because Netflix came out,

But whats amazing is this documentary was saying the true reason Blockbuster closed was actually sloppy decsions made on leadership and higher ups in the company not being confronted on issues and poor choices.

Just to give you a couple of ideas the founder of Netflix actually pitched his idea to the heads of blockbuster and they laughed him out of the room.

Not only that but if you remember Blockbuster also had a period where they had not late fees and because of this no one returned the videos and they never had anything in.

And ultimately what happened is there was this thriving orginazation, but over time because of poor descions, and truthfully arrogant choices creeped in where the store almost no longer exist.

But you know really when you look at issues that creep in whether in our personal lives or even as a church if these things are not confronted, they have the ability to cause a lot of damage and can even be the pitfall of an organization.

And today we are actually finishing our series that we have been in called Nehemiah and this is my last time summing it up,

But Nehemiah has been nudged by God to rebuild the wall around Jeruselum

And he has faced opposition from people

But throughout it he does not give up and really throughout it he trust God to get him through it.

And what we see is that because of him being faithful the wall gets completed.

And if you were with us last week, the people in Jeruselum all came together and really what we see is that they have realized they were far from God and have decided that they want to turn back to Him.

And really between last week and this week Nehemiah has gone back to serve under the king he worked for (if you remember that in the beginning) and he has come back and he is not happy with what he finds.

Because what we are going to see is what happened is sin began to creep in, and we talked about this last week, but the issue that got the Jewish people in the situation they were in was their sin, and now they are turning back to it.

But what I love about Nehemiah is he does not just sit by and watch, but Nehemiah is someone who confronts these issues.

And so we are going to be in Nehemiah 13:4-31 today, and will not read every verses because we have a lot of ground to cover,

But really if I had to break down todays passage is there 3 areas where the Israelites have strayed away from God

And we will look at these areas and really the passage has three scenes and we are just going to be dissecting this passage today and seeing what it means for us.

So we are going to be starting in verses 4-9 and it says this:

Nehemiah 13:4–9 ESV

4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5 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. 6 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 7 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. 8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 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.

So like I mentioned Nehemiah has just come back into the city from being gone and he comes back to discover that this guy named Tobiah has moved into the store house that was in the temple.

So at first this issue does not seem like to big of a deal but this is actually a huge problem.

Because first off at this point the temple was considered God’s dwelling place and only priest were aloud there.

If you went in to the temple you made it unclean

But then second off what makes it worse is that the guy in the temple was Tobiah who was the one leading the opposition against the wall being built.

and now he is in the storehouse area of the temple

But then thirdly the people who took care of the temple no longer have a store house where they would keep food (because Tobiah lived there) so instead of taking care of the temple they actually have to leave the temple and work in the fields to get food.

So I want you to notice whats happening because literally they have taken things of God out for the temple and have replaced it with Tobiahs furniture.

But this is actually so much deeper then just what is happening to the physical temple, but it shows the reprioritizing of their lives.

I mean think about it. If you had a beautiful man cave in your basement, I mean it had a 75 inch flat screen TV, you have a really comfy couch, you have signed jerseys hanging on the wall, from every sport. I mean it a beautiful.

But then somthing happens because you have a kid and the couch gets replaced with a play mat, the TV gets taken out and sold to a yard sale to buy toys, Your signed jerseys get placed in the garage.

And you loose your man-cave and it becomes a play room. (I am sorry if for some men this is hitting to close to home…)

but you are not just getting rid of your man cave but what is happening is it represents things being reprioritized in your life, where you no longer have your man cave as your priority, but now it is your kids.

And thats whats happening here because outwardly they have reprioritized, but really inwardly it is happening to.

And I know you might be thinking how in the world does that happen where they replace things of God for their own things?

But here is the thing; we do this is our life

Because if you are familiar with the New Testament, you know that because Jesus died for our sins we can be in a relationship with Him which means instead of God’s spirit being in a temple it can dwell in us which is awesome

But the issue in our life is instead of allowing our lives to be filled with God we allow the Tobiah’s and really the things that are not of God to dwell in our lives.

and ultimately we find ourselves in the same place as these Jewish people where we have traded God’s desires for our own.

And I love what Nehemiah does, because in verse 8 it says Nehemiah sees what has happened and he is angry.

Because he realized something needs to be done about this, and so what he does is he goes in and throws out all of Tobiah’s furniture and household items.

And this seems a little extreame.

Couldn't of Nehemiah gave him a weeks notice or something?

I mean you can picture poor Tobiah getting home and finding all of his furniture on the curb.

But I want you to get this: Nehemiah understood how important it was to get the things that were sinful and toxic out of God’s dwelling place as quickly and as permanently as possible.

And this is true in our life, we need to get the things that are not God glorifying out of our life as quickly and as permanently as possible.

There is a song called “Burn the Ships” by a Christian band called King and Country and its about one of the singers wife who had a procedure done

And afterwards they gave her pain killers to help and what eventually happened was she found herself addicted to painkillers with no way out.

And she realized the damage it had on her life and family

and she got to the point where she told her husband and she said I can’t do this and in that moment together they decided they were going to flush the pills down the toilet.

And she said that was her burn the ships moment. basically that was her moment where she cut off something where for he their was no way back.

I mean if you are trying to cut out pornography get rid of your smart phone

If you are trying to stop being an alcoholic, do not keep alcohol in the house.

If you are stuggling with a pain killer addiction get rid of the pills

And you might say Pastor these things seem a little extreme,

But I truly believe God calls us to have moments in our lives where we say this is enough. I am throwing this out of my life and as quickly as possible and there is no way I am ever going back.

And Nehemiah actually puts new leaders in place where it would be hard for Tobiah to get back in the temple in the future.

Well look at this next part of the passage in verses 15-22, because the scene shifts from this issue to another. It says this:

Nehemiah 13:15–22 ESV

15 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. 16 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! 17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18 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.” 19 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. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 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. 22 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.

So the scene changes, because it is the sabbath day which is a day of rest.

You know the people would work 6 days and rest on the 7th.

And on this day they would not sell goods they would not walk far distances, but they would rest and be in relationship with the loved ones near by and worship God with them.

And so it is the Sabbath but Nehemiah recognizes somthing seriusly wrong.

Because there are people from other areas coming into Jeruselum to sell their products.

And really there are two issues here:

First: God actually asked them to keep the sabbath because they are not meant work 7 days a week, but they need a day to recharge where the focus is on their relationship with God and others.

I mean think about this if I poured out this cup, eventually it would need to be refilled or it would run out right?

And really our lives are the same way, we need a day to rest (wether that be Sunday or another day of the week), Not where we only take a certain amount of steps(that would give me anxiety) or anything like that but where we can be refilled and focus on our family, friends and more importantly our God.

And so Nehemiah handles the situation,

Because it says Nehemiah has the gates of jeruselum closed so merchants cannot get in on the Sabbath

Basically He is saying we are just getting rid of the temptation.

but the issue is the merchants are still outside the wall camping out and people can see them, it is possible their could be ways to get out of the city and still buy from them

And so it is awsome what happens (because sometimes we view the Bible as boring) I mean I picture Nehemiah as a skinny elderly man who probably had a cane and a long white beard.

But apparently Nehemiah is actually very strong, because Nehemiah tells them look if you guys keep doing this I will Lay my hands on you.

Thats the Bibles version of I am going to beat you up!

And it says they did not come back.

But you know this does not seem like a huge deal and it seems like Nehemiah is being a little overboard. I mean he is threatening to beat of merchants.

But the reason Nehemiah treats this so seriously is because its not only the day of rest (although that is important), but really they are intentionally moving away from God and moving closer to looking like the rest of the world

In fact in verse 18 Nehemiah reminds them of that walking away from God is what got them in the mess they are in.

And he says what are you doing?

God has given us this life giving plan and we are choosing our own way which has proven to lead to a broken place.

And I want us to look at this last scene because this really hammers home this point:

Nehemiah 13:23–31 ESV

23 In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?” 28 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. 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. 30 Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

So this last scene at first glance seems to be a little disturbing, because Nehemiah has noticed that people in this city are marrying others who are not their nationality, and do not speak their language,

And what I want you to understand is that this is not about nationality, race or language,

But for Nehemiah it is saying this because all the other nations and people groups around them worship other false gods

In fact in some of these religions were known to worship their god through human sacrifice or harming themselves

Others would do public sexual practices

And so Nehemiah is not upset about the nationality, but he is upset because if they re marrying these people who worship other gods then it means those practices will begin to creep in to the people of God.

Its almost like how you have probably seen how their are passages in the Bible that say to not mark yourself up (AKA get a tattoo) or have long hair.

But their is nothing wrong with tattoos or long hair, (we would be in trouble if their was…) but thats what the people who worshiped these other false gods did.

And so Nehemiah is telling them look you need to make sure you are keeping your walk with God intact where you are not allowing there to be anything that gets in the way between you and God.

And it says he literally pulled out peoples hair over this, and one could argue he went a little to far their,

But Nehemiah knew this was important, because in our lives when their are things that are pulling us away from God somtimes that means letting those things go.

And I have told this story before but I thought it would be a fitting way to end. I told the story behind the song burn the ships, but I wanted to end with the story behind the phrase burn the ships.

Because their was a tale of a captain who took all of his men out to explore new lands

And they had many boats and they found this new land and the captain told the men lets anchor down and explore this new adventure

The issue was that the men were to comfortable in the ships, they had food, they had ways to stay warm and they decided they were not leaving where they were.

And so the captain of this fleet of ships tells the men in charge of each ship to light the ships on fire.

so the men had to leave the ship and go explore this new adventure.

You know this morning God has this amazing adventure for each of us

But so often we decide to stay where we are comfortable.

And we allow things in our life that are life taking to keep up away from this amazing way of life God has called us too.

What would happen if we burned the ships today.

Burned the ties of things that have held us away from God.

Today could be the day you flushed the pills,

we face the fear

we say goodbye to shame and step into a new day.

Amen?