Nehemiah Series

Remember me O my God

Nehemiah 13

Three times in this chapter, Nehemiah asks God to “remember”!(Neh 13:14,22,31 see also Neh 5:19).

It’s as if he is sitting, writing this at the end of his days and anticpating how things will turn out for him as he faces the inevitability of death and judgment as he says, Lord remember what I have done!

This is a really important sentiment - “Only one life will soon be past. Only what’s done for Jesus will last.”

All of us must “die once and after that the judgment” (Heb 9:27). Even we believers in Jesus Christ, though we will not be judged in regard to our eternal salvation will nonetheless be judged for the quality of our works and service offered to the Lord - 2 Cor 5:10

but here is the really good news for those who have faithfully served God - “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them”(Heb 6:10).

John Piper, in his book “Don’t waste your life” exhorted his readers: “Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance...Don’t coast through life without a passion...My joy grows with every soul that seeks the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Remember, you have one life. That’s all. You were made for God. Don’t waste it.”

Nehemiah said, “Remember me with favour, O my God.” Ir was the sentiment also expressed by the godly preacher from Dundee, Robert Murray McCheyne whose hymn, “When I stand before the Throne” captures the gratitude of the heart that knows the grace of God:

When I stand before the throne, dressed in beauty not my own, when I see thee as thou art, love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe.

Chosen not for good in me, wakened up from wrath to flee, hidden in the Savior's side, by the Spirit sanctified, teach me, Lord, on earth to show, by my love, how much I owe.

(Robert Murray McCheyne)

I. Remember that God expects us to keep our Promises:

Remember me O God for all that I have done but remind me that it is all ultimately of grace! Nehemiah knew this, as he evaluated his life and all the events that led to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalen and the resettlment of the city. As we come to the final chapter, the ending, let me give you a little background:

BACKGROUND TO THE CHAPTER:

In chapter 12, Nehemiah records the climactic celebration in which he, together with Ezra the priest, dedicated the wall of the newly encircled city.

provisions were made for the temple service (Neh. 12:44–47) and the purification of the people by excluding from their official number all who were of foreign descent (Neh. 13:1–3).

He links these sections to the dedication by using the phrases “at that time” and “on that day,” which suggests that this was probably spread out over a period of weeks or months - this was the ultimate purpose of what he was trying to achieve. His was a Purpose Driven Life - the purity of the people of God enjoying the presence of God in the worship and service of God.

Time passed, Nehemiah left the city - “I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission and came back to Jerusalem” - and returned to Artaxerxes and some time around 7-12 years later Nehemiah returned, between 425-420 BC, omnce again faced with problems, not new ones, but the old problems revisited.

What were these problems?

In chapters 8-10, the people made a covenant under Ezra during the time of great revival in which there was a reading and exposition of the Law of God, which led to the conviction of sin (chap. 8). There was national repentance for the wrongs done (chap. 9) and the people promised to obey the commands of God faithfully (chap. 10).

There were 6 things that the people covenanted to do: (i). They promised not to intermarry with the people of the nations about them - This was not racist or xenophobic because foreigners could become Israelites and only Ammon and Moab were excluded for 10 generations due to Baalam’s sin and we know that Ruth the Moabitess found favour with God. As we shall see though this was based in a desire to preserve their faith and the uniqueness of the spiritual life that flowed from it. the people went way beyond what God expected!

(ii). They promised to abstain from all commercial activity on the Sabbath day, preserving it as a day to worship God and remember his blessings.

(iii). They promised to pay the annual tax required of them by Exodus 30:11–16.

(iv). They promised to provide the temple with wood for the altar and the firstfruits of their crops and trees.

(v). They dedicated their firstborn, acknowledging that all we are and have is a gift from God and is owed to him.

(vi). They offered their tithe to the Levites and the Priests, promising to be faithful in paying tithes to God and thereby providing for the temple service.

Of the 6 promises, solemnly covenanted in chapter 10, the only one that does not recur in chapter 13 is the obligation to dedicate the firstborn to God, and that is probably because it is subsumed under the greater problem of the family and intermarriages with foreign peoples referrred to in verses 22–28.

Now there is a really important lesson here about what can happen when God blesses His people. Past blessing, great spiritual experiences are n0 guarantee of future usefullness and faithfulness:

How pious the people were in promising these things in the time of religious awakening and revival! How solemnly they declared, “We will not neglect the house of our God” (Neh. 10:39). But they did neglect it. They broke their promises.

Now let’s speculate for a moment that the people had simply forgotten or that Nehemiah and Ezra had not ben clear. This unfortunately will not do! - During the years of Nehemiah’s absence from Jerusalem, God sent Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, to inveigh against these very abuses. He chided them for shoddy worship (Mal. 1:6–14), a corrupt priesthood (Mal. 2:1–9), marriage with foreigners (Mal. 2:10–16), and robbing God by neglecting to pay the tithe (Mal. 3:6–12). Sadly the people heard Malachi but did not heed him! They allowed their hearts to harden and did not obey the word of the Lord!

Since Malachi had been calling for reform and a return to God in these very areas, it is reasonable to think that Nehemiah faced problems not only of a backslidden people but of hardened hearts as well.

This wasn’t failure of revival and reformation - this is how quickly and badly God’s people can fall from a state of grace!

We need to be careful about this - it can happen because of receiving wrong teaching as it did in Galatians 5:4 or it can happen because of the adoption of wrong behaviours. We need to watch ourselves; discipline ourselves and not “turn the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”(Titus 1:4 see Rom 6:1-4)

II. Remember that God knows our Sins!

In what ways did this disobedience manifest:

There was a “new legalism” among some (vs 1-3):

We have already observed that the exclusion of foreigners was far beyond God’s requirments for Israel. Why did this emerge?

The text makes it clear that foreigners and reference to “the book of Moses” being “read aloud” and when the people heard this they exluded foreigners altogther . It seems clear that the passage referred to here is Deuteronomy 23:3-7 so it is important to read exactly what it says and what is not said here: “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation. For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live. Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as an alien in his country. The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.“

So this passage speaks only of Ammon and Moab who were excluded for 10 generations due to their obstruction of the travelling Jews who offered to pay to pass through their territory but Moab and Ammon would not allow this. Later they asked a prophet named Baalam to curse Israel which failed but which led to people intermarrying with pagans all around. This would lead to the danger of spiritual pollution. However the passage also makes clear that Edomites and Egyptians could be received into the assembly of the Lord.“

Now the motives were right - their concern to obey the will of God and ensure that the mixing of religious marriages lead to mixing religions and poisoning the truth of the true faith. However, the people went too far here in excluding ALL foreigners from the nation of Israel. Had God not made provision for people to become Israelites such as Rahab from Jericho and Ruth the Moabitess who found favour with God and were indeed both directly related to the Messiah, Jesus.

God can set his affection on people outside of the covenant and by grace welcome them in. However, this new legalism excluded those whom God feels free to include.

This is the problem with legalism. It is not that it is wrong to follow the Word of God and seek to do the will of God as expressed in Scripture, it is to go beyond what the law requires or rule out God’s right and prerogative to show mercy.

This is always a danger among the people of God - ideas and standards that are even more rigorous than God’s. The Pharisee mentality!

2. There was an ungodly favouritism:

“Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah, and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of grain, new wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.”

Two things were wrong with what Eliashib did here!

Firstly, he neglected his role as keeper of the “storerooms of the house of our God” in order to attend to the needs of his close associate Tobiah, whom he gave favour to because of his close association. This was not an act of kindness it was an act of nepotism at the expense of the temple of God.

Secondly it was the admission of Tobiah - the one who had mocked the people of God and resisted the rebuilding of the walls. The one who said that even if a fox should mount the walls they would topple down - these walls were 9 feet wide that would be some fox!

How tragic that a preist of God was favouring an enemy of truth over the people of God. Putting his own interests higher than the interests of the people of God.

3. There was a neglect of the temple:

“I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and singers responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.”

“Why is the house of God neglected?” - Good question and the answer must be, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT THE PEOPLES PRIORITY!

Malachi makes this clear showing how the people were quite prepared to bring the second or third best to the altar if they btehred to come at all - Mal 1:6-14: “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ “You place defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 8When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. “Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty. “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you profane it by saying of the Lord’s table, ‘It is defiled,’ and of its food, ‘It is contemptible.’ And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. “When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.”

Now Nehemiah put this right by compulsion and administration - “All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and oil into the storerooms. I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because these men were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their brothers.” - but compulsion and administration alone would not change the heart attitudes of the people!

This I suspect is why Nehemiah keeps saying “remember me…remember them...” Nehemiah knows that inspite of his attempted faithfulness this reformation ends in decline!

It has been so promising, The revival and reformation of Nehemiah chapters 8-10 sadly ends in failure and spiritual declension as sadly they always do!

Little wonder that Nehemiah prays: “Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services. “ In the end he could responsible only for his own heart! Answerable for only what he had done for the Temple.

What is our record of service in the Kingdom of God? Can we say Lord remember what I have done for your Kingdom? Whatever others do or have done, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

4. There was a neglect of the Sabbath:

“In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn’t your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath is a good gift from God, given for our rest and spiritual recupperation - it is a commandment that allows us to set aside a day when we can rest and spend time with God. It’s a gift not to bind us to a dull day of strict rules and regulated activity in which “every day is like Sunday, every day is silent and grey”(Morrissey). No! Sabbath allows me to stop the hamster wheel that never stosp for the rest of the week and REST. It gives me TIME which I never seem to have to spend time with GOD and with the people I love. A time for a spiritual feast! Wow, that’s a good gift.

The people of Jerusalem were “desecrating the Sabbath day” and damaging themselves and well as failing to honour God by “keeping it holy”(Exod 20:8-11).

Nehemiah put this right - “When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.” - but oh this is unsatisfactory - this is not Sabbath observance it is enforcement.

This is not a Sabbath observed by people whjo loved God and were rgateful for this day of rest; this was Sabbath by legislation and its useless. It is legalism not worship!

Little wonder that Nehemiah prays: “Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.” In the end he could responsible only for his own heart! What is our heart like with regard to the worship of God?

5. There was a disregard for God’s intention in marriage.

“Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”

What is the problem here with these mixed marriages that led to Nehemiah becoming quite robust in his rebuke!

What after all is the problem, they were marrying at least and any marriage is better than no marriage surely! Well that depends. God gave specific requirments about marriage and remember that they problem here is not the marrying of foreigners that was allowed - Boaz married Ruth did he not?

No the issue here is spiritual compromise - “Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah.” - They dont know the langugae of the people of God so they don;t know the covenants of the people of God or its worship or its history or its Torah! That is the issue and into this vacuum, false religion would come and distort the truth and corrupt the way, that is why Nehemiah turned wrestler! - Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”

Again Nehemiah acted - “One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me. Remember them, O my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits.” - But again this was forced separation and forced conformity.

God alone would know whether this would lead to true repentance and a change of heart . So all Nehemiah could do was to look to himself , so he prays “Remember me with favor, O my God.“

There is an Old Testament scripture desigend to bring us up short and make us think - “Be sure your sins will find you out.”

The all-seeing; all-knowing God misses nothing and we have to give an account of deeds done in the body, whether good or bad”! As the old Country song says “God’s gonna get cha for that. Every wrong thing ya do...There’s no place to run and there’s no place to hide. God’s gonna getcha for that.” (George Jones & Tammy Wynette).

“Always there is a black spot in our sunshine, it is... the shadow of ourselves." (Carlyle)

When all is said and done the book of Nehemiah ends with dark clouds looming on the horizon. It began in disaster but it sadly ended in despair. It certainly did not end with “and they all lived happily ever after.”

Nehemiah is a straighforward sin-cycle of disobedience at teh beginning and in the middle and in the end which is very true to the story of the Bible, whether it be Moses and the Exodus and the Promised Land or the story of the Judges or even the story of the Church in which 5 of the 7 churches of the Revelation are threatened with having their candlesticks removed because of their unfaithfulness to Jesus.

Even as we look at the long history of the Christian Church there have been days of great revival and attendant reformation which sadly did not last and in the end, over time there is decline - history teaches us that there will never be a perfect church here on earth.

We are in the end a collection of sinners doing the best we can to be faithful to God but very aware of our failures and compromise and spiritual lack. What else can we say but “Remember me with favour O my God” Be graccious and merciful Almighty God becasue there is too much left undone, or to put it in the language of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: “Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; according to thy promises declared unto mankind  in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy holy name.  Amen.’

III. Remember that God gives Grace!

“Remember me with favour O my God”

The only remedy for our failure and sin is the grace of God - Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

We need God’s grace, Nehemiah knew that more than anyone.

God had shown him gracious favour before the king when he asked for permission, money and freedom to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem

God had been gracious in protecting the Jews from their enemies and those who seek to disrupt and discourage the work of God and God graciouly gave people with skills and resources and the industry to make ti all happen in 52 days.

God showed great grace and mercy when the people repented of their sins; reformed their lives and expereicned a profund revial of faith and love in chapters 8-10.

And now he says, as my life and service draws to a close “Remember me with favour O my God”

God knows our hearts and in the end God is our judge. There is much that is left undone but O God be cracious “Remember me with favour O my God”

A visitor, seeking to console the dying Thomas Hooker said to him, “Sir, you are going to receive the reward of your labour.”  “Brother,’ says Thomas Hooker, ‘I am going to receive mercy!” (A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, p. 189).

“Tis grace has brought me safe thus far. And grace will lead me home.”(John Newton). We need grace for salvation. We need grace of restoration, revial and reformation of the Church in our day!

But don’t waste your life! You are called to live for the the glory of God and to be part of his rebuilding programme of the Church in Whitby in our day.

And who knows what God can do through us -a people whose hearts are open to the work and worship of God?

Let me tell you just one story of may I could recount - A 48 year old buisness man named Jeremiah Lanphier led a prayer meeting in Fulton Street, New York in 1857, a tall man "with a pleasant face, and affectionate manner . . . shrewd and endowed with much tact and common sense" (Orr 52-53) began passing out handbills that read: "How Often Shall I Pray? As often as the language of prayer is in my heart; as often as I see my need of help; as often as I feel the power of temptation; as often as I am made sensible of any spiritual declension, or feel the aggression of a worldly, earthly spirit . . . In prayer, we leave the business of time for that of eternity, and intercourse with God."

And on the reverse: "A day Prayer-Meeting is held every Wednesday from 12 to 1 o'clock in the Consistory building of the North Dutch Church, corner of Fulton and William Streets. This meeting is intended to give merchants, mechanics, clerks, strangers and businessmen generally an opportunity to stop and call on God amid the perplexities incident to their respective avocations. It will continue for one hour; but it is designed for those who find it inconvenient to remain more than 5 or 10 minutes, as well as for those who can spare a whole hour. Necessary interruption will be slight, because anticipated. Those in haste often expedite their business engagements by halting to lift their voices to the throne of grace in humble, grateful prayer."

Lanphier attended the prayer-meeting on behalf of the North Dutch Reformed Church. Shortly before noon on September 23 he opened the doors of the church. Out of a population of over a million, only one man showed up for the beginning of the meeting at 12:30, but he was not daunted and so he decided the meeting should happen daily. By the following Wednesday, October 14, the day of the crash, "over 100, many of them not professors of religion but under conviction of sin and seeking an interest in Christ" were attending. (54)

By mid-November, the two lecture rooms had to be used, and both were filled. Within 6 months, these noon-time prayer-meetings were attracting over 10,000 businessmen who were "confessing sin, getting saved, [and] praying for revival." (157)

By mid-February, Fulton Street was holding 3 simultaneous, standing room only prayer meetings on three floors. and on March 20, the New York Times reported: "The great wave of religious excitement which is now sweeping over this nation, is one of the most remarkable movements since the Reformation . . . Travelers relate that on cars and steamboats, in banks and markets, everywhere through the interior, this matter is an absorbing topic. Churches are crowded; bank-directors' rooms become oratories; school-houses are turned into chapels; converts are numbered by the scores of thousands. In this City, we have beheld a sight which not the most enthusiastic fanatic for church-observances could ever have hoped to look upon;--we have seen in a business quarter of the City, in the busiest hours, assemblies of merchants, clerks and working-men, to the number of some 5,000, gathered day after day for a simple and solemn worship. Similar assemblies we find in other portions of the City; a theatre is turned into a chapel; churches of all sects are open and crowded by day and night...It is most impressive to think that over this great land tens and fifties of thousands of men and women are putting to themselves at this time in a simple, serious way, the greatest question that can ever come before the human mind--'What shall we do to be saved from sin?'"

As the noontime prayer meetings increased, attended predominately by the male workers of the city, the effect in the city was tremendous. Many ministers began having nightly services in which to lead men to Christ. A chain reaction of church after church began to hold morning, afternoon, and evening meetings for both prayer and the counseling of those concerned about their souls.

The same scenes were soon reported from all over the nation, from New York to California, Florida to Maine. It affected judges and college students, businessmen and housewives. At times, schools had to close in order to pray and seek God. People across the nation prayed, and churches filled.

Though it peaked in 1858, it did not stop there. Throughout the Civil War, camps had great revival meetings--over 150,000 were converted in the Confederate army alone. (Orr 237)

It also crossed the oceans. In Britain, close to a million people joined the churches due to the revival that swept that land. This revival was a layman's revival. Though ministers helped to counsel people, it was the laypeople that carried it and it began with one man!

Maybe you can be this man! Maybe you can be this woman! “Remember me with favour, O my God.” Remember Whitby with favour O God. Be gracious to WCF as we seek to reach out into this community, from this place - send down your blessing O Lord!

Psalm 85:6, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”

Habakkuk 3:2, “O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Psalm 80:18, “Give us life, and we will call upon your name!”

Isaiah 57:15, “Thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”