Nehe 13
Restoration: Our Ruins His Restoration • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Problems
Spiritual apathy drifted spiritual thrift house of god not interested drifting
spiritual neglect refusing to follow the commands of god failing to trust god in the sabbath disbelief
idolatry defiance
The first problem Nehemiah discovers is that the house of God has been forsaken. The closing line of their covenant had said:
Nehemiah 10:39 (ESV) — 39 "We will not neglect the house of our God.”
But when Nehemiah arrived, he was shocked to discover that Tobiah—one of his main opponents—was living in Jerusalem. As an Ammonite, he was forbidden from being there, and, as the first few verses show us, everyone knew this. But he was not just in Jerusalem— he was in the temple itself! He had been invited there by Eliashib the priest (4). Tobiah had become a relative of Eliashib's through marriage, so Eliashib decided to take a chamber that was meant to store offerings for the priests, clear it out, and lend it to Tobiah as an apartment (5).
And, speaking of offerings, Nehemiah discovered that the temple servants weren't being paid because people weren't giving (10). So the temple staff had to go home to their fields and work the land—otherwise, they would starve!
The second problem Nehemiah discovered was that God's Sabbath was being profaned. They were making wine on the Sabbath, buying and selling on the Sabbath, and trading with foreigners on the Sabbath (15-16). Without the Sabbath, Israel would lose its distinctiveness and eventually fade into the nations. And previous generations were forced into captivity after ignoring the Sabbath for long periods, so these people endangered their future and the future of their children with their disobedience. Disaster loomed!
And the third problem Nehemiah discovered was that God's people had been marrying unbelievers from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab (23). One of the sons of the priests, in the line of the high priest, even married the daughter of Nehemiah's main rival—Sanballat the Horonite! (28). The fallout from these marriages was that half of their children could not speak the language of Judah (24). This concerned Nehemiah, not because he was a xenophobe, but because these children couldn't learn about God and his covenant if they didn't speak the language of God's people. The covenant community was destined to die if they didn't hand it down to the next generation, but they couldn't as long as the next generation couldn't understand the covenant—especially if the priesthood went along with them!
Nehemiah's Response
Nehemiah responded to all three problems aggressively and straightforwardly. I don't think anyone would've called Nehemiah "a nice man" or "a gentle soul" based on these interactions. In our modern time, being nice is thought of as the essence of godliness, but there were plenty of times Moses, David, Paul, or Jesus were not nice—and could not be nice—as they accomplished God's purposes.
When Nehemiah discovered God's house was forsaken—that Tobiah lived in a temple storeroom and the temple workers weren't being paid—he was very angry (7-8). This righteous anger led him to throw all Tobiah's belongings out of the chamber, cleanse the chamber, and bring the storage vessels back into the chamber (8-9). He then confronted the officials, appointed a new treasury department, and restarted the tithing system (10-13).
When Nehemiah saw God's Sabbath was profaned, he warned everyone about their disobedience before he confronted the nobles in charge while he was gone (15-17). He reminded them of their history—they went into captivity for the same behavior! He then commanded the doors should be shut and even stationed his own staff and then Levites at the city gates to make sure tradesmen did not enter on the Sabbath (19-22). He warned them, "If you (try to break the Sabbath again), I will lay hands on you" (21). Old man strength!
And when Nehemiah saw how God's people were compromised through intermarriage with unbelieving foreigners, he confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their (beard?) hair (25). He forced them to take an oath not to practice this sin anymore, reminding them that even the greatness of Solomon was destroyed by foreign women (26). Then he chased the young priest, a descendant of Eliashib who had married Sanballat's daughter, away from his presence (28).
At each stage of Nehemiah's work, he privately prayed to God. He said:
Nehemiah 13:14 (ESV) — 14 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.
Nehemiah 13:22 (ESV) — 22 Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
Nehemiah 13:31 (ESV) — 31 Remember me, O my God, for good.
Our Lesson
But what are we to make of this ending to the book of Nehemiah? Is this meant to be a downer? Should we walk away thinking renewal is impossible? Do we wish the story had ended with the high note of chapter twelve? Let's consider three lessons from this text today.
Lesson #1: We Should Hope In God's Continuous Renewal
hope in gods continual restoration
Lesson #2: We Should Welcome heed God's Interruptive Renewal restorative corrective grace restoration
The second lesson is that we should welcome God's interruptive renewal. In this passage, the people had steadily drifted away from God and their covenant to him. Hebrews says:
Hebrews 2:1 (ESV) — 1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
But the people of Jerusalem had not paid attention—instead, they drifted away. Still, God was faithful. As Paul said:
2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV) — 13 If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
So God interrupted them with Nehemiah's jarring responses as a mechanism to wake them from their slumber. Apparently, it wasn't the time for gentle words and nudges towards holiness, but a time for bold confrontation. It's like God said to Nehemiah, "OK, old man, go get UFC on these guys." I mean, Nehemiah was trying to wake people up from a deep spiritual sleep—they had no idea how far they'd slipped! So Nehemiah acts like a pitcher of ice water thrown onto an oversleeping teenager. Time to get up, son!
If God did not interrupt our lives, especially when we are off track or drifting from him, we would be like children who are never disciplined. You know the kind—never told no, eating whatever they want, sleeping wherever they want, wearing whatever they want, watching whatever they want. Animals! And we all silently wonder what they will be like as grown-ups. But God is a good parent, so he enters the scene when needed and interrupts our way of doing things.
Sometimes this is jarring. I'm sure many of you have stories of rebellion against God where he allowed something drastic to shake you off your course. But often, God does this in subtle ways—a word of wisdom or knowledge, a truth from Scripture, an example of godliness is someone else—these can all shake us from the doldrums of our lives.
And sometimes God will interrupt us with a Nehemiah—a person who will confront us like Nehemiah confronted his generation. They might be a pastor, a friend, a spouse, or a mentor, but when they come into your life, don't resist them. Though Nehemiah appeared harsh, he was God's gracious gift to those people.
And sometimes, God will use you as a Nehemiah for those in need. I'm not suggesting you curse anyone or tear out beard hairs—leave that to the professionals—but there are times God will use you to rescue others. As Jude said:
Jude 23 (ESV) — 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
There is a story from the book of Acts that captures this interruptive method of God. The church had gotten off to an amazing start, and thousands were coming to Christ in Jerusalem. Prayer meetings were intense, miracles were happening, and new believers were added to the church daily. People were selling properties and homes and donating the money to the communal living fund.
One day, two married church members decided to make a donation of their own. They sold a piece of land, but they didn't want to give all the proceeds away. This was fine, but what wasn't fine was that when they gave, they acted as if it was 100% of the sale price. The money was their own. They were free to keep it or sell it or give it. What they were not free to do, however, was tell everyone they'd given all when they'd only given part. That was the sin of hypocrisy—a leaven that can quickly spread through and kill the church.
So God interrupted them. Peter received a word of knowledge about what they'd done—and they still lied about it—and both of them dropped dead right there at the gathering. That was not a normal day at church! But this was God's way of breaking into their normal proceedings—proceedings that included the cancer of hypocrisy. He needed to stop them and simultaneously tell the next thousand generations that hypocrisy is to be avoided at all costs.
And how do you think they responded to God's interruption?
Acts 5:11 (ESV) — 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
And with the fear of God refreshed in their midst, they went onto a new surge of power and fruitfulness. So, because it is helpful and lifegiving, let's welcome God's interruptive renewal of our lives.
Lesson #3: We Should Look For God's Lasting Renewal hold hope onto the forgiving grace the complete restoration of the cross
The third lesson is that we should look for God's lasting renewal. As I said, there is something gracious about God's willingness to continually restore and renew his people. But is there any hope for true and lasting change? Are we doomed to a Judges-like cycle of revival followed by compromise followed by defeat followed by repentance followed by more revival? Is there any permanency to the renewal God works in us?
Yes, though we must continually walk with God to receive it, there is the possibility of permanence on this side of eternity! To the Corinthian church, Paul taught that the Old Covenant of Moses and the Law was a ministry of death and condemnation that is being brought to an end and fading away. But, he said, the New Covenant Jesus brought is the ministry of the Spirit (not death), a ministry that gives righteousness (not condemnation), and the covenant that exists in permanence (2 Corinthians 3:7-11).
The differences between Moses and Christians embodies the difference between the two covenants, Paul said. He wrote that when Moses went to spend time with God, his face would glow. But, since the glow would fade, Moses covered his face with a veil. He didn't want the other Israelites to be discouraged by the fading glory (2 Corinthians 3:12-13). But, Paul said, we Christians can take the veil off before God and keep it off because he permanently transforms us by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
And this is a major lesson the book of Nehemiah leaves us with. Nehemiah's leadership and the people's energy couldn't produce true and lasting change. But they had been promised a day when God would change them from within by writing his law on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33-34). Jeremiah and Ezekiel had made them these promises before and during their captivity in Babylon, and now Nehemiah's generation is back from Babylon! Still, however, the law was not written on their hearts. Still, they failed. They had not received the inner change promised to them.
So Nehemiah ends by pointing us to a future fulfillment. I have more to say about this next week, but for today I want you to know the answer is in Jesus. When he came, he brought with him the path to forgiveness, transferred righteousness, and permanent transformation.
You see, we can whip ourselves into an emotional frenzy about God at times, but our flesh cannot produce anything real. We cry during the worship songs or feel inspired during the sermon or committed to God during the invitation.
But—at the end of the day, just as it is at the end of this book—we must look to someone outside ourselves. Over and over again, we must look to Christ for lasting renewal. We must abide in him. When we do, he abides in us, and his life renews us and produces fruit through us—the fruit of character, the fruit of transformation, the fruit of impact in the lives of others. But it's all Jesus. And Nehemiah points us in his direction.