Broken Promises

A dying man got his three best friends together at his bedside (his doctor, lawyer, and pastor) and he handed each of them an envelope with $25,000 in cash inside.

He made them each promise that they would place the envelope in his casket because he was determined to take it with him.

A week later, he died.

At the visitation, the doctor, the lawyer, and the pastor each placed an envelope in the man’s coffin before it was shut

By chance, the three men met about a month later. The pastor, feeling guilty, confessed that there was only $10,000 in the envelope that he put in the casket. He told them that rather than waste all of that money, he had sent $15,000 to a mission effort in Africa and asked for their forgiveness.

The doctor then told the other two that the envelope that he left only had $8,000 in it. He had given the rest of the money to cancer research.

The lawyer was outraged. He told the two men how disappointed he was with both of them. He said, “I’m the only one who kept their promise to our friend. I want you to know that I put the full amount in my envelope in the coffin. I wrote out a personal check for the entire $25,000.”

We all fail to keep our promises, don’t we? Our good intentions and plans often fall by the wayside. Sometimes we blatantly break our promises but other times, we just kind of drift away, a little at a time.

Someone has said that moral failure and spiritual decline are a lot like a flat tire. Most flat tires don’t happen because of a blowout. They get flat because air leaks out over time, often gradually. On average, a tire will lose one or two pounds of air per month in cold weather. Sometimes you don’t even know you’re going flat until the car gets hard to steer (unless your car is newer and lets you know).

In our passage for today in Nehemiah 13, we come face-to-face with some people who have become backsliders.

To backslide means, “to return to old, often bad, habits, or to a worse condition.”

You would think that the last chapter of this great book would be encouraging about how God’s people took their spiritual commitment to the next level. Sadly, their story doesn’t have a happy ending. Within a relatively short period of time, the children of Israel went spiritually flat and returned to their old ways of doing things by violating God’s laws and allowing the world to press them into its mold. That leads to one of the biggest lessons of the book of Nehemiah:

Good beginnings are no guarantee of happy endings.

At the end of chapter 12, Nehemiah went back to Persia. He had done everything that he had been called to do: He dealt with enemies, organized the people, rebuilt the wall, repopulated the city, and led a celebration of dedication.

Afterwards, he went back to his job with the king of Persia. We don’t know how long he stayed but it was probably several years. When he finally returned to Jerusalem, the city that he had devoted so much effort to rebuilding, chapter 13 records what Nehemiah discovered when he returned. I can’t imagine what he must have felt. When he left, 12:43 says, “And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.” How things had changed.

In chapter 10, the people made 4 promises.

· First, was to submit to God’s Word;

· Second, was to live separate from the world;

· Third, was to keep the Sabbath,

· Fourth, was to support God’s work.

Sadly, by the time we get to chapter 13, each of these promises had been broken.

So, we’ll read from the first 14 verses of Nehemiah 13 and look at each of their four broken promises. But first, let’s pray.

Pray!

Nehemiah 13:1–14 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.

The first broken promise was:

The Submission Promise

The promises of chapter 10 began with an affirmation of loyalty to the Word of God in verse 29:

…To observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes.

In Nehemiah 13:1, we read a description of Israel’s carelessness about what God had said in the Book of Moses concerning the purity of their worship:

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,

We see again that Scripture was read publicly and they realized how careless they had been about their exclusive loyalty to God. As they listened to the words of Moses they remembered what had happened to their ancestors when they were on the threshold of the Promised Land.

· The Ammonites had not met the Israelites with food and water.

· The Moabites had hired Balaam to call a curse down on the Israelites.

We don’t have time this morning to go into much detail on this but I invite you to read Deuteronomy 23:3-5 to get a better understanding of what happened. The bottom line is that the Moabites and Ammonites were notorious for infiltrating Israel and causing their worship to become diluted.

Here’s the good news. When the Israelites heard what God’s Word had to say, they obeyed it. Check out verse 3:

3 As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.

That’s a great application for us.

Let’s admit that we fall short.

We break our promises. We mess up. We don’t always do what we know we should do. It seems to me we have two choices. We can continue being disobedient or we can stop what we’ve been doing and determine to live the way God says. The Christian life is a series of new beginnings. It’s never too late to start taking God’s Word seriously.

Is there something you need to do that you’ve been putting off? Is there a decision you need to make? I suspect that some of you have no question about what God wants you to do but you’re afraid to do it because it’s difficult. If God is asking you to do something, He will take care of all the details.

The Separation Promise

While they broke their promise to submit to God’s Word, they determined once again to do what God says. The next promise that they did not keep was to live separate from the world. They did this in two ways.

An enemy intruder

In verses 4-9, we see that one of these Ammonites was actually living in the temple! Nehemiah was horrified to find that Eliashib, who was the high priest in Israel, had prepared a guest room for Tobiah in the temple where the tithes and offerings of the people were stored and from this position he could influence everyone.

Tobiah had been a constant thorn in Nehemiah’s side opposing the work on the wall. But while Nehemiah was away, the high priest not only allowed Tobiah inside the city, he gave him the keys to a suite of rooms

Eliashib had been entrusted with an honored position of high priest but, by cultivating wrong relationships, he misused his office and frustrated God’s work.

In verse 7, Nehemiah called it an “evil” thing that he had done.

The identification of the problem demanded drastic, public, and immediate action. Take a look at verses 8-9:

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.

Nehemiah went off! He showed him the door and throws his furniture, TV, computer and clothes out into the street. Nehemiah wanted every trace of Tobiah’s presence removed from the temple. He had the room disinfected and fumigated so that no one could even smell him after he left.

The first separation vow they broke was that they allowed a pagan unbeliever to take up residence in their temple. The second separation promise they broke was to allow mixed marriages to take place.

Mixed marriages

In Nehemiah 10:30, they made this promise:

30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.

Drop down to verses 23-28 in chapter 13. When Nehemiah returned he saw that men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. He heard their children speaking foreign languages without knowing their own language, which meant that they would not know how to read the Law of God or participate in temple services. Their sins were damaging their home and family life.

Only a few years earlier, as they were repairing the walls, chapter 4 tells us “Ammonites and the men of Ashdod” had “plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem.” Yesterday’s enemies had become today’s marriage partners.

This really fired Nehemiah up and he went off on the people!

Nehemiah 13:25 ESV

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.

He was so mad, his anger so intense, that he smacked some of the husbands and yanked out their hair!

This very sin was the primary reason they were taken into Babylonian captivity in the first place. Nehemiah knew that pagan women led even their wisest king into sin. Nehemiah had personally experienced the results of Solomon’s sin. That’s why his grandparents had been carried off to Babylon. That’s why he was a servant to King Artaxerxes. There was no way that Nehemiah wanted God’s judgment to fall on Israel again. If God did not tolerate it in Solomon’s life, he certainly would not allow it now.

The Support Promise

The third broken promise was that they neglected to support God’s work in verses 13. Their final statement in chapter 10 was:

We will not neglect the house of our God.

When we come to this final chapter, Nehemiah discovers that the services at the temple had stopped in verse 10 because the Levites and singers had to get jobs in the fields in order to survive. The temple storerooms were empty because people had stopped bringing their tithes and offerings.

Nehemiah has to do some tough talking again in verse 11:

11 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.

Nehemiah then set up a system so that they could once again put God first with their finances. Nehemiah not only confronted them, he showed them what to do to make some changes. That’s exactly what God does for each one of us.

When the Holy Spirit convicts us, He also urges us to positive behavior. We are to stop doing something destructive and begin doing something constructive.

Nehemiah set up some administrative systems to insure that the offerings would once more start rolling into the temple. The temple officers in charge of the gifts had left their posts because there was nothing coming in or out, so in verse 11, Nehemiah “set them in their stations.”

In verse 12 we read that the people started bringing their “the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.” They renewed their commitment to put God first and brought Him what was rightfully His. He then appointed four men (representing the priests, Levites, scribes, and laymen) in verse 13 to supervise the treasury and distribute what came in.

They were all different but they had one thing in common: “for they were considered reliable.”

When God’s people start to go flat spiritually, one of the first places it shows up is in their giving. Jesus put it this way:

Matthew 6:21 ESV

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Just as the Israelites renewed their commitment to honor God with their wallets, so too, you and I need to do an honest assessment of our giving. Are we putting God first in our finances?

The Sabbath Promise

When they signed the covenant, the Israelites promised not to do business with the Gentiles on the Sabbath Day in 10:31:

…we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day.

In 13:15-22, Nehemiah discovered that the people were not only doing business on the Sabbath, they were treating it like any other day of the week. They had broken their fourth promise by ignoring the Sabbath. Verse 16 tells us that there were men of Tyre who moved into Jerusalem and set up shops that were open seven days a week.

Nehemiah didn’t sit back and let this promise be ignored either. He spoke and acted firmly by doing three things.

First, he warned the Jews in verse 15 who were working and selling on the Sabbath and made them stop.

He warned them

Second, he reminded them that the violation of the Sabbath was one of the reasons for their captivity in the first place.

He reminded them

We see this in verse 18:

Nehemiah 13:18 ESV

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.”

His third step was very practical: He shut the gates.

He shut the gates

He ordered the city gates shut on the Sabbath and he put some of his own guards on duty in verse 19. He threatened those who wanted to sell their goods on this holy day and also ordered the Levites to set a good example in verse 22.

This command to observe the Sabbath was not meant to be a chore. God never demands anything from us that is not for our own good. When Nehemiah’s people ignored the Sabbath, they were damaging the very fabric of their spiritual, physical and social lives.

Nehemiah’s last words in 13:31 are:

Remember me, O my God, for good.

Nehemiah wasn’t asking for blessings because he had earned it or deserved it. He is simply asking God to remember Him and what He had done. He wanted God’s favor and reward, not the praises of man.

Nehemiah could have put plaques all along the wall: “In Memory of Nehemiah.” He could have looked back at his life and been proud of what he had done. Or, he could have been frustrated because the people had broken their promises. He could have been impressed with his past accomplishments or discouraged about the present situation.

But he chose neither of those things. He simply said, “Lord, a day is coming when all of this will be over. I want the meaning of my life to be anchored in the future.” He knew that there was a time coming when He’d be rewarded by the Lord and embraced by Him. His prayer reveals that He’s living for that day, when the Lord will say to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Are you living for that day?

It’s never too late to do what’s right. Even though God’s people had messed up pretty bad, it didn’t disqualify them from service or ruin their relationship with Him. Don’t let your past keep you from doing what is right. It really doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t really matter what promises you’ve broken. What matters is that you begin right now to renew your walk with God.

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