In the final chapters of Nehemiah, we see Nehemiah’s determination that the achievements of the people should not be wasted. We need that same determination. We need to stand for what God wants in our lives and families.
Ezra / Nehemiah really is one book. Often is was bound as such. The two men were both involved with what was going on in rebuilding the walls and the gates of Jerusalem.
I’ll look at something relevant to us in our situation in what we do as a Christian, or as a Christian parent. There were three returns from the Babylonian captivity. The first was under Zerubbabel when 50,000 returned and the Temple was rebuilt. Eighty years later, Ezra came back with about 1,800 people, and he was involved in reforms of the people, one of which we’ll look at today. And then fourteen years later, Nehemiah came, inspired by God, and as you know, he rebuilt the walls and the gates of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 8:1
We saw that Ezra read out the law. He was on a platform – everyone could see him, and everyone realised the significance that now the walls and gates had been rebuilt, the law of God would become central once again.
Nehemiah 8:10
This is a phrase you may know.
We saw how Jesus talked to the disciples about fulfilling joy was an encouragement or command – “Ask and you shall receive and your joy will be full.”
I mentioned that perhaps there are things you’ve been asking about over the last weeks and months. God has heard your prayer. Ask, and you shall receive that your joy may be full.
We saw in James that joy can result from our reaction to experiences and pressures in our lives, to circumstances where things seem to be going against – or indeed are going against. That circumstance, that pressure can result in patience – let patience have her perfect work; count it all joy when you meet pressures – not in a masochistic way, but the in the fact that God will provide the solution.
In the following chapters there are various lists, and the people listened to the law …
Nehemiah 10:28-29
There was an oath. At the end of this chapter they sealed their names to the oath – an oath which involved keeping the law of God; not marrying outside; not mixing the marriages; keeping things right; keeping the Sabbath, the holy day; not forsaking the house of our God; keeping to the rules of the Temple; and making sure the Levites were catered for.
In chapter 11 there is a list of those who sealed their names.
Nehemiah 12:27-35
Nehemiah was organising two companies to walk round the walls and then they came into the city and gathered in front of the Temple. There was a rejoicing going on. The work had been completed.
Asaph appears in the Psalms. He wrote ten of them, and this Asaph was his son. Everyone was involved.
Nehemiah 12:36-38
One company was led round by Nehemiah, and the other by Ezra. They came together. Ezra’s name meant help. Nehemiah’s was comfort, emboldening, with strength. They were a good team. Ezra was very conscious of the law and laid it on the line for all of the people., Nehemiah was very practical – good project leader. Now the people are rejoicing with the two companies going round to meet each other.
Nehemiah 12:40-43
In vv 44-47, he speaks of the singers and porters and the maintenance of the right structure for the Temple.
Nehemiah 13:1-3
We have the situation where the work is finished, the rejoicing has happened. The law has been distinctly read. There were thirteen people alongside Ezra who explained the law to the people so they understood it and knew what they had to do.
There was an instant outworking – they were to separate themselves from the Ammonite and the Moabite.
Then Nehehmiah went back to the king Artaxerxes and reported what had happened in Jerusalem. Some time elapsed before he returned to the city to see how things were getting on. Unfortunately, despite the sealing of the oath, despite the reading of the law, things had drifted. All that work had been done to rebuild the walls and gates, and now he returns.
Nehemiah 13:4-5
Eliashib was a priest. He was in charge of the rooms of the Temple. When Nehemiah was away, Eliashib had allowed Tobiah to move in. You may recall Tobiah :-
Nehemiah 4:3
Totally opposite to what Nehemiah was about. We see him again:-
Nehemiah 6:19
This is the person who had been mocking, sending the letters, and now Eliashib had let out a room to Tobiah in the Temple. There was some mixing going on. Incredible!
Nehemiah 13:4-6
This happened while he was away. Now he comes to Jerusalem, and learns of the evil Eliashib had done.
Nehemiah 13:7-9
He couldn’t believe it. Tobiah had been invited in. His household stuff was in the room in the Temple of God, and he was totally contrary to what they were about.
John 2:13-17
Sounds familiar! There was something where there as a mixture going on, even in the use of the Temple. In John, Jesus cleared them out. This isn’t what the Temple is for. You can’t use church as a cover for malpractice, for hidden works of darkness. You can’t use church as a cover for business. And when Tobiah was in the room, Nehemiah was incredulous. How on earth could you have allowed him into this place? And when the disciples witnessed Jesus cleansing the Temple, there was a zeal, fixed, certain, direct – this Temple is not for that purpose.
I know God is faithful – particularly in cleansing and protecting His people. And also He is more than keen for us to treat the Word of God and the things of God seriously.
There’s something about respect for what we come in here to do and to be.
Tobiah’s stuff was just thrown out. And God in His faithfulness will sort things out and bring to light where things need to be brought to light, and there’s a safety, a knowledge that it’s His church and He is sorting things out in His way. But He used Nehemiah in this way.
Nehemiah 13:9-14
What was meant to have happened was that there was as structure and the gifts and tithes were given in, and the Levites, as full-time workers, were to be fed using the money. But people had stopped giving. The result was that the Levites were out working in the fields. As far as Nehemiah was concerned, this flew in the face of all the oaths taken by the people.
First he had come across Tobiah in the Temple. He sorted that out. Now he comes across the fact that the Levites were out working in the fields. So there was a reform – instant reform – which had to happen. There was a structure, a way of life in terms of giving and what should be happening.
In this financial situation we face as a nation, as a world; and in your financial situation, keep your priorities right. Keep the structure right which God has laid down.
After each reform, Nehemiah, said, “Remember me God.” That was the structure he was in.
Nehemiah 13:15-22
Sabbath-keeping. Even people from Tyre brought mouldy fish and were selling it at the gates. There was trade, laxity, drift. They knew the law, what they had signed up to.
This is an old covenant. It refers to the Jewish people. How does it relate to us and our Sunday? What’s your attitude to coming to church on a Sunday? You get to work on time. Sunday? I’ve tried to keep it – this might sound pedantic – I’ve tried to keep it that we start at 10 o’clock. Otherwise people wouldn’t know when things would start. Some of you live within 500 yards of here.
There’s a seriousness about this whole rebuilding of the walls and gates which as far as God was concerned, there was something which then needed tightening up. Not in an overbearing sense, not in the sense of the “thou shalt” with God trying to do someone in. But there’s a way of doing things. There’s a way of having respect for the things of God.
Nehemiah was very practical – he shut the gates so as to stop people going in and out.
Nehemiah 13:23-25
This was tricky. They had been in captivity in Babylon and had got to know the ways of the people there. The law had been submerged to some extent. But now in the reforms of Nehemiah and Ezra, they were dealing with intermarriage of the Jews with the tribes of the land. The parallel for us is … if you’re a parent and your children … if there is the situation where there is something developing where your offspring as a Christian is planning to link up with someone who isn’t a Christian, that won’t work. It won’t. You say, “God is over all. He is love. He’ll sort things out.” There’s a situation where things are clear cut. This is one of them. I’m not trying to dredge the Old Covenant into the New. Light and darkness won’t dwell together. That’s from the New. Be not unequally yoked. That’s from the New – quoted in the New. In a liberalised sense, the walls had been built, and the gates. Tobiah had been sorted out. But there was a drift, and in their liberalised way, it was as though they felt it didn’t really matter.
Probably Nehemiah was talking to children just outside the city, and they were only half Jewish. They couldn’t speak in the language of the Jews, but according to the language of each people. The children were in the world and yet the children were in the church. Specifically he refers to not marrying the outside tribes. If you have offspring who are thinking of getting married, the key question is, will that partner for life be … or is that perspective for life … a Christian? Yes, or no? You may ask who you are to judge. You can’t mess about when it comes to this significant event in a person’s life. And the mixing of marriages was a problem. There were specific rules in the law about the children of mixed marriages. They were to be readmitted after the tenth generation – or in certain cases, after three generations. We’re not into that. What we are into is being aware of what God requires, of what He, in His wisdom and mercy, recommends. Why does He recommend that when it comes to marriage? Because you can’t share your life with someone who does not believe what you believe. You can’t. You can’t manage your money if the one you’re marrying is not involved in the church, doesn’t consider the things of God. So I’m talking particularly about anyone who is thinking of getting married, or any parent whose children are thinking of getting married. You can’t mix it up. You can’t. And as surely as night follows day, the result of that linking up will be a life of compromise. As far as Nehemiah was concerned, there were those who had married wives outside of Israel and it grieved him. What got to him more was what he was with the children – unable to speak in the language of the Jews.
Let’s think about your children. What does this mean where you are half speaking a Jewish language and half the language of a foreign tribe? I think it means that when it comes to our children, it is totally necessary for us to oversee everything. I mean in our homes. It may sound obvious to you. But it really struck me how Nehemiah was struck by this. Where do you draw the line when it comes to the media, to owning the latest phone, when there is such intense pressure to keep up with the latest this and that. I’ll tell you. You draw the line as a Christian, and that line will not budge. I’m not going to try and put that line into hundreds of different circumstances of life. I’m talking about the principle. You can’t mix things up. Probably Nehemiah couldn’t believe it – here were children unable to speak in the language of the Jews. It was half and half. And with your children at home, which is your main area of influence, is it a worldly or a Christian home? Are the pervasive influences from the world, or are they as a Christian home? I know it’s more difficult now to keep track of things – the opportunities to find out about things are more readily available via the internet and so on. Should a young child be able to access the internet from their own bedroom? Should I need to ask that question? It’s not as if there’s a sort of ... “OK if the computer is in the bedroom, I’ll be ok, because I can trust that child.” There are things coming through that computer which are trying to get hold of your child.
Nehemiah 13:23-25
Nehemiah 13:26
That’s quite a sobering passage to refer back to.
1 Kings 11:1-8
That had a direct impact on Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. You can’t muck about, Solomon. At the end of his life, this occurred. Why did Nehemiah quote that? It says that no matter how old we are, we need to be vigilant. No matter how old we are, there are principles we have to adhere to. We need to be open with our God. We need fellowship with God. We need to be reading His word, meeting with other Christians, praying. We need fellowship right the way until He calls us and we see Him face to face. You can’t build up a track record of Christianity and then live on the interest from what you have built up. Day by day until we no longer draw breath, until we are called to glory. No let up.
Is that a gruelling, dismal life? Absolutely not. It’s a wonderful life. But don’t take your foot off the brake or accelerator (!). If you’re driving a car, and that’s your life, you have to keep your eyes open, know where you are going, have petrol in the tank. But if you think that the journey you did yesterday is sufficient to get you through today, you’re going nowhere.
God brought to Nehemiah’s attention various aspects of the way the people were living. He had only been away a short time.
Nehemiah 13:26
Nehemiah 13:27-28
Eliashib had a real problem. He had let Tobiah into the Temple. And his grandson was son-in-law Sanballat, who was the other person who had caused trouble to Nehemiah. Enough was enough.
“But we’re meant to love everyone aren’t we.” We’re a Christian, and the love of God in our hearts reaches out to those in need of Him. I want people to move from darkness to light. But there are ways of living, where the liberalisation of our thinking, where opting out of the rat race results in drift. Little by little, an explanation is made for that, for that. “Ah but you have to remember …” “Ah but look at him – see what he did …” There’s a plethora, a whole load of explanations.
It’s interesting that when Nehemiah got going he said,
Nehemiah 13:25
Compare this with :-
Ezra 9:1-4
They were different. When Nehemiah got upset, he plucked the hair of other people. When Ezra got upset he plucked his own hair! The common denominator between the two was – “What are you playing at? Come on – there’s a way of life you have to live as a Christian.”
The good news is that God knows our hearts, and knows and will honour someone as a parent who wants to get it right for their children. He will honour that. He will protect them. I know some people who, through financial difficulties are having to sort things out for their children away from our school. Let me just confirm to you that the door is open to come back as soon as you like. The bursary scheme is there so we can help in some way. Is the school going to close because of people withdrawing children? Absolutely not. It’s not bravado. God gave us the school. And I anticipate a year from now handing out more certificates to the children.
God knows your heart. He knows the situation with your children, and the situation of your children in your home. And it’s that which I’m zeroing in on. What are you communicating with your children at home? Because what we don’t want is a half way position.
Romans 12:2
Each of you, going forward, myself included, we are to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. How? By not being conformed to this world. Transformed, by the renewing of our mind.
So it doesn’t matter what the external pressures are in my home, it doesn’t matter what the media would promote, what the internet would beckon with. There is a line drawn and I will not budge from that as a parent.
Romans 12:2
I read on Friday the verses where it talks about the New Jerusalem, the church. No need to repair gates or walls there. He is fashioning His church by the washing of water by the word. He is sorting things out. He is bringing people into that wonderful relationship with God, away from the dark paths of sin, away from living a wrong way to living a right way, to having God by His Holy Spirit inside. And there will be more that will come to His church.
Is this the only church? Not at all. We’re a part of His church worldwide. Transformed by the renewing of your mind, the cleansing, washing of His word.
Overall, the Book of Nehemiah is one of triumph. But it underlines in the last chapter, how significant it is for you and me to live right. Don’t respond to that by saying you can’t live right. You can. I’m not trying to force the idea on you. It is God within you which causes you to live of His good pleasure. He is preparing good things for you to walk into. It’s His strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength. That joy for Jesus was the church. Because of that He gave His life for you and me. Are we partakers of that joy here this morning? Yes we are. Is there a way forward for you in the pressures of our life at the moment? Of course!
Nehemiah 13:29-31
Sunday, 1 March 2009
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