Finish Line, Finish Well: Final Week in Nehemiah

Well, here we are — 13 weeks later and we’re finishing up the book of Nehemiah. If this is your first verse-by-verse Bible study to complete: congratulations. If you’ve journeyed with me before: thank you. If you were hit-and-miss: it’s okay. We all start somewhere and we’re all going to finish well — together.

This week, we turn the final corner in the book of Nehemiah and there’s actually a break between the dedication of the walls and this chapter. It’s an interesting twist, and there quite a bit of application in this chapter in relation to our sin, Jesus’ redemption, and how we are called to live holy.

I’m right there with you, friend. Fighting the good fight of faith.

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 come into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

• It's commonly believed that Chapter 13 doesn't pick up immediately after the dedication of the walls. In actuality, this chapter was more than likely written after Nehemiah had returned to Babylon and then came back to Jerusalem to check on matters (a year or so had passed).

• A side note: King Artaxerxes – the king Nehemiah gave his word to that he'd return – was no longer in reign. There was now a new king ruling; yet, Nehemiah still kept his word and returned to Babylon. Great lesson there!

• In chapter eight, we read how the people gathered and listened to the reading of the Word. There was also a revelation of how they weren't honoring God's commandments on the Feast of Booths. In chapter 13, they began to see their sin from mingling with the Ammonites and Moabites. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than a double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

• The word of God is living and active. When you open the Word to study it – is it alive and active in your own heart? If not, examine the soil of your heart and ask God to reveal to you the "block." Spend some time considering how alive and active you are spiritually today!

4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah. 5 And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests. 

• Remember Tobiah? He was a pain in Nehemiah's neck – a constant discouragement and one who stirred up trouble, trouble, trouble. And here we have the priest (someone who is to be set apart for God's work, just as we are) not only entertaining Mr. Tobiah but providing him a place to live! This is a perfect picture of how we can allow sin to take up residence in our own lives. It starts by just giving that sin a little corner to sit in; but then we begin to move the good stuff out of our lives to make room for its growing presence! It's tragic, but it happens so quickly and subtly. You've probably witnessed someone coming to Bible study faithfully for some time, and then slowly they begin to miss here and miss there. Then, before long, you see a vessel that was once set apart for God being used by the world. "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." (Galatians 5:9).

6 But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king, 7 and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. 8 And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. 9 Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

• Nehemiah came to clean the house. I love how he doesn't mess around with sin – he sees it, addresses it, and immediately puts things back in order.

• I like the way The Message version paraphrases Romans 6:11-14, which talks about our previous life of sin and then our life in Christ: "You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did. That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God." Nehemiah knew there was no room to pity Tobiah or feel guilty for kicking him out.

10 I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field. 11 So I contended with the rulers, and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their place. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. 13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.

• When we studied Ezra chapter five, we also gleaned over parts of Haggai. The issue we see here is similar to what we saw then – a neglected house of God. In Ezra, the people were saying, "it's not time yet" to build the temple – yet their own homes were looking pretty posh. Now, the temple is built, but they have failed to care for it. They have allowed, once again, the things of the world to distract them. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Think like this: if your body is the temple (a house, essentially) and the Holy Spirit is the resident – what does the inside look like? Like we discussed previously with Tobiah, are we moving the good stuff out to make room for the bad? As we go about our day, talk to people, watch TV, read, work, speak, and so forth – we are bringing in something godly into our temples, or we're bringing in something evil.

• Picture that word or action in a box and see yourself standing at the doorway of your spiritual house holding that box. Now, ask yourself, "Is what I'm getting ready to do or say something I want to move into this house? Is this something I want to unpack and display in my spiritual home?"

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 its services!

• You'll see through the remainder of this chapter that Nehemiah asks God to remember him three times. There's no shame in doing His work and then asking the Lord to remember you – it's when we want the world to remember us that we get into trouble.

15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. 16 Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, "What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath."

19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.

21 Then I warned them, and said to them, "Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!" From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.

• Here, Nehemiah begins naming the actual sins taking place. The main profanity was working on the Sabbath. God had established the Sabbath as a day of rest for the Jews. While all the other nations were working seven days, the Jews were to work six. God knew the importance of rest. He understood our bodies were weak and needed a break. It was also to bring Him glory. As other nations were busy working and trying to bring in income on that seventh day, the Jews were to rest yet still be just as prosperous.

• When I see a godly man or woman at work, they undoubtedly accomplish more than someone concerned with making a name for themselves or achieving a particular position.

23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.

25 So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin. 27 Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?"

• When I read what Nehemiah did to some of the men (beating them up and pulling out their hair!) I thought it to be a bit extreme. But, if we look at it from Nehemiah's perspective, here's what we see:

• The Jews were told time and time again not to intermarry. We see this commandment given from the period of Moses through the Old Testament (and we talked about it specifically in Ezra 9).

• Yet, they foolishly and intentionally disobeyed God. They made a conscious decision to do what they knew they shouldn't; and, because of that, Nehemiah was righteously angry and gave them a reality check. I like how Nehemiah told the story of King Solomon. Nehemiah may have conveyed that story because of how we justify sin in our lives. When tempted to disobey God, one of the first lies Satan throws at us sounds like this: "Come on, go through with it! Look at so-and-so; they are happy and are enjoying life! Just go on; you've got this." Satan plays to our pride, and he played that card nicely here in Nehemiah 13, too. He probably had those men thinking that it wasn't a big deal to marry a non-Jew. In all his wisdom, Nehemiah reminded the men of King Solomon and how he was the top dog of his time. Still, he disobeyed God by intermarrying, and it brought about a life of sin.

28 And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.

29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

30 Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service, 31 and to bringing the wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed times.

Remember me, O my God, for good!

• The sin was within the priesthood too! Friends, we are His priesthood, just as these Levites were. We must take the approach of driving out the evil in our lives. Nehemiah is a type of Christ. He came in, addressed the sin, and drove it out. That is what our Savior does! Yes, it's painful! I can think of several times where God has told me over and over, "We need to deal with this sin." And I continued to rebel. There have been times where I felt like the Lord took a stick to me and pulled out my hair – but it wasn't because He was ruthless or unloving. It was because He had addressed the issue time and again, and He refused to let me continue in a sin that would contaminate my entire life. Praise God! I look back on those times, and I am so grateful that God dealt sternly with me! Even though it was challenging to go through, I still felt the love of God through those seasons of correction.

• The final words of Nehemiah: "Remember me, O my God, for good!" What great words to end on. If there's anything we can say of Nehemiah, it's that he endured 'til the end! He persevered. He didn't just start the race; this man finished it – and finished strong. I remember how several years ago, I ran a half marathon – in December. Despite all the gear I had on, it was insanely cold, and it was one of the most miserable runs I've ever experienced. My body felt like a solid ice cube, and I could barely move. Fortunately, I had a running buddy (who was running the full marathon). I'll never forget when I saw that finish line about ¼ of a mile away (it was pitch black outside at this point), I just took off in a mad sprint. My friend cheered, "Go, Tiffany, go!" over and over until I made it across that finish line. I could've cared less about the medal and my time – I just wanted a hot latte and heat!

• I'll never forget what that last ¼ mile felt like because I gave it all I had left. And Nehemiah did too. He could've come back 12 years later and just sighed at the state of the city – but he didn't. Instead, he persevered in purifying the people, yet again, because he loved them, and he loved God.

• He persevered and asked God to remember him for his good. And I'm sure the Lord's words were, "Well done." So may those be the words we hear too. Amen and Amen.