Nehemiah 13.01-03 “1 On
that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people;
& there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter
the assembly of God, 2 because they did not meet the sons of Israel w/bread
& water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God
turned the curse into a blessing. 3 So when they heard the law, they excluded
all foreigners from Israel.”
In today’s reading, Nehemiah
records when they read from the Law, they say that there were three
promises that they forgot that affected their relationship to God.
01. Separation (Nehemiah 13.01-09)
The Ammonites and the Moabites
were the result on an incestuous encounter between Lot and his youngest
daughter after Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed (Genesis 19.37-38).
When the children of Israel were
on their way to the Promised Land, the Ammonites harassed the children of
Israel and for many years they were a thorn in the side of the Israelites.
In fact, God gave the command that
no Ammonite and Moabite was to enter the assembly of the LORD in Deuteronomy
23.03-04
So we do see that they were immediately obedient (Nehemiah 13.03).
Don’t forget, separation is not a bad thing. Separation is
simply devotion to God, no matter the cost! (2Corinthians 06.14-17; Ephesians 05.08;
1Thessalonians
05.05; 1John 01.05; for more see THE MUCK OF MIXED MARRIAGES, CONFESSION
AND SEPERATION and COVENANT AND
SEPERATION posts).
Now we see a situation with a priest named Eliashib in Nehemiah 13.04-09
We saw in Nehemiah 12.44 that they appointed men to
oversee the chambers of the priests.
Eliashib allowed Tobiah to stay in one of the rooms that was
set apart for the offerings (Nehemiah 13.04-05)!
This was the same Tobiah who mocked Nehemiah and the Jews
for rebuilding the wall (Nehemiah 02) and said that the wall was going
to be so weak that even a fox would knock it over (Nehemiah 04.03).
Tobiah was part of a conspiracy to attack Jerusalem before
they could finish the walls (Nehemiah 04.07-08). He was also one of the
dudes who attempted to persuade Nehemiah to go down to Ono (Nehemiah 06.01-09)
and to get him to enter the Temple (Nehemiah 06.10-14). He sent more letters to
frighten Nehemiah (Nehemiah 06.19).
He was also one of the ones (along with Sanballat &
Geshum) that Nehemiah said…
Nehemiah 2:20b “20
…but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.””
Nehemiah tells us that he had gone back to Persia (Nehemiah 13.06),
so when he came back, he saw the situation with Tobiah, Nehemiah threw out all
of Tobiah’s belongings and cleansed the room (Nehemiah 13.07-09)!
This reminds me of when Jesus cleansed the Temple Mark 11.15-17.
02. Service (Nehemiah 13.10-22)
He discovered that the people stopped supporting the work of
God in the Temple.
The people had forgotten that they said they would not
neglect the house of God Nehemiah 10.39.
Nehemiah 13.15-22 God had commanded Israel to
honor the Sabbath (Exodus 20.08-11) but the people were allowing
the merchants to come and sell their stuff on the
Sabbath and Nehemiah threatened them.
03. Sanctification
(Nehemiah 13.23-31)
We are told in Nehemiah 12.10 Eliashib’s grandson married
Sanballat’s daughter.
We must never imitate the world to try to witness to the
world.
Alan Redpath Victorious Christian Service p186
If you would live godly in this world, you will
have to break the heart of someone…
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