October 13, 2024

Godliness Requires Maintenance

Pastor: Kit Johnson Series: Nehemiah Topic: Expository Passage: Nehemiah 13:1–14

Introduction

(read) A couple weeks ago, Heidi and I watched a movie after we put the kids to bed. It was entertaining, and the ending was climactic, exciting, and intense. But at the very end, the main character, the hero of the story, died in a gun fight and left his family behind. That’s how it ended. As the credits began to roll, Heidi said, “That’s disappointing.”

We all like a happy ending. We want to leave a story feeling good. So, if we had our way, Nehemiah would end with chapter 12. The wall is finished, Israel is on fire for God, and they have a big celebration to dedicate the wall to the Lord. It’s a perfect, happy ending to Nehemiah.

An informed Jewish reader may even begin to wonder if this is the beginning of the Messianic revival Jeremiah and Ezekiel foretold. God said that one day he would give Israel a new heart and that everyone would know the Lord. Maybe that day has come. Maybe Messiah is almost here!

But chapter 13 ends the book with a hard reality check. Israel does not have a new heart. And Nehemiah responds incredibly well, but he’s clearly not Messiah. I believe these realities are a big reason why Nehemiah includes chapter 13 because there is a big chronological gap between chapters 1–12 and chapter 13.

Chapters 1–12 take place in less than one year’s time during the 20th year of Artaxerxes’ reign. Then Nehemiah apparently enjoyed a relatively peaceful term as governor until (v. 6) the 32nd year of Artaxerxes’ reign (for 12 years). Finally, King Artaxerxes called Nehemiah back to Susa. But it’s okay. Nehemiah has established a strong government. Israel’s worship is in order. Surely, Israel can maintain what he established.

But sinners are bound to disappoint, and that’s exactly what happened. It got so bad that God raised up the prophet Malachi to delivered some of the sharpest rebukes you’ll find anywhere in Scripture. Then God also called Nehemiah back to Jerusalem to address 5 major spiritual failures.

Nehemiah 13 drives us to 3 levels of application. First, don’t commit these 5 sins. Instead, imitate Nehemiah’s passion for holiness and obedience. But at a 2nd level, this chapter warns us that past spiritual successes don’t guarantee future ones. It’s often been said that your spiritual health never stands still. You’re either going forward or backwards. So, make sure you are always going forward.

And considering the fact that Nehemiah 13 is the very last moment in the OT before the 400 silent years and the story of Jesus, this chapter is here to remind us that Israel was still broken, and Nehemiah was not Messiah. Israel needed a new heart. They needed their Messiah. So do you. Look to Jesus because your only hope for true salvation and godliness is in Jesus. Today, make sure you have been born again. And if you are, run to him for the strength you need to keep going forward. So, pulling all that together, my central challenge is this, stay disciplined and dependent in the battle for godliness. We’ll get there by studying the first 3 sins. First, vv. 1–3 describe an…

I.  Impure Assembly (vv. 1–3)

Notice up front that vv. 4, 6 say this chapter occurred after Nehemiah returned from Susa. So, Nehemiah first arrived at Jerusalem in 445 B.C., and v he governed Judah for 12 years, until 433 B.C.

Then Artaxerxes called him back to Susa, apparently with no plans to send him back. I say that because v. 6 says Nehemiah had to ask his permission to return. So, after an unknown period of time Nehemiah surprises everyone by marching back into Jerusalem. Sadly, he finds a mess. The first issue is impure worship (read). Two applications stand out in these verses.

Pursue biblical correction. I LOVE how this account unfolds. Israel has a problem. They are welcoming Ammonites and Moabites into their worship assemblies at the temple. But this time Nehemiah doesn’t have to be the bad guy. The Bible does that for him.

Verse 1 assumes that Israel regularly gathered to “read aloud from the book of Moses.” So, after Nehemiah arrives, he attends one of these assemblies. He’s not saying anything; he’s there to listen. And the scribe comes to Deuteronomy 23:3–6, “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord, because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you…You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.”

That’s very clear. Ammonites and Moabites were not welcome at Israel’s worship assemblies because they opposed Israel when they entered the land. Of course, we know this was not an absolute prohibition. Ruth was a Moabitess, and the Bible celebrates her inclusion.

And Exodus 12:38 uses the same word for foreigners as v. 3 when it celebrates some Egyptians joining the exodus. Ruth and these Egyptians were welcomed because they converted to Judaism and submitted to the Law. So, this is not about racism; it’s about religious loyalty.

That said, Israel established a regular routine of reading the Law. As they read, the Scriptures exposed a blind spot that, a spiritual callous.

That’s why you must read the Bible and sit under biblical preaching. This was not a new law. Israel had surely read Deuteronomy before. But they forgot, and they got lazy. The same happens to you. You’re forgetful, your heart is deceitful, and you are prone to wander. If you don’t keep your ship anchored, it is bound to drift. Your thoughts and emotions will wander from what is true, and you will fall into sinful habits and grow destructive callouses. Past spiritual successes don’t guarantee future ones.

So, you must build disciplines into your life by which you receive biblical correction. Read your Bible a lot. And don’t just read it; read it desiring reproof and rebuke. And come to church weekly with the same heart, asking God to expose and correct every wrong thought, passion, and deed. That’s what Israel did. Their response raises a 2nd challenge…

Respond to biblical correction. Verse 3 is simple and to the point. When God’s Word exposed their disobedience, they fixed it. “They excluded all foreigners from Israel” (i.e., from their sacred assemblies).

Similarly, the NT commands you, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?...‘Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean;
and I will welcome you’” (2 Cor 6:14, 17).

Christian, you are a new person going in a new direction. Be friendly toward unbelievers and love them well. But be sure that your closest relationships are with other Christians. God commands you to maintain holy relationships.

Beyond that, whenever God exposes sin, respond obediently. Don’t make excuses. Don’t play dumb. By God’s grace, just obey. That’s what Israel did. Then vv. 4–9 transition to a 2nd sin that had to be corrected.

II.  Temple Desecration (vv. 4–9)

One reason why this chapter is so sobering is that Nehemiah has already addressed these problems. In particular, Tobiah the Ammonite continually tried to weasel his way into Nehemiah’s business, and I have to think that Nehemiah have really disliked him. In chapter 2, Tobiah mocked the building project. In chapter 4 he said that a fox could break down their wall.

When the work continued, he conspired with Sanballat and Geshem to attack Israel. He was ready to kill to stop the work. In chapter 6, he tried to assassinate Nehemiah. And later in chapter 6, Tobiah tried to inspire a mutiny against Nehemiah. He was a persistent, wicked man.

So, imagine how Nehemiah felt when he came home to Jerusalem, and he sees Tobiah casually walking around the temple. “What is he doing here?” Then someone replies that Tobiah has not just been welcomed into the temple, Eliashib the priest “had prepared a large room for him,” one of the rooms that was designated for storing the tithes.

The text makes it sound like he was using it as a second home. The guy who tried to kill Nehemiah and stop the building project is living in the temple! I’m sure that made Nehemiah happy.

To make matters worse the high priest was behind it all. Eliashib was supposed to be the spiritual leader of Israel, their primary mediator to God. But notice what’s said about him in v. 28. His grandson married Nehemiah’s other rival, Sanballat’s daughter. You’ve got to be kidding! And v. 4 says Eliashib was also somehow related to Tobiah.

Some people think v. 4 is talking about a different Eliashib. They say that the high priest wouldn’t be over the storerooms. But the text never says this is a different Eliashib. Regardless, despite everything Nehemiah has done to stand against Tobiah, a priest gave him a room in the temple. It’s incredible.

It’s a problem for at least 2 reasons. First, Tobiah isn’t hanging out for the cuisine. No, when Nehemiah left for Susa, he moved into town for the purpose of undoing everything Nehemiah had built. He wanted to rebuild his profit stream by making trade alliances. And he surely wanted to broaden Israel’s worship to include Gentiles. This is a bad man with bad intentions.

Beyond that, Tobiah was an Ammonite. He’s a spiritual wolf, and he’s living in the temple, the place of God’s holy presence. We just talked about the fact that God said Moabites and Ammonites were not even allowed in the temple. This is a terrible desecration of the temple. His residence there defies and blasphemes the holy name of God. It’s a blatant offense.

But so often we are not much better. We tolerate to grave spiritual dangers. We justify what we tell ourselves is a small, necessary pattern of disobedience. We invite bitterness, jealousy, and lust to take up residence in our hearts. We use a T.V., a computer, or a smart phone to invite wicked trash into our homes. We’re not just foolish; we invite evil into our homes and hearts.

How should we respond? We can learn a lot from Nehemiah’s aggressive approach. First, Nehemiah doesn’t make excuses for Eliashib or give him sympathy. He calls this what it is. It is “evil.”

Second, he throws all of Tobiah’s things out in the street. There’s no 30 day eviction notice; instead, Nehemiah makes a bold and very public statement that this will not be tolerated. In fact, v. 8 gives off an aroma of Jesus’ response in John 3 to those who were doing business in the temple. Jesus didn’t play games. He made a whip, he drove them out, and he overturned their tables. Like Jesus, Nehemiah made a public, strong stand that Israel must defend the holiness of the temple.

Both men set an important example for you. Sometimes we hem and haw about the evils we tolerate in our hearts and our homes. But 2 Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee from youthful lusts.” And Jesus said, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matt 5:29). There’s nothing to discuss. You don’t use diplomacy against sin and temptation. You cut it off, and you flee.

I’m sure that someone here is playing a game with sin. You keep telling yourself it’s no big deal or that you need it cope with life. Maybe, you’ve told yourself that you’ll get to it soon. That’s nonsense. Take aggressive action today to cut it off and run hard toward the grace of Christ and encouragement of God’s family.

Third, v. 9 says that Nehemiah didn’t just purify the room; he purified the surrounding rooms and restored them to their rightful purpose. Don’t just flee youthful lusts, run toward the pure, beautiful holiness of God. Joy is found in the light, not the dark. So, cut off the darkness and rest in the light of God’s presence.

Finally, never take that holiness for granted. Like Tobiah, sin and temptation are persistent. Just because you drive them away once does not mean they are gone for good. Afterall, your biggest problem is always with you because it’s you. So, stay disciplined and dependent on the grace of God in the battle for godliness. The final sin we’ll address today is…

III.  Negligent Giving (vv. 10–14)

Once again, this is not a new problem. One of the major aspects of the covenant Israel made in chapter 10 was to bring their tithes to the temple. Again, after the dedication of the wall in chapter 12, Nehemiah made plans to collect the tithes and distribute them among the priests and Levites. All that emphasis indicates that Israel had neglected the tithes.

But Nehemiah fixed it for good, right? Wrong. While Nehemiah was gone, God said through Malachi, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you” (Mal 3:8–9).

Even this sharp rebuke didn’t solve the problem. So, imagine Nehemiah’s first Sabbath back in Jerusalem. He enters the temple expecting a beautiful worship service. But the choir is absent, everything is disorganized and dirty, and the signs of neglect are everywhere. He starts asking what’s going on? Where’s the choir? Someone replies that Israel had so neglected their tithes that the Levites and singers had to abandon their ministry to farm their fields and feed their families.

He’s dumbfounded. “Didn’t we already solve this?” “This is terrible neglect not just of the Levites but of our sacred worship.” Israel just kept going back to this sin.

The statistics say that giving to the Lord’s work is also consistent struggle for American Christians. We want to blame it on the economy or challenging circumstances. Certainly, there are emergencies that come up. But the statistics also say that poorer people give a higher percentage of their income than wealthy people.

Our issue is not economics; it’s materialism and fear. We’ve convinced ourselves that we need much more than we do, and we often have no interest in leaving any of our economic future to faith. We want to secure it ourselves. It’s amazing to imagine the impact we could make for the gospel if American Christians rallied for treasures in heaven rather than treasures on earth.

Nehemiah was determined to prioritize the right things. He doesn’t rebuke the Levites; he rebukes the officials. “Why is the house of God forsaken?” Then he doesn’t tell the people to pray about what God would have them do and leave it that. He demanded that the people give what God required, and he regathered the Levites and pledged their support. Then he recruited reliable people to make sure the collections and distributions continued according to God’s law.

To be clear, God does not want us to demand your offerings the same way today. The Law was Israel’s constitution. There was no separation of church and state, so Nehemiah is in a sense collecting taxes. The church doesn’t have the same authority, and NT appeals to give are always worded more gently.

The NT still requires you to support the ministry, but you have the Holy Spirit. Paul called people to give generously and cheerfully based on his leading. I hope you love the ministry. Fishing for men, growing disciples, and establishing churches is the most important work in the world. So, don’t forsake the work of the ministry. Don’t let fear and materialism dampen your commitment to the Great Commission. Plan your budget with a focus on heavenly treasures.

And praise the Lord that whether it’s your giving, your commitment to holiness, or any other area of obedience or ministry, God sees every sacrifice and the commitment of your heart. Notice Nehemiah’s prayer in v. 14.

The Hebrew word for “loyal deeds” is hesed. The OT almost always uses it for God’s covenant, steadfast love. But Nehemiah uses it to describe his own loyal and loving service to God and specifically to his house, the temple. All 3 problems Nehemiah has addressed so far are focused on God’s house. Nehemiah would not tolerate compromised worship. God must receive worthy and holy worship because he is worthy, and people must see him as he is. Nehemiah was devoted to worship.

I hope you are just as devoted. You’re ready to sacrifice and fight for God to receive glory and for his people to know him as he is. Because praise the Lord that God is sure to answer any prayer you offer like the one in v. 14. Even if no one else sees or cares, God sees, and God will not forget. Paul confidently said, “There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim 4:8). Your heavenly treasure will be worth every sacrifice.

Conclusion

We’ll pick up in v. 15 and finish Nehemiah in couple weeks. But I want to close by going back to where we started. Why doesn’t God give Nehemiah a happy ending? Sure, Nehemiah fixes these problems, but we know they’ll show their ugly faces again.

The simple answer is that God wants to drive us to grace and hope. The Law and no human ruler, even one as awesome as Nehemiah, could produce lasting holiness. Instead, Israel needed to look forward to the day as Ezekiel said, when God promised, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (Ez 36:26–27). It’s going to be a wonderful day when God does for Israel what they could never do for themselves.

God also wants to drive you to grace and hope. No amount of rules, disciplines, or human leadership can create lasting holiness in your soul. Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). You can be born again today if you will confess that Jesus is Lord, repent of how you have sinned against him, and believe on him for salvation. I hope you will.

Then Christian, be encouraged that you have a new heart and a new spirit all because of the grace of the gospel. You will fall down, but by the grace of God you can get up and go forward. And someday, Christ will finish his work in you, and you will be glorified. So, stay focused on grace and hope. Your happily-ever-after-ending will come. With this confidence, stay disciplined and dependent in the battle for godliness.

other sermons in this series

Oct 27

2024

A Holy Nation

Pastor: Kit Johnson Passage: Nehemiah 13:15–31 Series: Nehemiah

Sep 29

2024

Rejoice Together

Pastor: Kit Johnson Passage: Nehemiah 12:27–47 Series: Nehemiah

Sep 22

2024

Committing to Change

Pastor: Kit Johnson Passage: Nehemiah 9:38 Series: Nehemiah