NEHMIAH MAY 17, 2016

Transcription

1 NEHMIAH MAY 17, 2016 Chapter 11 Snippets; 1 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. 2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. There was some risk to living in Jerusalem. The threat from enemies who want to demolish the city is still real.. People returning to the land would prefer living out of harms way in the countryside The leaders of the people would live in Jerusalem To assure the city s vitality and protection, lots were drawn for others who would live there. The responsibility ws significant hence the blessings for those who offered to live there s well as the The rest of chapter 11 identifier who the resident of the city and the coun Chpter 12 Snippets; Identifies the priests and Levites who returnee with Zerubbabel and their succession through the current time of Nehemiah. Nehemiah 12:27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. A ceremony to thank God for His provisions highlighted by the honoring of the priests and leaders and two great choirs. Nehemiah 12:43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. The chapter closes with the full restoration of the temple functions and practices.

2 CHAPTER 13 Remember the covenant in Chapter 10 To walk in God s Law To observe and do o all the commandments o rules o statutes To not give our daughtesr to foreigners or take their daughters To not do business on the Sabbath To never neglect the house of our God 1 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, 2 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. 3 As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent. Indicates resolve to do what they promised on this point? o Or easy to pursue since it deals with dealing with someone else s sin? Historically; o Deuteronomy 23:3 5 (ESV) 3 No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever, 4 because they did not meet you with bread and with 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. 5 But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you. o Ammonite and Moabite people were not allowed to attend Israel s religious gatherings because of their treatment of Israel during the wilderness period. The had refused bread and water to Israel and through Balak the Moabites hired Balaam to curse Israel [BKC] o Numbers 22 3 And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the

3 people of Israel. 4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me This noble purge was underway as was something not so noble; 4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5 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. A priest who uses his position to do a favor for a notorious relative Tobiah was an enemy of Nehemah and opponent of the rebuilding of the wall. o 4:3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him (SANBALLAT), and he said, Yes, what they are building if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall! A chamber in the temple was prepared for other than temple purposes. He was preparing to move into the temple. All this was going on while Nehemiah was out of town but no one else spoke up to challenge Eliashib What does scripture say about speaking up against wrongdoing? o Psalm 94:16 (ESV) 16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers? o Isaiah 5:20 (ESV) 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! o Acts 13:9 10 (ESV) 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

4 o Ephesians 5:11 12 (ESV) 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 6 While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirtysecond year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king 7 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. Nehemiah honored his promise to his captor king and returned to Babylon. This was in 432 BC and it is believed he was there up to two years before returning to Jerusalem. He responds with a righteous eviction 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. Interesting that we see no mention of Tobiah s reaction o Perhaps this eviction was so rhetorical he had no defense o Absolute truth has no viable opponent. Any challenge is ultimately a denial. Nehemiah restores Tobiah s former temple apartment to its holy purpose. But this one priest and his should-be critics are not the only failures; 10 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. Tobiah was able to occupy the temple because a storeroom was empty If the leadership was honoring their promise to take care of the house pf God, the storerooms would have been stocked o We will not neglect the house of our God (10:39)

5 Because they were not stocked the Levites and other temple servants had to work to live and spiritual service was diminishing. 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. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 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. Nehemiah returned the Levites to their posts in the temple.and set up a support system o Priest o Scribe o Levite o Assistant He asks for God s help in resolving this issue 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 his service. His police work is not done 15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! This work on the Sabbath going on in the countryside o Making wine o Harvesting grain and figs o Other loads People inside the side also doing business on the Sabbath

6 o Fish and goods Nehemiah is startled by this activity exclaiming that the trade is actually taking place in Jerusalem o He sees this as a flagrant violation o 10:31And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day 17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18 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. 19 As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. Confronted the nobles o These are the same dudes who thought themselves too important to stoop before the Lord to help with the wall. Neh 3:5 Takes action to close the city at sundown before the Sabbath But there are some who try to work the system. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. Nehemiah draws a line in the sand rebuking the merchants who try to tempt the citizens to go outside the walls and break the Sabbath. He again takes definitive action compelling the Levites to set the example He again prays for help in the task. 22 Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this

7 also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. INTERMARRIAGE PROBLEM 23 In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. This is apparently not a historical practice but a recent..since his departure trend of marrying pagan women. But it is a long forbidden practice o Exodus 34:12 16 (ESV) 12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. The evidence is in the foreign language spoken by the children o Figure it takes a couple years for a child to develop language skills. This greatly aggravates Nehemiah 25 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. 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?

8 Even the priesthood was guilty of this sin A grandson of the high pried Eliashib married Sanballat s daughter o Like Tobiah, part of a conspiracy to destroy god s work in Jerusalem o He boot Tobiah and now he chases this grandson away. 28 And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. This pattern of confrontation followed by prayer is evident Convicted that his acts are acts of obedience so it s not that Nehemiah is asking God to catch up with his decisions but that God would exact his righteousness and judgement Here he asks God to remember those who have sinned against God Later he asks that God recognize the spiritual things that compelled him to act as He did.all for the glory of Godf 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. 30 Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. It is vital that His people obey His word and not give in to sin through neglect, compromise or outright disobedience. BKC