His Work, His Way, For His Glory: The Story of Nehemiah
Nehemiah 13
“Producing God’s Fruit”
Introduction
Good morning!
I want to invite you to open your bibles to the OT book of Nehemiah.
Lincoln on God’s perspective during the Civil War
During the Civil War period in our history, many southern pastors and leaders were convinced that the South was on the side of God, and that they would win the war because of the righteousness of their cause. One such pastor said these words:
“Soldiers of the South, be firm, be courageous, be brave; be faithful to your God, your country and yourselves, and you shall be invincible. Never forget that the patriot, like the Christian, is immortal till his work is finished.
You are fighting for everything that is near and dear, and sacred to you as men, as Christians and as patriots…Your cause is the cause of God, of Christ, of humanity. It is a conflict of truth with error—of the Bible with Northern infidelity—of a pure Christianity with Northern fanaticism—of liberty with despotism—of right with might.”
Interestingly enough, when Abraham Lincoln was asked this question, he famously responded by saying:
“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side, my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”
How can we have God’s perspective on life, issues, etc.?
Review: The Completion of the Wall & Covenant Renewal Ceremony
The wall is complete, and the people of God are now renewing their commitment to Him and His invitation to them to be in fellowship with Him. Last week we saw in chapter 9 how, under the spiritual leadership of Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Levites and priests, the people publicly acknowledge the failure of their forefathers and recommit themselves to the obeying the whole law.
Let’s pray as we begin…
Exposition of Nehemiah 13
The people separate themselves from foreigners
Nehemiah 13:1-3
After the “joy of Jerusalem” was heard all over the region, we are told that they separated themselves from all foreigners.
However, what happens next is Nehemiah’s account of how the community goes back on every single commitment they had just made in chapters 9-10. As we will see, they simply go backwards.
Nehemiah’s confronts Tobiah
Nehemiah 13:4-9
Nehemiah leaves for a season and returns back to Susa, the capital of the Persian empire. When it says “king of Babylon”, it refers not to a literal Babylonian king, for Persian had defeated them already, but it was common in the ancient world to take the identity of those whom you defeated as a show of dominance over them and shaming them. How long was Nehemiah gone? It was roughly a little over a month to travel between Jerusalem and Susa in those days, so it is probable that Nehemiah was likely gone at least a year – maybe longer?
When he returns, he finds that the priest is a relative of Tobiah, probably through a foreign marriage of one of his siblings. But the issue is that he sets up Tobiah with his own bachelor pad right there in the temple where holy vessels are supposed to be stored for sacred use! So, Nehemiah literally throws him and all his furniture out!
Reform #1: Cleansing the temple
Next, Nehemiah discovers that the temple, the house of God, has been neglected!
Nehemiah 13:10-14
Now, notice how Nehemiah concludes here (a pattern we will see throughout this whole text) by praying: remember me, O God, for all the good I have done on behalf of these people for your glory/name’s sake. Specifically, O Lord, for your house!
Reform #2: Honoring the Sabbath
The next thing Nehemiah finds is that the Sabbath has been neglected again!
Nehemiah 13:15-22
After making a commitment to honor the Sabbath by not buying/selling, what do we find them doing? Exactly that: breaking the Sabbath and buying/selling. So, Nehemiah takes radical action to redress this. And once again, he prays and asks God to spare him from judgement on behalf of the people.
Reform #3: Marrying foreigners
Nehemiah 13:23-29
The final reform, again mirroring and contrasting the commitments and promises made earlier, is to put away foreign wives. Some were even raising children who could not speak Hebrew but only their own dialect. Nehemiah rages, in a godly way, against this and literally ends up beating some of them and then rebukes them. Furthermore, we find that one of the grandsons of Eliashib (who does not seem to be a very responsible or godly priest), is the son-in-law of Sanballat. Again, Nehemiah prays for God to remember him in accordance with all the good he is trying to do for the sake of the integrity of the covenant the people have made with God.
Conclusion: Producing God’s fruit by discerning God’s will, for God’s glory.
Nehemiah 13:30-31
Nehemiah concludes the book with a summary of what he was trying to do: make Jerusalem great again by worship and devotion to God.
Let’s take account for what we find here in this text, and really the entire book of Nehemiah. What do we find Nehemiah doing again and again throughout the story? I want to suggest that we see him sharing God’s perspective…God’s perspective. As I have been saying throughout this series, Nehemiah’s larger project is not about walls; it’s about restoring the people to their covenant relationship with God. It’s about the spiritual renewal of Israel as a nation – to become Deuteronomy 6 people (who love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength), to see Leviticus 26 happen (God dwells and walks among them), to see Malachi 1 (the nations praising God). These texts give us a window into Nehemiah’s soul, and the perspective he takes that informs all his actions; and since Nehemiah’s perspective was soaked and bathed in scripture, we can say that it was God’s perspective he was sharing. Nehemiah is the voice of God throughout the account.
So even though his actions seem dramatic (and violent) in chapter 13, we believe that he is doing what he’s doing because these are the things that God wants done for the good of His people.
And so, Nehemiah concludes with this prayer, which really summarizes the entire book of Nehemiah: “remember me, O my God, for good.” When all else fails, Nehemiah does what he only can do: pray, and offer himself and his work to God, and simply leave the results in His hands.
Main Idea:
God’s people produce His fruit as they discern His will (scripture), boldly follow it (obedience) in total dependence upon Him for the results (prayer).
Application: How can Christians produce God’s fruit for God’s glory today?
I have to be honest – as much as I love this book of the Bible and find so much encouragement from Nehemiah’s devotion, leadership, perseverance, and humility – the story ends on a depressing note. All the work he puts in, his godly example and leadership, and the people who respond to him with such eagerness – as soon as he leaves town, it all seemingly goes down the tubes.
And we find that Nehemiah’s efforts in this regard seem to have fallen short, and from what we know of history, they will continue to, for things do not really get all that much better up even up to the time of Christ and the Apostles (when the temple is destroyed in 70 AD).
Why does this happen? What’s missing in Nehemiah’s ministry?
There are two main lessons I think we can draw from Nehemiah for our own day concerning sharing God’s perspective…
The first is this: why didn’t Nehemiah’s project last?
Well, the answer here is a simple one: the Spirit which Moses and the prophets spoke about, that would write the law of God on their hearts, had not yet been poured out. Nehemiah was raised up by God to do God’s work in God’s way for God’s glory – and he did! But the work did not have the lasting effect which Nehemiah hoped for because there was still something fundamentally wrong with the hearts of the people.
Let me share with this bigger perspective with you, especially for those of you who are not familiar with how the scriptural story unfolds from Moses to Christ.
In Deuteronomy 30, Moses predicted when the exiles returned…
Deut. 30:5-7
This theme would be later picked up by the prophets, especially Jeremiah and Ezekiel…
Jer. 31:33-34
Ezekiel 36:24-27
This kind of renewal did not happen in Nehemiah’s day, or any day, until this Galilean carpenter called Jesus of Nazareth began to speak of the Spirit coming, not in relation to the temple or the land, but in relation to Himself.
In talking with His disciples, Jesus tells them:
John 6:63
And what Jesus says here in John becomes a reality in Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit is poured out on Christ’s followers, and then given to any and all who profess faith in Christ. In Acts 3, listen to how Peter describes the relationship between the prophets, the Spirit, and Christ:
Acts 3:17-26
Friends, we live in a day of fulfillment of Nehemiah’s hopes – but in a surprising way! It’s not about building walls, worshipping at a temple, and persevering ethnicity, but what all those things pointed towards: the spiritual renewal of the human race through the one whom God sent as Savior for all people.
Think about it: all of Nehemiah’s concerns find their shape and fulfillment in Christ!
Deut. 6, Lev. 26, Mal. 1. But the deeper issue is that real transformation comes from resolving the issue within.
Sharing God’s Perspective in Christ:
True human/cultural transformation comes through the Spirit, not the “flesh” (human effort alone)
Second, I want to conclude with a word of encouragement about how Nehemiah deals with the disappointment of what happens. What does he do when everything fails? He prays! And he calls upon the God who remembers, who hears, and doesn’t forget, and who ultimately is the one who resolve it. Nehemiah prays!
2 Tim. 4:16-18
Sharing God’s Perspective in Christ
When all else fails, King Jesus still stands beside us.