Nehemiah 8-13 (NASB)
For the past two weeks, we’ve been looking at Nehemiah. Today, we pick up the story after the people have heard the Word of God and repented, and were sent away with joy to eat and celebrate. The verse we stopped at last week was Nehemiah 8:13, which says, “Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe so that they might gain insight into the words of the Law.” Now, Nehemiah 8:14 & 15 tells us, “And they found written in the Law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month. And that they were to proclaim and circulate a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other trees with thick branches, to make booths, as it is written.’”
They realized as they read the Law that they were not following God according to His commands. They had not set up booths. This makes sense, for how would they have known that they were to make temporary shelters and live in them, unless they had read God’s word?
Realizing their mistake, verses 16 through 18 say, “So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the house of God, and in the public square at the Water Gate, and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths. Indeed, the sons of Israel had not done so since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was very great rejoicing. He read from the Book of the Law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a festive assembly in accordance with the ordinance.”
To summarize, they crafted these booths and moved into them, and for the next seven days, read from God’s law. Then, on the eighth day, they had a party. They only knew to do this, though, because they made time to read God’s word. While studying it, they realized their error and set about following God’s instructions.
This is why we must study God’s word. Only when we study God’s word will we know if we are following God’s instructions. That might seem too elementary of a teaching, but let me tell you something I know is true. There are a lot of people who claim to follow God, but they never study His word. How do I know they do not study His word? They are not doing what He tells us to do. So many people say they follow God, but they do not do the things He tells us to do, and instead, they do the things the Bible tells us not to do. God’s word clearly tells us not to be sexually immoral, and yet how many people who claim to follow God live with a boyfriend or girlfriend instead of waiting until they get married? How many people who claim to follow God think nothing of lying or stealing whenever they think it is justified? Did you know that most Christians do not even tithe? Why do so many people claim to follow God but do not bother to find out what He says about how to live? I think you know the answer to that question. If they find out, then they will have to make a decision to either follow His word or just continue to do what they’ve always been doing.
The people who heard Ezra read the law, and then took the time to study it deeper, didn’t hesitate. They made the changes that needed to be made. They went and gathered all the things they needed for the booths. They interrupted their regular life so they could obey God. It seems complicated, all that they had to do. Cutting down branches and moving into a temporary shelter, that seems inconvenient, and a major interruption to their regular life, doesn’t it?
When we read God’s word and seek to follow His instructions, we might find that in order to follow what His word says, it’s going to create complications in our lives as well. If we find out that we’ve made decisions that go against God’s way of living, it will probably be complicated and inconvenient to make changes. But the thing is, following God is an all-encompassing endeavor. For the Christian, following God is what our ‘regular life’ is supposed to be all about. It’s when we separate our ‘regular life’ from following God that we create all the problems. But when we obey God’s word, we will find that our lives will be filled with joy.
Last week in our reading, the people were instructed to cease weeping and to rejoice in the joy of the Lord. Here we also see that after they obeyed God and built these booths, “there was very great rejoicing” as verse 17 records. When we obey God, we, too, will find joy. Those things He asks us to do which are complicated or inconvenient might seem like a burden to us and we may not want to do what He asks. But if we trust Him, we will see that following Him ultimately leads to joy. Making those booths and living in them turned out to be a thing of joy. That is because joy follows obedience, for as we obey God, the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit in us, and the joy of the Lord will become our strength.
If we keep reading in chapters 9 through 12, we find out that the people’s reforms didn’t stop at the booths, for after having read and studied Scripture, they made even more changes. Under Nehemiah’s leadership, in the same way they repaired the wall, they set about making spiritual repairs. They begin, as chapter 9 records, by confessing their sins and recounting the faithfulness of God. As Nehemiah 9:33 says in their corporate prayer to God, “However, You are righteous in everything that has happened to us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.”
They make an agreement in writing, and as Nehemiah 10:29-31 says, and “are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to comply with all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and statutes; and that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day; and we will forgo the crops of the seventh year and every debt.” Then, the next 6 verses also detail more ways they will make adjustments to how they’ve been living in order they may keep God’s word. They pledge to give tithes of grain, fruit, cattle and other things like that and that they will “not neglect the house of our God.”
Nehemiah 11:1 & 2 says, “Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.” All the other people returned to their surrounding cities. The rest of chapters 11 and 12 detail the names of people and where they were living, who the priests and Levites were, and procedures for the temple.
Everything is going really well. They had repaired the wall, read God’s law, repented and made changes to their lives and how the temple was being run. Things should run smoothly now, right? Well, the timeline is a little confusing, but it seems like Nehemiah stayed in Jerusalem for 12 years repairing the wall and helping the people. Then he returned to Babylon, for if you remember, his stay in Jerusalem was supposed to be temporary. We don't know how long he stayed in Babylon after his return. However, when he comes back to Jerusalem, he finds that while the walls are intact, the spiritual state of the people has crumbled.
The problem seems to be that when Nehemiah returned to the King of Babylon, the people went back to their old way of life. Even though they had just repaired everything and made all these changes, they stopped following God’s Word in his absence. He returns, and apparently wasn’t gone all that long, and everything is back to how it was before they made the changes to follow God’s law. He returns to Jerusalem, and recounting what he finds there, Nehemiah 13:4-9 says, “Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, had prepared a large room for him, where previously they used to put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had come to the king. After some time, however, I requested a leave of absence from the king, and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had committed for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courtyards of the house of God. It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household articles out of the room. Then I gave an order, and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned the utensils of the house of God there with the grain offering and the frankincense.”
This is the same Tobiah who had tried to stop the rebuilding of the wall and had repeatedly threatened Nehemiah. He was allowed to live in the temple. This would have been a direct violation of God’s law. Had the people learned nothing? They had stopped tithing to the temple and so the Levites and singers had left the temple. Nehemiah had to go and bring them all back. The text also tells us that he noticed people were not keeping the Sabbath, but were working, buying and selling on the Sabbath. He says in Nehemiah 13:17 & 18, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, by profaning the Sabbath day? Did your fathers not do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” Being a wise leader, he ordered the gates of Jerusalem to be closed just before the Sabbath and not opened again until the Sabbath was over. At first people camped out overnight outside the gate, but he threatened them and stationed people to send them away.
That was not all. He also noticed that some of the Jews had married foreign women. Verses 25-27 say, “So I quarreled with them and cursed them, and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, ‘You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Did Solomon the king of Israel not sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet the foreign women caused even him to sin. Has it not then been reported about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God, by marrying foreign women?’”
Nehemiah quoted the law to them and reminded of them why God had made that law and then he physically punished them. To us, that probably seems like he lost his temper and should have restrained himself from lashing out at them, but as the NASB points out in a cross reference, Deuteronomy 25:2 states, “then it shall be if the wicked person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and have him beaten in his presence with the number of lashes according to his wrongful act.” This physical punishment was not outside of God’s mandate. These men had clearly violated God’s law by marrying foreign women, and so it seems like Nehemiah’s reaction was not in the wrong.
I found it interesting, though, that Ezra, too, faced this same problem when he arrived in Judea. Notice his reaction. Ezra 9:3&4 says, “When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled out some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled. Then everyone who was frightened by the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering.”
One commentary I read said their different reactions are simply a difference of personality. That could be true. I read another one, though, that stated their different reactions are due to their different positions, and I think that is a better explanation. For Ezra is a priest, and Nehemiah is a government official. Nehemiah’s reaction is to mete out punishment dictated by God’s law. Ezra, acting as the priest he is, intercedes for the people. Ezra tears his own garment, pulls his own hair and sits down and prays. Ezra 9:5&6 says, “But at the evening offering I stood up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God; and I said, ‘My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongful deeds have risen above our heads, and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.’”
Ezra confessed the people’s sin as though it was his own. This is what Jesus does for us as High Priest. He intercedes for us, taking our sin upon Himself. Even dying on the cross for us, and it is His sacrifice of becoming a human and humbling Himself that leads us to repentance, as Romans 2:4 explains. We see the same thing happens with these people, as Ezra 10:1 states, “Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept greatly.” The people were moved to repentance and so they made plans to send the foreign wives and children away.
Nehemiah also directed the people to send the foreign wives and children away. Nehemiah 13:30&31 says, “So I purified them from everything foreign, and assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each in his work, and I arranged for the delivery of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.”
Honestly, I can’t think of something more complicated, inconvenient or burdensome than having to send the foreign wives and children away. That probably seems unthinkable to our modern minds. Yet, that is what they did both times they returned to following God’s law.
There is a lot more that could be said of Ezra being a type of Christ, but as this sermon is about Nehemiah, I won’t go into that detail. Nehemiah is also a type of Christ, for it is Jesus who will return and judge the whole world. Back to that passage I mentioned in Romans, let’s read that verse in context. Romans 2:3-8 says, “do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will repay each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life; but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation.”
When Nehemiah strikes and pulls the hair of the people, he is showing the righteous judgment of God on sinners. These two intertwined accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah show us the severity of disobeying God, but also the unending mercy of God to forgive us when we repent, turn from our sin, and follow Him.
Nehemiah also is an example for us that we, in order to serve God, do not need to have a position of ministry to serve God. Nehemiah was a cupbearer and then a governor, yet God used him in an incredibly significant manner. It fact, it was because of his position in government that he was able to do all that he did.
We should not think that in order to serve the Lord we all must become a pastor, church worker, or an official missionary. Just like Nehemiah, our position in life can be a key factor in how God uses us.
Nehemiah was a skilled leader. He was a man of prayer, he knew God’s Word, he was determined, did not quit, he ignored fear, and he looked to godly people like Ezra for help. Learning about Nehemiah, we see that we, too, would be wise to adopt those positive characteristics. For sure, we must read and study the Bible. The more we, as a people, move away from studying the Bible, the more we move away from truly following God. For the only way we can know what we are to do as God’s people is if we read the word of God. It seems so obvious that it seems ridiculous for me to write that down. Of course, you might say, of course we have to read the Bible. But if that is true, why do so few Christians read the Bible?
If we read the Bible, I am certain we will have revival. For we will see that we need to repent. For we will realize that we have forgotten some basic mandates and rules. Just like the people did not realize that they needed to set up booths during that particular festival, or how they were forbidden from marrying foreigners, we have forgotten some basic truths in Scripture.
If you disagree, then go and read what God says about divorce. Go and read what God says about basic morality. God’s word is mandatory, it is not optional. We cannot pick and choose which scriptures we want to follow and which are too complicated or are an inconvenience, or which ones we just don’t agree with. If we want to follow God, we must be willing to make complicated, inconvenient, and even burdensome choices in order to follow His instructions. But when we repent and make those changes, we will find those things we thought are burdensome, actually leads us to joy. For God’s law is not burdensome. Sin is burdensome, and uncoupling ourselves from sin is what causes the burden. Once, free from sin, God’s law is a thing of delight.
About 400 years after Nehemiah, Jesus is born. He explains so perfectly how His law is not burdensome. In Matthew 11:28-30, He says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.” We should not fear learning God’s word, for if we follow His ways, we will find that His way is always for our good.
Let us follow Nehemiah's example. Let's carefully read and study God's word, obeying everything it tells us so that we, too, can follow Jesus with joy and gladness.
Pray: Heavenly Father, we confess that we have not always followed Your instructions. Please forgive us and help us to follow You in all areas of our lives. Help our whole lives to be lined up with Your Word so we do not sin against You. Please help us by Your Holy Spirit to walk in Your righteousness, delighting in Your law so we can find rest for our souls. In Jesus our Savior’s name we pray, amen.
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