Welcome back to today's Daily PBJ devotional. This devotional is about Nehemiah 13, but if you're reading along in the Old Testament, read Genesis 24, Nehemiah 13, and Psalm 23. Let's read Nehemiah 13. At that time, the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people. And in it, they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, because they had not met the Israelites with food and water. But it hired Balaam to call down a curse against them, although our God had turned the curse into a blessing. As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent. Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God, and had prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the temple articles, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests. While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, in the 32nd year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king to return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliaship had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of the house of God. And I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobias' household goods out of the room. Then I ordered that the rooms be purified, and I had the articles of the house of God restored to them, along with the grain offerings and frankincense. I also learned that because the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, all the Levites and singers responsible for performing the service had gone back to their own fields. So I rebuked the officials and asked, Why has the house of God been neglected? Then I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts. And all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and oil into the storerooms. I appointed as treasurers over the storerooms Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedayiah of the Levites, with Hanan the son of Zechur, the son of Mattaniah, to assist them. because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites. Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services. In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day. Additionally, men of Tyre who lived there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. Then I rebuked the nobles of Judah and asked, What is this evil you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling his wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath. When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not open until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day. Once or twice, the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem, but I warned them, Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you. From that time on, they did not return on the Sabbath. Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this as well, O my God, and show me mercy according to your abundant loving devotion. In those days, I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God, and said, You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves. Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel. Yet foreign women drew him into sin. Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women? Even one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. Thus I purified the priests and Levites from everything foreign, and I assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites. I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, with favor. This is God's word. Nehemiah was a real jerk. At least, that's how other people probably regarded him. He insisted on obedience to God's word. When he found out that others were letting disobedience slide, Nehemiah reacted strongly and emotionally. Consider these incidents. First, when a priest allowed one of God's enemies to have a big apartment in the temple, Nehemiah personally carried out his belongings and threw them on the front lawn, according to verse 8. When he found out that God's servants weren't being paid, Nehemiah called out their civic leaders and made them pay up, according to verses 10 through 12, even designating some stand-up guys to be responsible for this in the future, according to verse 13. Also, when Nehemiah learned that non-Jews who lived in Jerusalem were selling stuff on Saturday, that is, the Sabbath, Nehemiah, quote, rebuked the nobles of Judah, according to verse 17 in the NIV. stopped the city gates from opening so that nothing could come in for sale, according to verse 19, and Nehemiah threatened to arrest those who still came hoping to sell, according to verses 20 through 22. Also, when Nehemiah found out that men of Judah had married foreign wives, he rebuked them and called curses down on them, beat some of the men and pulled out their hair, according to verse 25. Yep, he was a jerk, all right, If it was your hair that he was pulling out, at least. The thing is, he had scriptural reasons for doing everything that he did. He also had some anxiety about it. I say that because of these repeated statements. Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services. That's verse 14 in the NIV. And later in verse 22 in the NIV, it says, Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love. Then later on in verse 29, Nehemiah said, Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. That's again, according to the NIV. And verse 31 says, Remember me with favor, my God. Again, in the NIV. If you want to live a godly life, you will be forced to choose at times between either saying something in order to preserve your reputation and likability or speaking up about sin. which may cause people to think that you're a jerk. When Nehemiah asked God to remember him after these incidents, he was showing the human side of doing what was right. Nehemiah paid a price in his relationships with other people in order to lead God's people to obedience. But he did that because he followed God's word and trusted in God to reward him for doing the right thing. Are you up to that? Have you been looking the other way when people sin around you so that people still like you? Nehemiah understood the pressure. I do too. In fact, I wish I could say that I was better and more consistent about showing the kind of moral leadership that Nehemiah showed in this passage. May the Lord help us all to be bolder in our stand for his commands. It's probably not necessary to beat anyone or pull out his or her hair. Just a tip. And if you found this devotional helpful, please sign up to receive it every day in your email by going to dailypbj.com slash subscribe. Subscribing is free, and every day an email will show up that gives you a link to the audio, video, and a transcript of these devotionals to help you be in God's Word every day. I'm looking for financial support so I can keep doing this. Please go to dailypbj.com slash support and consider one of the monthly tiers of support there. And thank you to everyone who contributes so faithfully. Please share this with others who might be helped in their faith by it, and I'll see you next time. May God bless you. Hope you have a great day.