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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
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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.
Nehemiah 13
Series DailyPBJ Devotionals
This is a daily devotional about Nehemiah 13 from dailypbj devotionals. For more information, visit https://dailypbj.com. To receive these devotionals every morning in your inbox, visit https://dailypbj.com/subscribe. To support my work, visit https://dailypbj.com/support/
| Sermon ID | 122241944174743 |
| Duration | 09:18 |
| Date | |
| Category | Devotional |
| Bible Text | Nehemiah 13 |
| Language | English |
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