Bible Study Library

Dear Disciples:

Let’s review what has just happened as we approach Nehemiah 13. The wall was rebuilt in 52 days, and Nehemiah did the following:

• Appointed gatekeepers and Levitical priests (7:1)
• Found God-fearing men — his brother Hanani and the commander of the citadel Hananiah - and put them in charge of Jerusalem (7:2)
• Ensured that some important directives were communicated on how things should be run from this point on, such as posting guards (7:3)

With the structure and infrastructure now in place, the people turned toward the task of repopulating the city and making it Jerusalem again. Nehemiah conducted a census (7:5-73), the Israelites settled in their own towns (7:73-8:1), and all the people assembled in Jerusalem to listen to Ezra, the scribe, read the Book of the Law while the Levites “made it clear and gave the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read” (8:1-8). The people felt a great sense of guilt and wept as the Law was read, but Nehemiah encouraged them to celebrate instead (8:9-12). They celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, the traditional celebration of the harvest (8:13-18) and continued gathering together, studying God’s Law, confessing their sins, and worshipping (9:1-37).

The people recommitted themselves to God and His law. They even wrote down their sins, wrote down their commitment to repentance, signed the document, sealed it, and bound themselves with a curse and an oath to follow God (9:38-10:28)

One of every 10 families moved into Jerusalem to provide a good cross-section of the population of Israel living in the holy capital. (Ch. 11)

Finally, Nehemiah:

• Organized the Levitical priesthood (12:1-26)
• Led a great dedication of Jerusalem’s walls (12:27-43)
• Appointed a permanent temple staff, and
• Reinstituted the tithe (12:44-47)

And now, Chapter 13. And that’s a good name for it too, because after all this reform Israel seemed to have gone spiritually bankrupt.

While re-learning the Law of Moses, the people discovered that Ammonites and Moabites were never to be allowed into the assembly of Jerusalem (13:1-3)

• Ammonites and Moabites were descendants of Lot.
• You might remember the two primary antagonists against the wall-building in this story, Tobiah the Ammonite and Sanballat the Horabite. Sanballat was a Moabite (”Horabite” simply means someone who lived in Horonaim, a city in Moab.)

Side Note: For the background of this, read the story of Balaam in Numbers 22-23, as well as Deut 23. Balaam was a prophet who attempted to pronounce curses on Israel in exchange for money from a Moabite king. Every time he spoke to curse Israel, a blessing came out instead.

We find out that Eliashib, a High Priest (see 3:1; 3:20; and 13:28) had been put in charge of the storeroom where tithes were kept. That a High Priest would have this responsibility was unusual in itself, but it was even worse in this case: the High Priest was a close relative of Tobiah, and Tobiah had moved in! (13:4-5)

Nehemiah had gone back to Susa to continue his regular job as assistant to the King of Babylon. But when he returned again to Jerusalem, he was appalled at how short lived the “binding agreement” was that the Jews had made. He threw out Tobiah and had the room purified (13:6-14).

Nehemiah also learned that the tithes had been stopped, the Levites and signers were working in the fields rather than in the Temple, and the officials who were to be posted by the Temple had neglected their jobs.

Nehemiah reinstituted the tithe again and posted a priest, a scribe, and a Levite. It was already time for reform again!

Other relapses into sin that Nehemiah discovered and corrected include:

• People were working on the Sabbath (13:15-18)
• Trade was taking place on the Sabbath (13:19-22)
• Mixed marriages, even to Ammonite and Moabite women! (13:23-24)
  • Note how strongly Nehemiah reacts to the mixed marriages! (13:25-27)
  • To add salt to the wound, the Eliashib, that High Priest and close relative of Tobiah, had a grandson who was married to Sanballat’s daughter!!! (13:28)

Nehemiah made corrections to all of this and repeatedly asked God to continue blessing the work he had so faithfully carried out (13:14, 22, and 31).

As bad as I want to, I am going to refrain from telling you why I think Israel relapsed. Instead, I want to challenge you to take this question on as a prayerful project. If you understand that, you’ll understand some things about your own spiritual journey as well as about spiritual leadership.

To close this series, I will add one more post that summarizes the various application lessons we’ve learned from Nehemiah. Apply them to your own ministry and you’ll be blessed!