July 2, 2023
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Nehemiah? Here’s today’s reading:
Nehemiah 13 (NIV)
Nehemiah’s Final Reforms
1 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them.…..Continue Reading
How quickly we can slip back into ways of the world when we don’t keep our focus on God. Nehemiah returns after maybe 10 years away to see leadership breaking the laws of God and therefore the people will follow.
I love that Nehemiah doesn’t just sit and mourn their disobedience but yet he cleans house and sets things right. He quickly sets straight their ways of business and their respect for the sabbath. He also addresses relationship again and it seems to me these mixed marriages may be at the root cause of the other disobedience. If as a family God and His laws are only important to half of its members eventually it can pull everyone away from God. It is hard to uphold faith for an entire family and many times it leads to that person’s own backsliding.
Done
Well said Kelly. I new that at some point Nehemiah had left and then returned at a latter time. It`s so true that we have to be on guard in our own walk with God especially when there are unsaved family members or backslidden Christians. We are warned of this in scripture. 1 Corinthians 10;12 [ Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.] How easy it was to turn away from God for the people of Israel when they married foreign people who worshiped false gods or combined their false gods with the true and real God. It doesn`t work that way for they were not to have any gods but God Himself. Nehemiah was such a man of action and total reliance on God. That when he found out how the Eliashib and Tobiah had desecrated a chamber in the courts of the house of God so that Tobiah could live there he tossed all of Tobiah`s stuff out of the chamber. Then he had the Levites clean the chambers and brought back in the vessels that belonged there. He also realized that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them. For the Levites and singers, that did the work were instead had fled to their fields. The Levites and their families had to feed themselves somehow. Nehemiah also put in place faithful men to be in charge of the treasury. In much of this chapter Nehemiah is calling out to God to remember how faithful he has been in doing the right things. May we be people of God that will do what the Lord wants us to do. As Pastor spoke today in Colossians. [ Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how ye ought to answer every man.] Colossians 4;5,6.
Nehemiah’s leadership is something to be admired and copied. First, he kept his eyes on God and sought to please Him and honor his Word. Then he acted and administered in the best interests and protection of his people.
May we all be like Nehemiah, a person of conviction and action. At every point, he sees what is off and then addresses it and corrects it. It is not easy, but Nehemiah shows his depth of character in doing so. The chapter also shows us how easily things deteriorate in a situation without strong and godly leadership in place. We should all have the wherewithal to do what is right even without someone telling us to, but God has established leadership in many contexts to guide people in the right direction. And like in times past, Nehemiah turns to God and asks for His favor to be upon Him, effectively seeking affirmation from the One whose opinion is the only one that matters.
Nehemiah 13
Nehemiah cleans house. He prays to God in the midst of his actions. Consider how his activity would have been perceived: tossing someone out of their dwelling “approved” by the priest.Confronting the rulers about their lack of care for the levites and singers, bringing them back and restoring their portion. Confronting the rulers about profaning the Sabbath and allowing the merchants to sell their wares and even sleep on the street outside the wall.
Nehemiah prays that he will not be persecuted for standing for God and His righteous decrees.
I couldn’t help but think of our leaders today that are establishing wickedness and proclaiming it good and the persecution that is coming against those who stand against them. I think we are in need of a cleansing in our government, our leadership, and our nation.
“Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services!”
“Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!”
“Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.”
“Remember me, O my God, for good!”
Neh 13 …interesting how once again the “Musicians” are listed as a separate group of people. Clearly they were an intricate part of the culture as seen in Neh12 as their role was such a big part of the celebration as well as an ongoing practice for praising and worshiping God.
Such a man of God Nehemiah, as already pointed out, how he cleans house upon his return after seeing how quickly the laws and practice of Godly living degraded into man’s ways leading to sin. What a great leader as one loyal to his commitments to God. This should once again bring caution to our own lives to work diligently to renew our minds daily and moment by moment to what God is calling us to do with our hearts, minds, and lives.
We in our day an time have different disciplines to adhere to in some ways and identical disciplines in many ways. We are still charged and led by example to follow God’s ways an not our own….being “imitators of God as dear children” and putting on “the mind of Christ”…..a tall order which thankfully for God’s amazing Grace we can return to each new day.
As mentioned in Neh 13, One such practice that has slipped away (then and) in our modern world of consumerism and hyper-living is the Sabbath. God set the example…this one day allow us to rest and reset our lives, hearts, minds, and bodies with thanksgiving and a focus on our Creator and His constant provisions for life. This practice,….and it does take practice,….is something I’ve been attempting to return to, and often find that when I succeed at slowing my pace down for a Sabbath day, the other six days go so much better in every way . This chapter is another good reminder of that.
It didn’t take the Israelites long to slip back into doing those things that were against God’s law. They were blessed to have a leader like Nehemiah who had the courage to tell them what they were doing was wrong, and insist they do what was right by God. And the Lord remembered him and gave us his story as an example in his Word. I’m grateful for that because it gave me a valuable lesson on how a godly person leads, directs, advises and manages people when they are walking with the Lord.