CHAPTER 13

(445 B.C.)

NEHEMIAHS REFORMS: SEPARATION OF FOREIGNERS FROM WORSHIP

¹On that day they read in the Book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever (Deut. 31:1112; II Ki. 23:2; Isa. 34:16);

²Because they met not the Children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing (Num. 22:5; 23:11; 24:10; Deut. 23:5; Josh. 24:910).

³Now it came to pass, when they had heard the Law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. (On reaching Deut., Chpt. 23 in the course of the public reading of the Scriptures, the returned captives, directly they heard the command of Verses 36, obeyed it.

The mixed multitude had always been a snare [Num., Chpt. 11] to the Israel of God under the First Covenant; and this snare remains to the present day under the Second Covenant.)

⁴And before this, Eliashib the Priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the House of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:

⁵And he had prepared for him a great chamber (connected to the Temple), where aforetime they laid the Meat Offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the Tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the Priests. (Tobiah was an Ammonite. This ruling concerning the Ammonite could be relaxed, that is, if they became a proselyte Jew, as did Ruth. But, to be sure, Tobiah definitely did not fit that bill. And yet, the High Priest had formed a close association with him, even giving him a chamber connected with the Temple.

In the first place, the High Priest, or any Israelite for that matter, should not have desired to have anything to do with this Ammonite, who had tried extremely so to hurt the Work of God. Such should be shunned in the modern Church, as well!)

CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE

⁶But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king (after the dedication of the wall, Nehemiah returned to the Persian court; but after some time, possibly two years, he obtained leave of absence and returned to Jerusalem, because, it may be assumed, he had heard of the faithlessness of the High Priest and the nobles to the Covenant to which they had subscribed [Chpt. 10]):

⁷And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib (the High Priest) did for Tobiah (the Ammonite), in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the House of God.

⁸And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber (Tobiah had furnished his chamber as a dwelling-house).

⁹Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the House of God, with the Meat Offering and the frankincense (how often in the history of an individual or a Church has the great chamber, which should be filled with Christ and His Preciousness, been fitted up for the Ammonite and his loathsomeness! But now the Temple was cleansed).

THE SUPPORT OF THE LEVITES RESTORED

¹⁰And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, who did the work, were fled every one to his field. (The people had been lax with their Tithes. With the High Priest conducting himself as he did, one can understand the faithlessness of the entirety of the nation. As the leadership goes, so goes all else.)

¹¹Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the House of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place (Nehemiah gathered all the rulers together, for they are the ones who had ceased paying their Tithes).

¹²Then brought all Judah the Tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries (with proper leadership, namely Nehemiah, the Work of God again begins to function).

¹³And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the Priest, and Zadok the Scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah: for they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute unto their brethren (which seemingly, due to their faithfulness, they could be counted on to do).

¹⁴Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the House of my God, and for the offices thereof (Nehemiah did not ask his countrymen to do anything for him, to erect a statue to his honor, or recompense him for his public services; he sought the honor that comes from God only).

SABBATH OBSERVANCE RESTORED

¹⁵In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals (the Sabbath, which was a Saturday, was to be a day of rest; it typified Christ, in Whom Alone true rest can be found [Mat. 11:2830]).

¹⁶There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the Sabbath unto the Children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

¹⁷Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?

¹⁸Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath (fidelity to the Sabbath characterized the Old Covenant, while fidelity to Christ, of which the Sabbath was a symbol, proclaims fidelity to the New Covenant).

¹⁹And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day.

²⁰So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice.

²¹Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge you about the wall? if you do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath. (The merchants could not leave their wares unguarded. Thus, a crowd had collected about the gates, which caused disturbance and excitement, which were unsuitable for the Sabbath. To prevent this, Nehemiah threatened to arrest the merchants, whereupon the practice was discontinued.)

²²And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your Mercy (Nehemiahs plea for Salvation was based upon the greatness of Gods Mercy, and not upon the merit of his own works).

MIXED MARRIAGES DEALT WITH

²³In those days also saw I Jews who had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:

²⁴And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews language, but according to the language of each people (once again, we point to the laxness of the High Priest! When suitable leadership is lacking, almost all the time the people will be spiritually lax as well).

²⁵And I contended with them (false doctrine must be addressed, and openly), and cursed them (reviled them), and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, You shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves (Nehemiah made them swear not to intermarry with the heathen; if they did, the curse of God should fall upon them).

²⁶Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin (the idea is, if the Lord would be bitterly opposed to Solomon, whom He loved very much, concerning these things, then Israel presently couldnt hope to escape [I Ki. 11:140]).

²⁷Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives? (Shall we give way to you, thus transgressing against God, and provoking Him to destroy us? Surely not! Solomons example is enough to deter us.)

²⁸And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the High Priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me (we may suppose that the son of the High Priest, who had married the Samaritan, refused to repudiate his foreign wife, and, therefore, he left Jerusalem at the insistence of Nehemiah, and went to Samaria).

²⁹Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the Priesthood, and the Covenant of the Priesthood, and of the Levites (once again, corrupted leadership leads to a corrupted people).

SUMMARY

³⁰Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the Priests and the Levites, every one in his business (the cleansing probably resembled the process adopted by Ezra [Ezra 10:517]; Nehemiah also assigned the offices to the various Priests and Levites);

³¹And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. (And to be sure, the Lord definitely did. The account of Nehemiah was recorded by the Holy Spirit for the Word of God and, accordingly, has been read by untold millions. Because it is the Word of God, it will stand forever!)