Nehemiah 13

No Middle Ground

There is a battle going on in the world today and has been for centuries, in and for “things” that consume our affections. There are people and things in the world that steal our devotion away from only one place, rather in the one person, it should be.

Today we’re talking about there being no middle ground, no compromise, in essence about what holiness and honouring God looks like in several key areas: relationships, finances and worship, 3 key areas Nehemiah was confronted with, 3 huge subjects on their own, so beyond today much more to say on these.

We’ve reached the end of this most remarkable journey. We know the man Nehemiah better, about his character, his leadership qualities, but more so who he was spiritually: a man of prayer *and of vision for the purposes of God. He was a leader desperate to see his people in right relationship with God. Overall Nehemiah’s heart in these reforms was holiness.

I want to take us back where all this began for a moment, the line we’ve all become familiar with: “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven” (1:5)…this he said when confronted with the news of the state of his home and his people.

For me, this represents the true character and the heart of the man, it defines who he was – a worshipper of God. We’ve learnt (put into practice) in these accounts lessons in how to overcome, to fight through times of opposition by remaining close to God and keeping our hearts and spirits right before God, worship, holiness, keeping in prayer and in the word…the value of building one another up in lieu of tearing each other down and many other life principles.

And we have said all along that God himself is actually the main character across these 13 chapters. God who heard the prayer of Nehemiah and gave him and the people success, God who frustrated the work of the enemy so the wall would progress, God who gave the people strength to complete the project set before them, God whose word, when opened, the people responded to, raising their hands and falling down with their faces to the ground in worship. …God, whose favour is on this church, whose Spirit is moving among us, putting new things in front of us…

Coming to Chapter 13, Nehemiah had been in Jerusalem 12 years, had gone back to his king, then (v.6) “after some time” he requested permission to go back to Jerusalem.

Bear in mind the people had been through a season of spiritual rebuilding. Here, he was coming back to a city of people spiritually compromised and complacent…

You may have noted that Nehemiah stands out more authoritative than he has in any other chapter, how, by his “refusal to allow any moment where holiness was negotiable”.

Let’s look at the 1st of 3 areas Nehemiah addresses…

1. No Compromise in relationships

When we look at verse 4…we see an example of relationships that had crossed the boundary God had set. (Summarise) Eliashib, who was a High Priest, was connected by marriage to Tobiah, an opponent of Nehemiah, the Jews and of God. Scripture explains that Eliashib turned a large room previously used for tithes and other offerings, into Tobiah’s own man cave! Eliashib had given a non-Jew, an enemy of God, a sacred space, as his own.

Remember Israel was to be a nation set apart for God, people holy to the Lord. God wanted that holiness and purity protected from outside influence, uncorrupted, in the world, but not of the world, unaffected by any and all surrounding influence.

This was the reason for God’s law and the reason for his responses when the people went astray.

Eliashib breached this, dropped his standards, let down his guard, and allowed himself to be compromised by Tobiah. (v. 7) Nehemiah “learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah with a room in the courts of the house of God….threw all Tobiah’s stuff out of the room, had it purified…and put everything back in the room the way it was before, restoring its holiness.

The application for today? That our identity in Jesus is so strong and secure, we will not be moved…holiness is our goal. I have already mentioned in the world but not of the world. There is no biblical evidence we are to be removed from being in contact with those not-yet-Christian.

To the contrary, missionally, we must be in proximity to those who do not know Jesus, we must be in relationships where trust can be gained and a place established for our personal witness. Jesus himself modelled this.

We are “sent” into the world, told GO. In fact, the Bible says: “how can they hear without preaching…how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” (Rom. 10:15). We are agents of Gods good news and grace to the world, salt and light in the world.

At the same time, preserving what we have and where we have come to in Christ, protecting our identity in Christ, how, by not allowing ourselves to be compromised…or to compromise….no matter who we relate with or whom we come into contact with…because holiness is a primary objective.

We have not always done this well, and have failed many times, but Karyn and I made a decision that one area we would work hard on is being a godly influence in our family. That’s the legacy we want to leave…not all our family follows the Lord (and I know that’s true for many in this room), we can’t control that, what we can do…is be uncompromising in who we are, anchored to the truth of Jesus…

The message in Nehemiah was that the Eliashib had compromised himself and breached God’s standard, Nehemiah’s task was to confront him with the truth, draw a line in the sand and point him in the right direction…

You say, Ross, the OT doesn’t apply anymore, lacks relevance, things are different today than back then…surely because of Jesus, there’s a little more flexibility, moral movement…things are different now…but God’s standard of holiness has not changed.

There are many churches debating moral matters and preaching something other than the Scriptures because we’re trying to win the world over by appealing to ‘it’ as if the truth shifts. We succumb to political correctness, we twist scripture for convenience…we don’t want to drop our game; we need to lift our game…

We are in the world, but our lives ethically and morally are distinct from those who don’t yet know Christ.

Though we’re all vulnerable, we limit the likelihood of being out of step with God, and being uncompromised, the more firmly planted in him and his word we are.

You’ll recall these words from our study in James (READ James 4:4)

…”You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God”

James delivering the same message as Nehemiah, centuries apart. What does James mean friend?… Intimate affection or love the world (it’s values and compromises) at the expense loving the Lord.

THE WORLD NEEDS (People) MEN… [1]

who cannot be bought; whose word is their bond;  who put character above wealth;  who will not lose their individuality in a crowd; who will make no compromise with wrong; who will not say they do it” because everybody else does it”; who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular; who can say “no” with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says “yes.”

As Christians, we must be encouraged to live by the standards and values and truths of God and not lower our moral standards and values even when we’re desperate to be accepted and included by others.

2. No Compromise in finances

As a response to the then spiritual revival, the people of Jerusalem had agreed in chapter 10:39 “we will not neglect the house of God”. In other words, they committed to returning to following the law and processes for tithes and offerings. OT tithing, of course, was a very complex system of providing for the practical purposes for the care of the Israelite community.

…Things taking a backward step spiritually, extended to the people’s generosity as well.

¹⁰ I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. ¹¹ So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” …

In fact, it is into these circumstances while Nehemiah was out of town that Malachi (a contemporary of Nehemiah) the prophet spoke to some of these issues, including the famous words in Mal. 3:8-10, around robbing God by withholding that which he asked for…but still Nehemiah came back to hardened hearts

Where was the compromise here?…their financial priorities were faulty. There giving fell short of the commitment they had made. The compromise was in God not getting the first, and the best, looking to control the outcome rather than giving to God and trusting him as the provider.

The application……firstly, the Bible certainly has a lot to say about money and stewardship, doesn’t it? In fact, the three values across NT teaching are generosity, giving and sharing (key texts are 2 Cor. 8 & 9; Acts 2:42-47; 4:32).

Christians today are not under law but under grace (saved by grace through faith…Romans?)[2]. But under grace does not excuse Christians today or remove the responsibility of generosity, sharing and giving, greater values than the lawful tithe, because these are Spirit-driven…NT teaching on Generosity and Sharing, in fact, takes the OT ‘tithe’ to new limits.

I read recently “there is nothing that will move faster and get a tighter grip around our heart than our money”…it is the one fascination, the one area, the one…love…that can have us tied up in all sorts of spiritual knots if we allow it to.

…it can be the one thing that is the cause of so much unnecessary anxiety, and arguments in marriages

….and bring compromise to the way in which God would have us view finances…because we do not have a healthy biblical view of God in this area.

The right perspective is: we are not our own, we have been bought at a price, and we belong to God. When we have died to self to live for him, it follows that all I am and all I have belong to God. I own nothing, God is the owner. I am the steward of what God has provided and resourced me with.

Therefore what would God have me keep, of all he has entrusted to me?

Nehemiah asked, “Why is the house of God neglected?”….

…we’re the house of God today, the body, of which Jesus is the head. This ‘house’ (body) is neglected when we’re not reflecting that value of sharing, giving and generosity toward each other, to the church and to his mission for us.

We completely misunderstand finances if we think God needs our money, or give out of a sense of obligation, we also misunderstand giving when our motive is to get something/more back from God when we give… it’s all his anyway, we cannot outgive God…let me tell you, he’s given us everything in the person Jesus…

…all he wants is our obedience…to see that we trust him to care for and bless us…

3.  No Compromise in worship

“The third compromise was forsaking worship and rest”…specifically, working on the Sabbath, selling food on the Sabbath, desecrating the Sabbath.” (13:15-23)

Nehemiah shuts the gates, stops the transfer of any more goods, gives the people a warning and orders the Levites to go and purify themselves.

Where had this come from, to help us here let’s go back to Exodus 20 for God’s command: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God”

The Israelites are told in this 4th command to “remember”, and instructions given as to what not to do…but little or no detail at all (in fact in the bible) as to “how” specifically the Sabbath can be remembered. Seems the emphasis for Israel was to remember, by following God’s lead in resting.

What might that remembering have consisted of? That there was a forfeiture of what had been lost, how that sin had stained Gods original perfect creation and the need through remembering for ongoing repentance to keep right with God. Keeping right with God looked different then…

Then in Exodus 31: ¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹³ “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.¹⁴ (ff..v16.) The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. ¹⁷ It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’

So remembering the Sabbath was a covenant sign between God and the Israelites, like the rainbow, like circumcision after that.

I have a ring on my finger, a sign that reminds me I am one with my wife; I have a commitment to her, before God.

Today we are asked to remember what Jesus has done in communion, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood”.  A sign to us that God will forgive sin and restore fellowship with those who confess Jesus as their Lord, because of the sacrifice of Jesus

Sabbath a covenant sign to his people was/is not about doing nothing, but in worship, the Sabbath Day was to be treated as a holy day, set apart for God, 2 other key reasons:

1. Humanitarian – time to rest, recover and recuperate for work…and for the purposes of worship
2. Follow God’s pattern of creation. If God rests, so do we…not so much following the command, but following God’s lead. (Gen. 2:3) “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done”

God’s entire creation was completed after 6 days and God stopped, he rested! And God designates it a holy, set apart day. God’s uncorrupted order right there!

Therefore what is universal is God is our creator, and because he is the creator, his creation pattern can today still be followed, not because we abide in a law, but because in worship and thankfulness, we believe in a God who himself rested and who created us, fearfully and wonderfully (Ps. 139), and that we need rest to be at our best for him. Not a legal requirement, but a worship response to grace…and a good and common sense thing to do…

I want us to note…there are no prescriptions or rules of Sabbath in the new covenant

…no corrections to the church on matters of the Sabbath (Colossians 2 is outside influences)

…It’s not remembering by following a law, (we’re not made right by following the law)

…So if the 7th day is anything for Christians – not debating the day of the week – it is a day to remember God’s glorious creation, that he created the universe in perfection, the moon and the stars that he has set in place. To remember we are his…to fellowship, to worship and to remember Jesus.

When we remove a Sabbath-like pattern or rest of some kind, we put our priorities ahead of his for us…and that’s where we compromise! When we ignore or lower God’s priority on worship and rest we do so at the risk of our own spiritual, physical, emotional and relational health.

TAKEAWAYS

Honour God in our Relationships

Honour God with our Finances

Honour God with our Worship

Honour God…

 

Communion

Overall Nehemiah’s quest and prayer for the people was holiness…this table represents in the bread and the cup the costly sacrifice of the person of Jesus. It is through him that a life of holiness and being right before God is made possible. This is a table of grace, for every one of us, no matter who we are or what we’ve done or where we’re at. In faith we can, at this moment accept him, confess our sin and be right before God, because of his grace.

In coming to this table of grace, and remembering what Jesus has done for us, we’re asked to examine ourselves.

…I’m reminded for myself how easily we can become acclimatised to a she’ll be right, liberal, inconsistent and compromised Christian walk. Following Jesus is not intended to be ticking the religious box, but “is” a radical all-encompassing, all-consuming claim on our lives, our loves, and our very identities. This table reminds us we are to love nothing, more than him (P) If we call him Lord, then our lives are to reflect his, Lordship.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. (Mark 8:34-35)

There is grace here for you, for salvation, for the forgiveness of sin, for healing, to put right relationships…

We’re asked to remember, remember him who died for us, remember…His grace

 

[1] Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p.107-8.

[2] For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4)