Nehemiah 13:1-14
The Firm but Loving Hand of Discipline

Gospelcom Bible Gateway

¹ On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God, ² because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³ So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel. ⁴ Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah. ⁵ And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests. ⁶ But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king, ⁷ and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. ⁸ And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. ⁹ Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense. ¹⁰ I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field. ¹¹ So I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place. ¹² Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. ¹³ And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse 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 considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren. ¹⁴ 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!

INTRODUCTION:

1. The Story of the Three Little Pastors

2. Nehemiah was an interesting leader but you might not have wanted him to be a pastor

3. Look at verse 23ff

4. Here is a leader that was willing to point towards sin and say repent

5. He cared more about what God thought about him than man

6. There are 3 sections on chapter 3 but we will focus on just one tonight

7. He causes the people of Jerusalem to be accountable(1-14; 15-22; 23-31) and they end with a prayer (14, 22, 31)

A. In reading the Bible they see that their lives are not matching up and they need to change

B. We need to obey the Bible not just talk about it

C. On what "day" were they reading it? The day of the dedication of Chapter 12 and the antecedent might have been on that day?

D. It may have been on another day when Nehemiah was out of the town and the Levites had enjoyed no portion of the tithes (10) but at the dedication (last verse of Chapter 12).

E. Therefore it is several months or years later and Nehemiah had already left Jerusalem.

F. POINT: The leader had left and they had made a covenant in Chapter 10 yet while the leader was gone they had forgotten. The tendency of permissiveness is shown here.

G. 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is entropy - in any closed system energy is lost over time. Things tend towards decay unless acted upon by an outside source. This is also true in the spiritual world.

H. We ought to be judging ourselves. When we here Scpripture we ought to realize that there is an area in our life that we need to change. So we bring it before the Lord. If the normal does not happen Jesus gave us 4 steps for the church to handle. Matthew 18. (example of first step - Galatians 2:11ff)

1. approach privately - Galatians 2:11ff

2. add accoutability - Deut 17 and 19

3. bring to the church

4. refuses to hear the church treat as a unsaved, unrepentant human being (1 Cor 5)