Arise and Rebuild Series
The Book of Nehemiah
“The Danger of Spiritual Decline and the Promise of Spiritual Restoration”
Nehemiah 13
Introduction
Today we conclude our series of sermons in the book of Nehemiah with chapter thirteen. I
hope you have enjoyed the series. There is so much to learn from this book, and I pray that
the Lord has impressed His truths upon your heart as we journeyed through the book of
Nehemiah. Today we will see the danger of spiritual decline and the promise of spiritual
restoration from chapter thirteen.
Background
Some background information is needed to understand chapter thirteen. In chapter one we
saw that the Lord had moved Nehemiah’s heart to leave his position as cupbearer of the
king to lead the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem. In the first seven chapters of Nehemiah,
we saw that the Lord through Nehemiah’s leadership gave the people the mindset to arise
and build, the courage to overcome a barrage of opposition, and the skill and determination
to finish the rebuilding of the wall and gates in record time.
In chapters eight through eleven we saw the Lord birth a national revival in the hearts of
the people resulting in sincere repentance and the people willingly dedicating their lives to
the Lord by making a covenant to obey God’s Word and fulfill His purposes. In chapter
twelve we saw the people gather to conduct a festive wall-walk on the walls of Jerusalem to
celebrate God’s grace and mercy. Chapter twelve concludes telling us that the sound of the
people rejoicing with great joy could be heard across the countryside. (12.43)
One would expect chapter thirteen to begin with “and they all lived happier ever after” but
that’s not what we see. Instead, we see the people falling back into sinful behaviors and
defying the covenant promises they had made back in chapter ten. In many ways chapter
thirteen is a real-life depiction of the words of the old hymn that reads, “prone to wander,
Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.” Even though it is not explicitly noted, the
spiritual decline of chapter thirteen happened over the course of a decade after the songs of
praise covered the countryside in chapter twelve. Nehemiah explains in verse six, “But
during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of
Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king.” (13.6)
It appears that Nehemiah had two governorships of Judah. The first lasted for twelve years
(Neh.5.14) as the Lord enabled Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and bring
spiritual reform to the people. After serving those first twelve years as governor of Judah,
Nehemiah returned to his duties under the king Artaxerxes for about ten years. Then
Nehemiah asked the king’s permission to return to Jerusalem. This would have been his
second governorship of Judah.
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By this time Nehemiah would have been nearly sixty-five years old. This is the age that
many people today retire. It would be easy to conclude that Nehemiah in his golden years
desired to return to the city of his forefathers to enjoy the blessings that accompany living
among God’s people. But Nehemiah’s dream of riding off into the sunset was shattered as
he stepped back into Jerusalem and learned about the spiritual decline of the people.
It Was Very Displeasing
One does not need to wonder how this spiritual decline affected Nehemiah. He tells us in
verse eight that “it was very displeasing.” A lot of people would have just turned around and
gone back to the city of Susa. Remember the city of Susa was where we first met Nehemiah
where he served as the cupbearer of king. In Susa he enjoyed the finest food, wore the
finest of clothing, and lived in very comfortable accommodations. But just like years earlier
when Nehemiah learned about the distress of God’s people and their lack of fulfilling of
God’s purposes from his brother in chapter one, now nearly twenty-five years later
Nehemiah once again learns about the distress of God’s people and their lack of fulfilling
God’s purposes. He once again surrenders himself to active service so that God’s name
would be honored, and God’s purposes fulfilled. As I have shared previously in this series,
Nehemiah knew that Jerusalem was a holy city and the proper administration of the city of
Jerusalem was essential for the advancement of the kingdom of God prior to the coming of
Christ. Nehemiah understood that the land of Judah, the Temple, and the city of Jerusalem
were all chosen by God as the place where He had chosen to cause His name to dwell.”
(Neh.1.8b-9) Nehemiah knew that a functional city of Jerusalem was eternally connected
and essential to the fulfillment of the purposes of God in Christ. So, when Nehemiah walked
back into Jerusalem and learned about the waywardness of the people it grieved him
bitterly because the brilliance of God’s name was being diminished by the spiritual decline
of the people and their neglect concerning holy things.
Holy Things
What were the holy things that had diminished among the people of Jerusalem? The
Temple was being defiled. The Priesthood was not being supported. The Sabbath was being
ignored. And godly families were vanishing. Let’s look at each of these.
The Temple was being Defiled
The Temple was being defiled by the high priest, Eliashib, by allowing Tobiah to set up
shop in the Temple. Two time we are told the Eliashib had prepared a large room for
Tobiah in the courts of the house of God. (13.5, 7) What is wrong with that? Well, you
remember Tobiah. He had opposed Nehemiah from the first day Nehemiah arrived in
Jerusalem nearly twenty-five years before. He was displeased that anyone, including
Nehemiah, would come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. (2.10) Many believe the
Tobiah’s displeasure was fueled by the fact that he and his partner in crime, Sanballat, were
making money from charging extreme prices for goods as the people were suffering deep
despair.
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When Tobiah discovered that Nehemiah was not going to be distracted from his mission to
rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, he spread fake news saying that Nehemiah was rebelling
against the king Artaxerxes. (2.19) When that didn’t work, he slandered and mocked the
people for their construction of the wall saying, “if a fox should jump on it, he would break
their stone wall down!” (4.3) When that didn’t work, he plotted to send armies against the
people of God to kill them. (Neh.4.7) When that didn’t work, he hired a false prophet to
speak falsehoods against Nehemiah. (4.7) When that didn’t work, he wrote countless letters
to the authorities against Nehemiah about his rebuilding and reforms. (6.19) And beyond
all that, Tobiah was an Ammonite (2.10) and Ammonites were forbidden by the law of God
to be anywhere close to the Temple or the assembly of God’s people. (13.1-3)
So why would Eliashib, the high priest, allow Tobiah to use a large room in the Temple
chambers? Because there was money to be made and goods to be stolen! You see, the
people would make contributions of their first fruits and their tithe of grain, wine, and oil to
support the ongoing ministry of the Temple. These contributions would be stored in these
Temple chambers. But Eliadhib and Tobiah had made the “house of prayer” into a “den of
thieves” and were embezzling these gifts, tithes, and offerings for personal gain. Nehemiah
like Jesus knew he must cleanse the Temple. Like Jesus would do to the moneychangers
centuries later, Nehemiah kicked Tobiah and all his stuff out of the Temple (13.8), restored
the rooms to their proper function (13.9), and appointed reliable men to distribute the gifts
from God’s people appropriately and honestly. (13.12) Now some might consider
Nehemiah’s actions to be acts of vengeance against Tobiah for all the opposition he had
caused. But Nehemiah was not acting vindictively but righteously. You see God had chosen
the Temple to fulfill His eternal purposes through Christ. The Temple and everything in it
symbolize what Christ would fulfill. Every sacrifice, every offering, every piece of furniture
were symbols of God’s wonderful redemption fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But Tobiah and
Eliashib were defiling the Temple for personal gain, and they had to go.
The Priesthood was not being Supported
Now it didn’t take long for the people to see the corruption and misuse of God’s money and
resources in the hands of Eliashib and Tobaih. So, you know what people did? They quit
giving! Can you blame them? Upon his arrival to Jerusalem Nehemiah also discovered
that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers
who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field. So I reprimanded the officials
and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” Then I gathered them together and restored
them to their posts. (13.10-11)
A functioning priesthood was important because the ministry of the priest in the Temple
pointed to Jesus Christ. Every offering. Every sacrifice. Every ceremony. Each item on the
priest’s clothing pointed to Christ. Therefore, Nehemiah knew that the house of God could
not be forsaken, so he gathered the priest from their fields and restored them to their posts.
As soon as the people saw that the Temple had been cleansed, operation was in the hands
of reliable men, and the priests had been restored “all Judah then brought the tithe of the
grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses” (13.12) Therefore the priest resumed their priestly
duties pointing to the Great High Priest who was to come our Lord Jesus Christ.
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The Sabbath was being Ignored
But before the Temple could be cleansed and the priests restored the people began to
ignore the Sabbath and started buying and selling on the Sabbath day. In those days I saw in
Judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain
and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they
brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. So I admonished them on the day they sold
food. (13.15)
The weekly Sabbath was established by God on the seventh day of creation when the
Almighty and all sufficient God rested from all the work He had done. (Gen.2.1-2) The Lord
ordained the sabbath for all humanity to rest and for His people gather for worship.
(Dt.5.15-15) The Old Testament sabbath pointed to the One who would come to give rest
for our souls through His sacrifice on the cross. The core problem here with the people in
Nehemiah’s day and with people in our day is the absence of priorities. The people began to
trust in their own efforts, their own strength, and their own ingenuity instead of resting in
the Lord on the Sabbath day. As well, they ignored the opportunity to worship, to hear the
Word of God, and to gather with God’s people. Personal ambition and accomplishments
became the number one priority instead of seeking first God’s kingdom and His
righteousness and trusting that all the things would be added unto to them by the heavenly
Father.
Godly Families were Vanishing
And since the people were absence from the teaching of God’s Word on the Sabbath day
because of their personal pursuits they slowly became ignorant of God’s Word. The area
that this absence of godly principles hit the hardest was the family. Instead of a husband
and wife being unified in their focus on honoring the Lord in their marriage and family,
people married spouses from pagan backgrounds who worshipped pagan gods. Nehemiah
writes, “In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and
Moab.” (13.23) This is what the New Testament calls being “unequally yoked.” (2Cor.6.14
KJV) The Apostle Paul instructs believers in Christ, “Do not be bound together with
unbelievers: for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has
light with darkness? . . . or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (2Cor.6.14-
15) It is important to understand that this is not a racial thing or an act of prejudice but
rather a desire to preserve the oneness in marriage and the quality of spiritual life within a
family. Nehemiah knew that family is the core of any society so he made them swear by God,
“You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or
for yourselves. (13.25b)
The Danger of Spiritual Decline
The Temple being defiled, the priesthood not being supported, the Sabbath being ignored,
and godly families vanishing were not new problems, but the same problems Nehemiah
had to deal with during his first governorship. In his first tour of duty God enabled
Nehemiah to recognize their waywardness, repent, and to make a covenant with God.
(10.28-39)
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In chapter ten the people say, “we will not neglect the house of our God” (10.39) but now ten
years later Nehemiah would ask the people “Why is the house of God forsaken?” (13.11)
What changed? The people’s heart. What happen? It was the spiritual migration of first
becoming complacent, then beginning to compromise, and finally becoming calloused
towards the things of God. Brothers and sisters there is a clear and present danger of falling
into a spiritual decline. Spiritual decline doesn’t occur over night it is something that
usually takes some time maybe a year, or two, or ten. You first become complacent, then
you begin to compromise, and finally you become callous.
Isn’t it scary to think how easy it is for our hearts to wander and how prone we can become
to leave the God we love? It would be easy to blame it on Nehemiah for leaving for ten years
but the fact is that during the years of Nehemiah’s absence God sent the Prophet Malachi to
preach against the abuses of shoddy worship (1.6-14), a corrupt priesthood (2.1-9), the
vanishing of godly families (2.10-16), and robbing God by neglecting the tithe (3.6-12).
Since Malachi was preaching on these same problems, it is reasonable to think that when
Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem for his second tour of duty, he faced a people suffering not
only from spiritual decline but of hardened hearts as well. But thanks be to God that He
broke through their complacency, their compromise, and the calloused hearts and brought
them back by His grace. And He will do the same for you and me today.
The Promise of Spiritual Restoration
The people in Nehemiah’s day were like the church of Ephesus who after twenty years had
left their first love. (Rev.2.4) But the Lord came to them and called them to remember from
where they had fallen, repent, and return. (Rev.2.5) And this is the call for us today.
Remember, Repent, and Return.
Closing Thought
Let us surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and come to the altar to find forgiveness and spiritual restoration.