Nehemiah 13:1-31

Turn to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.

While you're doing that, I'm going to hydrate.

Yesterday morning I went hunting.

It was opening day,

and it was really cold.

I wasn't at all prepared for the weather.

And so when I got up this morning,

I thought it would be a good idea to wear a sweater today.

I don't think so, but...

If you see me perspiring, it's because of passion.

It has nothing to do with this sweater.

So this will be our last Sunday,

in the book of Nehemiah.

I hope, I know that many of you weren't here

for our entire study of it.

You can, of course, go to the website

and go back and listen to those things

if you would like to.

But I hope for at least the part

that you've been present for,

it's been a blessing to you,

as it's been a blessing to me

to get to study it and to preach it.

It's spoken to my life in many different ways,

and I hope the same for you.

And I just wanted to extend appreciation to you

for even being able to do this.

It's a gift to me to get to study

study and preach.

So I want to thank you for that.

Just as a brief summary,

we are, in the book of Nehemiah,

seeing the people of God

having returned from Babylonian exile.

They were sent into Babylonian exile

as a result of their sin for 70 years.

We've now seen three movements of people

back to the land.

This is some 90 years later

that we're looking at this.

Nehemiah is serving as cupbearer

to the king Artaxerxes.

Now Persia rules the area,

King Artaxerxes is the king of Persia.

He hears news of what's going on,

that the wall has yet to be rebuilt.

People have not yet occupied Jerusalem.

The temple's been rebuilt,

but it's kind of in a shambles.

And he grieves over this

because the glory of God

is being shamed in this way.

The people of God are not in a good state,

and God moves his heart in prayer

to go back and to lead

the rebuilding of the wall.

So we see the rebuilding of the wall,

and we see revival come upon these people.

They begin to reestablish the Word of God

as the ultimate authority in their lives,

and they turn from their sin,

and they turn back to God.

We saw in chapter 10

that they made a covenant

for some specific things

that they had been incredibly sinful about.

They committed to God

that they would not do these things anymore.

We saw a general covenant or promise

to keep the law,

and then three specific things happened.

And last week we saw in verse 12

a dedication service to the wall,

and we talked about

what proper musical worship looks like.

And then we come to the last chapter,

and I really wish that this story

ended on a high note.

At this point in redemptive history, though,

it does not.

The people of God are still incredibly fickle

in their service to God,

and it doesn't go quite the way

we like to see it happen.

Now, it's apparent that Nehemiah

served as governor over Jerusalem,

over Israel,

for 12 years,

and then left for a while.

He went back,

as he had promised in chapter 1

to King Artaxerxes.

He returned back to the king,

and then he comes back.

And we don't know exactly

how much time has passed

from his leaving

and going back to the king

and then coming back here.

We don't exactly know what's happened,

but you'll see the record

that he wasn't present,

and then he returns,

and we'll see what happens here

in just a moment.

So, join me with me in reading.

We're going to read

all of chapter 13 together.

On that day,

they read from the book of Moses

in the hearing of the people,

and it was found written

that no Ammonite or Moabite

should ever enter the assembly of God,

for they did not meet the people of Israel

with bread and water,

but hired Balaam against them

to curse them.

Yet our God turned the curse

into a blessing.

There's a little history for you there.

Verse 3,

As soon as the people heard the law,

they separated Israel

from all those of foreign descent.

Now, before this,

Eliashib the priest,

who was appointed over the chambers

of the house of our God

and who was related to Tobiah,

prepared for Tobiah a large chamber

where they had previously put

the grain offering,

the frankincense,

the vessels,

and the tithes of grain,

wine, and oil,

which were given by commandment

to the Levites,

singers, and gatekeepers,

and the contributions for the priests.

While this was taking place,

I was not in Jerusalem.

For in the 32nd year

of Artaxerxes,

king of Babylon,

I went to the king,

and after some time,

I asked leave of the king

and came to Jerusalem.

And I then discovered

the evil that Eliashib

had done for Tobiah,

preparing for him a chamber

in the courts

of the house of God.

And I was very angry,

and I threw all the household furniture

of Tobiah out of the chamber.

Then I gave orders,

and they cleansed the chambers,

and I brought back their vessels

of the house of God

with the grain offering

and the frankincense.

I also found out

that the portions of the Levites

had not been given to them,

so that the Levites

and the singers

who did the work

had fled each to his field.

So I confronted the officials

and said,

Why is the house of God forsaken?

And I gathered them together

and set them in their stations.

Then all Judah brought the tithe

of the grain,

wine, and oil

into the storehouses.

And I appointed as treasures

over the storehouses

Shalamiah the priest,

Zadok the scribe,

and Padaiah of the Levites.

And as their assistant,

Hanan the son of Zachar,

son of Mataniah,

for they were considered reliable,

and their duty was to distribute

to their brothers.

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 his service.

In those days,

I saw in Judah

people treading wine presses

on the Sabbath

and bringing in heaps of grain

and loading them on donkeys

and also wine,

grapes,

figs,

and all kinds of loads,

which they brought into Jerusalem

on the Sabbath day.

And I warned them

on the day

when they sold food.

Tyrians also,

who lived in the city,

brought in fish

and all kinds of goods

and sold them on the Sabbath

to the people of Judah

in Jerusalem itself.

Then I confronted

the nobles of Judah

and said to them,

What is this evil thing

that you are doing

profaning the Sabbath day?

Did not your fathers

act in this way

and did not our God

bring all this disaster

on us

and on this city?

Now you are bringing

more wrath on Israel

by profaning the Sabbath.

As soon as it began

to grow dark

at the gates of Jerusalem

before the Sabbath,

I commanded that the door

should be shut

and gave orders

that they should not be opened

until after the Sabbath.

And I stationed

some of my servants

at the gates

that no load might be brought in

on the Sabbath day.

Then the merchants

and sellers

of all kinds of wares

lodged outside Jerusalem

once or twice.

But I warned them

and said to them,

Why do you lodge

outside the wall?

If you do so again,

I will lay hands on you.

From that time on,

they did not come

on the Sabbath.

Then I commanded the Levites

that they should purify themselves

and come and guard the gates

to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember this also

in my favor,

O my God,

and spare me

according to the greatness

of your steadfast love.

In those days also

I saw the Jews

who had married women

of Ashdod,

Ammon,

and Moab,

and half of their children

spoke the language

of Ashdod,

and they could not speak

the language of Judah,

but only the language

of each people.

And I confronted them

and cursed them

and beat some of them

and pulled out their hair.

And I made them take oath

in the name of God,

saying,

You shall not give

your daughters to their sons

or take their daughters

for your sons

or for yourselves.

Did not Solomon,

king of Israel,

sin on account of such women?

Among the many nations

there was no king like him

and he was beloved

by his God

and God made him king

over all Israel.

Nevertheless,

foreign women

made even him to sin.

Shall we then listen to you

and do all this great evil

and act treacherously

against our God

by marrying foreign women?

And one of the sons

of Jehoiada,

the son of Eliashib,

the high priest,

was the son-in-law

of Sambalot,

the Horonite.

Therefore I chased him

from me.

Remember them,

O my God,

because they have

desecrated the priesthood

and the covenant

of the priesthood

and the Levites.

Thus I cleansed them

from everything foreign

and I established

the duties of the priests

and Levites,

each in his work,

and I provided

for the wood offering

at appointed times

and for the first fruits.

Remember me,

O my God,

for good.

Let's pray together.

Father,

we thank you

for the blessing

of your word

and I thank you

that every detail of it

is important

and it matters to us

this day.

That you have

an intention with us

this morning,

that you want to speak

to our hearts

and therefore change

our actions.

You want us to grow up

into Christ's likeness

and I pray,

Father,

you will accomplish that

this day

by the speaking of your word.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Alright,

one more hydration.

And then off we go.

Let me say to you,

I love Nehemiah.

What a man.

What a wonderful,

wonderful man.

And we see,

throughout the Bible,

we see many great

historical characters.

Characters that we would

tend to want to emulate.

Often,

many of us grew up

in church

being taught

little moral lessons

by the example

of some of these men.

And that's not all bad,

but we almost always

get some record,

some account

of their fallenness.

Right?

David is a wonderful

example of that.

Or,

um,

Abraham,

who you may or may not

know this,

but twice,

he gave his wife away

to avoid his own death.

Right?

These are not necessarily

righteous acts

just because they're

recorded in the Bible.

You'll sometimes hear

that argument

and talk about the

horrible things people did

that God approved of.

Not necessarily,

just because it's

a historical account

of what happened.

So I've been looking

for Nehemiah's flaw.

And maybe we found it.

Let me say that to you.

Maybe we found it.

Maybe he overreacted

a little bit,

especially when we get

to verse 25

and he's beating people

and pulling out their hair.

However,

maybe not.

Maybe it was perfectly

appropriate

for him to respond

in this way.

There is a

such thing

as righteous

anger.

I want you to have

two questions as mine.

As Nehemiah returns,

apparently to govern

once again,

he couldn't have gotten

all these things accomplished.

He appoints,

he orders,

he does all these things.

So he's apparently

in charge once again.

And as he approaches

the sinfulness

of the people,

I want you to have

two questions in your mind.

Firstly,

how should we feel

about sin

as those who have

been delivered from it,

as those who have

experienced grace

that abounds

all of our sin,

right,

in Christ,

all of those things

have been taken care of,

but how should we still

feel about sin

generally,

and how should we react

to both our sin

and the sins

of others?

What's the proper

response

to sinfulness?

Let me say to you,

the person who is

zealous for God,

who wants to serve,

wants to be devoted

to him in every respect,

will defend

the holiness of God

and the holiness

of God's people.

This is going to be

a natural reaction.

And at times,

this calls

for a righteous anger.

Let's look together

at an example,

the perfect example,

Jesus.

Right?

You can turn here

if you like.

If not,

just hear me read.

John chapter 2,

John 2:13–17

verses 13 through 17.

The Passover of the Jews

was at hand,

and Jesus went up

to Jerusalem.

In the temple

he found those

who were selling

oxen and sheep

and pigeons

and the money changers

sitting there

and making a whip

of cords,

a whip of cords,

he drove them all

out of the temple

with the sheep

and oxen

and he poured out

the coins

and the money changers

and overturned

their tables

and he told those

who sold the pigeons,

take these things away,

do not make my father's house

a house of trade.

His disciples remembered

that it was written,

zeal for your house

will consume me.

Jesus,

righteous,

perfect in any way,

without sin,

got angry.

He saw something

that was offensive

to God's holiness

and to the holiness

of his people

and he rectified it

in a radical way.

So we see

that righteous anger

is a possibility.

Another example,

turn with me please

to this one,

Numbers chapter 25.

Numbers 25 · chapter mention

Chris McKean

pointed this one out

to me today.

I had another example

while you're turning there.

Moses goes up

onto Mount Sinai,

receives the Ten Commandments,

comes down

and the people

have already turned

from God.

They're worshipping

the golden calf

and what does Moses do?

He breaks the tablets.

He's never reprimanded

for this

and he has thousands.

The Levites go

and kill thousands

of people as punishment

for that

because that was the example

I was going to read to you

but this is better.

Numbers chapter 25

Numbers 25 · chapter mention

we'll read

verses 1 through 13 together.

While Israel lived

in Shittim,

the people began

to whore

with the daughters of Moab.

Now again,

see this is another sin.

This is the same thing

we're going to deal with here

in chapter 13 of Nehemiah.

These invited the people

to the sacrifice

of their gods

and the people ate

and bowed down

to their gods.

So Israel yoked himself

to Baal of Peor

and the anger of the Lord

was kindled against Israel.

And the Lord said to Moses,

Take all the chiefs

of the people

and hang them in the sun

before the Lord

that the fierce anger

of the Lord

may turn away from Israel.

And Moses said

to the judges of Israel,

Each of you

kill those of his men

who have yoked themselves

to Baal of Peor.

And behold,

one of the people of Israel

came and brought

a Midianite woman

to his family

in the sight of Moses

and the sight of the whole congregation

of the people of Israel

while they were weeping

in the entrance

of the tent of meeting.

When Phinehas,

the son of Eleazar,

son of Aaron the priest,

saw it,

he rose and left

the congregation

and took a spear

in his hand

and went after

the man of Israel

into the chamber

and pierced both of them,

the man of Israel

and the woman

through her belly.

Thus the plague

on the people of Israel

was stopped.

Nevertheless,

those who died

by the plague

were 24,000.

Now we don't see

exactly what this plague was,

but because of this sin,

this breaking

of the commandment of God,

this compromise

of the holiness

of God's people,

God brought a curse

upon them.

And what brings the curse

to an end?

Righteous anger.

Right?

We see this man Phinehas

go and spear

both of them

and kill

this particular couple.

How do we know

this is good?

Because as I've said before,

maybe you stop here

and you go,

but was that the right

thing to do?

We see record there

that the plague

of Israel was stopped

and then look at verse 10.

And the Lord said to Moses,

Phinehas,

the son of Aazar,

the son of Aaron the priest,

has turned back my wrath

from the people of Israel

in that he was jealous

with my jealousy

among them

so that I did not consume

the people of Israel

in my jealousy.

Therefore say,

behold,

I give to him

my covenant of peace

and it shall be to him

and to his descendants

after him

the covenant

of a perpetual priesthood

because he was jealous

for his God

and made atonement

for the people of Israel.

God applauds him

for the action.

So,

righteous anger

at times

may seem

a little extreme

but is exactly

what is called for.

No time today

to observe

David

and Amos

and Malachi,

John the Baptist,

Apostle Paul,

there are countless

examples

of people

who got

properly angry

when folks

offended

the holiness

of God.

Now hear me.

We're going to talk

at length about this

and I don't have time

today

to tell you

and warn you

about when anger

looks improper.

I think you know

already.

We can't quite

get into the depths

of that.

I am not suggesting

that any of you

rip out people's hair

and beat them.

I think you'll know

if God leads you

to something like that,

that kind of anger.

But the question again,

how should we feel

about sin

and how should we react

to sin

and the sins

of others?

Because if

righteous anger

is a reality,

we've observed it

to be true,

we've seen it now

multiple times,

we've seen it in our

very Lord,

Jesus Christ,

if it's a reality

then it follows

that there are times

when not being angry

is sinful.

Just going along,

peace,

kumbaya,

let's just get along

together,

that that in fact

could be sin

in your life.

So consider carefully

these questions.

I want to show you

in chapter 13

the three offenses,

the three sins

committed against God

and then their

corresponding covenant

promise.

You remember chapter 10

I mentioned to you,

we studied that.

We studied a covenant,

a written document

that the people

signed together,

a commitment

that they had made

not too many years

earlier

and they break it

here at every

single point.

They broke it

generally as they

made a general promise

to keep the law of God

and they broke

every one

of the specific

covenants

that they made

with God.

So,

firstly,

remember

the intensity

that they

entered into

that covenant with.

Chapter 10

verse 29

says we enter

into a curse

and an oath

in this covenant.

They are asking

God,

if we break

this covenant

with you,

bring punishment

upon us.

Guess how God

brought it?

Nehemiah.

Nehemiah is the curse

that they asked for

as they made

this covenant

commitment together.

So,

let's look at the first one.

In verses 4-14,

we see the offense

that they did not

preserve

the holiness

of the house

of God.

Right off the back,

we see the high priest.

It would have been

the high priest

because he was given

order over keeping

the storehouses,

keeping the proper

things needed

for the worship

of God

in place.

So,

Eliashib is the

high priest

and he clears out

one of these rooms

that has been

specifically commanded

by God to be set apart

for the storing

of these goods

and turns it into

a home for

who but

Tobiah.

Do you remember

Tobiah?

The man that

mocked Nehemiah

that plotted

to kill him?

We see later on

in relation to

the high priest

allowed his son

to marry

Sambalot's daughter.

Sambalot and Tobiah

were the major

antagonists

in the story.

Right?

They tried to raise up

an army

to at very least

threaten

the building of the wall

at most

to actually attack

the city.

Remember when they

were building

they had to carry

stones in one hand

and a sword in the other?

There was a plot

against Nehemiah's

life by these

two men

and Eliashib

the high priest

allows one of them

to live

in the house

of God.

Right?

This would be like

a priest in the

Catholic church

hanging a picture

of Martin Luther

in the Vatican.

Right?

Really,

really

offensive.

Can you imagine

coming back

to this scene

and seeing this?

This man

is living

in this place

and I love

that he just

goes and he

throws all

of his stuff

out.

I would have

loved to have

been a fly

on the wall

and see

Tobias' face

as his stuff

is being hurled

out the door.

And he goes

beyond that

to give orders

to cleanse

not just

that chamber

but all

the chambers.

There's a big

cleaning up

of the house

of God

as a result

of what

Eliashib

has done here.

Secondly,

they're neglecting

the provision

for the Levites

and the singers.

This very storehouse

would have stored

the goods

for them

to be able

to do their

jobs,

to be at the temple

and do temple

service.

They needed

food to eat.

They needed

provision.

And you see here

that they fled

to their fields

meaning they

couldn't stay

in the city

and do the work

at the house

of God

so they had

to go out

to their outlying

lands

so that they

could eat.

And we saw

a commitment

back in chapter 10.

They made a promise

not to neglect

the house of God.

Right?

But chapter 10

verse 39

we will not

neglect

the house

of our God.

That's the way

that very covenant

summed up.

And here we see

Nehemiah asking

the question

in verse 11

why is the house

of God

forsaken

or neglected?

It could be

read that way.

Malachi

who came along

during this time

as a prophet

sent by God

in Malachi

Malachi 3:8–12

chapter 3

verses 8

through 12

says to the people

will man

rob God

yet you

are robbing me

but you say

how have we robbed you

in your tithes

and contributions

you are cursed

with a curse

for you are robbing me

the whole nation

of you

bring the full tithe

into the storehouse

that there may be

food in my house

and thereby

put me to the test

as the Lord of hosts

if I will not

open up the windows

of heaven for you

and pour down

for you a blessing

until there is

no more need

I will rebuke

the devourer for you

so that it will not

destroy the fruits

of your soil

and your vine

in the field

shall not fail

to bear

says the Lord of hosts

then all nations

will call you blessed

for you will be

a land of delight

says the Lord of hosts

this is when Malachi

is prophesying to them

this very thing

Tobiah is living

in the house of God

and they are neglecting

the contributions

that are necessary

for the temple service

so there is the broken

covenant promise

chapter 10

verse 39

why did it matter

I said to you before

we can make some kind

of drastic leap

and certainly

it's a lesser truth

contained in this

that we somehow

ought to be giving

tons and tons of money

to improve this property

and improve this building

and Lord knows

we need some improving

to go on around here

however that's not

primarily what's being

taught here

that's not the greater

thing

should we be

contributing to the needs

of a church

absolutely

but that is not

why this was so

offensive

is offensive

because of the

prefigurative meaning

of the house of God

remember that the house

of God was the place

the one place

that God came

and met

with man

met with

one man

one time a year

in the Holy of Holies

this is a very

important

thing

the activity

that surrounded it

mattered

a lot

because it was meant

to show us

that someday

God would come

and dwell

with man

fully

without any

obstruction

forever

right

Revelation 21 3

and I heard a loud voice

from the throne

saying

behold

the dwelling place

of God

is with man

he will dwell

with them

and they will be

his people

and God himself

will be with them

as their God

and they're talking

here in this chapter

of Revelation

of the new Jerusalem

which comes down

out of heaven

as a cube

and the other place

we see a cube

is the Holy of Holies

shaped as a cube

it mattered

the way

the people of God

in this day

treated the house

of God

so that's the first

broken covenantal promise

the fact that they did not

preserve the holiness

of the house of God

Nehemiah's anger

was proper

and measured

for that

the second offense

found in verses 15

through 22

they did not preserve

the holiness

of the Sabbath

the seventh day

of the week

that God had commanded

them to keep holy

to set aside

to not work on

this was meant

to be

for them

again

something prefigurative

it was a day

that they rested

every seven years

they gave debtors

rest

and they let fields

rest

why?

it was because

God just didn't want

them to work themselves

to death

they just didn't want

them to have

too many calluses

he knew they

needed rest

no

not at all

it was prefigurative

it was meant to show us

a greater thing

a full and final rest

that we'll have

in Christ

right?

the Sabbath

was the covenant sign

one of them

between

God

and men

we see that in Exodus

Exodus 31 · chapter mention

chapter 31

12 and 13

and the Lord said

to Moses

you are to speak

to the people

of Israel

and say

above all

you shall keep

my Sabbath

for this is a sign

between me and you

a sign

a covenantal sign

but throughout

the generations

that you may know

that I

the Lord

sanctify you

it was like

a wedding ring

in that way

and so for the people

to not keep

the Sabbath

would be for those

of us

who are married

in this room

to take off

our rings

and not just

take them off

to wash our hands

but take them off

and throw them away

to say to the world

yeah I'm married

but I don't want to be

right

it's exactly

what the people

of God

were doing here

as they traded

as they allowed

people to come

into the city

and trade

on the Sabbath

chapter 10

verse 31

they made a promise

and if the peoples

of the land

bring in goods

or any grain

on the Sabbath day

to sell

we will not buy

from them

on the Sabbath

or on a holy day

and we will forgo

the crops

of the seventh year

and the exaction

of every debt

notice the careful

record

that there were

foreigners

coming into Jerusalem

to trade

right

carefully recorded

the covenant

that you guys

made together

to keep the law

of God

you are breaking it

in every single way

this was incredibly

important

look at the inspired

commentary

I know I did a lot

of this a couple

of weeks ago

but got to make

the point again

Colossians 2

16 and 17

let no one pass

judgment on you

in question of food

or drink

or with regards

to a festival

or a new moon

or a Sabbath

these are a shadow

of the things

to come

but the substance

belongs to Christ

and the writers

of Hebrew

gives it to us

Hebrews gives it

to us a little

more clearly

chapter 4

verse 9 and 10

so then there

remains a Sabbath

rest for the people

of God

there remains

not because we're

meant to have

a Sabbath now

this isn't about

Sunday

or Saturday

let's get into

a massive debate

the big religious

debate down in

Nicaragua

when Daniel and I

went down there

was about what day

you were supposed

to worship God on

there's a bunch

of seventh day

Adventists down there

and a bunch

of Sunday

keepers

as they called

themselves

and this is the

major conflict

that was happening

in the area

not doctrinal

in any way

whatsoever

because this was

supposed to show

us this final

thing

a Sabbath rest

for the people

of God

verse 10

for whoever

has entered

God's rest

has also

rested from

his works

as God

did

from his

this is why

the Sabbath

was so

important

and meant

to be

kept holy

and so Nehemiah

responds properly

to that

he hasn't

locked the gates

he takes real

measure

to stop

what was going

on

stop what you're

doing

I'm shutting

the gates

foreign people

can't even

come into the

city

and when they

camped outside

the city

he threatens

them

you come back

here I'm going

to lay hands

on you

which basically

means I'm going

to pull out

your hair

and beat you

up

right

there will be

consequences

to pay

and I love

that the

responses

in verse 21

and from that

time on they

did not come

on the Sabbath

right

they heard him

loud and clear

as he yelled

from the walls

I'm going to lay

hands on you

if you come

back here

the Sabbath day

was meant to be

kept holy

because of what

it showed

that was coming

this full

and final

rest

are you catching

in this

how our sin

is offensive

to what God

has done for us

we're seeing the

fulfillment

of these promises

the coming of the

kingdom of God

right

the fact that we

now have rest

and we'll have full

and final rest

in Christ

and our sin

is a great

offense to him

without doubt

we've been delivered

from our sin

right

hear this carefully

beloved

Christ died on the

cross for your

sins

past present

and future

there's nothing

you're going to do

that's going to

surprise him

no thing you will

do will be so

offensive that he'll

go

oh I don't know

if I really

want to die

for that one

right

it's done

it's finished

it's a completed

work

right

and you can

have confidence

to approach

the throne of

grace in that

right

you can press

on in your

relationship with

God because you

know that Christ

has paid the

price the penalty

for the sin

it's been completed

he's already been

punished the wrath

of God has been

poured out on your

behalf in him

but because of that

because of this

display of his

great love for us

we ought to want

to serve him

we ought to want

to love him

we ought to want

to see the people

of God become

more and more

perfect

to make him

be seen more

as he is

as holy

that's the task

that's been given

to us

to be disciple

making disciples

to display

God's goodness

and loving kindness

to the world

we do that

primarily

in the way

we live

so when we

sin

it's a great

offense

to God

still

even though

the price

has been paid

it's an offense

to what God

has done for us

when you sin

in those moments

you are saying

you don't believe

the gospel

because if you did

if you believed it

it would produce

proper action

in you

and you're doing

improper things

so what does that say

you've forgotten

about the grace

of God to you

you've forgotten

about who you were

damned

eternally

enemies of God

and yet he

saved you

because of his

love for you

doesn't that just

want to cause you

to spring forth

with good works

it does for me

God did good things

for me

I want to get out

there and get

active and involved

and do good things

that's what's

going on here

that's why

Nehemiah

is appropriately

angry

at the way

they've acted

the third offense

this one's a little

bit trickier

we talked about it

a couple of weeks

ago

final verses

23-31

they did not

preserve

the holiness

of their ethnicity

they did not

preserve

the holiness

of their ethnicity

we see the

covenant promise

chapter 10

verse 30

we will not

give our daughters

to the peoples

of the land

or take their

daughters

for our sons

this has been

a consistent

issue

right

I read to you

about Phineas

this was happening

even when they

were wandering

sojourning in the

desert

this was happening

right

and it's happening

again and again

and again

Ezra commanded

them to put away

their wives

of other nations

and this makes

our heads hurt

a little bit I think

as new covenant

people because

we're not told

to divorce

in quite the same

way but there's

a uniqueness here

in this time

there's a uniqueness

for the people

of Israel

in that

they were ethnically

bound to one another

covenantally bound

to God

they were ethnically

bound to each other

right

they were meant

to be a people

set apart

in this way

you want to draw

a parallel

the church is the same

way we ought not

be yoked with

unbelievers

right

I'll tell you

right now

that is a temptation

young people

if you are dating

somebody that doesn't

claim the name

of Christ

more than likely

they will lead you

astray

not the other

way around

history

has proven

old testament

history

has proven

this to be the

case

right

put them away

don't get yourself

covenantally bound

with these people

because you want

to honor God

with your marriage

right

there's the parallel

for us

in that way

right

so their ethnicity

mattered a lot

they were a

an internal

people

an exclusive

people

set apart

in this way

and the gospel

now has turned

out that

into an inclusive

people

the church

now invites

all kinds

of people

in

right

we wouldn't

dare say

because you're

not of the

same socioeconomic

status as us

or the same

racial background

as us

or you don't

have the same

culture as us

you can't come

meet with us

right

we don't say

that because

the gospel

transcends

all of those

things

right

it's now

been turned

out

I showed you

the example

when Jesus

talked about

how the gates

of hell

would not prevail

against the church

we're no longer

encamped inside

of a wall

holding out the

world

now we're making

advances on the

world

and the gates

of hell

is not going

to stand

against our

attacks

right

that's the

picture

that's going

on here

but in this

day

it was

different

right

Nehemiah

gives the

example

of Solomon

Solomon

was not

led astray

particularly

because of

how many

wives he

had

but because

of where

they were

from

and I'm

not defending

how many

wives he

had

1 Kings

1 Kings 11:1–4

chapter 11

verses 1

through 4

reads

now King

Solomon

loved many

foreign

women

along with

the daughter

of Pharaoh

Moabite

Ammonite

Edomite

Sidonian

and Hittite

women

from the

nations

concerning

which the

Lord

had said

to the

people of

Israel

you shall

not

enter into

marriage

with them

neither

shall

they

with

you

for

surely

they

will

turn

away

your

hearts

after

their

gods

Solomon

clung

to

these

in

love

he

had

700

wives

who

were

princesses

and 300

concubines

and his

wives

turned

away

his

heart

for

when

Solomon

was

old

his

wives

turned

away

his

heart

after

other

gods

and

his

heart

was

not

wholly

true

to

the

Lord

his

God

and

was

the

heart

of

David

his

father

as

was

the

heart

of

David

his

father

skip

down

to

verse

9

and

the

Lord

was

angry

with

Solomon

because

his

heart

had

turned

away

from

the

Lord