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Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Blessing Of God On An Active Life Founded Upon His Word
Nehemiah 13:1-31
R.A. Redford

I. THE TRUE RELIGIOUS REFORMATION, both negative and positive.

1. Abuses must be vigorously attacked and cleansed away. The house of God has to be purified of strangers. The neglect of discipline a terrible evil. Unfaithful ministers the curse of the Church. The "mixed multitude" is no strength to Jerusalem, but weakness. The observance of the sabbath. To the Jew a typical commandment, which represented obedience altogether. While days cannot possess the same place under the new dispensation, there is guardianship of the day of rest which is absolutely necessary for the life of religion. In all active efforts of reformation personal caprice and mere self-assertion must be renounced. The open Bible must be the strong basis of operations, the unfailing armoury from which the weapons are taken. On that simply dependent, the true reformer can be bold, energetic, uncompromising, intolerant of evil, driving out the violators of God's law and defilers of his temple. We have a great example of consuming zeal in the Lord himself.

2. All really religious reformation will be constructive as well as destructive. The evil driven away will come back finding "the house empty and garnished" unless it be possessed by the spirit of active obedience. The only principle upon which we can keep out abuse is that of the right use of the things before abused. This applies to the service of God's house, to the observance of the sabbath, and to the purity of communion among God's people. Nehemiah re-established the true order of religious life. The safety of the Church lies in its activity and development according to the word of God. All living growth is defence against attack and decay.

II. THE TRUE MEMORIAL BEFORE GOD AND MAN. "Remember me, Lord, for good."

1. We should cast ourselves on the faithfulness of God. Men forget one another. God rewards his servants.

2. To hold a place among the honoured names of God's word, to be in the line of the great succession, is more than all that this world can offer us.

3. God's blessing descends to future generations. We build a monument in the characters and lives of those we leave behind us. - R.

Biblical Illustrator
And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Elashib did.
Nehemiah 13:7-31
The religious reformer
W. Ritchie.
Remark —

I. The state of Jerusalem during Nehemiah's absence.

II. The reforms he achieved.

1. His purification of the temple.

2. His renewal of the observance of Divine ordinances.

3. His promoting the sanctification of the Sabbath.

4. His setting apart Judah from mingling with the heathen.

(W. Ritchie.)

Personal purification of the believer
W. P. Lockhart.
We must never forget that the Christian is now what the temple was of old, the dwelling-place of the Most High (1 Corinthians 6:19). Luther observes: "A Christian may be compared with the tripartite temple of Solomon. His spirit is the holy of holies, God's dwelling amid the darkness of faith (he believes what he neither sees, nor feels, nor grasps); his soul is the holy place, where are the seven lights of the golden candlesticks; his body is the fore-court exposed to general view, where every one can observe how he lives and what he does; in the fore-court stands the altar of burnt-offerings, whereon we are to lay our bodies as living sacrifices unto God. How sad when the temple in any part of it is desecrated! When the heart in which Christ should dwell is occupied by the world, many things must be cast forth, in order that it may become the abode of the King.

(W. P. Lockhart.)

The devoted patriot
M. G. Pearse.
The story commences with the return of Nehemiah to Babylon. Either through the reports that his enemies had sent to the court, or the leave of absence having expired (Nehemiah 2:6), Nehemiah returns to the king to report himself, and to seek permission for a further sojourn in Jerusalem. The fact that Ezra is absent at the same time strengthens the opinion that the misrepresentations of those about them moved the jealousy of the king and led to their recall. It is scarcely possible to think of the swift and complete destruction of the religious life of the city apart from a deeply-laid plot on the part of the foes who saw in the recall of Nehemiah their own Opportunity, and whose plans were carefully laid and boldly carried out as soon as he had left. The building of the walls and gateways of the city had been followed by a yet bolder effort for the security of Jerusalem. Taking advantage of the fervour of the new religious life which had sprung up amongst them, Nehemiah had gathered the people together and got them to enter into a very solemn covenant, which they had signed and sealed. The list of those who signed this covenant is given — in itself a suggestion that it was not signed by all. The first name is that of Nehemiah: and next to his we should naturally look for that of Eliashib, the high priest, and of Jehoiada his son. But these two are conspicuously absent. So then it is plain that before the departure of Nehemiah there were two parties whose antagonism could only be fierce and bitter; a party which had surrendered itself to the strictest observance and enforcement of the law, and another party which had entangled itself by heathen relationships; and of this latter party the first and foremost was Eliashib, the high priest. As soon as Nehemiah has gone this Eliashib at once becomes the head and ruler of the city. Now comes the collision of the two parties; on the one side a people like the Puritans of old — stern, resolute, exclusive, hateful of everything that swerved a hair's breadth from the letter of the law. On the other side was the party of the court — hand in glove with the wealthy "people of the land"; eager for their own advancement and position. Eliashib, the leader of the courtiers, had nothing to expect from the covenanters but a stem and bitter opposition. To strengthen his position, and perhaps for his own personal security, he gathers about him these from the outside, intending doubtless to draw the line sharply as soon as they had served his purpose, but finding, as such men always do, that he has to yield step by step, until everything that the law held sacred was broken down before the influx of "the people of the land." A swift and terrible reaction followed the high-pitched fervour of the great revival. First to be swept away were the reforms that Nehemiah had introduced in the matter of mixed marriages. That which the high priest himself had sanctioned by the example of his own family was speedily imitated, until it seems to have become a rage amongst the people, many of the Jews putting away their own wives for these women of Ammon and Moab and Ashdod. The Book of Malachi throws a lurid light upon the condition of things in this as in other respects (Malachi 2:11, 14, 16). Eliashib seeks further to strengthen his position and to weaken his opponent's by a concession to the greed of the people, as he had previously indulged their lust. The tithes and offerings which were claimed by the priests and Levites were withheld from them, or the people brought only that which was diseased or torn by the wild beasts; the people robbed God, as Malachi says. Thus the female came to be neglected, as the priests had to go "every one to his own field." With this must have fallen every barrier for the protection of Jerusalem. When thin us had reached such a pass it was evident that the heathen had everything their own way. The occupations of the people went on as if there were no Sabbath day. The wine presses were trodden; the corn was carried; the asses were laden; through the city gates same the men of Tyre with their fruit and fish for sale; foreigners filled the streets with their cries, and the place rang with the noisy chaffering of those who stood to sell and those who came to buy. With them these strangers brought their evil ways, and their foul idolatries — the sorceries of which Malachi speaks (Malachi 3:5). Such is the state of things which Nehemiah finds on his return to Jerusalem. Perhaps his coming was unlooked for, the enemy hoping to keep him still at the court of the king. We have thought perhaps of Nehemiah as the graceful courtier, the stately cupbearer, whose appearance would have much to do with his high position. But here is a very different man. He seems to stand before us with knitted brows and flashing eyes — a man who does not hesitate to lay hands upon the offenders, and whose words terrify the city. Nehemiah's indignation is kindled first by the tidings of the desecration of the House of God; and hastening thither he faces Eliashib on his own ground, and with his own hands he flings out the "household stuff" of the intruding Tobiah, and has the chambers cleansed from the defilement, and the holy vessels set again in them. That Eliashib and his party should have submitted to such a high-handed proceeding may seem surprising; but the conscience of the people was with Nehemiah, and they felt that it was useless to resist one of such resoluteness, backed by such authority as he possessed. Then he priests and Levites were again set in their places, and the provisions were duly delivered, treasurers being appointed to receive and distribute the offerings of corn and oil and wine. Meanwhile the rulers had gathered themselves together, as they did when Christ came to the temple. The interference with the hope of their gains stirred their resentment; for to those nobles a working day was not to be lightly parted with, since others did the Work of which they reaped the advantage. Nehemiah orders the gates to be shut at sunset on the Sabbath eve, and that none shall enter bearing burdens until the day is done. Yet more difficult and involved was the matter of the mixed marriages. But in this as in everything else Nehemiah would tolerate no half measures. When the people gathered to protest, he tells us that "I contended with them, and cursed them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves." Jehoiada, the son of the high priest, and the son-in-law of Sanballat, thought doubtless to screen himself behind these high relationships. But instead of defence it added to the wrong, and the indignant governor chased him out of the city, and forbade him to return. Taking refuge-in Samaria with others who resented the action of Nehemiah, he set up there a rival temple and service, and thus cleared the way for the reforms which were established in Jerusalem. Looking back over the chapter, we see a lesson for all time and for us: that we can never loosen the law of God in one particular without loosening it in all. The law of God is one, and to break it in any point is to endanger it in all. The thickening of the ills about Eliashib one by one until everything is lost, is the story of the destruction of the individual and the nation.

(M. G. Pearse.)

People
Artaxerxes, Balaam, Eliashib, Hanan, Israelites, Joiada, Levites, Mattaniah, Pedaiah, Sanballat, Shelemiah, Solomon, Tobiah, Tobijah, Tyrians, Zaccur
Places
Ammon, Ashdod, Babylon, Jerusalem, Moab
Topics
Angry, Cast, Chamber, Displeased, Displeasing, Evil, Forth, Furniture, Goods, Greatly, Grieved, Household, Room, Sore, Stuff, Threw, Tobiah, Tobi'ah, Tobiah's, Tobijah, Vessels
Outline
1. Upon the reading of the law, separation is made from the mixed multitude.
4. Nehemiah, at his return, causes the chambers to be cleansed.
10. He reforms the offices in the house of God;
15. the violation of the Sabbath;
23. and the marriages with the strange wives.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Nehemiah 13:4-13

     7266   tribes of Israel

Nehemiah 13:6-9

     7416   purification

Library
Sabbath Observance
'In 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. 16. There 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. 17. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Two Famous Versions of the Scriptures
[Illustration: (drop cap B) Samaritan Book of the Law] By the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, on the coast of Egypt, lies Alexandria, a busy and prosperous city of to-day. You remember the great conqueror, Alexander, and how nation after nation had been forced to submit to him, until all the then-known world owned him for its emperor? He built this city, and called it after his own name. About a hundred years before the days of Antiochus (of whom we read in our last chapter) a company of Jews …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

The Last Days of the Old Eastern World
The Median wars--The last native dynasties of Egypt--The Eastern world on the eve of the Macedonian conquest. [Drawn by Boudier, from one of the sarcophagi of Sidon, now in the Museum of St. Irene. The vignette, which is by Faucher-Gudin, represents the sitting cyno-cephalus of Nectanebo I., now in the Egyptian Museum at the Vatican.] Darius appears to have formed this project of conquest immediately after his first victories, when his initial attempts to institute satrapies had taught him not …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 9

The Formation of the Old Testament Canon
[Sidenote: Israel's literature at the beginning of the fourth century before Christ] Could we have studied the scriptures of the Israelitish race about 400 B.C., we should have classified them under four great divisions: (1) The prophetic writings, represented by the combined early Judean, Ephraimite, and late prophetic or Deuteronomic narratives, and their continuation in Samuel and Kings, together with the earlier and exilic prophecies; (2) the legal, represented by the majority of the Old Testament …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Questions About the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath.
AND PROOF, THAT THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'The Son of man is lord also of the Sabbath day.' London: Printed for Nath, Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1685. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. All our inquiries into divine commands are required to be made personally, solemnly, prayerful. To 'prove all things,' and 'hold fast' and obey 'that which is good,' is a precept, equally binding upon the clown, as it is upon the philosopher. Satisfied from our observations …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath Day and Defends his Act.
(at Feast-Time at Jerusalem, Probably the Passover.) ^D John V. 1-47. ^d 1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [Though every feast in the Jewish calendar has found some one to advocate its claim to be this unnamed feast, yet the vast majority of commentators choose either the feast of Purim, which came in March, or the Passover, which came in April. Older commentators pretty unanimously regarded it as the Passover, while the later school favor the feast …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Ezra-Nehemiah
Some of the most complicated problems in Hebrew history as well as in the literary criticism of the Old Testament gather about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Apart from these books, all that we know of the origin and early history of Judaism is inferential. They are our only historical sources for that period; and if in them we have, as we seem to have, authentic memoirs, fragmentary though they be, written by the two men who, more than any other, gave permanent shape and direction to Judaism, then …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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