15In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses 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. 16Tyrians 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! 17Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disastera on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors 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. 20Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21But 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. 22Then 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.
23In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24And 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. 25And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an 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. 26Did 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. 27Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”
28And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits.
Remember me, O my God, for good.
The book ended here rather than on a high note of praise and worship at the Dedications of the Wall in chapter 12. Why do you think it ends this way?
Share your response to your friends and don’t forget to post a entry from your group
Nehemiah was concerned by this disregard for the Law. He is trying to correct the difficulties that had caused problems for Israel in the past. So he orders the gates to be closed at sunset on Friday. He requires the Levites to cleanse themselves and to guard the gates so that no one violates the Sabbath.
Should we also keep the Sabbath by refraining from work and travel? As we have seen throughout this book, these regulations imposed upon Israel were what the New Testament calls shadows, pictures of something even more important that God wants observed. You observe the Sabbath when you fulfill what the Sabbath portrays.
In addition to the Sabbath, the nations among whom Israel was called to live were unusually degenerate. They practiced public lewdness. Their immorality had spread diseases among their people. They killed their children by throwing them alive into furnaces of fire in worship to their god Molech. To protect the Israelites from these dangerous practices, God had told them not to intermarry with these peoples. Though intermarriage might look right and proper to us, it would introduce to the Israelites attitudes and concepts that would ultimately undermine their faith and destroy them and their nation. This is what happened. Though Solomon, David’s own son, was said to be the wisest man who ever lived, he contracted over a thousand marriages with foreign women who brought their gods with them and eventually introduced pagan practices into the worship of Israel. By the time Solomon’s son came to the throne, the nation was so divided it could no longer exist as one but was separated into two. So this was a very wise pledge to make.
This command is actually repeated in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, not concerning racial distinctions, but religious. He says, Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). Many Christians have ignored that to their own detriment by intermarrying with others of a different faith. They have thereby so undermined their own faith that evil in many ways has ultimately crept in and destroyed their marriages. There is no guarantee that if you marry a Christian you are going to have a happy marriage, because there are other principles involved. But it is much more likely that two Christians will be happy together because there are principles and practices taught to us in the Word that make for happiness in marriage. It is certain that if you disobey this command, however, you are opening the door to much heartache, struggle, and misery. There are passages designed to help people who have disobeyed this principle because God is very practical and merciful. He recognizes that for various reasons, intermarriage may occur. There are guidelines to help handle those situations. But by and large this is practical wisdom that needs to be adhered to today. Marry those who share the same faith you have, because faith is the basis for all of life.
Are we actively seeking the profound and practical wisdom of the Word for our work and rest, and all our relationships, and to avail ourselves of His wise and loving protection?
I never thought Nehemiah would end this way. Is this a foreshadow of end of the world? Maybe I am exaggerating. Anyhow, this helps me to be more brave to speak truth into the younger generations with their dating life.
These days I feel like its acceptable to date outside your race. I can see how back then it was dangerous to do so. Different cultures have different beliefs. Today it’s equivalent to dating a non christian.
If I think about it, I think this could have been a warning sign. A sign to tell others even though our mission is complete, be careful.
The book ended here and is a reminder to be steadfast in our faith and to be obedient to God’s Word. Nehemiah is a great model of what obedience is towards God and His Word. We are saved but it does not mean we can do whatever we want and play with sin. Sabbath and intermarriage were talked about because they may be things that we constantly neglect in our lives. Thinking it will be okay if the woman is just a Christian or how resting with God may not be our priorities during the week. I pray to learn to be obedient and to follow God’s Word. Not just nonchalantly just because it is said instead to be intentional with my relationship with God.
I think the ending is reminiscent of our every day journeys to pursuing God and serving His kingdom. There will be times when a work is completed, but the entire plan is not finished yet, so we need to anticipate more and understand that the mission is not finished yet until He comes back.
From brother Brian
Day 39: The book ended here rather than on a high note of praise and worship at the Dedications of the Wall in chapter 12. Why do you think it ends this way?
Hmm, we just talked about drastic measures. How Nehemiah reacted to Tobiah moving into the temple pales in comparison with what happened here. Let’s take a look at some of the issues and events.
1. Observing the sabbath day:
Personally, I try to abstain from working on this day. we live in America and many businesses like the retail sector are open. Nehemiah here even threatens with violence the merchants who lodge outside of the gates. I’m sure some radicals can read this and argue that we should not support any businesses that are opened on sundays or even vandalize their establishments or even worst, cause physical harm to them. Nehemiah takes this very seriously. Reflecting on our lives, how serious should we take this? Not work, not do any chores, not travel, etc.? Personally I don’t have an answer but this is a great reminder for me to rest more on sundays and to give thanks to God.
2. Banning intermarriage based on RACE: as i shared before and not even fully bc i refrained from my long text, innately something doesn’t add up here. In America, we are trying to fix centuries of racism. We can argue about what Paul said about not being evenly yoked and even if we accept that, that’s not based on RACE but rather a set of beliefs, which to me is totally different.
And it reads “And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair.” To me and we all already know this, Nehemiah is a human being and so too he is a sinner. To me what he did here was wrong. Can’t go around hurting other people physically. I don’t care how anyone spins it.
The book ended this way bc our story hasn’t ended yet. Until it ends (until Jesus returns), this world will continue to struggle and see darkness but luckily for us, we have hope of a better tomorrow.