From Reform to Relapse

It might sound absolutely crazy, but I need you to hang with me. We are actually going to finish the book of Nehemiah today. That means three chapters, so get ready—we’re drinking from a fire hydrant.

I don’t know about you, but this has been a great study. It has been challenging, convicting, and encouraging. It is an amazing story. When we entered this study several weeks ago, we looked at a nation that for five hundred years—all the way back to the time of Solomon—had spent the majority of its time in rebellion and idolatry. They had pockets of good times, but most of those years were filled with rebellion. Those years culminated in captivity; the nation of Israel was conquered, their land was taken, and the temple where the glory of their God dwelt was absolutely decimated.

You look at the condition of these people and you wonder where the hope is, until all of a sudden, we get to Nehemiah. We see this one man, a cupbearer to a foreign king, who gets news of his people and the condition of the city and is absolutely broken. He is broken over the people’s sin, and he is broken over his own sin. God begins to stir within him what we’ve been calling a “holy discontent”—a vision for what could be, a call to reform the nation and bring them back to what they were meant to be.

Nehemiah takes this incredible vision before a pagan king, and God unlocks the heart of that king to grant permission for Nehemiah to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the city so that, in turn, the people could be rebuilt. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen the walls finished in fifty-two days. We’ve seen the hearts of the people broken as the Word of God was opened for the first time in a long time. From chapter eight through chapter ten, we saw nothing less than revival, where people’s hearts and minds were obedient to the Word of God. This incredible turnaround happened in roughly fifty-two days after five hundred years of rebellion.

Faceless but Not Meaningless

As you get to chapter 11, we are in the midst of this revival. If you scan chapter 11 all the way through chapter 12, what do you see? It’s a bunch of names, isn’t it? You get there and you’re like, “God, why is this here? Why do you do this to me?” It’s the same reason many of you skip over the book of Numbers in your “Year Through the Bible” plan. You look at it like a phone directory and think, “I don’t know what to get out of that, I’m just going to move on.”

But I want to tell you something: when you see lists of names like this in the Bible, they might seem faceless to you and me, but they are not meaningless. They are there for a reason. These names are recorded because they represent a group of people who, in Nehemiah’s day, laid down their lives to build into this city so that the kingdom of God would be exalted.

Just this past week, we celebrated the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. If you go to the memorial in Hawaii and see the names listed there, they might seem faceless, but they aren’t meaningless. Those people paid the ultimate price for us. You go to the Vietnam Memorial and it’s the same thing. Even a guy like me, coming from Texas—you go down to the Alamo in San Antonio, and they make you be silent when you stand before the names of the men who died. It might seem faceless, but it isn’t meaningless.

This is what is happening here in Nehemiah. Chapter 11 lists the names of key families and individuals who came from Persia to live in Jerusalem. The first half of chapter 12 lists the priests and Levites who also left Persia. These were men of ministry who chose to go into an impoverished city and essentially live off the tithes of the people. It would be the equivalent of pastors choosing to go back to New Orleans right after Katrina. You aren’t going there to make a lot of money; you’re going because you are giving your life to something bigger than yourself.

In fact, chapter 11 says that this was a group that literally tithed their lives to go rebuild Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 11:2 (NASB)

And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

They paid a heavy price so the city could be rebuilt and the name of God could be exalted. God said to Nehemiah, “Write them down. You may not know who these people are, but I do. They were important to the kingdom.”

Celebration and Consecration

In the middle of chapter 12, the story picks back up where chapter 10 left off. In verses 27 through 47, we see the dedication of the wall. But more than a dedication of the wall, it is a rededication of the nation.

Nehemiah 12:27-47 (NASB)

Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they might celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of thanksgiving and with songs [to the accompaniment] of cymbals, harps and lyres. So the sons of the singers were assembled from the district around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites, from Beth-gilgal and from [their] fields in Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates and the wall. Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I appointed two great choirs, the first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate. Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them, with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, and some of the sons of the priests with trumpets; [and] Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, and his kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah [and] Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the city of David by the stairway of the wall above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east. The second choir proceeded to the left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of Furnaces, to the Broad Wall, and above the Gate of Ephraim, by the Old Gate, by the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped at the Gate of the Guard. Then the two choirs took their stand in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials with me; and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah, with the trumpets; and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam and Ezer. And the singers sang, with Jezrahiah [their] leader, and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, even the women and children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. On that day men were also appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served. For they performed the worship of their God and the service of purification, together with the singers and the gatekeepers in accordance with the command of David [and] of his son Solomon. For in the days of David acast lots for the supply of woodre were] leaders of the singers, songs of praise and hymns of thanksgiving to God. So all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah gave the portions due the singers and the gatekeepers as each day required, and set apart the consecrated [portion] for the Levites, and the Levites set apart the consecrated [portion] for the sons of Aaron.

I want to highlight three words here. First, Celebration. They have a new opportunity. The city is rebuilt, the temple is up, and sacrifices are being made. It’s a new beginning, and they are singing and excited. Second, Consecration. There was a purification that took place. After years of immorality and idolatry, Nehemiah calls for the purification of the people. The old is gone and the new is here. Third, Adoration. Nehemiah takes the people, the priests, and the Levites up onto the wall itself. They walk the perimeter on top of the wall, singing and praising God for what He has done.

This celebration ends at the temple where they make sacrifices. This wasn’t about the work the people did; it was about what God did through them. It was His opportunity that launched the nation anew.

At the end of chapter 12, Nehemiah ensures that this emotion gets rooted in faithfulness. Any good leader knows that while a celebration is a great moment, it’s the obedience in the years that follow that matters most. It’s the difference between a wedding and a marriage. Weddings are incredible—they are beautiful, symbolic, and full of promises. But the wedding only lasts thirty minutes. The marriage has to last fifty years. I’ve seen beautiful wedding ceremonies followed by incredibly crummy marriages. Nehemiah knows that for this revival to last, there has to be faithfulness.

Prone to Wander

Truthfully, I wish Nehemiah ended at the end of chapter 12. It ends on such an incredible note. The temple is rebuilt, the wall is up, God’s Word is honored, and the hearts of the people are revived. What a great ending! But the reality is that we are sheep, and we are prone to wander. We have very short memories when it comes to the promises God has made to us, and especially the promises we’ve made to God.

Unfortunately, we get to chapter 13 and a big “can of stupid” sets in on the people. These people who were just singing and praising God have now compromised everything.

Nehemiah 13:6 tells us that after Nehemiah got everything running, he went back to Persia to fulfill his promise to the king. He had been gone for twelve years. It was during his absence that everything went awry. When he returns, he finds that the wheels have literally fallen off the bus.

Nehemiah 13:6 (NASB)

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,

If you remember from last week, there were four areas reformed in chapter 10: the purification of the temple, tithes and offerings for the Levites, the honoring of the Sabbath, and the commitment to godly marriage. In chapter 13, all four areas are compromised. The people were not mature enough to sustain the reform without their leader.

First, the temple was defiled. Eliashib the priest, who was related to Tobiah—remember Tobiah, the enemy who tried to stop the wall?—had actually prepared a large room for Tobiah inside the temple.

Nehemiah 13:4-5 (NASB)

Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.

They took the room meant for storing tithes and offerings and converted it into a hotel room for a wicked man. When Nehemiah returns and finds this, he opens a can of righteous anger on them.

Nehemiah 13:7-9 (NASB)

and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.

It’s like when Jesus entered the temple and saw the money changers. Nehemiah goes in, starts clearing the temple, kicks Tobiah out, throws his furniture into the street, and restores the temple to its intended purpose.

The Cost of Compromise

Next, he looks at the ministry. He finds that the Levites and singers hadn’t been given their portions, so they had all abandoned the temple to go work in the fields just to survive.

Nehemiah 13:10 (NASB)

I 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.

In Nehemiah’s absence, career had taken the place of God. The people had stopped supporting the ministry, and the nation was falling into spiritual darkness. Look at Nehemiah’s reaction:

Nehemiah 13:11 (NASB)

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.

Nehemiah has to step in and treat the nation like a bunch of children. He appoints “babysitters” to watch over the storehouses to make sure the people actually give. A spiritual leader never wants to have to invoke the law; we want grace to be the motivating factor. But sometimes, when people act like babies, you have to put grace aside for a second and lay down the rules to keep things on track.

He cries out to God, knowing that tough calls aren’t always appreciated.

Nehemiah 13:14 (NASB)

Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.

He is praying, “God, don’t let the last twelve years of my life be in vain. Make this count.”

But it gets worse. The compromise had moved from the temple to the business community. Nehemiah sees people working and selling goods on the Sabbath.

Nehemiah 13:15 (NASB)

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.

God ordained a day of rest so His people wouldn’t act like the rest of the world. It was a day to trust Him. But these people were using the day to try to get ahead. Nehemiah confronts the nobles:

Nehemiah 13:17 (NASB)

Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, ’What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day?

He asks them, “Do you not remember the captivity we just came from? Do you remember why the city was a heap of rubble? It was because you neglected the things of God, and here you are doing it again!”

It’s amazing how short our memories are. My kids are the same way. This past week, I heard a death scream from the back room. I went back and my middle daughter was beating the snot out of my oldest daughter. I set her aside, disciplined her—it hurt me more than her (not really, it hurt her more)—and she was in tears. I told her, “Don’t you do this again.” She got up, walked away, and immediately did it again. That is exactly what these people were doing.

So Nehemiah shuts the gates.

Nehemiah 13:19-20 (NASB)

It came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates [so that] no load would enter on the sabbath day. Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem.

He locks the doors and stations guards. But the merchants just camped outside the wall, waiting. It’s like a father with a teenage daughter—you lock her in the house, but the boys just start circling the block. Look what Nehemiah does:

Nehemiah 13:21 (NASB)

Then I warned them and said to them, ‘Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will use force against you.’ From that time on they did not come on the sabbath.

I love that. The Hebrew basically says, “Boys, I’m going to whoop you if you keep coming around here.” And it worked! They didn’t come back on the Sabbath anymore.

The Crisis of the Next Generation

Finally, the compromise reaches the DNA of the city: the family. Nehemiah sees that the Jews had married women from foreign nations who did not worship Yahweh.

Nehemiah 13:23 (NASB)

In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon [and] Moab.

When a believer marries someone who doesn’t care about the things of God, there is always spiritual collateral damage. The things of God lose out. Look at the kids:

Nehemiah 13:24 (NASB)

As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people.

When the high priest, the Levites, the businessmen, and the parents all compromise, the kids are the ones who suffer. These children couldn’t even speak the language of Judah. If you asked them about Yahweh, they wouldn’t even know who you were talking about.

Parents, if you want to trace the breakdown in our society, you can trace it back to the church. If you trace the breakdown in the church, it goes back to the family. And the breakdown in the family always goes back to the marriage. You are one bad marriage away from losing the next generation.

Nehemiah’s reaction is classic:

Nehemiah 13:25 (NASB)

So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and 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.

He cursed them, beat some of them, and pulled out their hair! Now, if we did that around here, we’d have a lot of bald people running around. But Nehemiah was a hard man, and he was tired of the rebellion. He made them take an oath. He told them, “This stops now. We are not going back to the sins of our past.”

He points them to Solomon.

Nehemiah 13:26 (NASB)

’Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin.

Solomon was the wisest, richest king, beloved by God. Yet even he was led into sin by foreign women. Nehemiah asks, “Do you think you’re smarter than Solomon? Do you think God’s standards have changed?”

He reestablishes order. He cleans house one last time.

Nehemiah 13:31 (NASB)

and [I arranged] for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

The Challenge

How quickly can God’s people go from singing and praising to total relapse? As quickly as it takes you to get from this sanctuary to your car.

Revival is not a fad. It’s not a pep rally that dies two weeks later. A holy discontent has to prove itself over the long haul through faithfulness.

As we wrap up this book, let me ask you: What is broken in our city? What is broken in your home? Does your heart break for the areas where God’s will is being compromised? Does it bother you enough to get on your knees and pray?

Have you reached the place where you’re asking, “How can I be part of the solution? How can I be the change I want to see?” For a few of you, God is calling you to be a Nehemiah—a reformer. If that’s you, act in faith and run. For others, you are called to be like the families in chapter 11—the people who jump on board, uproot their lives, and lay it all down to support what God is doing.

The only thing worse than not having a vision is having one and doing nothing. My prayer for The Well Community Church is that we would not be people who sit on the sidelines. I pray we would be active participants in the things of God, knowing He is alive and working right now to redeem sons and daughters and exalt His name.

Father, thank You for the example of Nehemiah. Thank You for a man who refused to sit in passive indifference while things were broken. Break our hearts for the things that break Yours. Conform us to the image of Your Son so that we might be reflections of You in our community. Move us into obedience. Stir within us a holy discontent and allow us to act, that we might see the decay in our society reversed. Use this church, and all the churches in this area, as Your bride to bring revival to our land. We ask this for the sake of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.