Setting – The people forgot their promise to honor God
Content – Israel was loosely still following their commitments. After reading a section of the Law of Moses they quickly remedied the violation (v. 1b, 3 NLT) “people found a statement which said that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God…When this law was read, all those of mixed ancestry were immediately expelled from the assembly” But there were many areas that they feel into sin, Nehemiah upon his returned he (v. 7b NLT) “learned the extent of this evil deed of Eliashib--that he had provided Tobiah with a room in the courtyards of the Temple of God” also, (v. 10 NLT) “I also discovered that the Levites had not been given what was due them”, (v. 15 NLT) “One Sabbath day I saw some men of Judah treading their winepresses”, and (v. 23 NLT) “About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab”
Nehemiah corrected this violations, (v. 9 NLT) “Then I demanded that the rooms be purified, and I brought back the utensils for God's Temple, the grain offerings, and the frankincense”, (v. 11 NLT) “I immediately confronted the leaders and demanded, "Why has the Temple of God been neglected?”, (v. 13 NLT) “I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah, one of the Levites, in charge of the storerooms”, (v. 19 NLT) “So I commanded that from then on the gates of the city should be shut as darkness fell every Friday evening, not to be opened until the Sabbath ended”, (v. 25 NLT) “So I confronted them and called down curses on them”, and (v. 27 NLT) “How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?”
Nehemiah asked God to bless him for his effort to correct the violations Israel was committing.
Application – Nehemiah having returned back to Jerusalem found them forsaking their commitments they had made in chapter 10. We tend to take the road of least resistance or effort. We forsake our commitments, returning to that we know is wrong. Israel made serious commitments in chapter 10, “They vowed to accept the curse of God if they failed to obey the law of God as issued by his servant Moses” It doesn’t say why or how Israel fell into this state, but we know that they let things go.
We need to put into place things that prevent us from “letting it go”. Accountability is required to ensure we maintain our commitments and to stay on track. We must stay connected to the fellowship of believers otherwise we intermarry into the world’s ways.
Content – Israel was loosely still following their commitments. After reading a section of the Law of Moses they quickly remedied the violation (v. 1b, 3 NLT) “people found a statement which said that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God…When this law was read, all those of mixed ancestry were immediately expelled from the assembly” But there were many areas that they feel into sin, Nehemiah upon his returned he (v. 7b NLT) “learned the extent of this evil deed of Eliashib--that he had provided Tobiah with a room in the courtyards of the Temple of God” also, (v. 10 NLT) “I also discovered that the Levites had not been given what was due them”, (v. 15 NLT) “One Sabbath day I saw some men of Judah treading their winepresses”, and (v. 23 NLT) “About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab”
Nehemiah corrected this violations, (v. 9 NLT) “Then I demanded that the rooms be purified, and I brought back the utensils for God's Temple, the grain offerings, and the frankincense”, (v. 11 NLT) “I immediately confronted the leaders and demanded, "Why has the Temple of God been neglected?”, (v. 13 NLT) “I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah, one of the Levites, in charge of the storerooms”, (v. 19 NLT) “So I commanded that from then on the gates of the city should be shut as darkness fell every Friday evening, not to be opened until the Sabbath ended”, (v. 25 NLT) “So I confronted them and called down curses on them”, and (v. 27 NLT) “How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?”
Nehemiah asked God to bless him for his effort to correct the violations Israel was committing.
Application – Nehemiah having returned back to Jerusalem found them forsaking their commitments they had made in chapter 10. We tend to take the road of least resistance or effort. We forsake our commitments, returning to that we know is wrong. Israel made serious commitments in chapter 10, “They vowed to accept the curse of God if they failed to obey the law of God as issued by his servant Moses” It doesn’t say why or how Israel fell into this state, but we know that they let things go.
We need to put into place things that prevent us from “letting it go”. Accountability is required to ensure we maintain our commitments and to stay on track. We must stay connected to the fellowship of believers otherwise we intermarry into the world’s ways.
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