22.176 | The Evil Within | Neh 13:4-9 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

God’s Word For Today

Jul 24 2022 • 12 mins

Neh 13:4-9 ESV

4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5 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. 6 While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king 7 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. 8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

THE EVIL WITHIN

After their remarkable revival, Nehemiah went back to his palace duties at Persia for around 10 to 12 years. When Nehemiah came back, he found out that Eliashib the priest had entered into agreements with one of the enemies of Nehemiah's work of rebuilding the wall - Tobiah.

As an Ammonite (see Neh2:10), Tobiah was one of the very mixed multitude that had been expelled out of the assembly of God's people some 10 years earlier. However, after 10 years, he was back for having rented rooms in the temple courts. Certainly, he had not changed over the years. He did not join the people of God in the terms of His covenant but was successful in persuading Eliashib, who was oblivious to its danger.

Tobiah, like our flesh, was both deceptive and relentless. He kept coming back. Even though we maybe are becoming matured, our flesh is still the same monster that can devour us should we are careless. Hence, Paul had admonished us by saying, “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.”[Gal 5:13] Let’s walk in the Spirit then and not fulfill he lusts of the flesh.[Gal 5:16]

Nehemiah, upon knowing it, was distressed. Was the revival real after all? He left for sometime after the remarkable spiritual revival as noted previously. But, isn’t the real test of God's work in our lives, lasting or long term? It is seeing that they were serving our Lord faithfully after ten years of God’s great work of revival. How come Eliashib, a spiritual leader, had entered into agreements with one of their enemies? That the rooms in the courts of the temple of God were being occupied by a man not only a pagan, but who also had a history of actively opposing God's work?

You would know the values of the person by what grieves him. What grieves our hearts? Does sin and compromises grieve our hearts like Nehemiah? Thus like Jesus, he threw all Tobiah's stuff out of the rooms he occupied in the temple courts. Then, he ceremonially cleansed the rooms, and finally brought back the rooms to their proper use - as storerooms for the sacred things of the temple.


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