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Rick Graumlich

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Title: The Pattern of Life

Main Idea: Sanctification is messy and requires gospel transformation.

Church, turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 13. This morning we will finished this series through Ezra and Nehemiah. We will see this story come to a close.

I enjoy a good story, this week I finished up two novels that I was slowly reading through. Both books ended in a way, that, although it wasn’t bad or wrong, it didn’t feel quite right. Maybe you’ve experienced a similar thing in a good story.

And the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Frodo, who is tasked with taking the ring of power to Moridor and destroy it, after years of travel and hardship finally gets there and decides he doesn’t want to destroy the ring. And there is moment of heartbreak after all this work and lives lost, it’s all going to end with this hobbit turning his back on everyone and everything and keeping the ring for himself. Thankfully, that is not how the story ends. Rather, the story ends the way we all kind of hope our story ends, there is great joy in what has been accomplished along the journey. There is a reunion with old friends, and the weariness of life’s burdens has been lifted. Evil has been defeated and light and goodness reign.

The story of Nehemiah is more like the story in the books I read this week. Not bad, but not great either. Rather, they are pointing us to the ultimate story of God’s redemption and restoration of all things! Nehemiah points us to Jesus Christ and shows us that we cannot earn or work our way into Heaven. We cannot grit our teeth and try really hard and keep God’s law. This story tells us that God is faithful to renew and restore his people, and is ultimate means for this is through salvation in Jesus Christ.

The story of God’s people who returned to Judah from Babylon is one of renewal. God is faithful to renew and restore his people! As we wrap up this study today. There is one theme and three patterns we see in Nehemiah chapter 13, that I will argue, we see throughout the whole saga of Ezra and Nehemiah. The theme is this, the sanctification is messy and requires gospel transformation. And, I will argue, the same is true in your life and mine. Sanctification is messy and requires gospel transformation. Sanctification is a book word that means growing or maturing in our faith. I use that word sanctification because it’s in the Bible and we should all learn what it means. Sanctification means maturing in our faith.

The three patterns that we see in Nehemiah chapter 13, and in the whole story of Ezra and Nehemiah, and your life and mine, are these.

1. It is God’s Word and God’s Spirit that brings understanding which brings about repentance and obedience

2. Sin can easily creep into our lives, through people, through comfort, and through relationships.

4. Repentance and obedience is a pattern in life!

3 Patterns

God’s Word gives understanding and it brings about repentance and obedience:V. 1-3

Nehemiah 13:1–3 (ESV)

1On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,

2for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.

3As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.

“On that day”, as the ESV reads is not the same day that verse 44 of chapter 12 is referencing. THe CSB reads, “At that time” which is a more helpful rendering. They read the Book of Moses, which is the first 5 books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These 5 books make up what is called the Pentatuch.

It seems they were reading Deuteronomy 23:3-5 which says,

3“No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever,

4because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

5But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you.

What the enemy intended for bad, God used for good. The Ammonites and Moabites were barred from being a part of the assembly of the Lord.

From the story of Ruth, who was a Moabite, God was gracious to those who were humbly seeking the God of Israel.

So we have the assembly, the law is read and the people realize, we have not been keeping this command from God’s word. Look at verse 3, 3As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.

They took action to obey God’s word. They did not get a committee together to study the context of the original culture. They did not find an etymologist to tell them the history of the word, assembly. They didn’t even stop to see how the Ammonites and Moabites felt about this.

-> They read the word, it revealed their error and sin, and they set about doing the right thing.

This is a pattern in this story from Ezra and Nehemiah.

They read the law, realize their sin, and seek to obey. In Nehemiah chapter 8, we see this amazing transformation where the Law is read, and it is taught so that the people understood. And when they understood their sin and their rebellion, they wept and mourned. For they understood how wrong and wicked they had been.

In chapter 8 the people realize God had commanded the people to observe a feast called the Feast of booths, or Sukkit. The people lived in a booth tent thing for a week as a reminder of their time living in the desert, waiting to enter into the Promised Land.

We see a similar thing happen in Ezra chapter 5 when the people stop rebuilding the Temple because they are afraid. Two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah rebuke them for seeking their own comfort and security rather than obey God. They people, after receiving this rebuke from God’s messengers, get back to work. They take action to obey God’s instructions.

Application

God’s Word gives understanding and it brings about repentance and obedience. .

Anytime we interact with God’s living and active Word and we have God’s Spirit in us, it is going to do something that brings life!

If you have doubts about who God, read his word.

If you are struggle with a besetting sin, read God’s word.

If you’re marriage, is struggling, read God’s word.

If you’re children are wearing you down or breaking your heart, read God’s word.

If you have a moral dilemma in your life, read God’s word.

If you a young Christian and the Bible and all these Christian words seem to overwhelm you, read God’s word.

If you have been a Christian for many years and your heart is dry to the things of God, and you don’t know where your passion for the things of God went, and life just seems joyless and boring, read God’s word.

The answer is simple and easy. It is God’s word that brings life. It brings understanding, it convicts us of our sin, and it gives us life!

Paul says, in Romans 7:7, if it were not for the law, I wouldn’t know what sin is. The law brings understanding. It reveals.

You have the revealing truth of God’s Word and you have the working of the Holy Spirit, repentance and obedience begin to happen.

There is a pattern when we read, study, and meditate on God’s word.

Life transformation begins to happen. Sinful desires and habits begin to die. Godly desires and habits begin to flourish.

The power of God’s Word.

So the people hear the law, and how they are not obeying it, and they being to obey it.

Now in verse 4 the passage goes back in time. Verses 1-3 was a scene at the end of the story. Movies do this, they begin with the final scene. So you know how it ends but then they go to the beginning and tell the story.

Verses 1-3 is toward the end, but verse 4 takes us back to the beginning and it’s going to tell us how we got to the reading of the Book of Moses and why they separated out all the Ammonites and Moabites.

4-29 Sin can easily creeps in our lives: Through, People, Comfort, and Relationships

Verses 4-29 reveal another pattern. Sin can easily creep back into our lives. Nehemiah and Ezra worked to restore God’s people and God’s places. So much effort and struggle. Yet, sin slipped back in. Nehemiah makes it clear in verse 6 that he was back in Persia and while he was away, the people stopped protecting and providing for the Temple, the people stopped observing the sabbath, and they started marrying pagan women again. In verses 4-29, we see the power of People to pull us back into sin. We see the power of comfort and commerce to pull us back into sin, and we see the power of relationships and love to pull us back into sin. To be clear, none of these things are in and of themselves causing us to sin. People, comfort, love, none of these things make us sin, but they can pull us into sin if we are not careful.

The power of people and culture 4-14

Nehemiah 13:4–28 (ESV)

4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,

5prepared 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.

6While 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

7and 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.

8And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber.

9Then 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.

10I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.

11So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.

12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.

13And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers.

14Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

The very center of worship, the Temple was being defiled by an Ammonite, Tobiah, who hated Nehemiah and the work of God’s people to restore God’s ways in the land. He was an enemy, and now he was given residence in the Temple.

If you don’t know, the Temple wasn’t a hotel or retreat center. This wasn’t a place where people could rent a room and have the Temple experience. In order for Tobiah to take up these rooms, the operations of the temple had to be disrupted.

Imagine scene, Nehemiah gets back from Persia after being gone for a few years. When he returns, the very person who has been against God and God’s people, Tobiah the Ammonite, is now living in the Temple, keeping the priests from fulfilling their jobs, and is working to destroy everything Ezra and Nehemiah, through God’s provision and power, had done!

Ticked off doesn’t even begin to capture Nehemiah’s anger. He is burning with righteous anger. He throws all of Tobiah’s furniture and belongings out of the temple.

This wasn’t a regime change, this was a hostile takeover.

In verse 11 Nehemiah confronts the officials and puts people back in their proper places.

Application

The power of people and culture to compel us, is very interesting.

Why do we do the things we do? The people around us and the culture around us influence us.

They have power to sway or persuade us. So we must be careful who we follow and who we listen to. An old pastor of mine use to say, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”. This wasn’t a mystical prophecy. He was simply saying, by seeing the kinds of people you hang out with, I can tell you what kind of person you’ll end up being. This was a proverb, not a promise. Like most proverbs, it usually rings true.

We can often make excuses for allowing people or things too close. Eliashib was not sinning because he was related to Tobiah. He was wrong for allowing Tobiah into a place that he did not belong. To have sway and authority in a place that he did not belong.

Eliashib, should have guarded himself against the power Tobiah.

Sin can creep in, we must be diligent to fight for holiness.

Nehemiah finishes throwing out Tobiah’s stuff from the Temple, an issue with a few of the leaders, and now turns to an issue with the whole community, they are not observing the sabbath. Look with me in verses 15-23,

The power of comfort and commerce 15-23

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 disaster 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.

Here we go again, blatant disregard for God’s commands. 8-11

Turn with me to Exodus chapter 20,

Exodus 20:8–11 (ESV)

8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,

10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

God have this command for the people to rest in order for them to follow God’s pattern as God’s people, and to remember what he had done for them, delivering them out of slavery.

The sabbath command looks back at creation, and back to God’s salvation from slavery, and forward, to the ultimate rest that comes in Christ!

The people were breaking the sabbath command. They were choosing comfort and making some money over obeying God’s commands.

Nehemiah gets right at it, rebuking them. Rebuking the merchants, and warning them, to not do this again.

Application

Personally, I do not think we are bound to the old covenant view of the sabbath. However, I think the New Testament teaches that the sabbath, which the new testament church observed on Sundays, should be set apart for the church to gather and worship, and for us to rest and remember what Christ has done for us.

I really appreciate the way our church’s Confession, the New Hampshire Confession of Faith put it,

Article 15. OF THE LORD’S DAY

We believe the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and points to the rest that awaits the people of God. It should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

How easily can the desires of our comfort seeking self begin to pull us away from the things of God.

I just need a little more sleep

I just need one more vacation

I need more time to myself

I just need one more new item of clothing

I just don’t like having people in my house, so I don’t host.

I am not very outgoing, so I don’t evangelize.

Outside of Saturdays, Sunday afternoons, and 3 evenings during the week, I just don’t have time to disciple anyone or meet up and read the Bible with someone.

Everyone single one of us has a natural bent toward comfort and self interest. There is not a single person here who does not struggle with this. I am simply asking the question, “Are you aware of this natural tendency, and what are you doing about it?”

For Israel, they were not keeping the sabbath holy. They were working to get ahead and take care of themselves rather than resting and trusting in God’s provision.

Nehemiah brings reform to the sabbath, and next he deals with the issue of intermarriage among God’s people.

Look at verses 23-2

The power of love and relationships 23-28

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.

Way back in the book of Ezra, in chapters 9 and 10, Ezra dealt with this issue of intermarriage. The people confessed their sin and pledged to send the foreign women away.

Now here in Nehemiah chapter 13, the sin has crept back in.

As one commentator put it, Even the priesthood was contaminated by this sin! A grandson of the high priest Eliashib (cf. 3:1, 20; 13:4) had married Sanballat’s daughter. Sanballat, perhaps governor of Samaria, had vigorously opposed Nehemiah’s work (cf. 2:10, 19; 4:1, 7; 6:1–2, 5, 12, 14), and now he, like Tobiah (cf. 6:17–18; 13:4), had apparently planned through this family relationship to destroy God’s work.

The issue was not that these foreign women were from a different country, the issue is they worshiped pagan gods. They would turn the hearts of their husbands away from the God of Israel, the one true God. In Deuteronomy 7, God tells his people when they enter the Promised Land to not marry foreign women for this very reason. Nehemiah points out in verse 26 how serious this is by using the example of Solomon, look at verse 26,

1 Kings chapter 11 tells us the story about how Solomon’s heart was turned from God to pagan gods. 1 Kings 11:4 says,

1 Kings 11:4 (ESV)

4For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

And here the people were doing the same thing. And among them the grandson of Eliashib the High Priest. Who’s father-in-law was Sanballat. If you remember from earlier, Tobiah and Sanballat were close friends and enemies of Ezra and Nehemiah, and God’s people.

Application

God has given us clear instruction, as followers of Jesus, who we are to marry.

I will give you the criteria for marriage:

Are they a follower of Jesus Christ?

Define: Follower

Followers, follow. They have a resemblance to the one they are following. Jesus was humble, he served others, he spoke the truth, he was loving, he was very serious about glorifying His Father, he spent time regularly seeking fellowship with His Father.

He believed the Word. He was not living for himself but for others, ultimately, he was living to obey and glorify God the Father.

Are they a follower of Jesus Christ?

Define: Jesus Christ

The next thing that needs defined is, Jesus Christ

This is Jesus Christ, God incarnate. He is 100% man and 100% God. Jesus was never created, he is co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Spirit.

He is the only one who has lived a perfect life, was crucified on a cross, died, paying the price for the sins of mankind, was buried and three days later he was resurrected, brought back to life, defeating death, and now sits at the right hand of God the Father and will return to earth to judge the wicked and the righteous and to dwell with his people for eternity!

Are they a follower of Jesus?

We must be careful who we give our heart to! There is an amazing power for God or for bad.

We see this in marriage, and we see it culturally, in different relationships.

People we live with and do life with have a major influence on us. Be mindful of that.

Nehemiah ends with one more round on this pattern of obedience after repentance.

Repentance and obedience is a pattern 30-31

Nehemiah 13:30–31 (ESV)

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.

Nehemiah acknowledged the sins and dealt with them. Now we has put people and places back in order, he repeats for the third time, this prayer for God to remember him.

In verses 14, 22, and now 31, Nehemiah calls out for God to remember him:

14Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

Remember me, O my God, for good.

He wasn’t looking for vain praise, or a little pat on the head.

Nehemiah put all his efforts into loving God and helping the exiles who returned to Jerusalem to love and obey God. Back in chapter 1 he was heartbroken over the shame that was upon Jerusalem. He cared about God’s glory and about God’s people.

So now he has this plea for God to remember him.

He is not looking for the people to give him an award to put his picture up someone, he is longing to hear from his Father God, the same thing we should all long to here,

“‘Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Nehemiah 13 shows us a pattern, it’s a pattern we see through Ezra and Nehemiah, and really, the whole Bible and even our own lives.

People are pursuing sin, God’s Word is taught, repentance and obedience follows.

Conclusion

Nehemiah, Ezra, and the reformers of that time all died. The people, as we know, went back to their sin and their hardheartedness toward God.

About 400 years after the events of Nehemiah chapter 13, there would be another man who came to deliver the people of Israel. He too would read the Word and call to the people to repentance, he too would overturn tables and furniture in the Temple, he alone would be crucified for the sins of many. He alone would fulfill the law of Moses, keeping it perfectly. This Messiah, was the one Ezra and Nehemiah longed to see, he was the one they placed their hope in.

Jesus Christ is our hope! He will return and make all things new. He will conquer sin and death once and for all, and there will be no more contending against sin and our selfish desires,

Where Ezra and Nehemiah failed, where David and Solomon failed, where you and I failed, he will not fail he does not fail.

He will be victorious!

May your life be marked by a similar pattern of God’s Word, repentance, and joyful obedience!

Lets pray!

Song

Prayer of Response

Benediction.

1 Kings 8:57-58 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers.

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