Chapter 13 of Nehemiah, in many ways, is a letdown. It’s not what we’ve been hoping for. The nation has come through a difficult time. They’d been living in disgrace, in the midst of hostile enemies, with the rubble of the broken walls of Jerusalem surrounding them. Under Nehemiah’s leadership they’ve rebuilt the walls in record time. They’ve experienced revival in their midst and have committed themselves to concrete acts of obedience. They’ve come together in worship to celebrate all the great things God has done for them. In many ways, it would be more satisfying if the book ended with chapter 12. We want the story to end well, and chapter 13 makes a mess of things. We want the story to end with the nation living “victoriously ever after.”
We often hope for the same sort of thing in our spiritual lives. We pray for an experience that will push us over the edge, beyond the realm of struggle and difficulty. And there are always voices out there promising this sort of thing. One author recommends an experience that will, in one transforming moment, bring us to a place of rest: “This is the spiritual rest Paul longed for in Romans 7. It is a rest where the sinful nature no longer opposes your spiritual desires. The inner antagonism to the will of God is cleansed away. It is a blessed state of soul rest, a rest of faith, a knowable experience and life of inner spiritual leisure. It brings poise and calmness of soul and the undisturbed filling presence of the Holy Spirit.... The great spiritual struggles of your soul with the will of God are now past.... All sinful resistance, all stubborn self-will as opposed to God’s will--all is cleansed away. Your soul is at rest, delighting in the unfolding will of God” (Wesley Duewel, God’s Great Salvation, pp. 230-31). You still live in this fallen world, but your struggles with sin are over. “Your soul is at rest, delighting in the unfolding will of God.” In terms of the book of Nehemiah, once you reach chapter 12, it’s pretty smooth sailing for the rest of your life.
In my early Christian life I was very enthusiastic about C.T. Studd, the missionary pioneer who worked in China, India and Africa. Studd was converted to Christ while he was in college, and he responded by giving away a large inheritance and going to the mission field. He made incredible sacrifices and persevered against overwhelming difficulties. In the biography I read when I was a young Christian, Studd sounds like someone who’s had this experience, whose spiritual struggles are a thing of the past, whose whole Christian life is a series of glorious victories.
His mission, the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (or WEC), went through a very difficult time late in Studd’s life. The mission was plagued with disunity, dissatisfaction with his leadership, and morale in general was very low. Then, during a series of prayer meetings, the missionaries surrendered themselves completely to God and experienced revival. Here’s how Norman Grubb, C.T. Studd’s biographer and son-in-law, describes the result: “The blessing spread to the remotest station. From that time to this there has been no check on the field to the unity, love, joy in sacrifice, zeal for the souls of the people, which has laid hold of the Crusaders in the Heart of Africa. Not a murmur is heard, however short funds may be, but only expressions of praise and trust in God. It is hard to get anyone to go on furlough unless health really demands it; and when any do come, as soon as they arrive home, their first question is not, ‘How long can I rest?’ but ‘How can I help with the work here?’ and ‘How soon can I go back?’ Married couples put their work before their homes; one bridal couple, a few days after their marriage, even offered to separate and be on different stations for the time being, owing to shortage of workers” (Norman Grubb, C.T. Studd, p. 216).
That’s the kind of conclusion we hope for. Struggle in the beginning, followed by a time of crisis, then permanent victory: “All sinful resistance, all stubborn self-will as opposed to God’s will--all is cleansed away. Your soul is at rest, delighting in the unfolding will of God.” It’s the kind of conclusion we hope for in Nehemiah, so chapter 13 comes as a disappointment, a letdown. But the authors of Scripture are more honest and realistic than many Christian authors. There’s more to the story of C.T. Studd’s missionary experience. His zeal bordered on fanaticism, and he became increasingly difficult to work with over the years. He worked 18 hour days, with no days off, and expected others to do the same. If any resisted, Studd accused them of lukewarmess and compromise. He had a very low view of the African Christians, and his relationships with other missionaries steadily deteriorated in his later years. Near the end of his life, he discovered that a shot of morphine helped him to continue functioning at the same pace, despite his declining health. So, rather than live at a slower pace, he became a morphine addict. By the time of his death the mission was in shambles, and if he had lived longer it probably wouldn’t have survived his leadership (see Ruth Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, pp. 263-68).
It’s important that Nehemiah includes chapter 13. False expectations can be devastating. If we expect an experience that will take us out of the realm of struggle, we’ll usually be affected in one of two ways, depending on our personality: either we’ll be plunged into despair because the experience never comes (we may assume the fault is ours, or we may blame God and turn away from Him because He hasn’t come through); or we’ll deceive ourselves into thinking that we’ve received the experience. These are the most common effects of teachings that promise an experience that will take us out of the realm of struggle: self-deception, or depression and despair. Nehemiah 13 is important, because it reminds us that as long as we are living in this fallen world, our victories and successes will be temporary; we’re not going to be truly safe from attack until we’re in the Lord’s presence. Nehemiah 13 can help deliver us from a false, superficial triumphalism.
The first thing to notice in this chapter is that victory in the past does not insure victory in the future. The Israelites fall into sin in three general areas in this chapter: they neglect the house of God; they desecrate the Sabbath; and they begin intermarrying with unbelieving nations. These are all areas they’ve been guilty of in the past. In fact, these are the kinds of sins that got them into trouble in the first place; these are the kinds of sins that caused God to send them into captivity in Babylon. Nehemiah makes this point in rebuking them about the Sabbath: “Didn’t your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath” (v. 18). When we achieve a great victory in one area, we’ll often be tempted to become lax. We’ve learned that lesson, so now it’s time to go on to something else. But when we become lax, we’re setting ourselves up for defeat. Victory in the past does not insure victory in the future; if we become careless, there’s every likelihood that we’ll fall into the same sins that have defeated us in the past.
The second thing to notice is that strong emotions and sorrow over our sins do not insure victory in the future. In chapter 8, the people were filled with godly sorrow after listening to the reading of the Word. In chapter 9, they came into God’s presence, crying out for mercy. These are not people who are content with their sins. They’re not looking for a way to get away with persisting in sin. They’re grieved at the thought of violating the commands of their gracious and merciful God. And yet, in chapter 13 we see that they’ve fallen into sin anyway. No matter how grieved we are at our sinfulness, our feelings are eventually going to go away. It’s right to be grieved at our sins. Godly sorrow drives us into God’s presence, crying for mercy. But strong emotions won’t enable us to persevere in resisting sin in the future.
The third thing to notice is that strong resolutions do not insure victory in the future. One of the sins they’ve been guilty of in the past is neglecting the worship of the Temple. They’d gotten so caught up in their own lives that they’d neglected God’s house, and when they became aware of the problem, they made arrangements to remedy the situation. And they made this resolution: “we will not neglect the house of our God” (10:39). And yet, that’s the very thing that has happened in chapter 13. A large room has been given to Tobiah, which displaces much of the equipment for worship and also leaves no place for the collection of the tithes. So the Levites, who help lead worship in the Temple, find themselves without financial support and go back to their land. One step at a time, the worship of the Temple falls into decline. They’ve forgotten their resolutions.
They’ve experienced much from God. He’s come to their rescue and given them a great victory. Even their enemies have to acknowledge that God is among them. But as time passes, they lose their sense of urgency. They grow complacent and simply drift back into their old habits: they neglect corporate worship; they fall into the habit of desecrating the Sabbath; and they begin to intermarry with unbelieving nations. All the great victories they’ve experienced, all their godly sorrow, all their resolutions, have not prevented them from falling into the same sins that had gotten them into trouble in the first place.
What has gone wrong? Two things stand out, as I look at this chapter. The first is that once the crisis has passed, there’s a temptation to become complacent and to let down our guard. During the crisis, we keep a tight rein on our hearts, but once the crisis is over, we want to go back to a more normal life. We don’t want to spend so much time and effort on our relationship with God. We want to relax and take a break. But that’s exactly the thing we can’t afford to do. We take a rest in God’s presence, not from His presence. The whole point of the Sabbath was rest and spiritual refreshment, not rest from God’s presence, but rest and refreshment in His presence.
John Flavel, a 17th Century preacher, wrote a book called Keeping the Heart. His concern is that unless we keep a close watch on our hearts, we’ll tend to drift away from the Lord. Here’s how he defines keeping the heart: “By keeping the heart, understand the diligent and constant use of all holy means to preserve the soul from sin, and maintain its sweet and free communion with God” (p. 6). And then, near the end of the book, he says this: “You must learn to wield the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God) familiarly, if you would defend your heart and conquer your enemies. You must call yourself frequently to an account; examine yourself in the presence of the all seeing God; bring your conscience, as it were, to the bar of judgement.... You must exercise the utmost vigilance to discover and check the first symptoms of departure from God, the least decline of spirituality, or the least indisposition to meditation by yourself, and holy conversation and fellowship with others. These things you must undertake, in the strength of Christ, with invincible resolution in the outset. And if you thus engage in this great work, be assured you shall not spend your strength for naught; comforts which you never felt or thought of will flow in upon you from every side” (pp. 107-108). If we want to survive over the long term, after the time of crisis has passed, we need to exercise vigilance in keeping our hearts.
The second thing that’s gone wrong in Israel is that they’ve been lacking in spiritual leadership. Nehemiah has been away for some time, and it’s after his return that he begins to put things back in order: “But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king” (v. 6). It’s startling, in Scripture, to see how quickly God’s people get into trouble when there’s a lack of godly leadership. We need to pray for our leaders, especially that they will be faithful in walking with God and cultivating His presence. Our leaders don’t have to do everything well; they’re not called to meet all our “felt needs.” What matters is that they know God and seek with all their hearts to do His will. And, in addition to praying for our leaders, we need to be diligent in seeking out leaders who will help us stay on track spiritually. We’re all in need of spiritual leadership, and it’s worth expending some effort in seeking out help.
Nehemiah 13 may be a letdown; after all the hard work in the early chapters, we’ve hoped for something more permanent. Chapter 12 would have made a good conclusion. But it’s a good thing for us to have this chapter. It reminds us that as long as we’re in this fallen world, our victories and successes will be temporary. As long as we’re still living in this fallen world, we will not be safe. This chapter reminds us that no matter what we’ve experienced in the past, we need to persevere in seeking God. There is no safe place in this world. But Nehemiah 13 is not the end of the story. The victory in Nehemiah is incomplete and temporary, because we look forward to that day when we, with all of God’s people, will be gathered in His presence. On that day: “They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17). All outcomes in this world are less-than-perfect, but our citizenship is not of this world.
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