Neh 13:4 | KingComments | STEP | Another evil is discovered, this time when Nehemiah is back in Jerusalem. He returned to the court of the king of Persia after the dedication of the wall, and there he will again have practiced his ancient profession of cupbearer. When he has done this for some time, he asks permission again to go to Jerusalem. The situations he encounters then lead him to take firm action against the prevailing wrongs of various kinds. By the way, he only acts when the evil is confirmed. His action seems harsh. Nehemiah’s action, however, is not hard; sin is hard and bitter. Nehemiah’s harsh action is like Paul’s harsh action against false brethren, because they undermined the truth of the gospel, and against Peter, because he and Barnabas were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel ( ). The first evil he notices concerns a man who, because of his high position, enjoys prestige among the people. It concerns the high priest Eliashib ( ; ; ). However, an official status among the people of God is no guarantee not to go astray. Eliashib manages to defile the house of God by giving a room to an enemy of God’s people, the Ammonite Tobiah. He has prepared a large room for the great adversary of God’s work. This seems generous, while Nehemiah’s performance could be considered scary. With Eliashib we see the generosity of the flesh, while what Nehemiah does is entirely in accordance with the thoughts of God. The room where Tobiah has taken up residence, is a room where everything that is important for the service in the house of God has been stored before. Previously, the people have committed themselves to make sure that there will be no lack of store ( ). They have solemnly declared not to neglect the house of their God. Twelve years have elapsed. The room is empty in terms of the means by which the service in God’s house can proceed. Instead, the enemy has been offered this room to live there. If our lives are not filled with service to God, the devil will use our lives to serve his purposes. Our lives will then contribute to the destruction of service to God. Nehemiah is not the man to bypass evil and pretend not to see it. When he sees what happened, he is not going to kindly ask Eliashib to remove Tobiah from the temple. He becomes angry and takes all of Tobiah’s household goods and throws them out of the temple. This is an anger that rightly arises from sin going unpunished in God’s house. Every God-fearing person rebels against such insolence. Eliashib’s behavior is so contrary to God’s holiness, that any slowness to act against it must be considered sin. It is not the presence of evil that destroys the character of the Lord’s Table, but the refusal to judge it. The most terrible evil is no reason to stay away from the Lord’s Table. It evokes the obligation to do everything to remove evil. In the church it is not a matter that can be dealt with by one person. God wants the church to act as a whole. When Paul has heard of the terrible evil found in the church in Corinth ( ), he does not write that they are no longer a church of God now, but that they must remove the evil. Tobiah, the man of whom Nehemiah has said that he has no portion in Jerusalem ( ), was given a room in the house of God during his absence. This was only possible because of inattention on the part of the gatekeepers. What ‘Tobiah’ have we given room in our hearts, because ‘Nehemiah’ has been absent from us for a time? Who or what is central to our lives, if it is not (anymore) the Lord Jesus and His interests? Which of Tobiah’s household goods has entered the temple of our lives and driven out the Holy Spirit as far as His activity is concerned? Many Christians afford powers to influence their lives that only the Holy Spirit should have. We should throw out Tobiah and all of his household goods without hesitation. What is in our bookcase, what magazines do we read, what movies do we watch, what do we look for on the world wide web, what music do we listen to? Do we have to throw something out of our collection? What place does the wardrobe occupy in our thinking? There must be room for God and the service to Him! Nehemiah is not at all impressed by Eliashib’s high position. On the contrary, it requires all the more incisive action and public punishment (cf. ; ). He does not apologize either. He acts in a way that we see later with the Lord Jesus when He cleanses the temple ( ). The rooms are defiled by the presence of Tobiah. Therefore, they must first be cleansed before anything that is for the glory of God can be brought back into them. If we have allowed things into our lives or into the church, it is not enough to remove them. The removal must be done with a confession that it has been made possible by our inattention. We will have to dedicate ourselves again to the Lord, in the knowledge that there is no guarantee in us that it will not happen again.

‏ Nehemiah 13:4

An Enemy Removed from the House of God

Another evil is discovered, this time when Nehemiah is back in Jerusalem. He returned to the court of the king of Persia after the dedication of the wall, and there he will again have practiced his ancient profession of cupbearer. When he has done this for some time, he asks permission again to go to Jerusalem. The situations he encounters then lead him to take firm action against the prevailing wrongs of various kinds.

By the way, he only acts when the evil is confirmed. His action seems harsh. Nehemiah’s action, however, is not hard; sin is hard and bitter. Nehemiah’s harsh action is like Paul’s harsh action against false brethren, because they undermined the truth of the gospel, and against Peter, because he and Barnabas were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:4-5 ; 11-14).

The first evil he notices concerns a man who, because of his high position, enjoys prestige among the people. It concerns the high priest Eliashib (Neh 13:4; Neh 13:28; Neh 3:1). However, an official status among the people of God is no guarantee not to go astray. Eliashib manages to defile the house of God by giving a room to an enemy of God’s people, the Ammonite Tobiah. He has prepared a large room for the great adversary of God’s work. This seems generous, while Nehemiah’s performance could be considered scary. With Eliashib we see the generosity of the flesh, while what Nehemiah does is entirely in accordance with the thoughts of God.

The room where Tobiah has taken up residence, is a room where everything that is important for the service in the house of God has been stored before. Previously, the people have committed themselves to make sure that there will be no lack of store (Neh 10:32-39). They have solemnly declared not to neglect the house of their God.

Twelve years have elapsed. The room is empty in terms of the means by which the service in God’s house can proceed. Instead, the enemy has been offered this room to live there. If our lives are not filled with service to God, the devil will use our lives to serve his purposes. Our lives will then contribute to the destruction of service to God.

Nehemiah is not the man to bypass evil and pretend not to see it. When he sees what happened, he is not going to kindly ask Eliashib to remove Tobiah from the temple. He becomes angry and takes all of Tobiah’s household goods and throws them out of the temple. This is an anger that rightly arises from sin going unpunished in God’s house. Every God-fearing person rebels against such insolence. Eliashib’s behavior is so contrary to God’s holiness, that any slowness to act against it must be considered sin.

It is not the presence of evil that destroys the character of the Lord’s Table, but the refusal to judge it. The most terrible evil is no reason to stay away from the Lord’s Table. It evokes the obligation to do everything to remove evil. In the church it is not a matter that can be dealt with by one person. God wants the church to act as a whole. When Paul has heard of the terrible evil found in the church in Corinth (1Cor 5:1), he does not write that they are no longer a church of God now, but that they must remove the evil.

Tobiah, the man of whom Nehemiah has said that he has no portion in Jerusalem (Neh 2:20), was given a room in the house of God during his absence. This was only possible because of inattention on the part of the gatekeepers.

What ‘Tobiah’ have we given room in our hearts, because ‘Nehemiah’ has been absent from us for a time? Who or what is central to our lives, if it is not (anymore) the Lord Jesus and His interests? Which of Tobiah’s household goods has entered the temple of our lives and driven out the Holy Spirit as far as His activity is concerned? Many Christians afford powers to influence their lives that only the Holy Spirit should have.

We should throw out Tobiah and all of his household goods without hesitation. What is in our bookcase, what magazines do we read, what movies do we watch, what do we look for on the world wide web, what music do we listen to? Do we have to throw something out of our collection? What place does the wardrobe occupy in our thinking? There must be room for God and the service to Him!

Nehemiah is not at all impressed by Eliashib’s high position. On the contrary, it requires all the more incisive action and public punishment (cf. Gal 2:11-14; 1Tim 5:20). He does not apologize either. He acts in a way that we see later with the Lord Jesus when He cleanses the temple (Jn 2:14-16).

The rooms are defiled by the presence of Tobiah. Therefore, they must first be cleansed before anything that is for the glory of God can be brought back into them. If we have allowed things into our lives or into the church, it is not enough to remove them. The removal must be done with a confession that it has been made possible by our inattention. We will have to dedicate ourselves again to the Lord, in the knowledge that there is no guarantee in us that it will not happen again.