Back to Square One Nehemiah 13:1-31 INTRODUCTION And they all lived happily ever after. It would be nice if that was how the last verse of Nehemiah 13 read. But instead we find an ending to this book that is all together different. It’s unlike most Hollywood movies. It doesn’t resemble most paperback novels. It’s anticlimactic. It has nothing of the predictable storyline that runs throughout most Lifetime movies. Having experienced a revival of great proportion, the people of Jerusalem take ten steps backwards and revert to their old ways. Whereas they has experienced a spiritual renewal, the book ends with the people of God once again in spiritual decay. What we’re going to see in this chapter is that all of the promises and all of the commitments that were made in chapter 10 have now been broken. They are, in a very real sense, back to square one. But how does something like this happen? How did the people of God move from renewal and revival to spiritual decay? And that’s an important question because the experience of the Israelites is not foreign to us. In fact, you don’t have to be a Christian very long before you become familiar with the ups and downs. The Lord may bring a season of renewal in your life. You’ve committed to live according to his Word. You’ve begun to see old habits put to death. But before you know it, the very things you said you would never do again…well, you’re doing them again. The reality is that even when we experience seasons of great revival, either personally or corporately, ew haven’t made it home yet. And there is an ever present need for us to persevere until the coming of our Lord Jesus. J.I. Packer rightly puts it this way, “Where God has sent reformation, Satan will work, behind the scenes if not overtly, for deformation of all that was made new.” So as we read chapter 13, I want us to not view it as a disappointing end to the story. Instead, let’s look at it as a sobering warning about the nature of sin. A reminder that we are a people in constant need of revival. A reminder that we are prone to drift. And yet, a people whom God has been very gracious too. READ NEHEMIAH 13:1-31 TRANS: The key to understanding this last chapter is Nehemiah’s absence. He had been the governor of Jerusalem for about 12 years. And it was during his leadership that the people of God experienced great revival and reform. Not only was the city rebuilt, but worship was restored as the centerpiece of Jerusalem. The Word of God took it’s rightful place once again among God’s people. But after 12 years, Nehemiah left. You remember he had been cupbearer to the King of Persia. And so he returns, probably not by his own choice. But then he requested that the King let him go back to Jerusalem. Perhaps he caught wind of some of their problems. And so he returns only to discover that things are not the way he left them. And it’s from this we learn two realities that will help us so that we find ourselves back at square one less and less. First…. 1. Spiritual Decay Begins with Compromise The reason why I say compromise is because the people of Israel are now dealing with the same problems they dealt with before. It’s not as if these are new sins, or new areas obedience and disobedience, these are re-occuring problems. And for us, that’s normally the case. It’s not as if we are unsure about what God’s says regarding a particular issue, but rather we begin to compromise in certain areas. And it’s that compromise, that sets us down a path of unfaithfulness. Now, you’ll notice that the first three verses begin with the phrase, “On that day…” What you need to know is that these verses really belong with the end of chapter 12, and are not occurring at the same time as the rest of chapter 13. These first three verses happened during the period of renewal. And it’s an illustration of the kind of attitude they began to stray from. Here’s what happened: they found what was written, particularly in Deuteronomy 23:3-5, and they do what is says. Is that not a simple approach? Wouldn’t life in a fallen world work much better if everyone did this? They came across what Scripture says and decided to do it. In the case, Moses had excluded the Moabites and the Ammonites from the religious assembly of Israel because of their historical opposition to Israel, as well as their blatant idolatry. We’ve come to this issue before when we’ve read about the prohibitions of interracial marriage and it’s worth repeating. The Bible is by no means racist. The other nations were welcome to believe in Israel’s God, like Ruth the Moabite, and say, “Your people are my people, and your God is my God,” but for those who refused, they were to be removed so as to protect the people from falling into idolatry. But then we come to the decay several years later. And it’s all because they have begun to compromise. What they know to be true from the Scriptures, they disregard. Verse 4 begins with, “Now before this…” And that is a reference to these events as having happened with Nehemiah was away. He says in verse 6 that, “While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem.” We don’t know how long he was gone per se, but it was long enough for things to get out of hand. In many ways, chapter 13 should be read alongside chapter 10. Because it is in chapter 10 that we read of the specifics areas in which the people promised to be obedient. After all, they had said in chapter 10 that they would do all the Lord commanded. And with that they had committed to only marrying believers, honoring the Sabbath, and supporting the temple. The very things they compromise on in chapter 13. Chapter 10 ends with “We will not neglect the house of our God.” Chapter 13, verse 11 read, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And it wasn’t as if they didn’t know any better. If you remember they had begun reading the Scriptures - at times for hours on end. And it’s helpful to know that Malachi was a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah. He likely preached to the people during the absence of Nehemiah. And if you know anything of the content of Malachi, you know he rebuked the people for their lack of genuine worship, for marrying those outside the faith, and for robbing God by failing to maintain the tithe. To put it another way, the people were not sinning in ignorance. Their sin was a compromise of what they knew to be true. This illustrates a danger that is as true now as it was then. Conformity to the world is a constant temptation. Just like in the Old Testament, you and I live with the constant temptation to be like everyone else. To do what everyone else does. To buy into whatever cultural idea and pattern is laid before us. And as Christians, were called to not be like everyone else. And so often, spiritual decay starts as small steps. If you can visualize a person’s descent into sin, often times its more like taking a step or two down a stair case than it is plunging head first into a pit. It might begin by saying, “You know, it’s not that big of deal if I read and study the Word less. Sure, I’ve gotten out of the habit of doing it regularly. But, hey lets not be legalistic.” And next thing you know, days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months. And the word of God has lost it’s place. You’re no longer being nourished by it. You’re no longer being instructed by. Our perhaps, that first step of compromise is not in terms of discipline, but a habit. You’ve said you’re not going to drink anymore because of the havoc it was creating in your life. Because it wasn’t a drink or two, but drunkenness. But after a long period of sobriety you think, “I can handle being around the bar. I can handle one drink. It won’t be a problem if I have only two. But the next thing you know, you’ve traveled right down that familiar path in which drinking is a problem again. But this is how sin deceives us. Small steps of disobedience slip past the consciousness. If you think of the history of the Israelites and their constant problem with idolatry, it wasn’t as if they woke up one morning and said, “Hey, let’s commit idolatry. That sounds like a good idea. We’ve been very faithful, let’s just completely break our oath to God. Sounds like a plan?!” No! It started with an innocent treaty with what they called a “very distant nation.” Of course in Joshua 9 we see that it was neighboring Gibeon. That was one step. Another small step came in Judges 1:27 when Manasseh failed to drive out the Canaanites as God had commanded.