Nehemiah 13:23 says\s, In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: Nehemiah continued by stating that he had also seen the men of Israel marrying outside of the people of Israel, or God’s chosen people. Once more, as Christians we should also marry other Christians, not because we are better than others, but because we need to be dedicated to God in our marriage.
Verse twenty-four adds, And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. Nehemiah said the children of those who married foreign women spoke the language of those foreigners and couldn’t speak the language of the people of Israel. Too often, if a Christian marries a non-Christian, their children do not know God because the Christian begins to stop speaking about Him to keep peace in the family.
Verse twenty-five continues, And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. Nehemiah said that he contended with certain of the people who had married those who were not Jews, even getting physical with them and cursing them. This does not mean that he used profanity, but that he pronounced them to not be a part of God’s people, which does curse one to everlasting punishment I believe. Of course, we aren’t to physically assault those who do not come to Christ for salvation, but we can point out to them they are forever cursed or doomed to everlasting punishment.
Verse twenty-six states, Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin. Nehemiah then pointed out that Solomon, the greatest king ever, who was loved by God, sinned by marrying foreign women and they caused him problems. He was not saying that God accepted this as right, but that that as great as Solomon was, he still limited what he might have been by sinning in this respect. I believe that this should be the main reason we avoid sin as followers of Christ. We will still be saved if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, but we can limit our effectiveness in doing what God has a called us to do.
Verse twenty-seven adds, Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives? He then asked if the people of Israel should listen to these men when they were committing such great evil. If we are sinning against God, we should not expect people to listen to us if we call them to accept Jesus Christ. If we are guilty of sin, we must repent and ask God’s forgiveness' in order to be an effective witness for Him.
Verse twenty-eight continues, And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me. Nehemiah said that one of the grandsons of Joiada the son of Eliashib the high priest was married to the daughter of Sanballat, so he chased him far from him. Being a child or grandchild of a preacher or of any Christian for that matter does not save anyone, and if they are sinning, we need to point it out and pray for them. I don’t believe that we should chase them away though.
Verse twenty-nine says, Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. Nehemiah asked that God remember them because they had defiled the priesthood. I don’t believe that he was asking that God remember them because they were priests but because they were unfaithful to their calling. We certainly don’t want to be remembered this way by God.
Verse thirty adds, Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business; Nehemiah said he cleansed all the priests and Levites from being married to foreign wives and appointed them to their role in the Temple. We know that Nehemiah could not cleanse them spiritually, but he could only make sure that they were physically cleansed of this sin. We cannot cleanse people of sin, but we can keep those who profess to be Christians but are openly leading lives that are not in accordance with God’s word from serving in the church.
Verse thirty-one continues, And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. He said that they were appointed to carry out the sacrifices at the appointed times, and then he asked God to remember him. We must have God remember us for our accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, and everything else is just a bonus if we are following His commandments and doing what He calls us to do. Just as the great works that Nehemiah did weren’t what needed to be remembered but his relationship with God was, so it is with everyone.
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