The Leader As A Model | Nehemiah 12:44 – 13:30 | Message 12
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At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites. 45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the musicians and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the musicians and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the musicians and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.
Nehemiah’s Final Reforms
13 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) 3 When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.
4 Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah, 5 and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.
6 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. Some time later I asked his permission 7 and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. 8 I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9 I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.
10 I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. 11 So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.
12 All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms. 13 I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.
14 Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.
15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? 18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.”
19 When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.
23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. 25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. 27 Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”
28 One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me.
29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
30 So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task.
Nehemiah 12:44 – 13:30
When the leader is away, people will stray. After 12 years of faithfully serving and leading in Jerusalem, Nehemiah reported back to King Artaxerxes, who was then ruling from what we now know as Iran. In his absence, strategic violations of God’s Word crept in and began to spread. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem (13:6–7), he didn’t sit back. He confronted the problems head-on and boldly enacted changes once again in line with God’s Word.
Warren Wiersbe insightfully comments:
“Nehemiah discovered that the fires of devotion had gone out in Jerusalem. His first term as governor lasted for twelve years (5:14), after which he returned to the palace to report to the king. He was gone perhaps a year, but when he returned to Jerusalem, he discovered that the situation had deteriorated dramatically, for the people were not living up to the vows they had made (chapter 10). Nehemiah immediately began to act decisively to change the situation. Without spiritual leadership, God’s people are prone to stray like sheep.”
God had accomplished a momentous work in Jerusalem and stirred a national revival in the hearts of the Israelites. But Satan was eager to snuff out those victories. Here’s the principle: whenever God begins to move in your life or church, Satan always counterattacks. Count on it. No need to live in fear, but be very aware of the deceitfulness of our own hearts and of those who are guided daily by the evil one. Never forget: Judas was an insider, the treasurer, and yet he betrayed Jesus Christ.
Be aware of the slow, subtle steps that can draw you away from God. How does a fervent believer become spiritually lifeless and adrift? Not in a single moment—but through a succession of small steps away from God, characterized by disobedience to His Word and neglect of spiritual priorities. When our moral behavior is compromised, our theology becomes compromised. We start believing what is wrong is right. In other words, permissive, disobedient behavior reveals distance from Christ and broken fellowship.
Be alert to the people who will draw you away from God. In the narrative, Eliashib, the first one named in the list of workers (3:1), was the spiritual turncoat. One of his relatives was married to Sanballat’s daughter (13:28). You will remember, Sanballat and Tobiah, Nehemiah’s harshest critics (6:17–19), were friends. In Nehemiah’s absence, Tobiah was living in the temple (13:7–8). Negative people will connect and cause damage, so ask the Lord to give you discernment in selecting your friends.
We see Nehemiah, as a leader, take action as he makes changes. This is what a leader does – assess the situation carefully and then make decisions that honor God. Perhaps you have been aware of something in your life, family, or business that you know is not right, but you are doing nothing about it. Be the leader God wants you to be – make changes.
In this message, we carefully review the final 31 of 99 Leadership Facts so clearly taught in Nehemiah. May the truths we have learned in these 12 messages shape the way we lead.
