Key Portion: Nehemiah 13:4-9
Though the people didn’t go through any moral degradation, there were a few things that Nehemiah needed to fix after he returned to Jerusalem and he made the necessary reformations as well.
The first thing he did was to make reforms in the Temple. He found that Eliashib the priest had entered into an alliance with Tobiah, who was an enemy of Nehemiah’s work in rebuilding the wall. He was an Ammonite and was not supposed to be in the assembly of GOD’s people. But, he managed to influence the people, and he rented rooms in the Temple courts. We may not be able to identify the real enemy when they come in peace with us. Be careful. They may have a hidden agenda to destroy the true worship in the Temple of the LORD. We do not see Tobiah changing over the years, but the enemy could blind the eyes of the priest to lay hands on the temple of the LORD and to destroy it, within no time.
Nehemiah grieved bitterly when he saw this because, the Temple court rooms were occupied by an enemy and the spiritual leader of that time was ignorant about the same. The priests are a group who have witnessed the revival in the city; Priest Eliashib was a part of the same, but over the course of time, the enemy took control of his spiritual vision. The priest may have found it okay to give space to a person who was not allowed in the temple of the LORD. Our spiritual vision must be sharp enough to identify the enemy and to say No to them, with the power of the LORD.
Nehemiah’s grief ended up in the cleaning of the court rooms. He threw the contents of the room out and cleansed the chambers according to the ceremonial rituals. A leader must be strong enough to say NO when it is needed the most. Our NO may hurt our fellow beings, but, it is better to please GOD than to get appreciated by man for helping them in sin.
Practical Living: Be brave enough to initiate Godly changes in the house of the LORD. Grieve about the things that hurt the heart of the LORD. Be willing to correct ourselves, to bring out the best in us and from the people whom GOD has entrusted to us.
