What Nehemiah did when all he worked for seemed almost wasted

By Dean Collins

I have some good news and some bad news about Nehemiah. Yes, we see in him good examples of godly leadership. His story shows us what happens when leaders pray diligently and by God’s strength and courageous leadership manage to rally the troops in one direction. We can and should do the same.

But the bad news: Sometimes, maybe often, people slip back to their previous behaviors, making us wonder if our efforts are worth the time. In the case of Nehemiah, it happened even after the wall was built and dedicated. Even after the community repented and wept over their sins and the sins of those before them. Even after repentance and the new promises they made to each other, to their leaders, and to God. Some, even the priest, reverted to living by their own plan instead of by God’s. In chapter 13 Nehemiah shares that this reversal happened when he was back in Susa on business.

An angry leader

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem he was not simply a courageous leader. He was an angry leader. Not just angry, Nehemiah was very angry and in a behavior that might resemble that of Jesus when he cleared the temple of those who had set up shop there. Tobiah, his old Ammonite nemesis and enemy of the Jews had made his bedroom in the temple, and Nehemiah threw him out. And it wasn’t that Tobiah had snuck into the courts of the house of God. He was invited in by a distantly related priest who knew what he was doing was not allowed.

Nehemiah continued his corrections, ordering that items used for worship but now missing be collected and returned to the house of God. Then he moved to restore the tithing that had not been practiced, thus restoring and catching up the pay the Levites hadn’t received. He followed that by chasing a leader out of town for marrying a foreign woman, which was in opposition to God’s plan for his people.

A prayer for rememberance

All through these actions Nehemiah prayed:

“Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service. . . . spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.”

”Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.”

“Remember me, O my God, for good.”

Is God prone to forget? Does the creator and sustainer of the universe need us to set reminders for him? I doubt it. I doubt Nehemiah thought God would forget either. He was likely discouraged by the amount of his life that had been invested in his community only to see them slip back to their previous state as soon as he wasn’t visible.

Maybe prayers that ask God to remember are really more about us remembering that God keeps his promises. I don’t know about you, but it helps me when someone points me back to God’s truth and how he has always provided, always supported, always loved, and always forgiven.

A message for all time

I’ve given two-weeks worth of writing to this one little book, and I’ve decided that Nehemiah isn’t in the Bible to be a how-to manual for leaders. Yes, we can learn by considering how Nehemiah lived out his calling. But we miss the purpose of Scripture, this section or any other, when we shrink it to a self-help book.

The main message of Scripture is that God is restoring his creation back to what he designed in and through Jesus. The Bible reveals our brokenness and our hopelessness except for the mercy and grace of God made known through Christ. While there are many lessons about leadership, service, conflict resolution, justice, and hundreds more, we must resist reading the Bible simply to gain a tip for the day.

Reading the Bible through each year will likely help in many practical ways. But most of all, reading the Bible will build your confidence in Jesus and how through him all things will be renewed and restored when he returns. And even though we realize that all progress ultimately comes from him, we don’t pull back. In fact, our Bible understanding should prompt the opposite. When I surrender to Jesus daily, his life is released in me and in everything I do. Therefore, what I do will help someone today. In spite of inevitable setbacks and disappointment, ultimately God will hold us in his arms until Jesus returns and all is made right.

Finally, a solution

Even after Nehemiah’s decisive measures recorded in Nehemiah 13, the correction didn’t last. Selfishnesses and greed took hold again. Only when Jesus finally arrived centuries later was an ultimate solution to the human condition put in place.

Every time we follow Jesus we shine light on the darkness around us. Maybe Nehemiah’s final prayer is a good prayer for us each day. Remember me, O my God, for good. May the goodness of God be established in our lives each day until he comes again and makes all things good for his glory and for eternity.

Your time with God’s Word
Nehemiah 13

Photo by Nicola Barts from Pexels

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