Bentley, Tom: Nehemiah The Residents ~ Neh11v1,6

Nehemiah chapter eleven. And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem. The rest of the people also cast lots to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities. Now, I want you to notice some of the, uh, the type of people that were located at this time. Verse six, all the sons of Perez that dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred threescore and eight valiant men. Notice in verse fourteen, and their brethren, mighty men of valor, an hundred twenty and eight. and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of one of the great men. Now look at verse twelve. And their brethren that did the work of the house were eight hundred twenty and two. Now further down to verse sixteen, and Shabethai and Jozabad of the chief of the Levites had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God. And Mattaniah, the son of Micah, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, you know who he is, the son of Asaph, was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer, and so on. Verse nineteen: moreover, the porters Achab, Talmon, and their brethren that kept the gates were one hundred seventy and two. In other words, they kept watch at the gates. They kept watch at the gates. And then verse twenty one: but the Nethanim dwelt in Ophel, and Zia and uh, Girspa were over the Nethanim. Now, chapter twelve, Verse six, moreover, the Levites Jeshua, Binyai, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, which were over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren. Now, verse twenty seven, and at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all their places to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with hearts. Verse thirty: and the priests and the Levites purified themselves and purified the people and the gates and the wall. Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate, and after them went Hoshea and the half of the princes of Judah, and so on. Verse thirty seven, and at the fountain gate, which was over against them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall above the house of David, even onto the water gate eastward. And the other company of them that gave thanks went over against them, and I after them, and half of the people upon the wall from beyond the tower of the furnaces, even unto the broad wall, and from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Haniel, and the tower of Mia, even unto the sheep gate, and they stood still in the prison gate or in the gate of the guard. So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I, and half of the rulers with me, and the priests, and their name. Now, chapter thirteen. On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people, and therein was found written that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God forever, because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them. How be it, our God turned the curse into a blessing. Now it came to pass when they heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. Now, in the will of God, we will read more from the this chapter at another point in the ministry. So we trust the Lord will add his blessing to this reading of his holy word. Now, it's rather with a a sense of reluctance, we have come to the last night and the closing portion of this great book of Nehemiah, because I, I do feel that we have missed a lot. Due to the pressure of time, we're not able just to, you know, pick up all that is in the passage and in the chapters, but we do trust that what has been ministered, I do trust in fellowship with God, will have its own practical and powerful effect upon each one of us gathered that has been privileged to be with us night by night. Now, when we come to the end of this book, the principles are unchanged. This man of God is now very clearly bringing what he desired to a wonderful summit, to a wonderful apex. I wouldn't say to a conclusion, for I'm quite sure that he continued to minister on until his day of service was completed. We have noticed that away back in chapter one, he was laying the foundation. Then we noticed in chapter two, he was viewing the fragments. Then we noticed in chapter three, he was repairing the fortress. And then chapter four, five, and six, we found him facing the foe, facing the foe. And then we saw from chapter seven, eight, nine, and ten, we saw that he was establishing the fellowship. That fellowship resulted in a real consciousness of the presence and power of God ministered through the reading and the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. What a wonderful, practical presentation that those chapters offer. Now, tonight we find in the closing chapter particularly, this great man is exposing the false, and that will be the ultimate of our ministry at this time. Now, in chapter eleven, I've given you a title to each chapter. I'm going to call chapter eleven the chapter of the residents. The chapter of the residents. The key word, it's always good to get a key word in any paragraph or in any chapter, and especially in these rather difficult chapters, where young Christians and older folks sometimes could be reading and just wonder, what does a chapter like this offer to me? Well, now, if you focus in on this chapter, chapter eleven, uh and read it very carefully, which I trust you have done already today, for I did ask you to do that, didn't I? You will have noticed surely, that one of the key words, if not the key word, is the word dwell, dwell, or the word dwell. And you'll find that it occurs eleven times in this chapter. So obviously it's the chapter of the residence. That is, the, uh, Nehemiah is now identifying the class and the character of the people that were located. Here are the people located. So it's a chapter of occupation, occupation. In other words, here is the list with names and with details that define and describe the character, the conduct, the capacity, the capability of those that were privileged to live within the precincts of the city and elsewhere. And you know, when I read them, I find they just present what I would feel the characteristics of a New Testament assembly. Just as simple as that now. And when I look at what the Lord, in his wondrous grace, has highlighted concerning some of these people, I find already application, I would trust, to this assembly, and to each assembly represented, and to an assembly wherever found as gathered to the Lord's name. So the key word then is dwelt. The word that I'm giving you to describe the chapter is the word residence, because the theme is occupation. Now, look at the classification and the character of the populace. First of all, we noticed in verse six and in verse fourteen, they were valiant men, and it's the same word, only it's put a different way in verse fourteen. men of valor, men of valor. Now, you'll notice that that was for defense, that was for war. And, uh, we learned, uh, in the earlier chapters that when the people of God were reconstructing the wall and setting up the gates, the enemy adopted this stance to hinder the work in its progress, and they started to fight against the people of God. Now, you know that that is a New Testament figure. The apostle urges Timothy to fight a good fight. Fight a good fight. And you understand he doesn't mean fighting with the brethren. Oh no. What he means is you are fighting the enemy that is set against the prosperity and the promotion of the testimony. That's what it is. And you know that in Ephesians chapter six we have the figure adopted by the apostle so suitably of the spiritual warfare of the saints of God and the armor that God has provided. And you know that that is the armor of God, and you know in another passage it's the armor of righteousness, and you know in another passage it's the armor of light. So there is no question at all about it that when we come to our New Testament, the figure, the fact of spiritual warfare is stamped upon the picture. Well, here are people, and they're located in this city, and they are valiant men. They're men that are set for the defense of the city and the people. Now, beloved, the apostle said in the Philippians, you know that I'm set for the defense of the gospel. Now, that doesn't mean, as you know, that he had a sword and a shield, and anyone that came up and dis- uh, uh, dis- uh, eng- engaged him, he, he, he, no, no, you know that. When we look at that word defense, we understand that it means what the word from which we get our word apology. Now, I don't mean apologizing for doing something wrong. I mean an apology, a defense in a statement of what is right. And after all, brethren, in these days when the gospel's truth is being assailed, when the truth of the death of Christ is being limited, when there is a tremendous attempt to weaken the power, the simplicity of the gospel, we need men that are set for the defense of the gospel. That's what we need. You know, if you go back to the Old Testament, there were days in Israel when their shields were of gold. Of gold. Mind you, that was very rich, wasn't it? But you come along to another portion, I'm not telling you where because I want you to find it. You'll find the day came when their shields were of brass. Down the line a little bit. Mind you, brethren, that little picture is indicative of where we could be tonight. Where we could be tonight. And I'm just asking you, I, I, are we, are we classified in this classification? Are we included? Are you amongst the number that could be thus identified? Valiant men. And Mr. True, the great late Mr. True, told us years ago that the best way to preserve the truth, the best way to preserve the gospel was by propagation. By propagation. It's not something you hold in your pocket. It's not something you enclose in a box. It is something you present, and in the presentation of the gospel, in the proclamation of the gospel, the truth is defended. So now, here are men, and they're classified as valiant men. Men set for the defense of the testimony for war. And then in verse twelve, and their brethren that did the work of the house. That's good, isn't it? Did the work. They didn't shun the work. They didn't pass it on to someone else. They did the work. These are vigorous men. Vigorous men. They're men of activity, and, uh, they're men of deeds, for they're interested in work. Now, isn't that a characteristic that we would covet? Isn't that a welcome ad- adjunct to any assembly to have brethren and sisters, to have those gathered to the Lord's name in the fellowship of the assembly that are given to work? Actual work. And I do trust you, my dear sister, in that locality you're found, you're working with the gospel. I do trust, dear young Christian, in that office where you're found you're working in the gospel. I just want to tell you something, and I'm not here to proclaim my own goodness, God forbid. But before ever I came into the work of God in, uh, in an official capacity in nineteen fifty six, I could give you a long list of people that I saw saved, that I saw gathered to the Lord's name in the context of my industrial work. Yeah. I was only fifteen, as you all know, when I met the great late Sidney Maxwell. Fifteen in the factory. The day I was fourteen, my father put me out to work. I never had the privilege of going to a secondary school. I won two or these scholarships. My father said, listen, son, I wouldn't have money to buy you a shirt, never mind a blazer. But that's not the problem. And I was fifteen years of age when I met Sidney Maxwell and showed him the truth of God as I knew it, and brought him to his first conference. I met him in September thirty nine. That dear man sat in his first conference in December thirty nine in Belfast at Christmas. Coming out of that conference, he says, Tom, there's the assembly for me. God put his hand on that man, and I don't know anyone that ever could equal him. See what I mean? That's what I mean by work. And I trust that you're doing that, and you can do that. If you believe you're in the place where God would have you be, you should tell others. You should interest others. A man called home two weeks ago from South Africa. I heard him singing in the, in the machine shop, whistling a hymn beneath the cross of Jesus. I went over and said to him, I hope you know more than the tune. He says, thank God, I know the Lord. Well, I said to mercy, but I were in our, our, our, our, our employer's time. I can't talk to you, but, uh, I might see you some other day. You know, two years or more old, and I'm in the drawing office. My boss came over to me on a Friday. He said, you're going to have a young man sit with you, and you're going to have to teach him draftsmanship for a while. We're having some young men coming in on Monday. And I note on Monday morning, this boy came in, and this was the very one that my boss brought to me. I shook hands with him. He said, uh, I said, uh, you remember me? No, I never met you in my life. Oh, he said you did. Yeah, you did. I can't remember, he said. Do you remember the day you were whistling behold beneath the cross of Jesus? Oh, he says, I wouldn't have recognized you again. And you know, I had the joy of seeing that boy and his girlfriend gather to the Lord's name. And he went out four weeks after I went out, came out to Malaya, he went out to South Africa, and he labored there until a few weeks ago. See what I mean? You do that? Or do you keep it all locked up inside? You're men that were here to work. And you know, dear soul, if you would just do this kind of thing, I remember I was only a wee fella, and we lived in twenty one Mountview Street, and my mother looked across the street, and she saw a woman and her family coming into the house. Just new people into this house. And what did she do? She watched, and she found the woman out washing the windows, hanging up her curtains, just working the whole day, and my mother said, now, that dear woman won't have anything for her husband. I think I'll take her over a little cake. My mother took her across, went across the street, a woman she never met, and she handed this woman a cake. Woman couldn't believe it, just for your husband coming in from work. What was behind it? That was nineteen thirty five. What was behind that? Well, I was only a wee fella, I didn't know what was behind it. But my mother knew that in Indonesia there was going to be coming s- special gospel meeting. And she would go over again. And she would knock at that door, and she would ask the woman to the gospel meeting. The woman says, now listen, missus, I never did anything any, I never did anybody any harm in my life. Well, my mother says, I'm not saying that. I just want you to come to the gospel meeting. Well, should I go to my own place. But she said, you're the lady that gave me the cake. Yeah. Well, in that case, I'll go. My mother saw that woman saved, her husband saved, and the whole family gathered in through a cake across the street. That's what I mean, brethren. You, you'll, you'll allow me to use all the illustrations, won't you? You do that? Does the man next door know you're a Christian? Does he know you're gathered to the Lord's name? Have you invited him? Would you loan him your, your, your grass mower? Would you cut his hedge? Would you do anything just to get him onto the sound of the... That's work. I'm not talking about getting onto this platform and, and preaching. Brethren, do that. But brethren, what we are needing is this. Men and women to be working. The vigor is needed wherever brought to one focal point for the testimony of the Lord. Quickly. The next thing I want you to notice is verse sixteen. And here were men who had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God. You'd almost think you're in the New Testament. Here's vital men, vital men, valiant men, vigorous men. Now we have vital men. Why? They're holding oversight. Thank God for those men that do that. Thank God for those that God has appointed. Now you see the point, can't you? They're dwelling in the city. They're dwelling in responsibility. Look at their classification. Because they're considered for direction. Men for defense. Men for deeds. But here are men for direction, marked by wisdom. Verse seventeen, And here another class of men, and this man was principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer. What do you think of that? Not a vital person to have in the place. I'm going to call these men virtuous men, because these men were marked by devotion to begin the thanksgiving. Not good. In other words, they had an exercise to lift up Thanksgiving to God and to set in motion that company to praise the living God. I was talking the other night about taking part in the gathering to remember the Lord. How many are silent? How many are silent? You see, here are people classified. Look at their location, ah, but look at their classification. Men that were absolutely virtuous, that set in motion a volume of thanksgiving to God. Thank God for men like that. Thank God for men like that. And I trust you have plenty in this assembly and the assemblies represent. Now, verse nineteen, quickly, moreover, the porters. We had them the other night, hadn't we? Here are men of vigilance, men of vigilance. What are they doing? It's not war, it's not work in that sense, it's not just wisdom, and it's not worship, but it's watching, watching. Men that are diligent, men that are vigilant. And you know, in our New Testament, the word that would be used to describe these men is the word that means without sleep. Without sleep. Actually, the word means sleep, but it's got a little deprivative at the beginning that deprives us, deprives it of its meaning. And so the word for watch, say, for example, now there are two different words in Mark, in Mark thirteen, but one of the words the Savior uses means to watch without sleep. And oh, brethren, those that take a care for God's assembly, those that have a burden for the saints of God, I tell you, there are many have a sleepless night. Many. Many take to their very heart the burden the testimony brings upon them. Are you among them? Does the assembly give you the slightest concern? Or are you oblivious? Are you oblivious to its need? Gotta watch. God can do without you. I say that lovingly. But it'd be nice to have you converging amongst these that are listed. Not a tremendous list. Now we must move. Chapter twelve. It's the chapter of rejoicing. And, uh, what is the key word in chapter twelve? Well, it's the word Thanksgiving. Not lovely. Thanksgiving. You'll notice it's there in verse number eight. You'll notice it's there in verse number twenty four, verse number twenty seven, and verse number, uh, thirty one, and right down to verse thirty eight, and verse number thirty eight, and verse number forty, and uh, verse number forty six. Isn't that lovely? Thanksgiving. Here is a chapter of rejoicing. This is not occupation, this is gratification. The work has now been complete. The wall, the gates are all in place. And so we're back now to where we finished off in chapter six. In between, it has been the people. Now we're back to the wall, we're back to the actual city where we were with chapter one. What about the Jews? What about Jerusalem? You remember? Then we saw Nehemiah's approach. He took up Jerusalem first, and he rebuilt the wall, and then he worked with the people. Now he has come to the wall again. This time not to repair, but to return thanks for the enablement God granted to rebuild the wall and to reinstate the gates. Great chapter. A great chapter. And, uh, it helps me because I want now to do a little bit of gathering together. It is a chapter of praise. The people are located in chapter eleven, but the people are gladdened in chapter twelve. Now, I think it's good that we just do a little bit of a, a resume of our ministry and go back, will you, to chapter two. Chapter two. And when you go back to chapter two, there we have the first mention of the gates. You remember? And what was the situation? It was the gates in ruin. The gates in ruin. Now, we not forget chapter two in that connection. And what did that, what did that ruin create? Weeping. Weeping. There was that man, as he saw the situation, was grieved in his heart. To think that the city of God had been reduced to such rubble. And as he that night went and viewed the ruin, he was touched in his very, very soul. And what did we remember? What do we remember? I'm sure you remember that he began with a valley gate in a spirit of godly humility. He was lured in more ways than one. He was humbled in more ways than one. He tells us in that chapter the difficulty, the awful situation as it prevailed, but that's the chapter that introduces the gates. It starts at the wat- it starts at the valley gate, the gate of humility. Now we came to chapter three. It's not the gates in ruin, but it's the gates in repair. The gates in repair. And what's the, what's the thought there? Working. Working. Not weeping, but working. And what is it? Well, they began with a sheep gate. And we saw the significance of that when we came to the sheep gate, and it ended where it began, if we remember correctly. So that's a wonderful chapter two, isn't it? So chapter two, it's the ruin. Chapter three, it's the repair. And then the next time the gate is mentioned, or the gates are mentioned, is in chapter eight. It's not ruin, it's not repair, but it's reading. Reading. Do you remember as they gathered at what gate? You all know it now, the water gate. See how the different chapters begin with different gates. Chapter two in ruin, the valley gate. Chapter three in repair, the sheep gate. Chapter eight, the reading, the water gate. Now we have come to the chapter of review. Review. The chapter of rejoicing. And here the gates are mentioned for the last time. And, uh, what is it? It's worshiping. Worshiping. It's a spirit of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Thanking God for what has been accomplished for his glory. And he divided them into two. And one started at the dung gate and went one way, and the other started at the other and went another. And then they met together, and they lifted up their hearts, and they praised the God of heaven with thanksgiving that he had accomplished. Enabled them to accomplish so much for his glory. Now, that's just a very, a very quick week run through, but get the chapters with the gifts and get them memorized and get the message and allow it to fill your heart, and the book will outstand, will stand out rather, I'm sure, very clearly in your mind when you're able to focus in chapter two, ruin. Chapter three, repair. Chapter eight, reading. Chapter twelve, review. Now, a lot of work to do. Chapter thirteen, the word gates and gate occurs. There are no names. No. Watch that. I find that significant. Every time the gates were mentioned heretofore, they were named. They were named. And, uh, it would be a subject in itself just to have a week on the gates. You know that, in these mighty chapters. But when we come to chapter thirteen, no gates named. There is the word. They're in view, but they're not identified. I wonder why. What would you think of that? There's a by reading. What would you think on that, brother? Have they lost their significance so soon? Have they lost their impact so quickly? That they can be mentioned without being identified. How careful the Spirit of God was to tell us where Nehemiah began and where he ended. How careful the Spirit of God was to tell us where the repair commenced in the sheep gate and where it ended at the very same place, and a whole chapter on each of those gates that needed repair. And then it was with significance we gathered, remember, on that memorable night in chapter eight at the Water Gate, and heard the mass for the book and saw the impact of the reading of the book upon them. We entered into the significance of what surely the Spirit of God is teaching them and us in the Water Gate. And now in this chapter, we haven't time to see where they moved and how they moved, and the joy that filled their hearts as they moved from gate to gate and from position to position, and drunk in the significance, surely, of what God had done, and it produced thanksgiving abundantly. Now, when we come to this chapter, they've lost their identity. At least, they're not me. What's wrong? Well, I'm going to call this the chapter of regulation. The people located, chapter eleven. the people gladdened, chapter twelve. but the people cleansed, cleansed, chapter thirteen. It's a chapter of purgation. What's the key word? The key word is found in the devoted depth of Nehemiah's devotion to God. Remember. Remember. Notice how many times he uses it in prayer to God. Seems to me that people have forgotten. Seems to me they have lost the significance of the whole thing so quickly. After all that we have learned, and after all that Nehemiah has done, and after all the interest we have had in these greats and these, uh, great established, uh, recoveries. Now it seems to me only God remembers. And he says, Nehemiah says, Lord, remember. Sad, isn't it? All right. You remember, hope you haven't forgotten, that we started and we saw the activity of the devil without. We noted that to the most, uh, I, I trust to the, the utmost of our ability. Uh, but then we learned something else. We learned that the devil got inside. Got inside. Judah began c- began to complain about the weight of the wheelbarrow. Put it that way. He was tired wheeling the rubbish away, or whatever means they, they, they, they used to get rid of it. Uh, they were, they were feeling that the burden was getting weakening. It, it was tiring. It was difficult, and, you know, if we could get something easier to do, I think it would be better. And you can see it was an inside reaction. The devil was working. And the next verse we saw, they began to be de- governed by depressing fear. We're going to be killed. Better stop this business because we're allowed to be, we're allowed to be killed. The enemy is set to kill us. And that they were under depressive fear. And then we moved to define in chapter five, the devil had got further in because there was disrespectful, disrespectful behavior among the brethren. And then we find again, when we came to chapter six, that there was deceitful communications within about Nehemiah to Tobiah, the enemy. And he would have letters sent by the people in Judah concerning Nehemiah. All in the internal, all in the inside of the testimony, shall we say. Now, let us have a look at this. You look, please, at verse twenty three, Chapter thirteen, verse twenty three, please. In those days also I saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab, 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. 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 your son, unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. And he brings in Solomon, and he reminds them that, uh, shall we not, verse twenty seven, hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives? Why do I read that? I read that because if you were here last night, we read very clearly in chapter ten that they said they wouldn't do it. Get back to chapter ten, and if you, if you have, if you can do it, get, get your book open, please, and, and just, uh, look back, and, uh, verse thirty. And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons. The people say that. Why do you think the gifts have lost their significance, brethren? Because the people have lost their conviction. Now they're doing what they said they wouldn't do. They got in before God, and they made the mighty servant of God bring it to their God, we will not do it. And God was honored, and Nehemiah was delighted, and the book was read, and the law was ministered, and the reading had an effect, as we saw, didn't we? What's it here? Defiling links. They have forgotten their voluntary vow of chapter ten verse thirty. The marriage, the mixture, the very children didn't know what language to speak. Mind you, Brendan, that's sad. That is sad. You understand the moral, and you understand the practical connotations of this passage. And I told you last night it was second Corinthians six, or whatever it was. Being yoked together with unbelievers. And I do trust that my brethren, that hold responsibility for God and the assemblies represented, maintain fidelity to God's truth on this issue. Here it is. They promised. They vowed. They pleaded to God through the servant to accept their vow. Chapter thirteen, they're sunk in it. The Ashdai that opposed them building the wall. The Ammonite, the Moabite, Sanballat and Tobiah, what those men represented and what they imposed upon the people of God, now they're linked. My brethren, can we get the message? Can't you see why the gates are not mentioned by name? Can't you see the character of this chapter tonight? We have promised, but haven't performed. Is that you? Is that me? Now I haven't time. Would you follow it through? Look at verse number twenty nine. Remember them, oh my God, because they've defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood. You see, you remember they signed the book? You remember they signed the letter? You remember they signed the covenant? They got all those men to sign, and all the people witnessed the signature and agreed, and it was a sure covenant in the presence of God. They wouldn't do it, but they've done it. And, and Nehemiah says, Lord, remember. Thus cleansed I them from all strangers and appointed wards of the priests, and so on. I wish we had time to follow it through. Verse fifteen, Chapter thirteen, verse fifteen. keep your, keep your tenth chapter open there, the tenth chapter open, won't you? Verse fifteen of chapter thirteen. In those days saw I and Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and leading asses, as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish and all manner of ware and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah and in Jerusalem. They said, Lord, we acknowledge thy principles. We're not going to get mixed up. And then they said, Lord, look at verse, look at verse number thirty one of chapter ten. and if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the Sabbath to sell, that we would not buy of them on the Sabbath, on the holy day. And here are the very men of Tyre, the ungodly outside, bringing it in, and they're buying. My brethren, listen to it tonight. God's pleasure is forgotten. The vow's lost. How many times is the word Sabbath used in this paragraph, right down to verse twenty two. Have a good read of it tonight before you sleep. And what's the key word? Verse number twenty two: Remember me, oh my God. They have forgotten. They have forgotten. They promised to keep the Sabbath. They promised that they would regard the holy day, and they wouldn't buy or they wouldn't sell, no matter what it was. Look at the record. Look at how confusing, look at how contradictory the testament has become. And notice. And it came to pass, verse nineteen, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut. And I sat over the gates, and to keep the gates, see right down there, not one of them mentioned. Not one of them mentioned. Don't know where he began, don't know where he finished. Man, they were in such a glory in the past, weren't they? Even in the desperate ruin of chapter two, they were named. In the repair, they were each mentioned. In that day of reading, there they are again, and in chapter twelve, the joy that they had here just gains. Lost their significance. Dishonoring practices. Dishonoring practices. The travesty, the testimony, but note Nehemiah's trust in God. Now, verse ten, Verse ten, Chapter thirteen and verse ten, and keep your chapter ten open too. And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given. For the Levites and the singers that did the work were fled everyone to his field. Then contended I with the rulers and said, why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. And, uh, we hear what he did. Now, verse fourteen. Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds. And that's my kindnesses that I have done for the house of my God. That brings in two issues that are found in chapter ten. What did they say? They would bring a third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God. They said in verse, at the end of verse number thirty seven, and the tithes of our ground onto the Levites, the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. They're not getting it. Haven't kept their vow. Their stewardship, in regard to the house, in regard to the Levites that functioned for God in the house, didn't get their portion. They have undermined all that they promised. Verse ten in our chapter, failure in stewardship. Verse eleven, fallacy in stewardship, the house forsaken. Chapter 10, uh, chapter thirteen, verse twelve, then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the wine and the oil. At least there's recovery under the ministry of Nehemiah, and there's a fullness of stewardship. And then it comes right down to verse fourteen, fervency in stewardship. He says, Lord, remember my stewardship. That's what he said. Remember my stewardship. Mind you, brethren, that's sad, isn't it? And my trouble in my soul is this. What have I vowed to God? What have I promised God? And as I'm standing before you tonight, as I stand before him, where am I? Where am I? To what degree have I fulfilled my vow? To what degree have I fulfilled my promise? To what measure am I energizing my stewardship for God? You ask yourself that question, in light of the fact that these people promised so much. Chapter ten. Now, at the close of this grid book, that's why it's what I said last night. Would have been wonderful just to have put the full stop at the end of chapter ten. Where there was such a vow, where there was such an exercise in their heart that just brought about the fullness of their devotion and said, Lord, we're not going to link ourselves with the ungodly, and and we're going to attend to all these things for thy glory. But they didn't. Now look at verse four. Chapter thirteen and verse four. um And before this alliancehip, the priest having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God was allied to Tobiah. Isn't that terrible? Now, we haven't time to say all we want to say on this. Eliab, Eliashib, Eliashib was first mentioned in chapter three. Being the priest, he commenced with the sheep gate. Here he's mentioned in this verse, the man that built the sheep gate was in secret association with a wolf. Could you credit it? See why the gates aren't mentioned? The man that repaired the sheep gate is in subtle association with the wolf. Can you credit it? All right, read on. And he had prepared for him a great chamber, which aforetime they laid the meal offerings and the frankincense and the vessels and the tithes of the corn and the new wine and the oil, which was, uh, commanded to be given to the Levites and the singers and the porters and the offerings of the priests. But in all this time, was I not at Jerusalem? Now far down, and I came, verse seven, to Jerusalem and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God, and it grieved me sore, and I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber, and so on. Now look at chapter ten. Look at chapter ten. Also, we made ordinances for us, verse thirty two, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God. And further down, verse thirty five, to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of all the trees and so on. And right down to verse thirty seven, the end of verse seven, onto the priest to the chambers of the house of our God. They couldn't have got them in. They couldn't have got them in. There was no need to the chamber. And even if they wanted to bring their first fruits and all that they promised to God, to bring them into the chambers, they wouldn't have got them in. Why? The enemy was there. Tobiah had rehoused and refashioned the chambers for himself. There he was, encased in the very place where Israel promised to bring the first fruits. What a contradiction. What a contradiction. Everything they promised in chapter ten, they set aside chapter thirteen. So I didn't make that up. But I've collected it in this way so you'll see the relationship. There's it in the book for you. The storehouses. The corruption of the chambers. Thank God, the cleansing of the chambers. Thank God for the reconsecration of the chambers. I cast forth, I commanded, and they cleansed, I brought them into the house of God. And this man did a powerful job. I want to ask you, why does this chapter come in? And why must this exposure be made? What What is is the ground of this exposure? I have you the answer. I know that Nehemiah has initiated things here, and that clock's going very fast, but just give me a few minutes now. I know he has initiated much, but we're not going to attribute it to him just in that amount of style. Where's the answer? The answer, dear beloved, is in the first three verses. Just as it was in chapter eight, just as it was in chapter nine. Somehow or another, on that day, they read what? In the book of Moses. And in the audience of the people. And therein was found written that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not enter into the congregation of God forever. Why? Because, remember I told you that? Almost every time these men, this, uh, this group of people are mentioned, uh, is mentioned in the word of God, there's always a because. God gives a reason. Now it came to pass when they had heard the law that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. In other words, brethren, reading of the Word of God. Simple as that. The mighty power of the book, the mighty power of the Word of God, read and ministered in fellowship with himself, had tremendous effect to reverse the incredible inconsistency of the people after having promised so much. At this stage, look where they are. You understand the application? A week from now, where will we be? After the ministry. Will there be any change? God alone is our judge. Now, as I close, I want you to get these five things together, four things together, because there's only four places where this is mentioned. They read in chapter eight, one to twelve. And If I read that passage correctly, correct, uh, correctly, I found, and I find they got teaching. Doctrine. And that doctrine received and realized in part of strength and joy. Chapter eight, verse thirteen to verse eighteen, they read again, and they got reproof. Reproof. In chapter nine, they read again. They got correction. Got correction. And in chapter thirteen, verse one to 3, is the fourth time the book has been opened. They got instruction in righteousness. Now, you know what I'm quoting. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is profitable for teaching, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And the way back, long before two Timothy three sixteen was ever written, here are people feeling the four characteristics of the reading of the Word of God.