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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Passion Project - Pulling Our Hair Out
The book of Nehemiah doesn’t end the way we might expect. After the victory of rebuilding the wall and a national spiritual renewal, chapter 13 brings us into deeply uncomfortable territory: everything falls apart.
In Pulling Our Hair Out, Pastor Kelly Kinder unpacks the closing chapter of Nehemiah and what it reveals about the fragility of human faithfulness. It’s not a fairytale ending—it’s a real-world snapshot of what happens when we stop tending to our spiritual lives.
While Nehemiah was away, spiritual compromise crept back in. The temple was misused. Ministry was neglected. The Sabbath was disregarded. Marriages were defiled. Nehemiah didn’t ignore it—he confronted it with courage and clarity.
Kelly walks us through the four areas Nehemiah had to clean house:
1. Compromise in Purity
An enemy of God, Tobiah, had been given residence in the temple. Nehemiah threw him out—literally. It’s a powerful image of what it means to cleanse our lives from subtle spiritual compromises.
2. Neglect in Giving
The Levites and temple servants weren’t being supported, so they left their ministry posts. Nehemiah restores order and calls the people to recommit their resources. It challenges us to consider whether we’re faithfully supporting God’s work.
3. Disregard of the Sabbath
The people had returned to doing business on the day God had set apart for rest and worship. Nehemiah shuts the city gates and calls the people to honor what God designed for their good.
4. Defilement of Marriage
Intermarriage with foreign nations had diluted their spiritual identity. Nehemiah’s response is intense—but so is the danger of spiritual compromise through unaligned relationships.
Kelly doesn’t sugarcoat it: spiritual decline is rarely sudden—it’s usually subtle. Like a tire with a slow leak, you don’t notice the danger until you’re stuck. That’s why vigilance matters.
The final words of the book—“Remember me, O my God, for good”—are a humble reminder that even the most faithful leaders need grace. And that grace is found not in our performance, but in Christ, the perfect covenant-keeper.
If you’ve noticed a spiritual leak in your life, this message invites you not to shame, but to restoration. God is ready to meet you where you are—and rebuild what’s been compromised.
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We're just on the end of a series we've been going through the book of Nehemiah. It's always gratifying to kind of start and then to end something right, but I hope that as we go through this series, you have really heard from the Lord on some things. God's been speaking, I know, to me, and I hope it's been a blessing to you. Today we're in Nehemiah, chapter 13. So take your Bible and turn there to Nehemiah, chapter 13. And because these first three verses here are really to a different time period, I just kind of want to read these first three by themselves and then we'll look at the rest of the chapter, because these first three verses give us, I would say, just kind of a basic principle of life that we need to pay attention to, and I think is what this is speaking about today. So let's do that. So, if you remember, last week Tyler gave a great message on joy, and I hope you were happy after that. It's more than happiness, though, isn't it? It's what joy is, what dwells inside of us, no matter what the circumstances, and that's what Jesus gives us is abiding joy, joy that is overflowing and full of glory. So we're looking at that, and last week we talked about this joy that came from the dedication of the wall, the wall that they had put in place and rebuilt after 52 days and Nehemiah has been the governor over this whole period of time and we see it says on chapter 13, verse 1,. It says On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite would ever enter the assembly of God, for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing, and so we see this as a reference, historically, to something that had happened in their past, and it was, if you remember the story, it was right. When Israel is coming out of Egypt, they've been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years years, and they get stopped on their way to the promised land by this group, these two nations, the Moabites and the Ammonites, and they prevent their forward progress into the promised land. And so Moses puts out this prohibition, a commandment if you will, and he tells them don't intermingle with them anymore, because it didn't allow you to move forward and do what I called you to do, don't ever have any access, don't let them have access to God's people again, because they influence God's people. And so we read this here, and it's really once again, I think, as it always is.
Kelly Kinder:When there was public reading of the Scriptures, it made God's people sit up and take notice. They had forgotten some things and maybe there were some things they heard they didn't even know. Just like it is for us, and very often our lives are sometimes in. We go through heart troubles and pain because we don't know God's word or we don't remember it, and so this is a good reminder of that. So at this command and it comes from Deuteronomy 23, it was reread to the people and it says in verse 2, as soon as the people heard the law, they separated circle, that they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
Kelly Kinder:Now the concern here is not about race. Don't take that in that direction. Really, here, the reason for the law of what I call the law of separation here is from these foreigners is that they would have corrupted Israel from being the people of God as God intended them to be. So it's not about race, it's about negative influence. It's about negative influence, those enemies of Israel who they came out to be would have if they could have allowed them to access the people of God and changed the very culture and holiness of Israel and the people of God. So this is what God is concerned about.
Kelly Kinder:This law of separation, I think, for us today, is a spiritual principle that it carries over to our day, that we are to be holy people, to be reminded of that and to consider what are the things that we allow influence to come into our life that might affect how we live for God. So we don't want to be like the culture around us, and God didn't want them to be like the culture and nations around them either. So that's how we got to begin with this. Keep this principle in mind and let's just pray and ask God to help us today. Thank you, thank you. So, father, we're thankful today for your word, lord. It calls us to be greater and higher and go farther for you. But, lord, we also feel our own weakness and, lord, we struggle, lord, because we forget. And, lord, there are things we don't know, and so we pray that your word would open up our mind and hearts and give us understanding, the Holy Spirit, that you'd speak and apply these truths to our lives today. We pray in Jesus name. Truths to our lives today. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Kelly Kinder:Now let's continue on Verse 4. And I just think of this. This word came to me. This is a song that goes. Prone to wander, lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love. This is all of us, and it was these people too. Listen to what the word says. Now, before this, elisha, the priest who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God and who was related to Tobiah, prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels and the tithes of grain, wine and oil which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
Kelly Kinder:Verse 5, while this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king and after some time, I asked leave of the king and came to Jerusalem. Now what's happening here? Let's stop right there a minute. And came to Jerusalem. Now what's happening here? Let's stop right there a minute. Nehemiah has been governor for over 12 years and after that period of time he leaves and he goes back to Babylon, where he originally came from, and for some reason we don't really know why he may have gotten a report that things are not so great again back in Jerusalem because they had some spiritual decline that was going on. Maybe he got a bad report, like he did, and he was concerned about it. So he comes back again, this time in a second term, as governor. And let's pick it back up in verse 7. He says and I was very angry and I threw out all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber.
Kelly Kinder:Then I gave orders and they cleaned the cleansed the chambers and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God with the grain offering and the frankincense. I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled each to his field. So I confronted the officials and said why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses and I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shalemiah, the priest, zadok, the scribe, and Badiah of the Levites and as their assistant, hanan, the son of Zechur, son of Madaniah, for they were considered reliable. Son of Madaniah, for they were considered reliable and their duty was to distribute to their brothers.
Kelly Kinder:So what verse is that? Sorry, 13. I'm having trouble reading here, so let's go on. So verse 14, 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 this service. In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads which they brought with into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. Tyrians also who lived in the city brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem itself.
Kelly Kinder:Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them what is this evil thing you're doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers act in this way and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on the city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath as soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath, and I stationed some of my servants at the gates that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice, but I warned them and said to them why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, o my God, and spare me, according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
Kelly Kinder:In those days also, I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, ammon and Moab, and half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair, and I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying you shall not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Didn't Solomon, king of Israel, sin on account of such women? Among the many nations, there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made him, even him, to sin. Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?
Kelly Kinder:And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore, I chased him from me Remember them, o my God because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Thus, I cleansed them from everything foreign and I established the duties of the priest and Levites, each in his work, and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times and for the firstfruits. Remember me, o my God for good. There's a lot there isn't there. So what's happened? So 12 years have passed from the end of chapter 12 to verse 6 of chapter 13.
Kelly Kinder:And Nehemiah, as I said, while Nehemiah is gone back to Babylon, things begin to fall apart. Incredible spiritual decline. They had gone back to every one of the things they'd promised to do in chapter 10, just flip-flopped just a just a little while and think about what happened to this city, just just thinking back what we've read. There's been a revival right revival at the water gate. There's been brokenness and confession and repentance of sin. Only God could do that. They've had a dynamic encounter with God, a personal encounter with God that's taken place, which included incredible over-the-top worship and six-hour-long times where they hear the Word of God and it's explained to them. Six-hour-long days of that. And they've even entered into a personal covenant, a covenant where they would say I promise to do all these things, to reform my life, to change my marriage, to do whatever it takes to do what God wants me to do. And now Nehemiah returns to recover what's been lost from all of those promises.
Kelly Kinder:William Booth, the founder, the godly founder of the Salvation Army, once wrote these words. He said the tendency of fire is to go out. Watch the fire on the altar of your heart. Anyone who has tended a fire knows that it needs to be stirred up occasionally. And this is really what Nehemiah comes back to do. We have a phrase for it. Sometimes you heard the phrase well, they cleaned house. Nehemiah comes back and he cleans house. He's not messing around now.
Kelly Kinder:And when Nehemiah comes back to Jerusalem, what does he find? We're going to look at this Four significant failures that he found that he immediately and, I think, really aggressively goes after. He confronts them in order to bring God's people back to healthy, spiritual life, and these are things that we can learn from too. So the first thing I want you to see is that the first thing that he finds is that God's house has been compromised. God's house has been compromised he says this in verse four through nine because Elisha, the priest the high priest, by the way had been appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, he says, and he was related to Tobiah. And what does he do? Believe or not? This is the same Elisha that the high priest who'd been involved in the leading in the revival, but now, because of his compromised relationship with this man named Tobiah, eliashib has done something really foolish. He's taken all of the items out of the temples and storerooms meant to be used for worship. He's taken them out, set them outside and he's brought in a person who ends up being a relative, and he's made Tobiah an apartment the size of a small warehouse. He moves the partitions that are the part of the storerooms and he makes him this big apartment. He said okay, move in, I'll help you. We've got everything out of here.
Kelly Kinder:Do you remember who Tobiah was, don't you? He was an Ammonite. The very people we just read about in verses one through three to separate themselves from he had been involved from the very beginning. All this whole book, tobiah has been involved as the enemy of God's people From the very time they got there. He had been an enemy even on their building of the wall and so on. Through the whole chapter, tobiah is the enemy and Eliashib, the priest, has provided him a space to take up residence in the temple.
Kelly Kinder:Now there's a certain arrogance in this right. Nehemiah is gone and Tobiah is moved in. You think, why in the world would Eliashib do this? And, as I said, it says here. The text says Eliashib was related to Tobiah and it found out he was Eliashib's grandson. There's a lot of things I would do for my kids or my grandkids, but there's only certain things where you have to say that you draw the line. And Eliashib was willing to break the law of God to bring something good to his own grandson and notice Nehemiah's reaction once he finds it out.
Kelly Kinder:Was he angry? No, he was very angry. It says in verse 8. I was very angry. It says in verse 8. I was very angry. And you know what? Unfortunately, we rarely act on too much to confront anybody until we get very angry. When we say things that are wrong, that bother us, it has to reach a certain degree, it has to reach a certain temperature for us to actually do something about it. And Nehemiah was right here. This is not personal anger. Nehemiah is not concerned about his personal things. He's not concerned that they haven't done what he said personally about his directives. What is he concerned with? Why is he angry? He's concerned for the holiness of God. And so what does he do? I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. He doesn't give Tobiah an eviction notice. He goes in, he takes hold of Tobiah's couch, his kitchen table, his bed, his dresser full of socks and underwear and whatever else is in there, and he throws them out the door onto the pavement. Picture this he's intent on bringing back the holiness of God.
Kelly Kinder:I heard a story several years ago about a guy who had. It's kind of interesting. He had been living up north and he had had an existing house down in Florida and I won't go into the whole thing, but he kind of interesting. He had been living up north and he had had an existing house down in Florida, and I won't go into the whole thing, but he found out that they were squatters in his house in Florida. Someone had tipped him off and he went down there and he found out that they were there. Sure enough, he saw them going in and out and he looked in the window and there was a house full of furniture and all the belongings. Well, he had his key. They hadn't changed the lock, so he had the key with him. He opened the door and he said anybody here? Nobody's there.
Kelly Kinder:He walked into his own house and he couldn't believe it. So he closed the door quietly. He went back, he tried to get help from the authorities. They wouldn't help him. He said what did I do? And so what he did? He said he went and got a different lock. He walked in, he got a friend to help and they took all of the furniture from the squatters and set it out on the driveway, changed the lock. And when the people came back, he said this is my house. And he said your stuff is obviously sitting on the driveway. It's going to be gone, unless you want to come and pick it up. And I thought, well, this is kind of the attitude. He was upset and Tobiah was upset, but not for himself, but for the glory of God.
Kelly Kinder:What do we do when we see something wrong? Do we just let it go or do we get angry? What makes you angry? What makes you angry? What makes you angry? What makes you angry? Do you get angry because God's name is defiled, or maybe his character is maligned, or you see something where his standards are being mocked in your workplace or anything else? Do you ever get angry for that? You see a lot of people. What right, nehemiah, do you have to do? What you're doing, you see, what you get angry over tells you a lot about where your spiritual life is.
Kelly Kinder:Nehemiah wasn't about to let the things stay the way they were, and so he says in verse 9, then I gave orders and they cleansed the chambers and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God and the grain offerings and the frankincense. Nehemiah cleanses the temple and he puts everything back in place that should have been there and not taken out in the first place. These are the things that help for the worship of God. Now, you can make an analogy for that in our own temple. We're going to talk about in a little bit about that.
Kelly Kinder:But notice, the first thing Nehemiah finds out is God's house has been compromised, and I just have to say we don't have to look too far in our culture to see the church in the same place, churches who have compromised, whether it's through the delivery of the word or the standards that the word has laid out for us and have just been tossed out, or the standards that the word has laid out for us and have just been tossed out. Well, let's notice the second thing. The second thing he discovers is that support for God's work has been neglected. Support for God's work has been neglected, he said I also found out verse 10, that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled each to his field. You say, well, why did they do that? Because they weren't being supported. They had to go back and sort of eke out a living themselves. I think simply what this is saying. Because the resources hadn't been allocated, these Levites had left their posts, so to speak, and headed back home just simply to survive.
Kelly Kinder:And Nehemiah it's interesting, he doesn't fault the Levites. Who does he fault the people who are managing or administrating the temple. And what is happening? What is happening? They began to just sort of get apathetic. They let the care of God's house we have a term for it go to pot. Heard that term go to pot. He just kind of let it go. It doesn't really matter that much, I just show up. And it's just the opposite of what they promised they'd do in chapter 10, verse 39. We, he says there, we, or they did, we will not neglect the house of God. So then, why is the ministry failing? Nehemiah asked why is this falling apart? And I think there's some application for the church today, we're going to see that as well. And what does he do? So I confronted the officials and said why is the house of God forsaken? And I gather them together. He put them back, he set them in their stations, then all Judah brought the tithe, the grain, wine and oil into the storehouse. In addition, guess what else Nehemiah does? He removes Eliashib, the high priest, who's been over this whole thing, and he replaces him with three reliable men. Hopefully so this wouldn't happen ever again. Men, hopefully so this wouldn't happen ever again.
Kelly Kinder:British expositor G Campbell Morgan said something worth noting. He said whereas the house of God today is no longer material but spiritual, the material is still a very real symbol of the spiritual, very real symbol of the spiritual. When the church of God, in any place, in any locality, is careless about the material place of assembly, the place of its worship and its work, it is a sign and evidence that its life is at a low ebb. So what does that say? I mean when you walk in here on Sunday, you maybe go through the parking lot. Sometimes you see paper laying out there on the driveway. Do you pick it up? Or maybe you notice something, maybe there's a water problem in one of the bathrooms and you go in there and it just doesn't work. Do you just go ah, somebody will fix it. Or do you say how can I help? This is our place, this is where we meet God, and it has an associate. Just like G Campbell Morgan says, it has a spiritual revelation to it about how we take care of what God's given us and maybe, as we've been praying and thinking, maybe God's going to give us something bigger. You know, what the Bible says is if a person is faithful in the little things, he'll give us bigger things, greater things, but if we're not, the converse is well true. So how well do we care for what God has given us? So he sees this overall neglect Nehemiah does to give, to care for and to support the work of God's house. Well, there's a third one here.
Kelly Kinder:The third thing Nehemiah notices is a blatant disregard of the Sabbath, and this is an interesting one. It's in verses 15 through 22. He says in those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys and also wine, and so on and so on. And what does he do? He warns them. He says, by the way, this is another promise they made in chapter 10. They'd failed to keep Promises, promises. You know, I think the way they saw it, sabbath was just a legalistic burden that they were called to do with no purpose, and Sabbath had become really for them a perfect day to do business. Perfect day to do business. And what had happened? They turned the sacred place into a marketplace. And what had happened? They turned the sacred place into a marketplace and they were even allowing other people, who weren't even part of the Israelites, to come in and buy and sell.
Kelly Kinder:Now let's look at this a little bit more in detail. Notice Nehemiah's response. He does four things here in response to this violation. First of all, he warns them to stop selling on the Sabbath. You used to watch this show called Andy Griffin and the character Barney would have this famous word nip it, nip it in the bud. This is what Nehemiah did. Stop it. Right now he warns them about this.
Kelly Kinder:Second, he tells the Levites that once it gets dark, as soon as Sabbath day begins which is what the Jewish Sabbath day did it began in the evening time. He tells them shut the gates. Shut the gates. Shut the gates. Why? So no one can get in and out of the city to buy and sell when they shouldn't be buying and selling. No business whatsoever. Shut the gates.
Kelly Kinder:As a result of the gates being shut, guess what happens? People start piling up at the door. What are they trying to do? They're getting there early so they can get in before anybody else and carry on their commerce, but they can't get in. So, nehemiah, I guess he sees the city gates and he sees all these people piling up down there with all their wares and stuff and he goes down and he threatens them with bodily harm. Why are you here? He says, if you come here again, I'm going to lay hands on you.
Kelly Kinder:Well, and number four what does he do as a final measure to enforce the Sabbath? He tells the Levites something else. He says purify yourselves. This is a holy work. Go down there, purify yourself and guard the gates. Don't let anyone in. And so I don't know what their conversation was, these buyers and sellers, but you can imagine, you know what Nehemiah's done. He sent the Bruce God squad down there to keep us from from doing our work. They didn't come anymore, though, did they Stopped?
Kelly Kinder:My guess is that at this point, nehemiah is he's probably losing friends really fast. And here it's really true, because when you mess with people's money, it's on right. People get serious. What do you think about that? But again, nehemiah is not doing this for his own personal benefit. He's doing this. It's not legalistic. I want you to hear this. This is not legalistic stuff. He is concerned for the honor of God.
Kelly Kinder:The Bible says something that is true, it's not good to have zeal without knowledge. But honestly, you get the sense that Nehemiah is really. He's fully aware of what he's doing, he's ready for the pushback Bring it, bring it. In fact, he says to God about this. He says remember me. Three times in this passage. Well, four One is directed toward the people that were doing the abuses. But for personal, remember me, o God, for what I've done. I don't think he enjoyed this at all.
Kelly Kinder:And before we look down on Nehemiah or judge him, I'm thinking of another radical reformer who one day braided a whip and went into the temple, flipped over the money changers' tables and he said, while whipping them out my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves. There is a time to stand up and be counted. There's a time when we can't remain silent and watch things go as they are. I'm not advocating for violence, I'm just saying sometimes we need to stand up and be counted.
Kelly Kinder:And here's the thing too, this idea of Sabbath, this idea of Sabbath shouldn't be lost on us. As believers, we think well, that's Old Testament, it's the fourth commandment. It shouldn't be lost on us, because Jesus himself didn't delete it, did he? Instead, he explained it. He said this he said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. In other words, this is not about keeping legalistic rules.
Kelly Kinder:I don't think the Jews didn't really understand that. They thought it was a burden. Jesus said this was made for you. Think of this as a gift to you. It's a time for you to stop and rest and consider how God is providing for you, so you don't have to feel like you have to work seven days a week. God's your provider. Remember that. Take care of yourself. Even God had this work six days and rest one, and it's a reminder that our work is not our God and the purpose, see, is just to stop. Stop for a while, consider all these things.
Kelly Kinder:Why God did this and it's also in the New Testament speaks about stopping your work, from attempting to work out and gain your own salvation. But here it just makes me think do you have a stop and do nothing day, or are you so tightly wound that you've got to do? I have to talk to myself about this Just to stop for a day and really rest. It's a gift for us. God had a stop and day, stop and do nothing day, at creation, didn't he and it was an example for us Say is God serious about this? Well, you tell me. So we should work hard to rest. Well, there's a fourth thing. The fourth thing Nehemiah saw was the defilement of marriage. He says in 23 and 331, in those days also, I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, ammon and Moab. Half of them spoke the language of Ashdod and they couldn't speak the language of Judah, but only the language of Ashdod, and they couldn't speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people.
Kelly Kinder:Can I just share some things that's becoming common in our day? First one a generation where we're seeing believers marry unbelievers. This is becoming commonplace, folks without a thought that it even matters, and it's amazing to me. Here's what 2 Corinthians, just so you know. Just so you know, 2 Corinthians Paul, says in chapter 6, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. You can't get any more simple than that. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God's temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. Is there separation there? And let me just say, young people, if you're sitting here, you need to make sure of two things when it comes to who you marry.
Kelly Kinder:Number one make sure that you yourself are a follower of Jesus. And number two make sure the person that you're dating or considering dating or dating or getting married, to make sure they person that you're dating or considering dating or getting married, to make sure they're a follower of Jesus too. You say, well, I can change them, don't bet on it. Don't bet it could happen. But I would just caution and counsel Don't marry someone who doesn't know the Lord. It will be trouble.
Kelly Kinder:Here's something else I've noticed that's become a commonplace in our culture, a generation where we are hearing God-honoring speech mixed with profanity. It's become the norm to throw in the profanity when talking with friends and you'll hear this well, that's just the way my friends talk. Then you need to find some new friends. Here's what God says let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. This is a flip-flop in what we're hearing today in some respects. And so these two things are just a couple examples. There's many more. There's many things, subtly, that we don't even recognize, where we are beginning to look a lot like our culture, recognize where we are beginning to look a lot like our culture.
Kelly Kinder:And so Nehemiah is seeing these effects, these effects of these mixed marriages, and what does it do? It affects their words, their thoughts, their behavior. It affects the family for generations, and so do you see how quickly these things declined. This is a generational failure. That's what Nehemiah is so adamantly addressing this. For I think it was John Wesley who said what one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.
Kelly Kinder:You know, someone has compared, because it is so subtle. Someone's compared a spiritual decline to a slow leak in a tire. You don't immediately recognize it until you're at the side of the road, unable to move forward. This is the way our spiritual life can get. We let that go on. We don't even sense it. Our spiritual life is leaking from us and we don't even sense it. Our spiritual life is leaking from us and we don't even know it.
Kelly Kinder:What did Nehemiah do? Again, he says I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. Don't think Nehemiah is reverting himself to swearing. This is he's bringing down a judgment upon them and saying this is the effects of your decisions. He's telling them and I made them take an oath in the name of God saying you shall not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or relatives or for yourselves. And in fact one of the guys is his son-in-law. This is what we see here from the high priest's son-in-law, sanballat the Horonite. He was another enemy that dogged Israel. This whole book, wow, you say well, nehemiah, that's extreme. I mean, that's over the top what you're doing.
Kelly Kinder:But here's the thing I think Nehemiah was just so deeply aware of the path that Israel was walking down that he was willing to do anything to get them to return and come back to God, to pay attention and turn around and come back to God. See, a single generation's compromise could undo the work of God for centuries. And you kind of wonder what's happening in our culture is what is happening in our churches? Is it going to undo the work of God for centuries? And you kind of wonder what's happening in our culture is what is happening in our churches? Is it going to undo the work of God for centuries? How hard is it going to be to come back?
Kelly Kinder:As the old saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures and we need God's wisdom on how to respond and to add measure to it to drive this home. He gives the example of King Solomon, which we didn't necessarily read all the way through. Solomon was wise, he says, but he was actually loved by God. But at the same time, solomon was spiritually dumb. Can you be wise and dumb? Well, yeah, if you make the wrong decisions, knowing what the right decision is, if you make the wrong decisions, knowing what the right decision is and you choose the wrong thing, it says. Nehemiah says he came to ruin because of this very thing Mixing. Mixing it ruined him, it ruined him. So we see Nehemiah desperately confronts these four spiritual failures. Let's review them one more time.
Kelly Kinder:Number one compromising God's house. Let me ask you a question Is there anything anywhere you've given a place for the enemy to be at home in your temple? Just a thought. Number two neglect of the ministry. Are you apathetic in supporting and caring for the ministry of the church? Number three disregard of the Sabbath and again, without being legalistic, are you living in God's created rhythm of rest and work and trust in that? He knows how he's made you. He wants to give you some time off. What happens in this is that you lose your margin. You know what the margin is the edges of the paper, the white space. You lose the margin spiritually and the enemy takes advantage of that. Don't get any sleep, don't get any rest, have no time for spiritual things or the life of God in your life, no time for Bible reading, because you're too busy. I'm too busy.
Kelly Kinder:Number four defilement of marriage. Are you careful about who you date or who you might marry? Are you truly following Jesus? You know it's really hard to get out of a relationship like that. If you're in one and it becomes physical, that takes an extra measure of effort. And I just want to say one other thing. Extra measure of effort. And I just want to say one other thing If you're married to an unbeliever now and maybe you made a mistake, or maybe you didn't know, maybe you weren't a Christian when you made that decision before you knew Christ, guess what there's grace for you.
Kelly Kinder:Listen to what Paul says in a whole section on marriage. In chapter 7 of 1 Corinthians he says this If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. And then here's this. This is the grace, for the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. God's with you even in this, when it's hard.
Kelly Kinder:Well, let's look and see how Nehemiah ends this whole thing, how he ends the book. Strange ending, vital lesson. What does he say? Verse 30,. Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, nehemiah speaking, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work, and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, o, my God for good. Nehemiah simply says I cleaned it all up. I put it back in place Again. Same old story over and over Wash, rinse, repeat. This is the history of Israel and it's the history of every Christian's life, yours and mine. I think about that Honestly. If it had been me, maybe, if I had written this book.
Kelly Kinder:Maybe Nehemiah thought well, he could have just left this chapter totally off and ended with chapter 12. Joy, but he doesn't. And there's a reason for this. There's more here than might first appear. This, there's more here than might first appear. I want you to listen to a couple of quotes and I believe they really bring home the vital lessons of this book and what's going on here. Essentially, the lesson is this it's Psalm 27.1,. Unless the Lord builds the house, what those who labor, those who build it, labor in vain. Unless the Lord builds a house, what those who labor, those who build it, labor in vain. Unless the Lord builds a house, those who labor build it in vain. They labor in vain. Here's the quote.
Kelly Kinder:The final note in Ezra and Nehemiah is thus one of ambiguity. We may wonder how the people who had so exuberantly celebrated the completion of the defenses against the enemy came so readily to accept the enemy's presence within the temple and the high priest family. How, indeed, could those who had committed themselves so solemnly to religious purity chapter 10, so rapidly return to practices which were essentially irreligious, if we sense a certain desperation about Nehemiah's last efforts to put the house of Israel in order, a tiredness about the need, yet again, to bring back the wandering sheep to the right path, a feeling that there is no reason to think that this reform will be more successful than any other, a sense that, after all, he himself has done his best. Then we may be catching the right meaning here. The book of Nehemiah seems to peter out in what might be considered a somewhat unsatisfactory manner, not so much with a bang as with a whimper. All the abuses referred to in this final chapter have been the subject of earlier treatment, but they rear their heads again here, despite the best efforts of the reformers to eradicate them.
Kelly Kinder:It is as though the book is pointing to its own failure, reminding us that, however important good structures and routines may be, nothing can substitute for the renewal of the naturally perverse inclinations of the human heart. So you can build the structures on the outside, but if the heart is not right, it's hopeless. So here, what is Nehemiah's book? It exposes our own flakiness, doesn't it? As Christians, even on our best day, we fail. We all fail in so many ways to live up to the promise that we made to God. So where do we find a covenant keeper that keeps his promises. His name is Jesus.
Kelly Kinder:So just to end, today, I just ask for those who claim to be his followers is your spiritual condition in decline this morning? Are you going backwards in your walk with Christ? I mean, you and me, we're not perfect. We're just forgiven, right. So here's the recommendation Just recommit your life to Jesus. What does it take to restore what's been lost? So that's the way I used to be, but I'm not like that anymore. Wish I was. I remember when I was on fire for God and things were different. That's not me anymore. We have to give thought to our ways and separate ourselves again from anything that compromises us. What is it that's compromising you today? Here's what 2 Timothy says, because it gives us hope.
Kelly Kinder:2 Timothy 19-20 tells us how to do this. Listen, god knows who belongs to Him. Steer clear of evil and all you who name God as God. And then he uses this great analogy In a well-furnished kitchen, there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets. Some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.
Kelly Kinder:You want to be useful, separate, be holy and obey God. And for those of you here today, this is a lot. I don't even know any about that, but I am tired of living the life I'm living. Who is this Jesus? I would just say put your faith and trust in him, because you may not know him, but once you begin to follow him, he will change everything. He'll make your life new. Give your heart to Jesus, he'll make everything new.
Kelly Kinder:So can we just stand today and let's just pray for God to do a work in us, all of us?
Kelly Kinder:If you don't know the Lord this morning, there are going to be people down here who will be willing to pray for you and those who just say I want to start afresh. And let's just pray for that. God, we ask for you to have mercy on us, lord. We make lots of promises. We don't keep for you, but you are the promise keeper, you're faithful to the end. And, lord, I just pray for all of us today that you would call us back to yourself. Lord, restore what's been taken out of the place of our temple, that we would be holy people for you, separate, set apart, not in a legalistic way, lord, but as a way to honor you, that you can use us for your glory. And I pray for everyone who today doesn't know you in a personal way, that they would give their heart to you, confessing their sins, receiving the forgiveness that only comes through Jesus, because of his death on the cross. And we just ask you to save these folks today. Call them to yourself in Jesus' name, amen.
