Shabbat Shalom, everyone. I would like you all please to open your Bibles and turn with me today to the 13th chapter of this book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah in English. Now, let me remind you that Nehemiah, his name, Nehemiah, simply means the comfort of Jehovah. Nachum Yah, Nachum or Nechem means the comfort and Yah stands for the Hebrew word Jehovah or Yehovah or the Lord. And we know that this man by the name of Nehemiah really wanted to be a blessing to our own nation, Israel, to the people of Israel who returned from captivity in Babylon and needed comfort and needed blessing from the Lord. That a man such as Nehemiah was raised by God to minister to our own nation, Israel, and by application, I would like to suggest that we need men and women such as Nehemiah today in these last days of the church age who will be willing to be a blessing to the people of God.

And we are so thankful when the Lord raise in our midst those that are really a blessing to us and we really appreciate our brothers and our sisters who do so. So please follow me, Nehemiah chapter 13. I'm reading the first 14 verses of this chapter. And so we read, 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 Bilaam against them that he should curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.

And before this, Eliashiv, the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of Agad, was allied unto Tuvaiah, and he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offering, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithe of the corn, the new wine, and the oil which was commended to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the offerings of the priests. But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem. For in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon, came I unto the king, and after a certain days obtained I leave of the king.

And I came to Jerusalem, and I understood of the evil that Eliashiv did for Tuvaiah in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God, and it grieved me sore. Therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tuvaiah out of the chamber. And then I commended, and they cleansed the chambers. And thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God with the meat offering and the frankincense. And I perceived that the portion of the Levites had not been given them. For the Levites and the singers that did 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 I set them in their place. Then brought all Judah, the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil, unto the treasuries. And I made treasures over the treasuries Shalamiah, the priest, and Tzedok, the scribe, and of the Levites, Padaiah. And next to them was Hanan, the son of Zachur, the son of Mataniah, For they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute unto their brethren. Remember me, O my God, concerning this, And wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for the offices thereof. And this is where I'm going to stop with the passage for this ministry meeting today.

We are studying the man, the book called Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a cup bearer in Persia. He was serving the king of Persia with wine, Lest someone will seek to poison this king of Persia. This king of Persia, Artaxerxes, one day saw that Nehemiah was really sad because his faith showed that he was not so happy as the past days. And he asked him, Nehemiah, why are you so sad? And Nehemiah told him, how could I not be sad? Look at the condition that exists in my people's land. Look what is going on among my people. The walls are broken down. The gates of Jerusalem are burnt with fire.

And look at the condition that existed. Things are in a terrible situation among my people Israel. So the king, Artaxerxes, loved Nehemiah. And he trusted him. And he said, Nehemiah, okay, you want to go home? You want to go back to the land of Israel? Go ahead. What do you need? When are you going to go? When are you going to come back? Set me a time. Go ahead. And lo and behold, beloved brothers and sisters, Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, send Nehemiah, the comfort of Jehovah. And Nehemiah have arrived to the land of Israel. And the whole book, which we have already covered, show us the development of the days that Nehemiah was in the land of Israel, in the city of Jerusalem, and how he built the walls around the city of Jerusalem many, many years ago.

It was such an amazing work, in spite of the enemies attacking the Jewish people, seeking to sway them from building the walls around the city of Jerusalem. And with the help of the Lord, they successfully built the wall of Jerusalem, which speaks of protection, which speaks of separation, which speaks of being devoted to the God of Israel. Well, that is where we ended in the 12th chapter of the book of Nehemiah. And there, there was a celebration of the building of the wall. And you could see there was a dedication. If you just go back to chapter 12 and read with me verse 27, it says, And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all the places to bring them to Jerusalem to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgiving and with singing and with cymbals and with psalteries and with harps.

There was a celebration, beloved brothers and sisters, in the city of Jerusalem at somewhere about 445, 44 BC, when Nehemiah came with the many who came and they rebuilt that wall. It took some time. And then there was a great celebration. And the people of Israel celebrated what had happened in the building of the wall, in the setting up of the gates, and things came to be in order. But you see, if you and I would have read the book of Nehemiah, it would be so nice to end in Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter 12. It looks like really the story had ended with a wonderful story. But unfortunately, beloved brothers and sisters, that was really not the end of the story.

The book of Nehemiah takes us to another chapter to show us that even though things were well for a period of time, then when we allow the enemy of God to attack us, when we don't judge the flesh, when we don't submit ourselves to the authority of the Lord, it wouldn't take too long and the enemy seems to catch us and to grab us and pull us down and away from the things of the Lord. We find out in this chapter 13 that really the story, it's not ended in the way that we would have liked to hear the story. And I would like to make my application into our own personal life.

And I trust all of us here are believers in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, because without forgiveness of the person of the Lord for you and I, we will never be right with God. The Bible teaches us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. And I trust all of us can say in our own hearts today, here in this room, I belong to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, to Yeshua, Hamashiach. But listen, beloved brothers and sisters, even as believers who have accepted the Lord Jesus, who have accepted Yeshua, the Messiah, who died for our own sin, many times in our life we have a time when we depart from the way of the Lord.

And yet the Bible tells us, whom the Lord loveth, He chastened us, and He scourges every son that He received. And sometimes the Lord disciplines us, and He gives us a little spanking. Why? Because He loves us, and He wants us to be restored to a fellowship with Him, to enjoy His love for us as we have just have sung for God, so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And therefore, sometime the Lord allows us to experience some trial. Well, look what happened here. In chapter 13, we see the sad consequences of a lack of separation from that which is not honoring to the Lord.

And we can see that there is consequences when we allow, when Israel allowed, and when you and I as believers allow sin to enter into our life, and when we turn away from the Lord and we do our own thing, it's somehow catching us. It somehow eventually causes us to suffer loss in our spiritual growth. And so I want you to notice that in chapter 13, verses 1 to 14, we see Israel's lack of separation. And so we begin, actually, in verses 1, 2, and 3, that the Bible was read, the law was read, just like it's read every Shabbat. You're going to go to a synagogue, you will find out that the law is read every Shabbat.

The Torah is being read. You will notice that there is a cycle, that the law is being read in the synagogue, just like it was read in the time of Nehemiah, just like you and I read this today in our meeting. And so notice verse 1 began. We find out of the reading of the book of Moses. On that day, they read in the book of Moshe, the book of Moses. In the audience of all the people. Notice that there was a public reading of the word of the Lord. It is so important. That's why when we come every Shabbat, every time we meet together, there is a public reading of the word of God.

And the public reading that happened to be here, was happened to be reading the book of Deuteronomy. You remember that Moshe gave Israel the law, the Torah, and he wrote, the Lord used, of course, Moses to give Israel the five books of Moses. And lo and behold, there is a public reading. Now, everybody was listening to the word of God. What does the word of God say? Look what the Bible says. They found out in verse 1, it says, By the way, I would like you to turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 23. It says there in verse 3 and verse 4, An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to their tenth generation, shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever.

And then the reason, he gives immediately in verse 4, why? Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they have hired against thee, Bilam, the son of Beor, of Pethor, of Mesopotamia, to curse you. You see, when Israel came out of Egypt, many years ago, 3,500 years ago, our own Jewish people were slaves in Egypt. And when the Lord had redeemed the people of Israel and brought them out of the land of Egypt, on the way, as they were journeying towards the promised land, just before they had entered into the land, guess what happened?

This group of people, in this case, in chapter 13 here, the Ammonite and the Moabite, did not assist the people of Israel along the way. In fact, they gave them a hard time. They didn't provide for them bread and food on the way when Israel was hungry, when Israel had many needs in those days. And instead, they inflicted upon them all sorts of things that were contrary to the will of God. And not only so, beloved brothers and sisters, it says in verse 2 of Nehemiah, chapter 13, Not only so, they called the man by the name of Bilam, and they said, Bilam, you come here. There are some people here that are just coming from Egypt.

They are on their way to Canaan. We would like you to curse these people, this nation of Israel. In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, think about this. God knows exactly what someone done to his own people. And he says, wait a minute. These people that were supposed to assist the Jewish people when they came out of bondage, instead of assisting them, they inflicted upon them to go a long way, not to be able to enter easier into the promised land, not met their need with natural need, such as bread and water. But even more than just that, they have hired a man by the name of Bilam.

And they wanted him to curse the people of Israel. Now, you know, God remembers that. God knows this very well. And that's why God gave a command to Moses and the people of Israel in Deuteronomy, chapter 23. He says to them, listen, Israel, no Ammonite and no Moabite will ever enter to be among the people of Israel for the 10th generation. And he had their end forever. Now, of course, you and I immediately asked the question, well, wait a minute. Wasn't Ruth a Moabitish woman? Well, of course she was a Moabitish woman. But you see what happened with Ruth. Ruth rejected the false gods. And Ruth said to Naomi, your God shall be my God.

Your people shall be my people. And Ruth really, truly became a woman of God who loved the God of Israel. And therefore, she could have come into the congregation of Israel. But let me make an application for a moment. I would like you to turn with me to Genesis, chapter 19. You remember what happened in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Lot went to Sodom and he lived there and he raised his family in Sodom. And you remember what happened there? It didn't take too long that he became one of the leaders of Sodom sitting at the gate. And then God sent these angels of his to go to Sodom to give warning to Lot to come out of Sodom.

Sodom is a picture of the world and its system. We reject God. But Lot's family, in a sense, kind of laughed at him. His sons-in-law did not accept what he had to say. And really what happened, if you remember, when those two angels came, they appeared as men. They went into Lot's house. And you remember, the whole men of Sodom wanted actually to take these men and to have sexual relationship with them, if you remember that. And then you remember what happened, that those angels blinded all the people of Sodom and took Lot out and immediately told them, listen, take your family and run out of the way.

Run out because we are going to judge the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, finally, he went out. His two daughters went out with him. But there was his wife. You remember, she looked back and instead of kind of running and fleeing out, she looked back and she kind of felt like, I don't want to leave. I'm leaving all what I have there in Sodom. And she turned into a pillar. You remember that? And she ended up to be fixed in one location because she simply rejected the invitation to leave and she looked backwards. But you remember what happened in chapter 19 at the end of the chapter that Lot's daughters had caused their father to be drunk.

And both of them had a relationship with him. And guess who are the two nations who were born as children of Lot? The two nations, Moab and Ammon. These are the very two nations that God gave a warning to our people Israel. A Moabite and an Ammonite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. And you know, there's an amazing lesson, beloved brothers and sisters. The Moabites and an Ammonite are a picture of our own sinful nature. You remember what the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3? Except a man be born again, he shall not enter into the kingdom of God. The Moabites and the Ammonite is a picture and a type of the human nature that you and I have.

It's like you might say, the closest enemy to ourself is our very own old nature. Even though we became born from above, born again, we belong to the Lord, we really experience in our life how often this old sinful nature constantly seeking to pull us down and to turn us away from the things of the Lord. No wonder the Apostle Paul said, I know that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And this is a picture of our very own nature. And how often time we are struggling with it. And notice what happened exactly here in the history of our people. Israel often time has struggled when they allow themselves to carry on in their own path, in their own direction.

Just like you and I many times it happened to us in our very own life. And that's why God gave to Israel this warning. Israel, listen to me. I'm telling you, a Moabite and an Ammonite shall not enter into the congregation of Israel. Why? Here is the reason. Number one, they harmed you. And number two, they seek to curse you. When they raised that man by the name of Bilam, he was a false prophet. That on the way, and now I want you to turn with me to the book of Numbers for a moment, chapter 22. And I want you to see what happened in Numbers, chapter 22, with that man by the name of Bilam that Moab and Ammon raised him to come against the people of Israel.

Numbers 22, verse 1 said, And the children of Israel set forward and they pitched in the plain of Moab. Here is Moab again. On this side of Jordan by Jericho. And then Balak, the son of Tzipor, saw all that Israel have done to the Amorites. And Moab was so afraid of the people because there were many and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us as the ox licketh up the grass of the field? And Balak, the son of Tzipor, was the king of the Moabites at that time.

And look what he does. Verse 5 and on. He sent messengers, therefore, unto Bilam, the son of Beor, to Petor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him. And look what he said to him. Behold, there is a people. They came out of Egypt. Behold, they have covered the face of this earth and they abide over against me. Come now. Therefore, I pray thee and curse me these people. And you know, beloved brothers and sisters, Bilam sought to curse the people of Israel four times. And you notice what it says if you just turn the page to chapter 23.

It says, And Bilam said unto Balak, verse 1, Build me therefore seven altars. Prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. And Balak did as Bilam has spoken. And Balak and Bilam offered on every altar a bulak and a ram. And Bilam said unto Bilam, Stand by thy burnt offering and I will go. Maybe the Lord will come to meet me and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to the high place and God met Bilam. And notice what it says and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars and I have offered upon every altar a bulak and a ram.

And the Lord put a word in Bilam's mouth and he said, Return unto Balak and thus you shall speak. And Bilam returned unto him and lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the priests of Moab. And he took up a parable. And he said, Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram out of the mountains of the east saying, Come, curse me, Jacob, and come, defy Israel. And so look how beautiful how the Lord works in Bilam. He says, How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I defy whom the Lord has not defied? How can I do that?

God did not curse these people. I am not going to be able to curse these people. And God put words in his mouth. And notice it says in the end of verse 9, Lord, the people shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Israel is a unique nation that God has set them to dwell alone, not because they are better, not because they are superior than other nations of the world, it's because they are an elect nation. And God in his wisdom sought to have them a separated nation that will be a blessing to the nations of the world. But did Israel fulfill what God had intended for them?

The answer is no. Because Israel had failed to submit to the authority of the Lord and therefore we find out what happened over the generation to our very own nation, the nation of Israel. So a Moabite and an Ammonite shall not enter into the congregation of Israel and it is a picture, beloved brothers and sisters, of our own sinful nature which we need to judge on an ongoing basis. And that's why brothers and sisters at times we have problems in a church congregations and assemblies and fellowship because we don't judge the flesh and we allow the flesh to rise up and the flesh we go with it to school and we go to work and we go home we come to the meeting and wherever we go this old sin for nature is always with us.

And that's why as we read Colossians chapter 3 in the reading it says to mortify to put it to death and as long that we allow it to have its own course we are always going to lose out.

And so the first three verses Israel needed to separate themselves from the Moabites and the Ammonites and so notice what it says here in verse 3 Israel acted now by separating from that which was contrary to the will of God and so we read in verse 3 now it came to pass when they have heard the law that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude now again I would like to make an application here for us you see the mixed multitude is a problem not because they are mixed multitudes it's because they always seem to draw Israel further from the Lord it's one thing if they have been brought closer to the God of

Israel but it is another thing if the ordinary Israeli being pulled away from the God of Israel if we will talk about it as believers today in Yeshua the Messiah we are also called to separate from that which is not consistent with the will of God it's another thing we want to reach with the gospel we want to bring people to Yeshua the Messiah it's one thing to lead a person to the Lord and to have him part of the family of God but it is altogether another story when that unbelieving individual pulled away the people of God out from being in fellowship with the Lord and this lesson is really important for us to

learn how many a time brothers and sisters we've failed the Lord by not submitting to his authority and here is the condition of Israel in chapter 13 verses 1 2 and 3 but notice that it's not only this because immediately in verses 4 and 5 you can see that there is another reason here that brought about this sad condition among the people of Israel that was a wrong alliance of the high priest with an enemy of Israel look at this and I'm reading verses 4 and 5 it says and before this notice that even before this condition existed Eliashiv the priest having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God was allied

unto Tuvaya and he had prepared for him a great chamber where aforetime they laid the meat offering and the frankincense and the vessels and the tithe of the corn and of the new wine and of the oil which was commended to be given to the Levites and the singers and the porters and the offerings of the priest now look what happened now here's a big problem because now the high priest of Israel his name was El Yeshiv it's two Hebrew words El means God Yeshiv means will return back will return us back what a beautiful name his name was God will turn us back to himself he will restore us but even he because he

was not submissive to the word of the Lord look what he did here as it says he was allied with Tuviyah and who was Tuviyah we have read this many many time in our study of this book of Nehemiah Tuviyah was an enemy of Israel go back to Nehemiah chapter 2 with me in verse 10 and 19 we read in verse 10 he says when Sanbalat the Horonite and Tuviyah the servant notice he was an Ammonite when they heard it it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel you know when Nehemiah came to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem this man by

the name of Tuviyah who was an Ammonite it grieved him he was not happy that the Jewish people came to rebuild the wall and to set up the gates in Jerusalem just the same beloved brothers and sisters like many who are opposing the gospel are not happy to see when the body of Messiah is growing and people come in to become part of the family of God they are not happy and therefore he was not happy notice a little bit further in chapter 2 and verse 19 we read but when Sambalai the Horonite and Tuviyad the servant of the Ammonites and Geshem the Arabian heard that they laugh us to scorn and they despised us

and they said what is this thing that you do will he rebel against the king see when Israel was coming to be ready to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem they were mocking those Jewish people Tuviya was not a friend of Israel and you know brothers and sisters sometimes when we are not careful we allow ourselves to have others who oppose the gospel and oppose Yeshua HaMashiach and oppose the word of God we make alliance with them and we end up instead of drawing them to the Lord they end up to draw the people of God away from the Lord and that's what really happened here this is exactly what happened here and how this Tuviya

managed to be a friend with the high priest and draw him away the high priest should have been you know the one who will give instruction to the people of Israel but instead of doing so the opposite have happened now Tuviya is mentioned many many times in the book of Nehemiah in chapter 4 in chapter 6 in chapter 7 and in here this 13th chapter he mentioned again and again as the enemy of the people of God and therefore it was wrong by the high priest to make an agreement with him and where does he put him where does he put him he put him right in the house of God and he prepared for

him a chamber a room where all the things that belong to the work of the Lord used to be there it says here the meal offering the frankincense the vessels the tithes the corn the wine the oil and therefore what was belonged to the Levites he kind of set it aside and he placed Tuviah right in the midst of the people of Israel in the temple in the city of Jerusalem and guess what no wonder the condition in Israel had been so bad because Tuviah was successful in influencing the people of Israel against the ways of the Lord well verse 4 in the book of Jude says that for there are certain men crept in

unaware who were before of old ordained unto this condemnation ungodly men turning the grace of God into lasciviousness and denying the Holy Lord God and our Lord Yeshua the Messiah it's exactly the same and we know very well that in church history in the assembly history it happened the very same way and many times when we fail it's our own fault when we are not on guard when we are not submitting to the word of God we allow this to happen in the midst of the assembly so we find out verses 1 to 3 the separation from the Moabites and the Ammonites we find out in verses 4 and 5 the wrong alliance that happened

between the high priest of Israel and Tuviya the enemy of the people of God well what do you think Nehemiah is going to do Nehemiah could say maybe like you and I say what's the use I'm doing my own thing they have gone wrong you know I've been away for a while you know I mean I did my best you know and he could have kind of washed his hands and he could say I don't care let them have their own consequences of what they are doing I was trying my best I did the thing and therefore I'll just leave them alone and he could have gone on back to Persia and leave these Jewish

people with their wrongdoing to carry to carry on their own merry way but Nehemiah was not so brothers and sisters Nehemiah was a man that was raised by God that's why his name called the comfort of Jehovah he was a man that said listen I have decided I'm going to use my life here for the God of Israel for the people of Israel I want to be a blessing to the people of God so he acted upon it he took a decision and so in verse 6 on look at this brothers and sisters in verse 6, 7, 8 and 9 Nehemiah began to cleanse the temple notice in verse 6 Nehemiah was away from Jerusalem

for a while but now he returned back and notice what he says it's very clear here in our chapter in verse 6 he said but in all this time was not I at Jerusalem in other words all these things that occurred then and there were when Nehemiah was not there and you know it's always like that isn't it that's why God raised men among the people of Israel men and women godly men and women to assist our own people and that's why God raised brothers and sisters in the church age to care for the flock of God but when the shepherd is not there the sheep go astray it's always like that isn't it Isaiah

said in chapter 53 about Israel all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way that's the way we are we are like sheep that's why we need always someone to appreciate and by the way I didn't point to that but you notice here here is Jerusalem and Israel the land of Israel and you notice you find the kingdom of Moab and the kingdom of Ammon and when Israel came from Egypt to enter into the promised land and they entered somewhere here they didn't let them enter in they had to pass through the land of Moab and Ammon but they didn't let them cross in an easy way and they

had those issues that gave them problems the Moabite and the Ammonite I didn't point to that earlier but this is so interesting to see that and beloved brothers and sisters when Nehemiah left the land he left the city of Jerusalem here is the city of Jerusalem he went back for a little while to the king of Persia because after all he gave him some time and all the time when he was not there trouble had happened that's why you know I tell you the truth I thank God for godly men that I sat under over the years that you can see how they watch over their flock how they care for sound teaching in the

midst of the congregation how they care for the welfare of the brothers and sisters and when they are away they are concerned how the brethren are doing and thank God for these people that the Lord put into our life to help us because we are all like sheep that are inclined to go astray from the Lord so Nehemiah began by dealing with the problems and so in verse 6 we find out that he was not there because in the 2 and 30 year of Artaxerxes a king of Babylon came iron to the king in other words he left Jerusalem he went after 12 years that he was in the land of Israel he returned back

to Babylon to Persia and then he asked for a leave of absent again and so he come back and what does he see the Ammoni the Moabites have crept in the man by the name of Tuvaiah is now living in the temple the high priests make an alliance with him the people of Israel in disarray the Lord law and commandments are not obeyed the people of Israel in a bad state and so he said I'm going to do something about it and so notice in verse 7 upon his return Amaya now understood all that evil and I want you to notice the Bible calls it evil it says in verse 7 and I came to

Jerusalem and I understood of the evil in Hebrew ra'ah that Eliashiv did for Tuvaiah in preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God he's coming and saying what is going on Eliashiv you allow Tuvaiah who was our enemies all along he didn't want us to build the walls of the city of Jerusalem you allow him now to be right in the house of God you give him a chamber a room right there when all the things that belong to God the tithing and so on he does not even have a place to be there but Tuvaiah have a place to be there so he was not happy whatsoever and you

notice what he did brothers and sisters it says here in the next verse and we are reading now verses 8 and 9 he cleansed the temple the temple in the city of Jerusalem we read it grieved me sore you know he acted in a very you might say aggressive way and so he cast forth all the household staff of Tuvaiah out of the chamber and I commended that they cleansed the chambers and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God with the meal offering and the frankincense you know first of all you notice that it grieved him in his heart he was a spiritual man he was a man who wanted to

honor the Lord and it hurt him in his heart when he saw listen what's going on God is not honored the people of God are not living for the Lord things are wrong here what is going on I left you for a while and look what's going on this is what you call in biblical terminology righteous indignation you know sometimes we get angry because somebody hurt me and told something bad about you and I and maybe treated you bad and we get angry and sometimes this anger is not righteous at all it's very selfish anger but here beloved brothers and sisters we find out that Nehemiah had what is called righteous indignation he was very

very much sad because of what went on here in the temple in Jerusalem so he cast off the household staff of Tuviah out of the chamber he commanded that they will cleanse the chambers and thither he brought back all the vessels can you imagine what Israel did they take the vessels that are supposed to serve God they put it outside the temple and they bring Tuviah and they set him with a nice chamber right in the temple in the city of Jerusalem what a condition have existed there among the people of Israel now turn with me please to John chapter 2 and verse 13 14 15 and 16 I just wanted to see what Yeshua

the Messiah himself did when he came to the very same temple some years later and I'm reading and the Jewish Passover was at hand and Yeshua that is Jesus he went up to Jerusalem and he found the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and dove and the changes of money sitting and then verse 15 said and when he had made scourged of small cords he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and he poured out the changes of money and overthrew the tables and he said unto them that sold the dove he said take these things hands make not my father's house a house of merchandise Yeshua himself

when he came to the temple he saw what they were doing at the temple in Jerusalem some 2000 years ago and he immediately chased everyone out he was angry but it was righteous indignation it was anger for the glory of the Lord it was an anger that was unique because he didn't want those things to happen in the house of the Lord well here it is the same thing Nehemiah in some small way as it says here he was very grieved he grieved him so and he commanded them that they will cleanse the chamber of the house of God and so you can see that he is acting upon the condition that existed there and

sometimes brothers and sisters wondering sometimes about you and I you know we are not always so tender and sensitive to realize that when we gather together we gather around the Lord Yeshua the Messiah he is the center and we ought to honor him we ought to seek to be a blessing to our brothers and sisters and therefore we also need to seek to maintain order in the house of the Lord and the Lord will bless us the Lord will honor us when we honor him he will honor his own people what let's draw in towards the end of the message for today in verses 10 to verse 14 Nehemiah restored the portion that belonged to

the servants of the Lord now look what happened we read in verse 10 that happened to the servants of the Lord you see when Tuvaiah came in and when the high priest Eliashiv allowed him to come into the house of the Lord and to have a room in the chamber well those who used to serve there they left they couldn't continue so it says in verse 10 of Nehemiah chapter 13 I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them for the Levites and the singers that did the work and they fled everyone unto his own field now can you imagine the servants the Levites instead of serving now in the

temple in Jerusalem they left the temple in fact it says here that they fled away they probably went because Tuvai had chastened them and they said well we cannot serve the Lord they were not taken care of by the tithing of the people of Israel in those days so they left everything and they went I gotta take care of myself I gotta work in the field so they left and ended up working in the field but they were called to be the servant of God they were called to be serving among the people of God you know the other day I heard that how many pastors in a professing church today leave the ministry because

they are not being supported they are often time being discouraged and many times they cannot sustain themselves and they are so discouraged because of the opposition of the people of God that they say well I don't need that I'm going to go back to a secular job and I'm going to continue on live my life and they are not coming back to ministry how many spiritual leaders in the body of Messiah today are so discouraged because they are not being able to continue on in the ministry can you imagine here the Levites the singers had to run away to work in the field because they couldn't keep on doing their own ministry in verse 11

Nehemiah asked the leaders why do you forsake the house of the Lord then contended I with the rulers and I said why is the house of God forsaken as I gathered them together and I set them in their place Nehemiah was acting upon he said look what is going on look at the condition the people of God are in such a bad shape the spiritual leaders are working in the field away from doing their work and look what's going on and the house of God suffers and so Nehemiah continue and now verses 12 and 13 now the people of Judah the people of Israel responded they were pricked in their hearts and the Lord spoke

to them and so we read that all the people of Judah responded to that they did not say carelessly well we don't care anymore but you notice there was a response it says in verse 12 13 and then brought all Judah the tithe of corn and new wine and oil unto the treasury and I made the treasurers over the treasuries Shelamaya the priest and Tzedok the scribe of the Levites Pedaya and next to them was Hanan the son of Zachur the son of Mataniah for they were counted faithful and their office was to distribute unto their brethren you notice they were faithful men we need so much today people who are faithful to serve the

Lord faithful in many areas you know brothers and sisters we know very well that if some of the brothers and sisters would not participate in preparing for this meeting here on every Friday and every Shabbat we would never have what we have today it because there are faithful brothers and sisters that says listen the Lord had privileged me to take responsibility and I want to do it as unto the Lord maybe I'm not appreciated the time enough but I'm going to carry on and do so I've decided to serve my Lord my Messiah Yeshua and therefore we have been for years having those regular ongoing meeting and why it's not because of one man it's

because of many that participated over the years and have been faithful they say listen we are going to carry on with it we believe that the word of the Lord is taught and we want to honor the Lord and we want to learn from the things of the Lord and many have responded to that and we are so grateful for these brothers and sisters they're like the Levites here that says listen we're going to come back and do the things that the Lord have called us to do and so notice they brought it to the chamber and the people of God the servant of the Lord could be sustained and so how precious it is

we find that and now brothers and sisters listen to the last verse and I want to kind of conclude with this remark Nehemiah was asking the God of Israel to remember what he did interesting we find here in verse 14 Nehemiah says remember me oh my God in Hebrew zichrali remember me oh my God concerning this and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for the offices thereof Nehemiah kind of turn around you might say in a moment of prayer and you and I might say well Nehemiah don't be so selfish and ask the Lord to remember what the Lord have done for you Nehemiah

don't do so but Nehemiah did so because he knew that he wanted to please the Lord and he knew that by praying that by asking the Lord to remember he will actually in a sense remind God not that God needed God will not forget but to remind God that he is really a blessing to the people of God and by and by saying this remember me oh my God concerning this he wanted that the Lord will be honored as he served him among the people of Israel and it's so beautiful to see because the word remember me is mentioned three times in connection with Nehemiah here in this chapter notice that in verse 22 at

the end remember me oh my God concerning this also notice verse 31 at the end of this chapter remember me oh my God for good the Hebrew word is zichrali or zechor remember and you know brothers and sisters the lesson here that we can learn for ourselves today is that the Lord does know how we live our lives as believers you know one day we are going to all stand at the judgment seat of the Messiah this is only for believers for we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Mashiach 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10 and the Lord is going to check with us he is going to show us what

we have done for him and you know many times unfortunately when we think of ourselves many times we lose out the blessings that the Lord intend to give us because we do not live our life for the Lord but at the judgment seat of the Messiah only what was done for the Lord will last whatever is not done for the Lord will be burned with fire and completely erased because God is not pleased with it I was reading this morning one verse of a poem that was written many years ago and the poem writer wrote only one life it will soon be passed only what done for Christ for the Messiah will last and when

I am dying how happy I will be if the lamp of my life has been burnt for thee you know brothers and sisters listen I know we don't take the time seriously but we only live one life soon every one of us will pass out of this sin and we know it very well some of our brothers and sisters used to sit right in this room are no longer with us we are going to have to meet the Lord one day and the Lord wants to appeal to our own heart he says listen how do you live your life is Yeshua precious to you do you realize the price that he paid in order to

save you you realize that he died on a cruel tree on a cross for every sin that you have sinned do your savior that give you a ticket to go to heaven or do you also take him as your master and lord and the one that is the best friend that you will ever have and the lord want us to have the lord jesus yeshua the messiah in our life not only for a season he want us to enjoy him because only one life and it will soon be passed only what done for the messiah will last and when you are dying will you be happy to know that the lamp of your life had

been burnt for him that's the question that we all have to ask ourselves and that's why Nehemiah says to the lord lord he says god remember me oh my god for good and you know the lord will remember everything that we have done for him he remembered that and he will bless us when we serve him not only in eternity but even here and now as we bless the people of god and we seek to be like this man by the name of Nehemiah the comfort of Jehovah may may the lord help us to serve him until his soon return he for to to him to have been listening to the holy scriptures and Israel

with Gideon Levittam Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew messianic perspective