What threatens our commitment to God? (Neh 12:44-13:14)

Many churches these days hire out their buildings to secular groups during the week as a way of earning some extra money, but to what extent should the church scrutinise what is going on in their premises? A language learning group would easily pass muster, but would we be comfortable having transcendental meditation practised in the same space where we worship God? How about a group rehearsing for a play that cracks coarse jokes or promotes immoral living? Alternatively, what about churches that rent a building from secular groups rather than possess their own? Does it matter what is done in the same space at other times? Where do we draw the line? There is something similar going on in our reading, though, of course, for ancient Jews this was a much more pressing concern because the temple was considered sacred space to a higher degree than how we think of our churches today.

Commitment to God’s purposes

As background to the issues, we are told about two actions that the exiles take. They organise the collecting of contributions for the temple personnel ensuring their livelihood, so that they can dedicate their time to serving before God (Neh 12:44-47). The rejoicing over those who serve (v.44) indicates an appreciation of their work and a willing disposition to support them. Secondly, in response to the law, the people exclude foreigners from their midst (Neh 13:1-3; Deut 23:3-6). It is uncertain what this means, but the phrase ‘the assembly of God’ (v.1) gives us a clue because assembly refers to a religious gathering here and it therefore describes Israel as a worshipping community. The rationale seems to be that persons who oppose God’s purposes and wish to harm His people cannot have a foothold among those who worship the Lord.

Compromise – alliance with the enemy, neglect of those who serve the Lord

Precisely these two areas show compromise while Nehemiah is absent from Jerusalem (Neh 13:6). Tobiah, who is considered to be of Ammonite ancestry (Neh 4:3), and had proved himself an enemy of the wall building, is given a large chamber within the temple grounds that was normally reserved for sacred use (storing the contributions for the temple personnel, Neh 13:4-5). To develop my initial example, imagine if the church prioritised requests for hall hire to increase its revenue at the detriment of church groups wanting to use the same space during the week!

Tobiah fits well the antagonistic behaviour described in the law. He mocked the wall building, tried to obstruct the work (Neh 4:3, 7-8) and, reminiscent of king Balak who hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, Tobiah helped hire prophets to trap and frighten Nehemiah (Num 22:2-6; Neh 6:10-14). He was clearly an influential figure who had marriage connections among the exiles (Neh 6:17-19) though it is unclear if Eliashib allowed this encroachment of temple grounds based on family ties or other interests (the Hebrew says that he was ‘close to’ Tobiah, which could mean either; Neh 13:4).

It is perhaps no accident that compromise in one area spread to other parts too. Thus, Nehemiah discovers that the tithes and contributions for those ministering in the temple were not brought into the storerooms either, so that the Levites had to abandon their service of God in order to provide for themselves (Neh 13:10).

Where do we compromise?

Imagine if church donations diminished to such an extent that ministers could not be paid and had to go off and earn some money instead of pastoring the church! Alternatively, the problem may be more subtle in that the church neglects to invest financially in certain ministries that it considers less important whether it is supporting missionaries overseas or local outreach projects to draw people to Christ. Alternatively, it might skimp on paying its staff and exploit its volunteers, such as in the area of youth or children’s work.

Nehemiah decisively rectifies the issues that arose in his absence, but these incidents leave us with the challenge of how the church engages with the world around it. We cannot withdraw from the world and should not do so either, otherwise we shall fail to be salt and light. Our passage in Nehemiah highlights that problems develop when we allow unbelievers and outsiders, whether it is their presence or their expectations and ideas, to determine our service of God. When we become too friendly with those who despise the church, rank their concerns too high to gain their respect and prioritise our loyalties to them, we inevitably weaken our commitment to the Lord and to those who serve Him. It is important that we challenge ourselves from time-to-time to see where our priorities are, with God’s work or with the expectations of outsiders who seek to gain influence among those who worship God?

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