SANCTIFICATION AND PURIFICATION In building the wall of Jerusalem, what moved Nehemiah’s heart was the flaring zeal on the glory of God; He was preoccupied, not with building the wall itself, but because it is the wall of the city of God, which it is befitting to be holy for the Lord, and surrounded by a dedicated wall. Perceiving that the wall would be of no value without a people, holy for the Lord, the book was ended by Nehemiah’s care to undergo a movement of purification on the level of the leaders, whatever was their position, and the people without any partiality to the account of the kingdom of heaven. There is difference of opinion as to how long Nehemiah stayed in the Persian royal court before asking the king to allow him to return to Jerusalem; but in that, when he did return, he found four serious challenges, which he put in his heart to solve without hesitation: a- An alliance between Eliashib the high priest and Tobiah the Ammonite (4), one of the prominent opponents of rebuilding the wall, probably through marital relationship, he also had with Sanballat (28). b- The people stopped forgot their pledge to pay the tithes and the offerings (Malachi 3: 8-12); and the Levites were scattered to work in their lands and fields (10-13) c- The people broke the Sabbath; brought the merchandise to prepare them to be sold; even though they did not sell them in the Sabbath. https://coptic-treasures.com/ d- The people resumed the mixed marriages with pagan wives (Malachi 2: 11-18); and their children were raised unable to talk Hebrew, and could not therefore read the Holy Book (23-24) With his soul embittered to see the corruption that dwelt upon his people during his absence, Nehemiah had to deal with violence with the transgressors, among whom was the grandson of the high priest; but what he did was not in vain, for God remembered him for good (30-31). 1- The high priest gave a large room in the temple to Tobiah the Ammonite 1 - 9 2- Giving the tithes to the Levites 10 - 14 3- Keeping the Sabbath 15 - 22 4- Sending away the pagan wives 23 – 31 1- THE HIGH PRIEST GAVE A LARGE ROOM IN THE TEMPLE TO TOBIAH THE AMMONITE: “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 should ever come into the assembly of God” (1) We find that also in Deuteronomy 23: 3-5. https://coptic-treasures.com/ “ because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing” (2) Reading the Holy Book in the secret place will help the soul to perceive its weakness, kindle her to long toward,, and to enjoy the experience of the heavenly life. But reading it publicly, has its effect upon the people as a whole. Here we see the people long for the complete obedience of the Word of God. Sins, almost collective, were revealed, that were counted as nets and snares, set by the enemy to destroy the people as a whole. “ So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel” (3) It is befitting of us to discern between God’s love for all mankind; calling all nations to salvation (Isaiah 42: 6), and sending away the evildoers (Hosea 7: 8), the opponents of the truth, and those who cause offense to the believers. …………By “the mixed multitude”, he most probably means the Moabites and the ammonites, about whom the law clearly said not to be allowed to enter into the temple; on account of that they bore great animosity against the children of Israel. This does not imply racial discrimination, because God allows foreigners to offer sacrifices (Numbers 15: 15, 16). “Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah” (4) https://coptic-treasures.com/ Entering into familial relationships and friendships with pagans, had their serious consequences even upon the high priest, who despised the divine sanctuaries and defiled the house of God.. “And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests” (5) “But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirtysecond year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king” (6) If Nehemiah has been in Jerusalem, Eliashib the high priest would not dare to commit such an abdominal thing. “and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God” (7) Nehemiah had to return to Babylon in the year 433 BC, namely after 12 years of being in Jerusalem, either because he has previously set that date when he was allowed by the king to leave; or because the king called him back to discuss the situation so far with him. https://coptic-treasures.com/ “And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room” (8) Firmly, Nehemiah drove out Tobiah the Ammonite from the room given to him by Eliashib the high priest, and threw all his household goods out of the room. The same thing the Lord Christ did when “He went into the temple and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of those who sold doves; for they made the house of God a den of thieves (Matthew 21: 12, 13). We should be like Nehemiah, firm with ourselves, and drive away from the temple of the Lord inside us, all the things that stir up the evil desires. It is befitting of us to return the holy vessels to the house of the Lord. “Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense” (9) + Every day, Jesus enters into His Father’s temple, and drives away from His church in the whole world, bishops, priests, deacons, and people, charging them with the same accusation, namely “that they sell and buy”. And what I say about the churches, everyone should apply to his own soul; for the apostle says: “You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you” ( ). Let the house of our heart be free of every trade, of sellers and buyers; and of every desire to get gifts; lest the Lord would come stirred up, and purify His temple with His whip; to turn the den of thieves back to a house of prayers. (St. Jerome) https://coptic-treasures.com/ 2 GIVING THE TITHES TO THE LEVITES: “ I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field” (10) If it was befitting of the ministers of God to forsake the things of the world; It was also the duty of the believers, as a whole, to support the church to cover the expenses of her ministers and the needs of the ministry. Here, because the people stopped supporting the Levites, they had to go back to their lands to sustain their families, at the expense of their commitments to the ministry of the temple. On another aspect, the people probably stopped paying to the temple, when they saw that the Levites and the singers had their own lands; when God’s commanded them to have the Lord as their portion. “So I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” (11) Nehemiah put the blame first on the rulers; for they were slothful toward the house of the Lord, and those who worked in it. “And I gathered them together and set them in their place. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse” (12) https://coptic-treasures.com/ “And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren” (13) Putting the blame first on the rulers and the rest of the people, Nehemiah also took a firm stand against the Levites themselves, to make them return to their befitting mission, namely to work in the house of the Lord, and not in the fields………. But before issuing orders, he elaborately studied every problem to arrive at practical solutions to them.. “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 its services!” (14) 3- KEEPING THE SABBATH: “In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions” (15) https://coptic-treasures.com/ The believers were committed to keep the Sabbath from sunset of Friday to sunset of Saturday; according to the words of God, saying: “Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it I by the gates of Jerusalem, nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers” (Jeremiah 17: 21, 22). “Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem” (16). “Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day?” (17) “Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath” (18) “So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day” (19) . “Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice” (20). https://coptic-treasures.com/ “ Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath” (21) Intending to uproot the sin before it sends stem and carry fruits, Nehemiah did not wait until the time the merchants started to sell their goods, but warned them while spending the night around the wall.. ……….It is good for man not to be slothful with sin as it starts to set forth, even in the form of a hidden thought, lest it may turn into action, and with time into a habit. …………Let us drive away those who spend the night beside the wall, before they enter into the city, and defile the day of the Lord. “And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy” (22) Nehemiah used to follow up every act of reform by a prayer to God, counting what is achieved, as not by his own effort, but through the greatness of God’s mercy, and the riches of His exalted grace.. + How can we consummate God’s commandment, even with difficulty, without His help; for “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127: 1) https://coptic-treasures.com/ + Why do you depend upon yourself and fall? …………Cast yourself on His arms! Do not fear, He will never let you slide; ………Throw yourself with surety, He will pick you up and heel you. (St. Augustine) + The divine grace that edifies the world, is like a compassionate mother, who cares for her child. A mother would never forsake her child; and the child in his turn thinks that there is no other woman in the whole world beside the one who suckles him. https://coptic-treasures.com/ + None of God’s gifts to humanity is a pay back for a debt, but all are through grace. (The scholar Origen) 4- SENDING AWAY THE PAGAN WIVES: “In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab” (23) .”And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people” (24) https://coptic-treasures.com/ Because of the important role of the mother, the children of the pagan wives, spoke the language of Ashdod, and not the Jewish tongue. If that concerns the words they utter, how much more would be the inner tongues or thoughts of the children raised by the Ashdodite, Ammonite, and the Moabite mothers; beside the foreign servants and slaves who came with those women!. “So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves” (25) Pulling out one’s hair from the root, was a sign of feeling great sorrow, and being done on someone, else was a kind of punishment; as the old Greeks used to punish the adulterer by pulling out the hair of his or her heads, then covering the head with hot ashes. “ Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel” (26) . Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin” (26) “Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?” (27) https://coptic-treasures.com/ Here, Nehemiah used Solomon, one of the greatest kings of Israel, as a serious example of the perversion to the pagan worship, as a result of his marriage to pagan Gentile wives; which brought a great calamity on the whole kingdom.. “And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me” (28). “ Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites” (29). “ Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service, and to bringing the wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed times” (30). “Remember me, O my God, for good!” (31) Here, as well, Nehemiah ended the book by this phrase, he used to repeat, to show that his eyes are concentrated on God; that all what he did was actually God’s own work, and by His divine support; and that he does not seek to be commended by anyone, but only God’s pleasure. ------------------------------------ https://coptic-treasures.com/ AN INSPIRATION FROM NEHEMIAH 13 YOUR HOLY SPIRIT, O LORD, PERPETUALLY SANCTIFIES ME + I confess to You, O my Savior, my sins and my weaknesses; I long to dedicate my whole life for You; You have redeemed me by Your precious blood; You sealed me with Your Holy Spirit; You counted me as Your possession. + With slothfulness, Eliahib the high priest delivered Your sanctuaries to Tobiah, an opponent of Your work; For the sake of familial relationship or friendship, he defiled Your sanctuaries; I confess to You, O Lord, my own slothfulness; For I often forsook my mind to the devil to play with; And my heart as a playing field for corruption; Who will purify my works, but You? Who has the authority to keep my heart and mind but You? To sanctify and purify me? Here I am within Your hands. + You came down from heaven for my sake; You presented to me Your exalted grace; https://coptic-treasures.com/ But in foolishness, my heart was attracted by the ashes of the world; Lift me up, O Lord, from the trash; Grant me the wings of a dove; To fly away and come to be with You in heaven; To sell everything I own and acquire You, O the high-priced Pearl. + How foolish I am! ……….In Your compassion, You intend to set out of my life a holy Sabbath; To find comfort in my depths, and to let me find comfort in You; For You are my Sabbath, feast, and resurrection; You are my comfort, happiness, and glory; Let me pass my whole life as an enjoyable journey with You; Let me sing Your praise, and meditate in Your commandments; For I find my pleasure and sweetness in Your love. + Let me unite with You, O amazing in Your Holiness! Let me be attached to You, and reject everything foreign from You; For You are the Groom of my soul; Come, O Lord Jesus; For I have already waited long for Your coming
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