22.180 | Remember Mr, O My God, For Good | Neh 13:23-31| God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

God’s Word For Today

Neh 13:23-31 ESV

23 In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 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. 25 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. 26 Did not 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 even him to sin. 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

28 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. 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

30 Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

REMEMBER ME, O MY GOD, FOR GOOD.

While Nehemiah was away, the Israelites had resumed their practice of intermarriage with the pagan nations surrounding them. He 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”. His strong reaction of pulling their hair out has demonstrated his utter disgust against this most dangerous of their sins - pursing ungodly romance with pagans.

They had forgotten King Solomon’s blunder and the sad consequences that they had experienced. Pagan women who he married had caused his heart to turn away from God. If Solomon, one of the wisest and most blessed men who ever lived, had sinned with unwise and ungodly romance then no one else should consider himself invulnerable or untouchable.

It seems that Israel was struggling in the exact sins they vowed to stop earlier. In Nehemiah 10 the people made a solemn covenant to God that they would not do three things: have ungodly romantic relationships (10:30), buy and sell on the Sabbath (10:31), and support the work of God with money as He commanded (10:32-39).

Yet, in just one decade, Nehemiah had to address the problems of ungodly romantic relationships (13:23-31), buying and selling on the Sabbath (13:15-22), and failing to support the work of God as He commanded (13:10-14). This makes a point very clear, that is, the sinfulness of man and activities of the flesh did not go away after the wall was built.

Did, Nehemiah feel he had failed? Perhaps! At the beginning, He was fasted and grieved by the sins of the people and his forefathers as the cause of their miseries. Nevertheless, Nehemiah had expressed his faithfulness through his prayer, saying, “Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, 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 firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.” Nehemiah pleaded only on the basis of God’s grace and mercy.

--------------------

Visit and FOLLOW Gospel Light Filipino on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram