Another Restoration of the People

INTRODUCTION: One revival or restoration is never enough for the people of God. God’s people follow the natural lines of spiritual degeneration. They will naturally slide backwards toward the ways of the world. They require periodic revivals in order to remain close to the Lord. When the revivals cease, the people will fall further and further away from the Lord.

1. THEIR SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD (Nehemiah 13:1-3)
1. Their Reading of the Word (Nehemiah 13:1; 8:1-3); every true revival begins with a return to the word of God (2 Kings 22:8; 2 Kings 23:1-3)
2. The Commandment of the Lord (Nehemiah 13:1-2)
1. Rejection of the Ammonite and the Moabite (Nehemiah 13:1)
1. Forever (Nehemiah 13:1); meaning this is a commandment that applies to the Jewish people forever.
2. To the tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:3); meaning one with a Moabite ancestor of less than ten generations past cannot be considered a Jew.
3. Understanding this law reveals the greatness of Gods grace in receiving Ruth:
1. As the great-grandmother of David (Ruth 4:13-17)
2. As in the line of the Messiah (Matthew 1:5)
2. Purpose of the restriction (Nehemiah 13:2)
1. Not because of the unhappy circumstances of their birth (Genesis 19:30-38)
2. But because of the evil treatment the Jews received on their return to the Promised Land and because they sought to curse the Israelites (Deuteronomy 23:4-5)
3. The Obedience of the People (Nehemiah 13:3)
1. They heard the law (James 1:25)
2. They separated from the mixed multitude (Exodus 12:38; 2 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:6)
2. THE PURIFICATION OF THE TEMPLE (Nehemiah 13:4-9)
1. The Alliance with Tobiah (Nehemiah 13:4-5; compare Nehemiah 6:17-19)
1. Made by Eliashib the high priest (Nehemiah 13:4, 28)
2. Prepared a great chamber for Tobiah (Nehemiah 13:5)
1. In the place where the tithes had been stored (Malachi 3:10)
2. Depriving the Levites of their provision (Numbers 18:21-24)
2. The Absence of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:6-7)
1. Called to Babylon (Nehemiah 13:6)
1. In the service of king Artaxerxes
2. Until he obtained leave of the king
2. Returned to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 13:7)
3. Discovered the evil done by Eliashib (Nehemiah 13:7)
3. The Anger of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:8-9)
1. Grieved over the evil that had been done (Nehemiah 13:8)
2. Casting out the stuff of Tobiah (Nehemiah 13:8)
3. Cleansing the chambers of the temple (Nehemiah 13:9)
4. Returned the vessels and tithes to the chambers (Nehemiah 13:9)
3. THE RESTORATION OF THE TITHE (Nehemiah 13:10-14)
1. The Fleeing of the Levites (Nehemiah 13:10); that did the work (Proverbs 3:27; 1 Corinthians 9:13-14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18)
1. They had not received their portions
2. They had had to work their fields to survive
3. The work of the Lord was left undone
2. The Scolding of the Rulers (Nehemiah 13:11-12)
1. The rulers corrected (Nehemiah 13:11)
1. Why is the house of God forsaken?
2. He set them in their place.
2. The tithe restored (Nehemiah 13:12)
3. The Establishing of a Plan (Nehemiah 13:13-14)
1. The treasurers (Nehemiah 13:13)
1. Their record: counted faithful (Proverbs 20:6; Luke 16:10; 1 Corinthians 4:2)
2. Their office: to distribute (Acts 6:1-3)
2. Nehemiahs request (Nehemiah 13:14; Psalm 25:7; Psalm 106:4)
1. Remember me concerning this (Nehemiah 13:14)
2. Remember me concerning this also (Nehemiah 13:22)
3. Remember me for good (Nehemiah 13:31)
4. THE RESTORATION OF THE SABBATH (Nehemiah 13:15-22)
1. The Breaking of the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:15-16); the requirements of the law (Exodus 20:8-11; Exodus 31:12-17)
1. They tread their wine presses (Nehemiah 13:15)
2. They carried all manner of burdens (Nehemiah 13:15)
3. They bought and sold on the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:16)
2. The Scolding of the Nobles (Nehemiah 13:17-18)
1. Their profaning of the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:17)
2. The judgment on the fathers for this sin (Nehemiah 13:18)
3. The Commandment of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:19-22)
1. Concerning the gates (Nehemiah 13:19)
1. To be shut at night before the Sabbath
2. Not to be opened until after the Sabbath
2. To the merchants (Nehemiah 13:20-21)
1. Their attempt to ignore the law (Nehemiah 13:20)
2. Nehemiahs threat to lay hands on them (Nehemiah 13:21)
3. To the Levites (Nehemiah 13:22)
1. To cleanse themselves
2. To keep the gates
3. To sanctify the Sabbath Day
5. THE PURIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE (Nehemiah 13:23-27)
1. The Problem of Corruption (Nehemiah 13:23-24)
1. The wives of the Jews (Nehemiah 13:23)
1. Of Ashdod
2. Of Ammon
3. Of Moab
2. The language of the children (Nehemiah 13:24; Ephesians 4:29)
1. Learning the speech of Ashdod the Philistines
2. Not learning the language of the Jews Hebrew
3. Compare to children of supposed Christian parents who are brought up around the world (Matthew 26:73; Colossians 3:8)
2. The Reaction of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:25-27)
1. Physical punishment (Nehemiah 13:25)
1. He contended with them
2. He cursed them
3. He smote certain of them
4. He plucked off their hair
5. He made them swear to separate from the heathen
2. Verbal correction (Nehemiah 13:26-27)
1. The warning of Solomon (Nehemiah 13:26; 1 Kings 11:1-8)
2. The transgression of the people (Nehemiah 13:27)
6. THE PURIFICATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD (Nehemiah 13:28-31)
1. The Son-in-Law of Sanballat (Nehemiah 13:28)
1. The complicity of Eliashib the high priest
2. The chasing of Eliashib from Nehemiah
2. The Cleansing of the Priests and Levites (Nehemiah 13:29-30)
1. Called on God to remember those who defiled the priesthood (Nehemiah 13:29)
2. Cleansed the priesthood of all strangers (Nehemiah 13:30)
3. Nehemiahs Trust in the Lord (Nehemiah 13:31)

CONCLUSION: Revival is much more than emotional release and joyous ecstasy. This can come without revival. From the standpoint of man, revival is taking care of business with God. It means getting back to the word of God, learning what God has for us, and doing it. It means separating from the world and turning from our sins. It requires us to restore God to His original place of supreme importance in our lives. When we have done these things, then we can say that we have had revival.

Memory Verses:

Nehemiah 13:3 – Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.

Nehemiah 13:14 – 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.

Ephesians 4:29 – Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.