Nehemiah 13 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
Nehemiah 13 Short Summary:
Nehemiah 13 is the final chapter of the book. It documents Nehemiah’s short return to Persia and his reforms in Judah. These reforms included separating the people from the foreign nations, evicting Tobiah from the Temple grounds, reestablishing respect for the Sabbath Day, and restoring provisions for the Levites who served at the Temple.
Nehemiah 13 Summary
WHEN:
538-537 BC – Cyrus the Great of Persia frees the Jews from their Babylonian captivity.
516 BC – The rebuilding of the Temple is completed in Jerusalem.
457 BC – Ezra arrives in Jerusalem.
445-444 BC – Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem.
433 BC – Nehemiah briefly returns to Persia to visit King Artaxerxes.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Nehemiah – The former Jewish cupbearer to the king of Persia. He motivated the Jews to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He was appointed governor of Judah.
Artaxerxes Longimanus – King of Persia from 464-424 BC
Tobiah – One of the enemies of Nehemiah and the Jews who, along with Sanballat, opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Eliashib the Priest – A relative and friend of Tobiah’s.
WHERE:
Jerusalem – The capital of the Kingdom of Judah and the location of God’s Temple.
We aren’t told where King Artaxerxes was when Nehemiah visited him in Persia. A likely guess would be Susa, the capital of the kingdom (Neh 1:1).
OUTLINE:
SEPARATING THEMSELVES FROM THE OTHER NATIONS (13:1-3):
When the Jews read from the Book of the Law of God, they read that they were not to intermix with the idolatrous nations around them, specifically the Ammonites and Moabites.
After learning this, they separate themselves from the foreigners and their influence.
NEHEMIAH EVICTS TOBIAH FROM THE TEMPLE GROUNDS (13:4-9):
Eliashib, one of the priests, was friends with Tobiah, the long-time enemy of Nehemiah.
When Nehemiah left Jerusalem to visit the king of Persia, Eliashib emptied one of the chambers that was meant to house provisions for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and furnished it for Tobiah.
Upon his return, Nehemiah was furious. He threw all the furniture out of the chamber and returned the space to its original use.
NEGLECT OF THE LEVITES (13:10-14):
Nehemiah also discovered that the Levites weren’t receiving what was due to them from the tithes of the people of Judah.
He confronted the leaders about this and made a reform. The Jews brought their tithes to the Temple and Nehemiah appointed trustworthy men to distribute what was collected.
NO RESPECT FOR THE SABBATH DAY (13:15-22):
The Sabbath Day was a sacred day, and the Jews were supposed to rest every Sabbath, but Nehemiah noticed the Sabbath was being treated like any ordinary day. People were working as usual, and merchants were coming in and out of the city selling their wares.
Nehemiah warned the Jews of the potential of God’s anger if they did not honor the Sabbath Day, and he directed the gates of Jerusalem to be closed on the Sabbath, and not reopened until the Sabbath was over.
MARRIAGES TO FOREIGN WOMEN (13:23-31):
Nehemiah confronted his countrymen who had married foreign women. This was forbidden in the Law because of the corrupting influence of foreigners who didn’t respect the God of the Jews.
Nehemiah reminded his countrymen of King Solomon, who got himself in spiritual trouble after marrying dozens of foreign women.
Nehemiah considered these foreign unions a desecration and a treacherous act against God, especially when God’s priests were involved (13:29).
APPLICATION
Sometimes, striving for holiness means you’re going to be perceived as the “mean guy” or the “mean lady.”
Do you think Nehemiah enjoyed going around confronting all of these people? Do you think he made some enemies along the way?
There were probably people who talked bad about Nehemiah because he shut down their shop on Saturdays. There were probably people who thought Nehemiah needed to mind his own business. There were probably people who accused Nehemiah of being overbearing, abusing his power, and being domineering (1 Peter 5:3). There were probably people who thought he was too extreme or that he had a “holier-than-thou” attitude.
I’m sure he was gossiped about, and I’m sure he lost some friends during his reforms.
But these were some of the consequences he accepted because he was determined to take his role as a leader seriously.
A leader who is serious about holiness won’t always be the “nice guy.”
When we are looking to appoint leaders over our congregations, we should be looking for men who are going to lead us to greater holiness.
We don’t want a bunch of “nice guy” leaders who avoid conflict at all costs even when sin is corrupting our Christian communities. The devil will run over “nice guy” leaders.
We need men who are striving for peace, but are equally ready to be slandered, gossiped about, and hated if that’s what it takes to preserve the holiness of God’s Church.
What we’ve seen in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah is what good God-empowered leadership is supposed to look like.
