Road Trippin With Rachael

There is an age old argument that goes a little something like this: does what you believe influence what you do, or does what you do influence what you believe?

When we break that question down, what we come up with is actually two different thoughts. Thought One: I believe X, therefore I will Y. Thought Two: I do Y, therefore I believe X. At first glance, you would think that we are talking about a proof, similar to the ones that we see in geometry (A+B=C therefore C-B=A). However, that is not the case we are discussing here, because we don’t know what you believe.

There are a few theological words that I want to define for you and how I will be using them. Orthodoxy – the accepted theory/doctrine/practice/belief. If someone says that something is orthodox they are referring to an accepted belief (and when we are speaking in term of Christianity, orthodoxy is built over two millennia of minds far greater than mine). Orthopraxy – is the accepted beliefs (orthodoxy) in practice.

In a perfect world, this would work like a mathematic proof. What you believe and what you do actually will match up. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. That does not mean that we shouldn’t strive to have them work together properly. There are many people who are a part of the Deconstruction movement who are challenging this right now – how what the American Church has been saying they believe and how that is working in practice has become a point of contention for many Christians who are a part of the millennial generation, and we are seeing the results playing out now. However, I am not here to address of the issues surrounding the Deconstruction Movement. Right now, I am here to look to scripture and see how Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy inform each other during the time of Nehemiah.

Sacred & Secular

All throughout the history of the Israelites being in the Promise Land, there has been this pattern of being faithful to God, falling into complacency with the sinful ways of the peoples that surround them, and then actively moving in that direction of sin. We see this pattern all throughout the book of Judges, with God providing a Judge (leader of the people) who would lead the people back to worship of Yahweh. Eve with the implementation of the kingship, this problem persisted with occasional revivals happening, such as in the time of Hezekiah ( II Chronicles 29) and Josiah (II Chronicles 34).

You would think that with the repeated pattern, escalating to God bringing justice on them for the violation of their covenant with him which lead to the deportation to Babylon for seventy years, would have taught the people a thing or two.

You would be wrong.

In chapter 13 of Nehemiah, despite the work and dedication, and all the reminders that Nehemiah gives us for how God remembers his people, how he shows mercy, how he calls his people to be different from the peoples that are around them – they go right back to mixing the sacred and the secular. Now, as we dive into this keep in mind what we have talked about in previous posts: these separations are based on ethnicity, but are based on recognition of Yahweh and the level of evilness the people groups have participated in, and that a major purpose for ceremonial and Levitical laws is because the Hebrew people were to be set apart from the cultures that were surrounding them. They were to be different – their clothing, overall style, and how they lived with each other was to be different from the nations that were surrounding them. The Israelite problem was that they wanted to be like everyone else, and that is core problem as a nation. Let’s begin to break these down.

One of the ways that the Israelites began to embrace syncretism was that the priesthood began to allow ungodly people into the temple. We see is Nehemiah 13:4-5 that Tobiah, who had been one of the men trying to keep the people from completing the wall was now an in-law to the one of the priests, and he had a room he stayed in which was a part of the temple! Remember when we looked at Nehemiah 10, and looked to Deuteronomy 7:1-4? Having an unbelieving spouse pulls you away from God because when you are equally yoked you will not be pulling in two separate directions. Clearly, Eliashib’s relationship to Tobiah was pulling him away his responsibility as a priest, because the temple was not to be a hotel for Hebrew worshipers, let alone have a regular tenant in the form of a Canaanite. Tobiah had proven earlier while Nehemiah was in Israel (remember that he was only to be there to rebuild the walls) that he was not a believer in God, and had actively attempted to prevent the construction of the walls surrounding Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:10). This turning of a blind eye was a massive failure on the part of the priest.

A religious leader had just blurred the lines between what was sacred and what was secular. The temple, of all place was meant to be sacred – a place that is set apart. But as we have seen throughout Israel’s history, they have often blurred those lines – this was the newest one. It isn’t only about having the sacred and the secular mix – which was bad enough; the problem was that there was no respect for why they were meant to be kept separate (Nehemiah 13:5). Like the example of being equally yoked with another believer, the oxen will pull in the same direction when they are equal; it is when the yoke isn’t equal that there are problems. Without understanding that the Hebrew people were meant to live, not detached from the world around them but differently, so that those who experience them would want to know why they were different. It was meant to point others to God. Christians are meant to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God that is not conformed to the ways of the world (Romans 12:1-2), in order that others see the way that we live and they are able to be pointed to God. It was/is all meant for the unbelieving individual to see the way that a believer lives, how they treat their spouses, their neighbors, their children, their business deals, etc. so that others will see the differences and want to be a part of it.

God uses a descriptive word to communicate what it was that Eliashib did as a priest. He has Nehemiah describes it as follows: “So I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house” (Nehemiah 13:7). It is evil to deliberately do what you know God doesn’t want. We all sin – that is a fact. Sometimes that sin is from ignorance – it is still sin -, but when it is something that is deliberate, that is evil in God’s sight. As I said earlier, by the time we get to Nehemiah 13, we are seeing how quickly the Israelites are falling back into the patterns they had that lead to all these problems to begin with. Judges 2:11 & 18 tells us what the problem was then and what it was in the days of Nehemiah – “the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD’s sight…but they did not listen to the their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other god, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their ancestors, who had waked in obedience to the LORD’s commands.” They never learned.

What they said they believed didn’t match their actions.

Lack of Support

As I have mentioned in previous posts on Nehemiah, one of the ways that God called for the people to support the work of ministry was that they needed to be providing food for the priest. I did a post previously about how a worker needs to be worth his wages, and that we shouldn’t be skimping on doing that for ministers (Nehemiah 10 – Committed to God). Looking at Nehemiah 13:10 we get to see the results of what happens when the temple/church isn’t supported.

For one thing, this means that the priest weren’t being paid. Now, the Levitical priests were not receiving pay the way that we think of it in the 21st century. They did not receive a paycheck that had their taxes taken out. What they did receive was food, lodging, and clothing for while they were doing their duties in the temple. Deuteronomy 18:1 tells the people that they are meant to give to the temple, specifically food offerings, so that they will be able provide for the priests. “The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat the LORD’s food offerings; that is their inheritance.” What this did was provide for the priests, so that they didn’t have to spend all their time working their fields, and it supplemented what they would otherwise have to be farming or raising. They Levites operated on a rotation of being in their homes, working their land, and serving the local community and then taking their turn to serve in the temple based on their family line. If they were not getting any food offerings from the people, then they were having to remain home to provide for themselves and their families. By the time we are looking at Nehemiah 13, Nehemiah discovers upon his return to Israel that “because the portions for the Levites had not been given, each of the Levites and the singers performing the service had gone back to his own field” (verse 10). The priests still had to provide for their families, and if the people were not going to give the portions, then they needed to be working their fields, which meant that they were now neglecting the work they were called to do by God, and there wasn’t someone setting an example for the people in their worship of God, or making the sacrifices.

Second, this also reflected on the people as not giving their tithes. The food offering was meant to be a part of the tithe, which went to specifically providing for the Levites while they were in service to the temple. Deuteronomy 14:22-29 (CSB) outline God’s expectations for them –

Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields. You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and fresh oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place where he chooses to have his name dwell, so that you will always learn to fear the LORD your God. But if the distance is too great for you to carry it, since the place where the LROD your God chooses to put his name is too far away from you and since the LORD your God has blessed you, then exchange it for silver, take the silver in your hand, and go to the place the LORD your God chooses. You may spend the silver on anything you want: cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your family. Do not neglect the Levite within your city gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you. At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for the that year and store it within your city gates. Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come, eat, and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

As you can see, not only were they not giving to God and neglecting the temple and its running, this would also indicate that there were other groups that were being neglected as well, and they were missing a critical part of worship – giving back to God a portion of what he had graciously given to them. Personally, I find this worse than neglecting the modern day tithe – because you got to use some of that tithe to celebrate what God has done and how he has provided. But now, they miss out on a blessing, and they neglect caring for others amongst them.

What they say they believe didn’t match their actions.

Forgetting the Sabbath

Ah, the Sabbath! Whether we are reading in Exodus about the institution of Sabbath or reading the Gospel of John and reading Jesus’ response to the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath, it has been a long standing point that seems to trip people up, no matter what generation they are a part of.

My purpose is not to write a treatise on the theology of Sabbath – others who have devoted far more years to study have already done so, and there are multiple opinions on it – but it IS to show that Sabbath was to hold an important place in Hebrew life and that it was disregarded during the time that Nehemiah had returned to Suza to take his place beside the king. To do that we are going to look at a few different passages that speak directly to what Sabbath is/should be and compare it to how the Hebrew people were practicing it during the time of Nehemiah.

To begin, the Sabbath day was to be set apart from the rest of the week. Exodus 20:8 & 11 records that it was to be kept apart to holy, since God created the heavens and the earth in six days and then rested n the the seventh, he blessed the sabbath and declared it to be holy. In other words, it was not to be treated like every other day of the week. Traditionally speaking, the Hebrews didn’t work on this day (Exodus 16), with the theological principle being that God will provide without them having to be out doing all the work. Or you could say that it was to be the physical representation of relying on God to meet their needs as we see with the manna and quail from their time in the wilderness. By the time we are going through Nehemiah 13:15, the people on treading the winepress, had the market open, and were loading and unloading their goods. It had become a normal day, with the people doing their normal activities.

The purpose of Sabbath was that it was to be a day where the people were reliant on God, and the practice was to extend to their agricultural practices. They were to give their bodies a break from the day-to-day rush of doing all the things that needed to be done, and give their fields an opportunity to regenerate as well. Leviticus 25:1-4 (CSB) reads as follows:

The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will observe a Sabbath to the LORD. You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years. But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the seventh year, a Sabbath to the LORD: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.

In other words, God was telling them to let the land lie fallow for a year, to not work it. This gave them an individuals a chance to rest, but also gave the land a chance to rest and would ultimately make everyone and everything more fruitful. However, by disregarding the Sabbath, the people were not only harming themselves and decreasing their fields’ ability to produce for them, but they were also deliberately going against what God had told them to do. In the same way, modern day Christians are still working day in and day out to try and get ahead, and we aren’t taking the time to rest and celebrate what God has done for us and how he is still providing for us – with rest.

Finally – in our section on Sabbath – God gave a standard for observing the Sabbath. Now, God is omniscient – he doesn’t need to take a day to rest. However, as our creator he knows that we need to rest and be rejuvenated. He gave the example of resting in Genesis 2:2-3 after the creation of man on the sixth day. Mark 2:27 has Jesus reminding us that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. but when we look to Nehemiah 13:18, we see how serious it is that the Hebrews did not follow God’s leading in this. Speaking of how there was day to day activities happening, Nehemiah states, “Didn’t your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!” (CSB) When we choose to ignore something that God tells us to do, that is sin.

What they say they believe didn’t match their actions.

Loss of Faith Heritage

Once the people had returned to the land, they settled in and began to set up house: they built homes, plowed fields, they married, and had children. All of these were normal, natural things to do. A big part of being a believing family (both for the Hebrews and for the Christian) is to teach their children about your faith, and the faith of your religious group. For the Hebrews during the time of Nehemiah, that means that they would have been following a mandate that was given in Deuteronomy 6 – their faith was to be a constant part of their day, and they were to talk of it with their children, so that the future generations would see it modeled, hear of it, and hopefully embrace that faith for themselves. But as we have seen so far in Nehemiah 13, much of what the Israelites claimed to believe early on in the book have not proven to be how they have lived out their lives when there wasn’t someone publicly leading in that direction.

Previously I referenced Deuteronomy 6. Specifically, I want to call attention to verses 4-9.

Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I m giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk bout them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.

What we see here is that faith was to be an active part of the lives of the Israelites. And that faith was to be an inheritance to the children of the following generations. Instead, what we see when we look at Nehemiah 13:23-24, is that the people were intermarrying – something that had proven to be a huge problem previously, because it as I’ve said before in these blogs, when you marry a non-believer the couple is pulling in opposite directions. They also were teaching their children the language of the peoples around them, and not their own language – which would means they would not be able to read the scriptures, or understand them when they were read publicly. They had denied their children access to God’s word, and therefore the ability to respond to it. Google translate was not a thing here. Anything that they heard scripturally would have had to be translated by someone else, and this didn’t occur until the Septuagint (LXX is how it is often referred to). Their children were seeing what their parents were doing (intermarrying, treating the Sabbath as a normal day, and not supporting the priests and Levites who were caring for the temple), and it didn’t match up to what their parents said that they believed. In the case that is presented here, the children lost an important part of their heritage – a heritage of faith.

What they say they believe didn’t match their actions.

Final Thoughts

Chapter 13 is, quite honestly, depressing. We’ve spent some much time going through each chapter learning about who God is and how we are to react to him, that reading about how the people went right back to their old ways is discouraging. They had the correct orthodoxy, but their practices didn’t prove that. Instead, what their orthopraxy demonstrated was that God was a convenient go to when things get hard. Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy were in conflict. But there is always hope. What I see at the end of Nehemiah is two-fold. One, as a leader/administrator you can lead, set an example, and do the very best that you can, but ultimately it is for each individual person to put their own faith into practice. Two, God worked in the heart of Nehemiah to bring him to do the things that he did. That means that God can and does also work with the hearts of people today, calling them to faithfulness and using them to reach others.

As we have worked throughout the book, we see from a leadership perspective that God uses administration and practices to show himself. He reminds us of who we are, and how we repent individually as well as corporately; that everyone is used by God; that not everyone is going to agree with how you choose to do things; sometimes Satan really wants to bring you down and he’ll use different means to do it. And yet, we can also have the confidence that we serve a God that is consistent, that he gives us the means to know him and learn his will, that he tells us how to see that we are committed to him, he shares his character, and he challenges us to have what we believe be a part of our everyday practice.

When I look at all that we’ve covered up to this point, and I think about how active God is in our lives, and how active he was in the lives of the Hebrew people, how constant, how merciful, how he gives people a way to live a life that is fulfilling and full of love, I can’t help but feel like I connect to the Israelites. How often have I done the same thing? How often do I turn to God when I need or greatly desire something, only to go off and do my own thing when I have what I wanted? If you take nothing else away from this study, I hope that it is that we have to decide to follow God. We can have a leader to points us in a direction, but at the end of the day, you and me are responsible for the things that we allow into our homes, into our lives, and how we respond to them. Let your Orthodoxy influence your Orthopraxy, and let your Orthopraxy prove your Orthodoxy.