1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,080 Mark and Meridine, would you take your Bible and turn please to Nehemiah. 2 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:16,800 Tonight I want to speak on the theme, is there a Tobiah in your life? 3 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:24,400 One does not have to be a Christian before very long, before finding out that God's 4 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,760 work will always be opposed. 5 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:35,720 As long as there is a devil, as long as there is a world system, as long as the power of 6 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:44,840 sin is working in people, the work of God will create opposition. 7 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:51,360 I am not concerned in my life or in my ministry for that matter when there is opposition. 8 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:57,080 The time that I get concerned is when things go too easy. 9 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:03,880 Jesus said, woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers 10 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:05,880 used to treat the false prophets. 11 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:11,400 That is an interesting statement, isn't it? 12 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,520 He said furthermore to his disciples, if you were of the world, the world would love its 13 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:22,420 own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore 14 00:01:22,420 --> 00:01:26,920 the world hates you. 15 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:32,040 Therefore we should not be surprised when we are confronted with animosity from time 16 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,360 to time in the work of God. 17 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:40,840 In John 17, Jesus prayed to the Father, I have given them thy word and the world has 18 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:48,520 hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. 19 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,680 When the world hates us, we are in good company. 20 00:01:52,680 --> 00:02:01,040 Peter said, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial among you as though some strange 21 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,840 thing were happening to you. 22 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:11,120 The apostle Paul joins with him and says, you yourselves know that we have been destined 23 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,520 for afflictions. 24 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:19,960 That word destined is the same one used by Paul in Philippians 1.16 when he says, I am 25 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:24,720 appointed for the defense of the gospel. 26 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:30,400 As surely as he felt appointed by God to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ, he said, we are 27 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,080 that sure as well to suffer afflictions. 28 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:41,840 Simeon, it is quoted, used this same term, Luke 2.34, when he said, this child, talking 29 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:48,240 about the Lord Jesus, is appointed for the rise and fall of many in Israel. 30 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:53,640 As surely as the Lord Jesus was appointed to that, so you and I have been appointed 31 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:56,160 to suffer afflictions. 32 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:01,000 And there is no better illustration of affliction and opposition to the work of God than in 33 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:07,520 the experience of Nehemiah, this great man of God from the Old Testament. 34 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:18,040 You will recall that Nehemiah was burdened of God to go back to the land of his fathers. 35 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:24,440 Nehemiah was among those who had been carried captive away to Babylon, his fathers were. 36 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:31,440 He had been raised there and had risen in prestige and power in the land to the point 37 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:39,220 of even being the cup bearer for the king, which was a very significant position. 38 00:03:39,220 --> 00:03:45,320 He tasted the wine that the king drank so that it would be assured that the king was 39 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,920 not getting any poison. 40 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:54,560 When the king would have hundreds of officials around him and servants, it was the cup bearer 41 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,000 who stood by him. 42 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:03,000 And when they all left, it was the cup bearer who stood at the door who served actually 43 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,520 as the appointment secretary for the king. 44 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:13,560 That was Nehemiah in Babylon in the time of the Persian rule. 45 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:18,440 But God laid it on his heart to go back to Jerusalem to undertake the building of the 46 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,920 wall. 47 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:26,360 We will not take time to read about all of that except to turn to chapter 2 and verse 48 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:32,600 10. 49 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:39,680 When Nehemiah got back and began to survey the work and to see what was taking place, 50 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:50,400 there were two or actually three men who began to oppose Nehemiah in his ministry of building. 51 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:57,720 Verse 10 of chapter 2 says, And when Sanballet the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official 52 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:04,520 heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare 53 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,560 of the sons of Israel. 54 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:15,200 Despite that, Nehemiah went out at night and reconnetered to find out what condition the 55 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,160 walls were actually in. 56 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:24,440 And in verse 18, he gathers the Jews together to share with them his burden. 57 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:29,240 And he says, I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about 58 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,280 the king's words which he had spoken to me. 59 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:35,440 Then they the people said, Let us arise and build. 60 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,880 And so they put their hands to the good work. 61 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:46,400 But when Sanballet the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab 62 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,520 heard it, they mocked us and despised us. 63 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:58,160 The two men I really want to focus on are Sanballet and Tobiah, and particularly Tobiah. 64 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:03,560 These three men were officials of the area around Jerusalem. 65 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:12,920 Sanballet the Horonite was perhaps the governor of Samaria, that area north of Jerusalem which 66 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:20,480 had been conquered by Assyria hundreds of years before this. 67 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:25,240 This term the Horonite has two possible origins. 68 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:33,480 It may mean that he was from Horoneum in Moab, which would have meant that he was a Moabite. 69 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:42,640 But more likely he was from a town of Samaria called Bethhoron, and thus he was called Sanballet 70 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:43,640 the Horonite. 71 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:49,080 Josephus, the Jewish historian, says it that way. 72 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:53,760 And there were some archaeological discoveries in recent years that also indicated that he 73 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,680 was the governor of Samaria. 74 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:06,720 Now this man Tobiah the Ammonite was perhaps the governor of another area called Ammon, 75 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:11,560 where today there is the city of Ammon in Jordan. 76 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,120 Very same area, very same city as a matter of fact. 77 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:17,360 Ammon is a very, very ancient city. 78 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:26,400 Tobiah the Ammonite was probably the governor of that area to the east of Jerusalem. 79 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:34,120 He was a descendant of a man by the name of Ben Ammi. 80 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:40,340 If you read your Bible in the Old Testament you will recall that Ben Ammi was the descendant 81 00:07:40,340 --> 00:07:47,600 of Lot when he committed incest with his younger daughter. 82 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:52,600 It is a sordid story found at the end of Genesis chapter 19. 83 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:59,600 His two daughters as they lived in the cave, having lost all of their possessions because 84 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:06,160 of Lot's worldly living, his two daughters got him drunk and they committed incest on 85 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,000 successive nights. 86 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:15,560 The result of the birth of a son to the older daughter was the Moabites. 87 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:24,240 The result of the child of the younger daughter was the Ammonites of which Tobiah was a member. 88 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:29,900 The Ammonites were allied often with Israel's enemies. 89 00:08:29,900 --> 00:08:34,220 They worshipped the god Malik. 90 00:08:34,220 --> 00:08:43,080 These two men, Sen Ballet and Tobiah, along with an Arab, Gesham, who was also a political 91 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:49,440 leader in that area, allied themselves to oppose the work of Nehemiah. 92 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:55,400 They did not want the walls to the city rebuilt. 93 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,160 They used a number of tactics. 94 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:06,040 In verse 19 we see them intimating rebellion in this project. 95 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:13,040 You notice the three of them mocked us, says Nehemiah, and despised us and said, what is 96 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,720 this thing you're doing? 97 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:21,160 Are you rebelling against the king, that is the king of Persia? 98 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:26,080 And so they began to mock them, to deride them, and to say, I know what you're up 99 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:27,640 to. 100 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:32,680 You are leading an insurrection, aren't you, against the king of Persia? 101 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:37,480 Of course, Nehemiah wouldn't be real excited about that report getting back to the king, 102 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,700 but it didn't stop him. 103 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:48,320 In chapter 4, verses 1 through 3, we find another tactic that they used as they tried 104 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,320 to oppose the work of God. 105 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:57,160 It came about that when Sen Ballet heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious 106 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:01,360 and very angry and mocked the Jews. 107 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:06,440 And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria, where he was 108 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:11,600 governor, and said, what are these feeble Jews doing? 109 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,520 Are they going to restore it for themselves? 110 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:16,380 Can they offer sacrifices? 111 00:10:16,380 --> 00:10:18,960 Can they finish in a day? 112 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:25,560 Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble, even the burned ones? 113 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:31,080 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, even what they are building, if a 114 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:38,280 fox had jumped on it, he would break their stone wall down. 115 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:48,440 And with that they mocked, they laughed, they derided the Jews because of their work, but 116 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,040 it didn't stop them. 117 00:10:52,040 --> 00:11:01,240 Verse 7, now it came about when Sen Ballet, Tobiah the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites 118 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:07,520 heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be 119 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:11,400 closed, they were very angry. 120 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:16,460 And all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a 121 00:11:16,460 --> 00:11:19,000 disturbance in it. 122 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:28,160 And so their plan was now to create a disturbance, a riot if you please, and in so doing to intimidate 123 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:34,360 the Jews to stop their work, but they would not be intimidated. 124 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:40,600 They prayed to God, and they set up a guard against them day and night and went on with 125 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:42,120 their work. 126 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:43,920 They would not accept intimidation. 127 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:50,000 It reminds me of the Marine Sergeant that I heard about who spoke to his men, and he 128 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:55,840 said, men we are surrounded on every side by the enemy. 129 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,800 Don't let one of them escape. 130 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:04,200 That's what you call feeling to be intimidated. 131 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:09,680 Chapter 6, verse 1, we come to another tactic. 132 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:15,480 We've seen intimidation, we've seen the intimation of rebellion, we've seen ridicule 133 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,320 and mockery. 134 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:26,360 Now it came about when it was reported to Sen Ballet, Tobiah, to Gasham the Arab, and 135 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:32,000 the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, 136 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,960 although at that time I had not set up the doors and the gates. 137 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:44,300 The Sen Ballet and Gasham sent a message to me saying, come, let us meet together at Sherifim 138 00:12:44,300 --> 00:12:47,040 in the plain of Ono. 139 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,000 And they were planning to harm me. 140 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,640 So I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. 141 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:55,640 Why should the work stop? 142 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,800 Why leave it and come down to you? 143 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:03,480 They said, Nehemiah, come over for a summit conference. 144 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:05,920 We'd like to meet you at the plain of Ono. 145 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:09,520 And Nehemiah said, oh no. 146 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:13,520 Oh no, I will not come down. 147 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:15,720 I will not leave the work. 148 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,400 He knew that they were going to attempt to harm him physically, perhaps even assassinate 149 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:25,780 him at that conference, and so he refused to go. 150 00:13:25,780 --> 00:13:27,640 Verse 5, they tried something else. 151 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:33,060 Then Sen Ballet sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open 152 00:13:33,060 --> 00:13:36,160 letter in his hand. 153 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:41,120 In it was written, and here he quotes the letter, it is reported among the nations and 154 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:47,400 Gashamu says, that would make a great title for a sermon on gossip. 155 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:54,280 It is reported among the nations and Gashamu says that you and the Jews are planning to 156 00:13:54,280 --> 00:14:00,480 rebel, therefore you are rebuilding the wall and you are to be their king according to 157 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,400 these reports. 158 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:10,440 And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you a king is in Judah. 159 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:16,160 What was happening, they were taking the words about the coming Messiah and misapplying them 160 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:22,360 to Nehemiah on purpose, twisting, distorting the message to intimate that Nehemiah wanted 161 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:23,360 to be king. 162 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:29,200 And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. 163 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,280 So now come, let us take counsel together. 164 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,800 You see what they're trying to do? 165 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:40,280 Then I sent a message to him saying such things as you are saying have not been done, but 166 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,080 you are inventing them in your own mind. 167 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:50,840 And so here is an attempt at slander, at open slander, and again intimidation, trying to 168 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,840 get them to stop before the work is finished. 169 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,920 But they didn't stop. 170 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:03,920 Verse 10, when I entered the house of Shemiah, the son of Deliah, son of Mahedabel, who was 171 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:09,880 confined at home, he said, let us meet together in the house of God within the temple. 172 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,960 Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are 173 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,120 coming to kill you at night. 174 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:22,520 But I said, should a man like me flee, and could one such as I go into the temple to 175 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:23,520 save his life? 176 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:25,040 I will not go in. 177 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:31,720 Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me 178 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:37,560 because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 179 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:41,560 He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and 180 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:49,160 sin so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. 181 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:59,360 These two, Sanballat and Tobiah, had hired this Jewish prophet to deliver a false prophecy 182 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:01,080 to Nehemiah. 183 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:05,680 You see, their attempt was that they might be able by this treachery to get him to enter 184 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:12,720 into the holy place in the temple unlawfully, a place he did not belong, and thus trip him 185 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:18,760 up, ruin his testimony among the people, and thus compromise him as their leader. 186 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:24,760 But God gave him wisdom to see that, and it did not work. 187 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:33,120 Verse 15 says, So the wall was completed on the 25th of the month of Elul in 52 days. 188 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,920 An amazing, amazing piece of engineering. 189 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:41,280 It goes on to say, And it came about when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations 190 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:42,840 surrounding us saw it. 191 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:47,520 They lost their confidence, for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with 192 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,080 the help of our God. 193 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:54,740 And in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters 194 00:16:54,740 --> 00:16:56,640 came to them. 195 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:02,000 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shekiniah, 196 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:07,000 the son of Erra, and his son Jehoahnan had married the daughter of Meshulam, the son 197 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:08,240 of Barakiah. 198 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:13,600 Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words 199 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:14,760 to him. 200 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:16,840 Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me. 201 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:17,840 What's happening here? 202 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,920 Well, the work had been finished. 203 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:27,440 But Tobiah takes up correspondence with some of the leading families of Judah, particularly 204 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:36,800 those families that were in some way related to him by marriage, and perhaps who were obligated 205 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,400 to him in other ways. 206 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:47,920 And his aim was to create hostility among those leading families against Nehemiah. 207 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:52,440 And so there were spies who would report what Nehemiah said in private, and it would go 208 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:58,640 back and forth in these letters from Tobiah to the elders and from them back to Tobiah. 209 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,120 But it didn't work. 210 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:07,240 In addition to all of these tactics from the enemies without, Nehemiah had problems from 211 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,920 within the house of Israel and we'll not take time to even look at those as they're 212 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,320 recorded in this book. 213 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,520 The thing I want to point out to you that despite the opposition, from what could be 214 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:30,640 called I think a well-organized opposition, the work went on and was accomplished. 215 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:38,200 You know, we have enemies as a church outside of us, enemies that I hope we have not created 216 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,760 by anything we have done. 217 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,000 We should not be surprised by that. 218 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:51,160 I think, Paul, of the experience that the Edina Church has had in several of its programs 219 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:59,440 when the neighborhood was up in arms, that the church was growing and going to build. 220 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:05,760 And some concerns they had were legitimate, I suppose, but by and large the opposition 221 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:13,160 was fed by rumor and misunderstanding and where it came from only the devil knows. 222 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:18,160 Anytime the work of God goes forward, even in a literal physical building like that, 223 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:24,800 you can expect opposition to the point of politics in the community, to the point of 224 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:29,320 a passing of a resolution in Edina that prohibits, I think for the next year, isn't it, any 225 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,880 construction by a non-profit organization? 226 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,360 Isn't that right? 227 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:39,960 Which isn't going to affect the church because they don't intend to build it anymore for 228 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:44,800 the next year, anyway. 229 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,280 Recently I received a letter. 230 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:52,280 Whenever people join our church, we send a letter if they request it to the church they're 231 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:57,600 coming from to let them know that they should remove that person from their membership. 232 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:01,560 And I got a letter back, scrawled on the bottom of it. 233 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:03,680 This is the original letter we had sent from the pastor. 234 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:04,840 That church was all not named. 235 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:05,840 It's a liberal church. 236 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:07,160 It just scrawled on the bottom of it. 237 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:12,080 I've taken note of the content of your letter with sheep stealers like you around. 238 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:13,920 The end times must surely be close. 239 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:19,320 And then he signed it. 240 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,960 We can expect that, folks. 241 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,040 And it should not greatly alarm us. 242 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:30,440 Though we don't enjoy that, it should not greatly alarm us when there is opposition. 243 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,880 We should expect that. 244 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,860 Now Nehemiah made some interesting decisions in the light of all of this after the work 245 00:20:37,860 --> 00:20:38,860 was done. 246 00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:46,000 In the first place, he appointed his brother to be the governor of Jerusalem. 247 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:52,040 A good move on his part because this man was a faithful man and he feared God more than 248 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:56,200 many, which is not a bad report. 249 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:01,280 In addition to that, he began to list all the people according to their genealogy so 250 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,520 that the nation could get itself straightened out. 251 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,300 There was so much intermarriage. 252 00:21:07,300 --> 00:21:17,940 In the midst of all of that, Ezra and the priests led the nation in a great revival. 253 00:21:17,940 --> 00:21:20,160 We talked about that a couple of weeks ago. 254 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,160 Chapters 8 through 10 speak about what happened. 255 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:31,020 And it culminated with a national covenant and a great reformation in the nation. 256 00:21:31,020 --> 00:21:39,040 Those who had married wives of he the nations around them put away their wives. 257 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:45,560 They restored their marriages to pure marriages. 258 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,720 The wall was rededicated. 259 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,360 And then Nehemiah returned to Babylon. 260 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:55,320 This was about 12 years actually after he had come. 261 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,200 But the king had said, now Nehemiah don't belong. 262 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,640 And he said, well, I probably won't be. 263 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,120 And 12 years later, he came back. 264 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,040 In reading the book, though, you'll notice that in the meantime, he got permission. 265 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,240 He got an extension of his time in Jerusalem. 266 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:14,400 But the time came when he had to go back. 267 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:20,840 After a period of time in Babylon, Nehemiah again returned to Jerusalem. 268 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:22,920 We don't know how long that may have been. 269 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:24,520 Maybe five years, seven years. 270 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:25,520 We don't really know. 271 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,400 But he returned. 272 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,400 And this is where I want us to focus as we bring this message to a close. 273 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:38,520 In chapter 13, between chapters 12 and 13, there are probably, as I've said, several 274 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:40,400 years. 275 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:47,640 And during that period of time, Malachi, who was used of God to write the final book of 276 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,280 the Old Testament, preached among the people in Jerusalem. 277 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:58,160 Well, it says in chapter 13, verse 1, on that day they read aloud from the book of Moses 278 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,320 in the hearing of the people. 279 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:07,800 And there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite, remember who the Ammonites 280 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:08,800 and the Moabites were? 281 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:15,000 I told you earlier, descendants of Lot by his daughters, that none of them should ever 282 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:20,200 enter the assembly of God because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and 283 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,520 water but hired Balaam against them to curse them. 284 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:25,920 That goes back to the Willem's journey. 285 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,360 However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 286 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:35,080 How often that happens when God's work is opposed. 287 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:40,920 So it came about that when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel. 288 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:42,360 So again, there was a reformation. 289 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:48,240 And this is only a few years after the great revival we talked about earlier. 290 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,200 But the people had slipped back into their old ways. 291 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:55,960 You see, they weren't a whole lot unlike us. 292 00:23:55,960 --> 00:24:04,400 Now prior to this, Eliashib, the priest who was appointed over the chambers of the house 293 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:14,120 of our God, being related to Tobiah, remember him, had prepared a large room for him where 294 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:18,120 formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils, and the tithes 295 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:22,720 of grain, wine, oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the 296 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,360 contributions for the priests. 297 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:31,680 But he says, during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year 298 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,760 of our exerxes, king of Babylon, I had gone to the king. 299 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,820 After some time, however, I asked leave from the king and I came to Jerusalem and learned 300 00:24:39,820 --> 00:24:45,600 about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by preparing a room for him in the 301 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:49,080 courts of the house of God. 302 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:55,120 And it was very displeasing to me, so I threw out all of Tobiah's household goods out 303 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:56,120 of his room. 304 00:24:56,120 --> 00:25:00,800 And then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms and I returned there the utensils 305 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:09,320 of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense. 306 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:15,080 Reception from the tribes around them, specifically the Ammonites and the Moabites, was necessary 307 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:20,820 again. 308 00:25:20,820 --> 00:25:29,640 But there was one exception to that, and that was Eliashib's arrangement with Tobiah. 309 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:36,500 This is the very same Tobiah who had fought tooth and nail to keep Nehemiah and the people 310 00:25:36,500 --> 00:25:41,200 from rebuilding the walls, the very same character. 311 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:48,240 But Eliashib was related to Tobiah. 312 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,920 He was not only related to Eliashib, but to several other leaders, as we have already 313 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:53,920 suggested. 314 00:25:53,920 --> 00:26:04,120 And as a result of his political pull, Tobiah caused an area of the temple structure to 315 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:10,000 be emptied of its normal contents and he set up house there. 316 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:16,560 And this was all by permission of Eliashib, who was probably the high priest. 317 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:21,080 Everybody else apparently had obeyed the law of separation. 318 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:26,520 The Ammonites were kicked out, the Moabites were kicked out, except for this Ammonite, 319 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:27,720 Tobiah. 320 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:34,360 In doing so, Eliashib deliberately compromised God's Word, God's holiness, by allowing 321 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:38,720 Tobiah to remain. 322 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,720 And the only remedy for that was a cleansing. 323 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:48,800 Nehemiah threw out all of his belongings and probably they were thrown out and burned in 324 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,300 the garbage dump in the Valley of Hinnom. 325 00:26:52,300 --> 00:26:59,000 And then, according to the law of God, he cleansed that part of the temple and caused 326 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:07,320 the utensils and the goods that belonged there to be stored there once again. 327 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,400 There's an application, people, that I want to make to us. 328 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:20,200 And that is, as I asked earlier, is there a Tobiah in your life? 329 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:27,440 You may feel that there is a cleansing of your life, that you have gotten rid of those 330 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:31,040 things that ought not to be a part of you. 331 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:39,280 But I wonder if you have retained, as Eliashib did, something that doesn't belong. 332 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:47,120 If you have protected, for one reason or another, something that is inconsistent with your position 333 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:52,080 as a child of God. 334 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:58,880 Perhaps as Eliashib found, there is a relationship that is more dear to you than total obedience 335 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:04,040 to Jesus Christ. 336 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:10,920 Believe it or not, Eliashib, the high priest of Israel, was willing to work in cooperation 337 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,760 with Tobiah, the enemy of the Lord. 338 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,840 It reminds me of King Jehoshaphat. 339 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:19,800 Do you remember him? 340 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,280 Sure you do. 341 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:29,440 King Jehoshaphat was one of the good kings of Judah. 342 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:40,280 And he had a son who married the daughter of a fellow who lived north of him a ways by 343 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:42,600 the name of Ahab. 344 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:52,760 He was married to a woman by the name of Jezebel. 345 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:58,640 That marriage caused Jehoshaphat, the good king, the godly king, for the most part, of 346 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:03,640 Judah, to be willing to make an alliance with Ahab. 347 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,240 Ahab came and said, you know, I've got some enemies over here. 348 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,360 Would you fight with me against them? 349 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,400 And Jehoshaphat looked at him and said, oh yeah, they are my enemies too. 350 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:13,400 Let's get together. 351 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:15,440 We'll wipe them out. 352 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:16,760 We'll just smear them. 353 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:18,280 We'll do them in. 354 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,120 We'll work together at this thing. 355 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:21,320 And so they did. 356 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,320 And you know what happened? 357 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,800 Jehoshaphat almost got killed. 358 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:32,720 God didn't bless that battle because there was an alliance that was unequal between a 359 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:38,200 godly king and a very ungodly king. 360 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,920 God spared the life of Jehoshaphat. 361 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:43,920 Ahab was killed. 362 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:54,000 But when he got back to Jerusalem, God sent a prophet, knocked on the door, and came in 363 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,000 to talk to Jehoshaphat. 364 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,640 You know what he said? 365 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:08,800 He said, Jehoshaphat, why do you love those that hate the Lord? 366 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,720 My friend, that's a question to ponder. 367 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,700 Eliashib, why do you love Tobiah? 368 00:30:16,700 --> 00:30:18,200 He hates the Lord. 369 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:23,640 And yet you've made a room for him in the temple. 370 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:29,760 I want to ask you the same question, that thing that you're protecting in your life, 371 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:36,640 that you will not yield to Jesus Christ, that area of your temple where you have said to 372 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:38,840 the Lord, do not enter. 373 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:54,080 Why do you love that instead of the Lord? 374 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:57,960 You may feel that your life is pretty well cleaned up, and yet somehow you cannot get 375 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:04,360 joy in the Christian life, or you cannot experience the fullness of God's blessing in your ministry, 376 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,000 your teaching, whatever you do. 377 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:11,600 And you say, what is it that's interfering in my service for the Lord? 378 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:18,720 Have you considered that it could be a Tobiah? 379 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:25,360 The Tobiah perhaps of pride or self-glory? 380 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:27,880 Why do you do what you do? 381 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,760 Is it for yourself that you might be prominent, that people might look at you and say, what 382 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,720 a successful person. 383 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,160 This guy has sacrificed so much. 384 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:37,160 Isn't it amazing? 385 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:39,440 Is that what you're looking for? 386 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:45,840 Then my friend, that is a Tobiah to you, that is hindering God's work in your life, the 387 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,680 lack of submission. 388 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:54,560 What about the Tobiah of jealousy, of comparing yourself to others and saying, well, how come 389 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:55,880 that person gets a break? 390 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,360 Why don't I get this? 391 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,840 My friend, that is a Tobiah that you're allowing in your temple that's going to hinder the 392 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:04,800 Spirit of God from working your life. 393 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:09,120 What about the Tobiah of anger? 394 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:12,360 You may have your act pretty well together as a Christian, but somehow there is that 395 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,520 Tobiah of anger. 396 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:24,200 And when something hits you wrong, you fly into a rage. 397 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:29,240 God's blessing will never be yours until you deal with that Tobiah. 398 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:34,360 What about the Tobiah of impurity? 399 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:38,960 You're doing pretty well in the Christian life, but there's a problem in some of the 400 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,360 things you read and look at. 401 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:50,800 In your mind, if it could be displayed on a television, it would be rated R or X or 402 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:55,140 worse. 403 00:32:55,140 --> 00:32:59,640 You may be a humble person, you may be a patient person, but my friend, if you've got the 404 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,120 Tobiah of impurity, God's blessing will not be in your life. 405 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:04,600 It's that simple. 406 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:09,560 What about the Tobiah of gossip? 407 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:15,440 The Tobiah of a critical spirit. 408 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:22,360 Dear people, it is time for you and for me to do what Nehemiah did, to see where the 409 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:28,760 Tobias are that are afflicting us and keeping the hand of God's blessing off of our lives 410 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,280 and deal with that Tobiah. 411 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:40,560 And there's only one way to do it, and that's drastically. 412 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:48,200 To kick that Tobiah out and to cleanse the life, how do you do that? 413 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:56,480 It begins by an honest admission before God that Tobiah is in your temple. 414 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:05,000 And then saying, Lord, I go with you into this temple of mine, and together with your 415 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:11,600 strength I remove this Tobiah from my life. 416 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,640 And I ask you to cleanse me. 417 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:17,520 You know what will happen when you do that? 418 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:22,120 God's blessing will fall. 419 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,680 It did in Israel. 420 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:29,440 And what happened to them will happen to you. 421 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:39,040 Let's pray. 422 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:44,640 Heavenly Father, search our hearts. 423 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:57,720 Try us and see if there be any wicked way in me. 424 00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:04,160 Father cleanse and purge us of Tobias. 425 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:11,200 Forgive us for loving those who hate the Lord. 426 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:20,400 Forgive us for loving that which is unholy and hindering your Spirit's freedom in our 427 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,760 lives. 428 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:32,600 And give us tonight, I pray, hearts of repentance that our temples may be cleansed and Tobiah, 429 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:37,360 whatever that may mean to each of us, be removed. 430 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:41,760 In Jesus' name, amen. 431 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,340 Would you take your hymnal and turn to 317? 432 00:35:44,340 --> 00:35:49,160 With this we will close. 433 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:56,240 Search me, O God, and know my heart today. 434 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:59,860 Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. 435 00:35:59,860 --> 00:36:03,120 Can we pray with you? 436 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:09,120 Can we get down on our knees together in a quiet place in this church and share with 437 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:15,500 you that struggle, that spiritual battle with Tobiah? 438 00:36:15,500 --> 00:36:17,820 Can we have that privilege? 439 00:36:17,820 --> 00:36:23,080 My friend, don't go out with your heart breaking, with that struggle remaining in your life, 440 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,780 but deal with it tonight. 441 00:36:25,780 --> 00:36:28,520 I invite you to come here to the front. 442 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:30,480 Yes, it will take humility. 443 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:33,320 Yes, it will take courage. 444 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:38,920 But my friend, if you want the blessing of God, you have to deal with Tobiah. 445 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:49,600 Let's stand together as we sing. 446 00:36:49,600 --> 00:37:01,200 Search me, O God.