Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / Nehemiah 13:1-14 - Nehemiah's Last Reforms (Part 1)

Transcript

Nehemiah 13:1-14 - Nehemiah's Last Reforms (Part 1) · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Good morning, friends and faithful listeners. Welcome to the Bible
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Explain podcast on this absolutely lovely Monday morning. Thanks for
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: starting out your week with me. As we read through
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Niamiah chapter thirteen today, and this is a kind of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: a sad and somewhat funny chapter at the same time,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: because we're going to see how things just like go
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: off the deep end in Jerusalem when Niamiah leaves to
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: go back home to be a cup bearer to the
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: king once again, and then when he comes back, he's
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: got a whole mess on his hands that he has
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: to fix. So we're going to talk about that right
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: after a quick message from a sponsor. So if you
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: guys don't hear the sponsored ads, like say, you just
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: hear like a two second pause and then I'm like
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: speaking again, don't worry about it. It just means from
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: my understanding that local advertisements have been full filled and
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything to take their place, and
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: so other people might be hearing sponsored ads whereas you don't,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: So don't worry about it too much. The sponsored ads
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: are still playing somewhere, all right. Let's go ahead and
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: read Neemiah thirteen one through fourteen together. I'll be reading
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: this as always from the web. On that day they
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: read in the Book of Moses in the hearing of
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: the people, and it was found written in it that
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Assembly of God forever, because they didn't meet the children
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: of Israel with bread and with water, but hired balam
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: against them to curse them. However, Our God turned the
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: curse into a blessing. It came to pass, when they
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: had heard the law, that they separated all the mixed
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: multitude from Israel. Now before this, Aliashib, the priest who
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: was appointed over the rooms of the House of Our God,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: being allied to Tobiah, had prepared for him a great room,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense, the
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: vessels and the tithes of the grain, the new wine
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: in the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: the singers and the gate keepers, and the wave offerings
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: for the priests. But in all this I was not
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: at Jerusalem, for in the thirty second year of Art Exerxes,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: king of Babylon, I went to the king, and after
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: some days I asked leave of the king. And I
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: came to Jerusalem and understood the evil that Eliashib had
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: done for Tobiah in preparing him a room in the
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: courts of God's House. It grieved me severely. Therefore I
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: threw all Tobia's household stuff out of the room. Then
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I commanded, and they cleansed the rooms and brought into
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: them the vessels of God's house with the meal offerings
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: and the frankencense. Again I perceived that the portions of
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: the Levites had not been given them, so that the
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Levites and the singers who did the work had each
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: fled to his field. Then I contended with the rulers
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: and said, why is God's house forsaken? I gathered them
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: together and set them in their place. Then all of
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: and the oil in the treasuries. I made treasurers over
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: the treasuries Schlimaha the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: of the Levites Padiah, and next to them was Hannon,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: the son of Zakor, the son of Matania. For they
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: were accounted faithful, and their business was to distribute to
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: their brothers. Remember me, my God concerning this, and don't
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: wipe out my good deeds that I have done for
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the house of my God and for its observances. So
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: it's important to note from this chapter that it's a
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: little bit out of order. Niamiah had to go back
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: home to Persia because don't forget, he was actually the
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: cup bearer of the king, even though he was also
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the governor of Israel. He was required to come back
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: home at some point. And so thirteen years had passed
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: from the time that Niemiah first stepped into Jerusalem until
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: now in Niemiah thirteen, So he had to go back
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: home at some point verse six. But in all of
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: this I was not at Jerusalem. For in the thirty
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: second year of art Exerxes, king of Babylon, I went
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: to the king, and after some days I asked leave
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: of the king. So chronologically, that's the first thing that
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: happens in this chapter. Niamiah returns to Persia stays there
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: for some amount of time. We're not sure exactly what,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: but usually when scripture says something like some days have passed,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: that usually means at least one year. So Niamiyah was
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: in Persia again for at least a year, probably more
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: alike several years before he was able to return once
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: again to serve his next term as the governor. And
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: when he returns, there is a whole lot of issues
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem that he has to take care of. So
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: here's what happens in verse four. Eliashib, the priest who
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: was appointed over the rooms of the House of our God,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: being allied to Tobiah, had prepared for him a great
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: room where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: the vessels and the tithes of the grain, the new wine,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: the oil which were given by commandment to the Levites,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the singers and the gatekeepers, and the wave offerings for
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the priests. So all of that to say, Niamiyah returned
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: trents back to Jerusalem for his second term to find
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: that the rooms connected to God's house have been turned
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: into little apartments, one of them for Tobiah. And you
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: guys might forget who Tobia was, but he was mentioned
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: a lot at the beginning of Namiyah as a man
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: who gave Namiyah and the other Israelites a lot of
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: trouble because of the rebuilding of the wall. For example,
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: if you go back to Niemiah four, verse seven and eight.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Here's what this says. When Sanbalot Tobia, the Arabians, the Ammonites,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and the Ashdadites heard that the repairing of the walls
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem went forward and that the breaches were being filled,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: they were very angry, and they all conspired together to
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion among us.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: So that is who Tobia was. And apparently, going back
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: to Niemiah thirteen, he was somehow related to Eliashib the priest,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and most likely this was the same Eli a Sheb
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: high priest that was mentioned in Nehemiah three, verse one.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Whatever this relation was, it was probably something through marriage
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: and Elias being the high priest and Tobia being the
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: governor of the Ammonites, formed some sort of alliance with
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: each other that Niemiyah didn't learn about until he came
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: back into Jerusalem and found all of this out. And
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: so here's what Eliashib did for Tobia. It says that
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: he prepared a great room for him in Niemiah thirteen,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: verse five, where beforehand they had laid the meal offerings,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: the frank consense, the vessels, the tithes of the grain,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: the new wine, the oil, which were given by commandment
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: to the Levites. So elia Sheeb the priest turned one
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: of the store rooms in the temple into a beautiful
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: apartment for Tobia. Even though these rooms connected to the
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: temple were not supposed to be made into apartment rooms,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: they were specifically made for storage. That is what Deuteronomy
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: fourteen twenty eight says, at the end of every three years,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: the same year, and shall store it within your gates.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: So yes, these rooms were not supposed to be used
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: for evil rulers who wanted to visit Jerusalem to come
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: and live in. They're supposed to be used for the
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: storage of all of the good things in God's house.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: That's what Neemiah says here, says, this room used to
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: hold all the vessels and the frankincense, and the offerings
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: and the tithes, and now it's Tobia's personal apartment. So
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: here's what Neamiah does when he learns about all of this.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: He said, I came to Jerusalem in verse seven and
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: understood the evil that elie Sheeb had done for Tobia
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: in preparing him a room in the courts of God's house.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: It grieved me severely. Therefore I threw all Tobia's household
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: stuff out of the room. So Niemiah finds out about
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: all of this, and he goes into Tobia's room. Most
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: likely he was not there, because don't forget, Tobia was
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: the governor of the Ammonites. Tobia probably was an he
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: in the city. So Niamiah goes into Tobia's apartment and
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: he just starts taking things out and throwing it all
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: over the place and getting rid of all of Tobia's
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: household items. And here's what he commanded the priests and
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: levites to do. He says, I commanded, and they cleansed
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: the rooms. I brought into them the vessels of God's
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: house with the meal offerings and the frankincense. Again, so
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Niamiah did the right thing here, and he did not
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: hold back. These rooms connected to God's temple were never
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: supposed to be used for anything like this, especially for
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: somebody as evil as Tobia. And it doesn't matter if
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Tobia is related to Elia Sheeb, the high priest. In fact,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Jesus himself said that if you love your father, your mother,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: your brother, your sister, your children more than you love me,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: then you are not worthy of me. That's what Jesus says.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: So just because Elia Sheep and Tobia were somehow related,
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: that doesn't give Elia the right to compromise on what
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: the temple was supposed to be. It was supposed to
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: be holy to the Lord, and Tobia was not a
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: holy man. He directly went against God on multiple occasions
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: by trying to fight the people in Jerusalem, by trying
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: to kill Namiyah as well. Tobio was a nasty guy
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: and did not deserve a room in the Temple of God.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: So Niamiyah, after throwing everything out, commanded the priests and
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: they cleansed the rooms. Notice there it says rooms, So
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: they were probably doing this for more people than just Tobia.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: There's probably a bunch of rooms that Elia Sheep had
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: made into apartments. And I have no clue why Elia
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Sheep did this other than potentially money. Maybe these rooms
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: were being rented out. Even so, this was the wrong
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: use of these rooms. They were meant to be storehouses
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: for all of God's stuff, and Niamiah makes them into that.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Once again, it says in verse nine that I brought
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: into them these rooms the vessels of God's house with
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: the meal offerings and the frankincense again, so now everything
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: is sort of back to where it should be, and
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: so now he has other things to do. So jumping
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: back to verse one, it says on that day they
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: read in the Book of Moses in the hearing of
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: the people, and it was found written in it that
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: assembly of God forever, because they didn't meet the children
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: of Israel with bread and with water, but hired balam
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: against them to curse them. However, our God turned the
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: curse into a blessing. So what that is talking about
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: is actually Deuteronomy twenty three three through six. So let's
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: read that, and I'm actually going to read this from
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: the NASB version, which the NASB is actually a literal
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: translation of scripture. So here's what Deuteronomy twenty three three
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: through six says. And this is God speaking. No Ammonite
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: or Moabite may enter into the assembly of the Lord.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: None of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: ever enter the assembly of the Lord, because they did
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: not meet you with food and water on the way
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: against you Balem, the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: to curse you. Nevertheless, the Lord your God was unwilling
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: to listen to Balim. But the Lord your God turned
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: the curse into a blessing for you. Because the Lord
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: your God loves you. You shall never seek their peace
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: or their prosperity all your days. So God directly commanded
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: that the Moabites and Ammonites could not enter into the
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: assembly of the Lord. And you might be like, well, Jen,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: that sounds kind of harsh that they're never allowed to
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: enter the assembly of the Lord. Well, of course, there's
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: always exceptions that can be made, because if you moved
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: to Ruth chapter one one through four, here's what this says.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: In the days when the judges judged there was a
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: famine in the land, a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: went to live in the country of Moab with his
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: wife and his two sons. The name of the man
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: was Alimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: names of his two sons were Malone and Chilean Ephrathites
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: of Bethlehem, Judah they came into the country of Moab
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: and lived there. Alimelech Naomi's husband died and she was
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: left with her two sons. They took for themselves wives
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: of the women of Moab. The name of the one
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: was Orpah and the name of the other was Ruth.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: They lived there about ten years. So Ruth, as is
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: clearly stated, right, there was a Moabite woman. She was
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: not born of Israel. And yet if you know Ruth's story,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: you know that she ended up becoming a woman of Israel,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: started worshiping Yahweh, and ended up becoming the I think
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: she was the great grandmother of King David. So clearly
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: exceptions to Deuteronomy twenty three are made, especially if they're
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: made in Scripture itself. So what is Deuteronomy twenty three
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: talking about. Is God saying that any Ammonite, any Moabite,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: can never become an Israelite, can never start worshiping Yahweh. Well,
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: I would say no, because Ruth converted as a Moabite
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: woman to an Israelite. So clearly Deuteronomy twenty three is
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: talking about something else. Moabites and Ammonites, if they choose
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: to remain Moabite and Ammonite. They have no place among
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: the children of Israel. I would say, even in the
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: day to day business, because here's what it says in
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Deuteronomy twenty three, verse three. No Ammonite or Mobite may
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: enter the assembly of the Lord. None of their descendants,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the assembly
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. So the assembly of the Lord is
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: probably talking about the nation of Israel itself, not necessarily
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: the temple or the worship of Yahweh, but just the
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: day to day dealings with the Israelites. They do not
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: have a place among the Israelites if they choose to
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: remain Ammonite or Moabite. In fact, we actually talked not
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: too long ago about God's love for the foreigner. God
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: cared about the foreigner, and there is a lot of
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: laws in place about how to treat foreigners. In fact,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: there was one law that says you must love the
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: foreigner and treat him as you would yourself, because you
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: were once foreigners in Egypt. So if an Ammonite or
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: a Moabite ended up wanting to become an Israelite and
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: converting over to Judaism, as is the case with Ruth,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: once they convert. You are not supposed to think of
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: them as a foreigner living in your land, but as
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: part of you, as a brother and sister under Yahweh.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: But if an Ammonite or Moabite refused to worship Yahweh,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: then the Israelites should have no dealings with them. And
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: that's what's happening in Neemia thirteen one through three. They
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: read that law, they find out that the Ammonite and
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: the Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: And guess what. Tobia, who Elia Sheep had made an
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: apartment for in God's house, was the governor of the Ammonites,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: and they were directly going against this law that God
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: had made regarding the Ammonites and the Mobite, specific the
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: ones that were under rebellion, like Tobia was Tobia had
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: no place having an apartment inside of God's house. So
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: it says in verse three that it came to pass
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: when the Israelites had heard the law, that they separated
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: all the mixed multitude from Israel. So that's probably talking
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: about the Moabites and the Ammonites that were regularly doing
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: business inside of Israel. Now, on Wednesday, we did talk
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: about how the Israelites in the days of Jesus truly
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: did believe that they were like the cream of the crop,
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: that they were the only ones going to Heaven, and
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Jesus and John the Baptist kept saying, it is not
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: about your heritage, it is about your heart. So it
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: could be that in the days of Nehemiah, this is
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: where some of this belief started coming from, because the Israelites,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: you can almost see them shifting into overcompensation for what
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: their ancestors had done. And this is something that is
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: found in the Tulmud. It says, because of ruth, a
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Moabitis and an Ammonitis can actually become saved and become
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: part of the Assembly of God. But a man, a Moabite,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: and an Ammonite cannot ever enter the Assembly of God.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: You'll find that in the Tulmud, and that is not
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: correct thinking. Once you become a Yahweh follower, you become
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: a child of God and your ancestry no longer matters.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: But if the Ammonite and the Moabite specifically end up
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: remaining in their idolatry and rebellion of God, then they
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: really shouldn't have any dealings with the Israelites, because the
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: Israelites were supposed to be a set apart nation. And
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: what did the Moabites do? I mean, why does God
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: specifically say that you cannot have any dealings with these people,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: specifically because they mistreated the Israelites, when the Israelites were
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: coming out of Egypt and in need of food and water.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: And also because the Moabites hired Balam, the false prophet,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: to prophesy evil against Israel and to curse Israel. But
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: God God ended up turning that curse of Baalam into
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: a blessing for Israel. So God took care of his people,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: and he said, because of the evil that the Ammonites
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: and the Moabites did to you, don't associate with them,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: have no part with them, don't seek their prosperity for
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: the rest of your life. So, while all this is
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: taking place, while Niemiah is basically cleansing to Baiah out
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: of the temple and reading the law to the people
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: how they shouldn't have any dealings with the unrepentant Ammonites
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: and Moabites, here's what happens in verse ten. I perceived
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: that the portions of the Levites had not been given
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: to them, so that the Levites and the singers who
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: did the work had each fled to his field. Then
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: I contended with the rulers, and I said, why is
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: God's house forsaken? And I gathered them together and set
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: them in their place. So Niamiyah finds another issue happening
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: in God's house, specifically that the Levites and the ten
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: temple singers were being completely neglected and the tithe had
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: not been given to them, even though in the previous
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: chapter Niamiah twelve, we talked about how Niamiah put rules
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: in place so that the Levites and the temple singers
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: would consistently get the tithe from the people. If you
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: guys know the Old Testament laws about the Levites and
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: the temple singers, they didn't receive an inheritance from God,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: so they essentially lived off of the tithes of the people.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Now that didn't mean that the Levites couldn't own anything,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: or that the Levites couldn't have other jobs, but because
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: they didn't have like large swaths of land to produce
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: crops and own livestock, they didn't get the same level
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: of funds and income that another Israelite from a different
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: tribe would get who did receive an inheritance of land.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: So the Levites were kind of at the mercy of
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: the people and the temple tithe that came in. And
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Niamiah finds out that the Levites during however long he
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: was gone, had not been receiving the temple tithe, and
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: that all of them, the Levites and the singers, weren't
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: doing their jobs in the temple. They had to go
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: back home and start working personal jobs in order to survive.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: So Niamiyah fixes this very quickly because this was unjust.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: He says, I contended with the rulers, and I said,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: why is God's house forsaken? And I gathered them together
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: and I set them in their place. So he put
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: them in their place. And then it says in verse
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: twelve that all of Judah brought the tithe of the grain,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries. So
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: the leaders did listen, and apparently the tribe of Judah
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: stepped up and they start bringing the tithe into the treasuries.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Because again it could be that the Levites went home,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: a lot of them because they were angry over what
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Elie she was doing. You know, turning the storehouses of
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: God into apartments for Tobia and other Ammonites and whoever else.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: It could be that because the storerooms were changed, there
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: weren't any places to put these tithes. And so now
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: finally that everything is set back in order, the tithes
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: are being brought to the storehouses once again. And it
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: says in verse thirteen that I made treasurers over the
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: treasuries Sellemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: the Levites Pedea. And next to them was Hanan, the
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: son of Zakor, the son of Matania. For they were
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: So Niamiyah puts another office in place, essentially the office
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: of giving the tithes to the Levites. So these people
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: were specifically in charge of this, and they were actually
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Levites themselves, so they would do a good job because
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: they probably wanted to get paid, and they probably wanted
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: their family members who were Levites to get paid. And
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: it also says that they were counted faithful, meaning that
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: they had done good work in the past, and Niamiah
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: trusted these men. And so now in verse fourteen, Neamiah
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: says a little prayer to conclude this portionary read. He says,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: remember me, my God, concerning this, and don't wipe out
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: my good deeds that I have done for the house
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: of my God and for its observances. So he basically
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: asks God to remember him and bless him over all
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: of the things that he is done for the Levites
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: and for putting the House of God, the Temple of
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: God back in order. He tells, God, please remember me
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: for all of this, and don't wipe out these good
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: deeds that I have done for your house. All right,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: faith listeners, Well, I hope you enjoyed that portion of Neamiyah,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: and thank you so much for coming to the end
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: of the episode with me. Before I close out today's episode,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: please listen to this last message from a sponsor. So
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday, we are actually going to finish up Namiah
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: thirteen and talk about some of the other crazy things
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: that goes on in Jerusalem during nea Mayah's absence, as
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: well as finishing up season eleven of the podcast. And
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: then next week we're actually going to be in season
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: twelve of the podcast with the Book of Esther. I
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: originally thought about making Esther part of season eleven, but
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Esther is actually a pretty long book that we can
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: go in a lot of detail with, and I think
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: season eleven could get a little bit too long if
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: we ended up sticking Esther in with Ezra and Nehemiah,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: which is why I decided to move to season twelve
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: next week. I will see you all on Wednesday for
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: the last episode from Namayah, and I'll also see you
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: guys tomorrow for an episode from James. We're going to
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: be finishing up James very quickly, and I'm excited to
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: do that with you all as well. Faithful listeners, have
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: a fantastic and wonderful, wonderful rest of your day. I
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: will see all of you guys tomorrow for the New
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Testament side of stuff, or on Wednesday to finish up
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: season eleven. Happy listening, and God bless the hat after
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: the b