2 May | EVERYONE
«And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.» Nehemiah 13:8, 9
One of the worst tragedies that can befall God’s children is a lack of spiritual memory, an inability to look back, to learn from mistakes to not repeat them. On the other hand, it is easy to see this kind of behavior in others, but not so much in ourselves.
The Jewish people had been exiled to Babylon because they had strayed from God’s ways. They spent seventy years in captivity and then returned from there by divine providence, under the leadership of two men of God, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Already in Jerusalem they had succeeded in building the temple and restoring the city, but when Nehemiah went for a brief time to Persia, the people relapsed into their ancient errors, and upon returning, Nehemiah saw that a work of reform was necessary.
The problem started with their leaders. Eliashib, the high priest, had made a covenant with Tobiah and Sanballat. Do you remember these characters? They had been against the rebuilding of the temple. They were wicked, opposed God’s plans, and hated God’s people.
But now, Eliashib and Tobiah had made an alliance. The high priest had granted Tobias permanent residence in the temple. Faced with this, as recounted in today’s text, Nehemiah showed his displeasure and ordered that the situation be reversed.
There can be no condescension to sin. What is holy is holy.
Take Action
Have you ever overeaten and then felt too stuffed afterwards? By doing something inconvenient, we make ourselves vulnerable to its effects. That is why it is better to abstain from anything that our loving Father warns us about.