Read Nehemiah 13:26-27. What does this show about how important biblical history is for informing us about the dangers of deviating from the right path?

Solomon was led deeper into sin by the choices he made. It would be accurate to say that Solomon caused his own ruin by disobeying God’s command for the kings of Israel: “Neither shall he [the king] multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away” (Deuteronomy 17:17, NKJV). Solomon’s life is used as a negative example: not only did he marry more than one wife, but significantly, as Nehemiah points out, he chose women who were not worshipers of God.

Why was Nehemiah correct in reproving the nation for intermarriage with pagans? Gen. 6:1-4; Gen. 24:3-4; Gen. 28:1-2; Deut. 7:3-4; and 2 Cor. 6:14.

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The command not to intermarry was not about nationalism but about idolatry. People in the Bible married non-Israelites. Moses married Zipporah, a Midianite woman; Boaz married Ruth, a Moabite. Instead, the issue with intermarriage in these commands concerns marrying someone who is of a different faith or of no faith. The problem was that the people in Ezra and Nehemiah’s time did not choose to marry believers in God. Richard M. Davidson, in Flame of Yahweh (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007), states: “The Edenic plan for marriage . . . called for a complementary wholeness of two partners in spiritual faith as well as other significant values” – Page 316. The pagan wives in this story did not choose to renounce idolatrous worship. Consequently, Nehemiah was perhaps more saddened than outraged by the choices of the people, since to him this demonstrated a lack of real commitment to God.

The Bible gives us formulas for practices that will keep us grounded in God and are designed to maximize our happiness. In the same way, the command to be equally yoked in marriage was supposed to help us lead a better life and to encourage mutual devotion to God.

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Read Nehemiah 13:23-25. What happened here, and how do we explain Nehemiah’s reaction to the situation?

Since the children didn’t speak Aramaic (the language used during the Exile) or Hebrew, they couldn’t understand the teachings from Scripture. This was a real problem, because the knowledge of God’s revelation could thus be distorted or even disappear. The scribes and priests expounded on the Torah mostly in Aramaic in order to make the preaching clear to the people.

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However, since the mothers were from Ammon, Ashdod, and Moab and were generally the primary caregivers for the children, it is not surprising that the children didn’t speak the language of the fathers as well. The language we speak informs the way we think about concepts, because we use the vocabulary of that culture. Loss of the biblical language would have meant losing their special identity. Thus, for Nehemiah, it was unthinkable that families were losing touch with the Word of God and consequently their connection with the living God, the Lord of the Hebrews.

Biblical scholars point out that the actions of Nehemiah were most likely a public shaming of the people as part of prescribed punishments at that time. When it says that Nehemiah rebuked them and cursed them, we shouldn’t think of Nehemiah using foul language and expletives, but rather that he was speaking over them the curses of the Covenant. Deuteronomy 28 outlines the curses that would happen to those who broke the covenant. It is very possible that Nehemiah chose the words of the Bible to bring them to the realization of their wrong action and the consequences of their poor choices.

Moreover, when the text says that Nehemiah “beat some of the men and pulled out their hair” (Neh. 13:25, NIV), instead of seeing Nehemiah in a rage and reacting with fury, we should note that a beating was a prescribed form of public punishment. This kind of behavior was applied only to “some” of them, meaning to the leaders who caused or promoted this wrong behavior. These acts were to serve as methods of public shaming. Nehemiah wanted to ensure that the people understood the gravity of their choices and the results that would ensue from them.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Read for This Week’s Study: Neh. 13:23-25; Deut. 7:3-4, 2 Cor. 6:14; Ezra 9:1-15, Ezra 10:1-44, 1 Cor. 7:10-17.

Memory Text: “And I said: ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens’ ” (Ezra 9:6, NKJV).

Ezra and Nehemiah became leaders in communities where intermarriage with non-Israelites had become the norm. Both leaders were strongly concerned about this, as they wanted to lead the nation into a close relationship with God. They were aware of the negative influence that non-believers or idol worshipers could have on the people of Israel, as they had seen the terrible effects throughout history. The Canaanite religions spread throughout Israel until Baal and Asherah were being worshiped on every high hill. Moreover, the influence that pagan spouses had on the Israelite families was detrimental. Balaam advised the Moabites to send their women to the Israelites, sure that the Israelites would turn away from God as they fell for these women. Unfortunately, he was right. Not only do spouses influence each other, but also their children’s faith is impacted.

What will Ezra and Nehemiah do with Israel’s intermarriage situation? Will they let it go or stand up against it? This week we will look at the way the two leaders approached this issue.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 21.

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Secret to Happy Home

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Home was not a happy place for Hazel Moyo. Her father drank, and her parents argued frequently in Gwanda, a small town in Zimbabwe. Hazel longed to have a happy family.

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At the age of 14, Hazel made a decision that triggered a chain of events that would change her home forever. She started going to church. She saw other children heading to Sunday services, and she wanted to go, too. So, she took her 9-year-old brother by the hand and went.

After high school, Hazel saw a newspaper advertisement for Solusi University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution located about 2 ½ hours by bus from her home. She met university recruiters when they visited her town, and her father agreed to pay for her tuition.

At Solusi, Hazel soon joined a singing group and asked them many questions about the Sabbath. One of the group members, a young married pastor named Elyght Nyatanga, announced, “I want this girl to be my daughter”, he said. “Every Wednesday, I will pray and fast for her to know God”.

Five other group members liked the idea and, together with Hazel, joined in.

For three months, they prayed and fasted. Then Solusi University held a week of prayer, and Hazel was baptized.

When Hazel turned 23, Elyght presented her with Ellen White’s book “Messages to Young People”. Hazel was touched by the advice for happy families. She wanted a happy family.

“I learned how you approach an angry parent, how you address some of the issues that you have with parents, and how to show honor to your parents”, she said.

A favorite passage says, “There are many children who profess to know the truth, who do not render to their parents the honor and affection that are due to them, who manifest but little love to father and mother, and fail to honor them in deferring to their wishes, or in seeking to relieve them of anxiety”. (page 331).

Joy began to fill Hazel’s home as she followed the book’s advice.

Then during a school break, Hazel invited her parents to read the Bible and pray before going to bed. They agreed! The next evening, Mother asked Hazel to read the Bible and pray again. Soon the family began having evening and morning worship every day.

Happiness now permeates the home, and Hazel is praying for her family to be baptized.

“Now we are a happy family – the kind of family that I always wanted”, said Hazel, left.

Part of a 2015 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering went to Solusi University to double the size of its cafeteria from 500 seats to 1,000. Thank you for your mission offerings that allow Adventist schools like Solusi to work with the Holy Spirit to change families for eternity.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

All Rights Reserved. No part of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide may be edited, altered, modified, adapted, translated, reproduced, or published by any person or entity without prior written authorization from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

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Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “Rejoicing in the Lord”, pages 115–126, in Steps to Christ.

“As he set before them God’s commands and threatenings, and the fearful judgments visited on Israel in the past for this very sin, their consciences were aroused, and a work of reformation was begun that turned away God’s threatened anger and brought His approval and blessing.

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There were some in sacred office who pleaded for their heathen wives, declaring that they could not bring themselves to separate from them. But no distinction was made; no respect was shown for rank or position. Whoever among the priests or rulers refused to sever his connection with idolaters was immediately separated from the service of the Lord. A grandson of the high priest, having married a daughter of the notorious Sanballat, was not only removed from office, but promptly banished from Israel. ‘Remember them, O my God’, Nehemiah prayed, ‘because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites’” – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pages 673, 674.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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