Key Thought: When Nehemiah returned, the people had stopped giving tithes and offerings, stopped keeping the Sabbath properly, and were intermarrying with other nations around them..
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December 14, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 13:1-9.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Who were Eliashib and Tobia and what did they do that was unacceptable?
3. Personal Application: How do we sometimes downplay the sacred and allow it to be compromised by the unholy and common in our worship and attitudes? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “Why do people allow themselves to be so easily led astray when it comes to Spiritual things and compromise, especially with family and friends?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Malachi 3:10.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. Why is tithing so important in the furtherance of the gospel and maintenance of God’s church?
3. Personal Application: Why is tithing important for our own spirituality and a measure of our trust in God?. Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “I think churches invented tithing just so the ministers and churches could get rich. There are too many fancy buildings and rich mi9nisters running around that I don’t see how that glorifies God. How do we know our tithes are being used in the right way?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 13:15-22.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What excuses do we see for people buying and selling on the Sabbath, when they know better? Do credit cards make it easier to justify buying and selling on the Sabbath?
3. Personal Application: What are some ways you see people trending toward compromise toward Sabbath-keeping? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “How strictly do you promote Sabbath-keeping? Is cooking, doing dishes, laundry, eating out at a restaurant, watching a sports game things you can do on the Sabbath, or are they prohibited?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Luke 6:6-11.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What did Jesus teach about the principle of Sabbath-keeping that the religious leaders didn’t understand?
3. Personal Application: How do we sometimes become too judgmental on other people’s Sabbath-keeping? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

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Nehemiah’s reforms of the temple services included the implementation of tithes and offerings.

Read Numbers 18:21-24; Malachi 3:10; Matthew 23:23; 1 Corinthians 9:7-14; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8; and Hebrews 7:1-2. What do these texts teach us about the importance of tithes and offerings, not just in the temple service, but for today as well?

Tithing

Without the collection of tithes and offerings the temple could not function. When tithing stopped, the services in the temple fell apart, and the whole worship system was in jeopardy. As temple personnel went to look for other jobs to feed their families, they couldn’t focus on taking care of the temple. Consequently, the worship of God diminished.

“The tithing system is beautiful in its simplicity. Its equity is revealed in its proportional claim on the rich and on the poor. In proportion as God has given us the use of His property, so we are to return to Him a tithe.

“When God calls for the tithe (Mal. 3:10), He makes no appeal to gratitude or generosity. Although gratitude should be a part of all our expressions to God, we tithe because God has commanded it. The tithe belongs to the Lord, and He requests that we return it to Him” – Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . (2nd ed). (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press ® Publishing Association, 2005), p. 304.

Just as happened with the Israelite temple, our church would fall apart without the support of the members’ tithes and offerings. Our church services would not function without people who are paid to put time into quality ministry, planning, and management of the church for God. Worship of God would also be diminished in quality. Most importantly though, without tithes and offerings evangelism would be non-existent.

Moreover, we give tithes because God established the system in His Word. There are times when God doesn’t have to explain why He set something up. He expects us to trust that He is in control. We should find out and be informed on how the system works, but then entrust it into His hands.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Read Nehemiah 13:10-14. What is Nehemiah seeking to remedy here?

The singers, gatekeepers, and other temple servants had to go back to working in their own fields in order to feed their families, because the work for God was not being supported. The whole tithes-and-offerings system that was so painstakingly established now lay in ruins. Nehemiah had to start over. The act of throwing everything out of the room shows desperation.

Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com

“Not only had the temple been profaned, but the offerings had been misapplied. This had tended to discourage the liberalities of the people. They had lost their zeal and fervor, and were reluctant to pay their tithes. The treasuries of the Lord’s house were poorly supplied; many of the singers and others employed in the temple service, not receiving sufficient support, had left the work of God to labor elsewhere” – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 670.

It is fascinating to see that all of Judah came together again and rebuilt what had been destroyed. The people were on Nehemiah’s side against Tobiah and Eliashib, because they must have realized that Nehemiah did everything he could for the benefit of the people. Additionally, Nehemiah entrusted the temple grounds overseers’ positions to men whom he considered faithful and trustworthy. They were given the task of collecting tithes and offerings, making sure the goods were stored properly, and distributing the resources to the appropriate parties. In other words, Nehemiah came in and uprooted the corrupt system of leadership seemingly in one fell swoop.

Although Nehemiah appointed faithful men over the organization of the temple, the corrupt High Priest, Eliashib, did not lose his position, because it was handed down through Aaron’s descent. His work in the temple might have been crippled by Nehemiah’s measures of appointing others over some of the High Priest’s responsibilities, but he was still the High Priest.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Nehemiah chapter 13 begins with a concern about Ammonite and Moabite foreigners/idolaters in their midst (Neh. 13:1-3). These verses do not speak about driving away individuals from a different nation or race who followed God, but rather they refer to sending away those who were of a different faith — not converts, but idolaters. (See also Deut. 23:3-6).

Read Nehemiah 13:1-9. Who were Eliashib and Tobiah? Why is what they did unacceptable? Look at Neh. 2:10, Neh. 2:19; Neh. 3:1; Neh. 12:10, Neh. 12:22; Neh. 13:28.

Removing idols

Both Eliashib and Tobiah are known figures in the book of Nehemiah. Eliashib was the high priest of the nation, and he was also in charge of the temple. Tobiah is mentioned as the Ammonite enemy of Nehemiah who vehemently opposed his work in Jerusalem. The alliance of Eliashib and Tobiah suggests a relationship established through marriage.

Even though records of the marriage connection have not been preserved, we know that Tobiah had a Jewish name (meaning the “Lord is good”), and thus most likely came from a Jewish background. His wife’s family, the descendants of Arah, though unidentified, are believed to have been related to Eliashib’s family. Additionally, Sanballat the Horonite, Nehemiah’s other opponent, had a daughter who was married to Eliashib’s grandson. Therefore, the circle of intrigue around Nehemiah must have been intense as the highest-ranked officials in the land were related and in an alliance against Nehemiah’s leadership.

During the governor’s absence, the high priest gave Tobiah one of the rooms in the temple that was designated to hold the tithe, gifts, and offerings. Tobiah was granted permanent residence in the temple, a way of establishing him as one of the leaders of the nation. The enemies of Nehemiah finally achieved what they wanted all along: to displace Nehemiah and be in charge themselves. Fortunately, Nehemiah wasn’t going to sit by and do nothing.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Does it seem that everything goes wrong at the same time? I was telling a friend of mine the other day that it seems I only get speeding tickets when I am absolutely broke.  For example, about twenty years ago, I was driving in the middle of the night across country to see my sister and see about a job. I had just quit a job that was not working out and had no idea what the future held. I had no job, no money, no future, as far as I could see, and then, to make matters worse, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw flashing red lights. Just what I needed— a speeding ticket while I was broke without a job! I honestly had no idea I was speeding enough to warrant a ticket, but the officer was not the least bit sympathetic.

Photograph by William Earnhardt

Needles to say I was very frustrated. I was already feeling down before I got the ticket. Now I was in despair and gloom as I asked God how He was going to take care of this ticket for me, since He knew I had no money when He allowed this to happen. (Never mind the fact that it was my foot and not His on the gas pedal!)

As I was complaining to God about the situation He had just placed me in and asking Him in despair how in the world He was going to provide the money for the ticket, I suddenly realized the obvious: God does not have to provide for this ticket. God does not have to do anything for me! God does not owe me anything! Then it hit me what I was doing. After He created me and died for me, I was withholding my praise from Jesus until He took care of this ticket for me. I finally realized I was blaming God for allowing something that was all my fault. This all happened years before Facebook, but as I write today, I can relate an old Facebook meme that says, “Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that we make bad choices.” As I contemplated all of this while driving in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, I also realized that if God never provided the money for this ticket and stopped giving me any more blessings from that day forward, He still had already given me way more than I deserve! As a matter of fact, Calvary alone warrants all of my thankfulness, praise and devotion, without God ever giving me anything else.

There in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, I changed my attitude from gloom and despair to joy and praise. I decided not to ask God to help me pay for the ticket, but instead just thank Him and praise Him for everything else He has already done for me. I then remembered reading a passage about how Satan cannot stand to be in our presence when we praise God, “

When the evil one begins to settle his gloom about you, sing praise to God. … strike up a song about the matchless charms of the Son of God, and I tell you, when you touch this strain, Satan will leave you. You can drive out the enemy with his gloom; . . . and you can see, oh, so much clearer, the love and compassion of your heavenly Father. (Ellen White, Heavenly Places, p 95.)

Considering the above passage, I thought to myself, “Hey, if Satan is going to try to ruin my day by giving me this ticket (I went from blaming God to blaming Satan, but it wasn’t Satan’s foot on the gas pedal either!), then I am going to ruin his day by singing praises to my God. I started singing praises at the top of my lungs. I was traveling in the middle of the night hundreds of miles away from my friends or family, but I felt the presence of angels as they sang with me. I wasn’t worried about the ticket any more. I was worried about making sure God knew I appreciated His sacrifice at Calvary. (By the way, God did take care of the ticket for me. My sister also happens to be an angel.) I also found a job and a future that outshone my past, but even more impressive were the two lessons I learned that night:

One: God owes me nothing and I owe Him everything. After Calvary if He never gave me another gift, I still have cause to praise him for the rest of my life!

Two: Singing praises to God will change your day and life from gloom and doom to joy and gladness. 

Amen!(1)

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