Resolute: Pressing On When You Feel Like Giving Up Part 10 – Stay Focused

Resolute: Pressing On When You Feel Like Giving Up

Part 10 – Stay Focused

Nehemiah 13

Why did the people of Jerusalem let their fire burn out; why did they lose focus?

• When Nehemiah left, the people lost the godly leadership they needed.
• With Nehemiah gone, the people lost vital accountability.
• With Nehemiah away, the people stopped supporting the ministry of the temple as they had promised and God expected.

Key Truth: Without spiritual leadership, we are prone to !

18 When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.

    But whoever obeys the law is joyful. Proverbs 29:18 (NLT)

3 Promises Made and 3 Promises Broken

1) The Promise (Nehemiah 13:1-9; 23-31)

• The Israelites were intermingled with people who .

On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) 3 When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent. Nehemiah 13:1-3

• Not only were the people being influenced by those who did not yet believe, but now they actually had an intruder !

4 Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobias, 5 and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests. Nehemiah 13:4-5

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received…3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1;3

• Many of the people had abandoned their commitment to .

23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. Hebrews 13:23-24

26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. Nehemiah 13:26

30 So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. Nehemiah 13:30.

2) The Promise (13:10-14)

10 I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. 11 So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.

12 All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms. Nehemiah 13:10-12

13 … they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites. Nehemiah 13:13

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

3) The Promise (Nehemiah 13:15-22)

15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? 18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.” Nehemiah 13:15-18

22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Nehemiah 13:22

31 …Remember me with favor, my God. Nehemiah 13:31

Important Life Lessons:

• Remain on Christ, burning white hot to honor and obey His Word
• Appreciate strong, godly in your life.
• Be a strong, godly to those who depend on you!
• Make attending regularly, listening attentively, and applying faithfully what you learn from God’s Word a top priority in your life.