Wise Master Builder #22 | An Incomplete Story

Introduction 

Perhaps one of the most disappointing experiences is working on a large jigsaw puzzle only to find that it is missing a piece. Though Nehemiah’s story has been one of glorious restoration, it comes to a close with the seeming disappointment of some missing pieces.

The Text

On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever; Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing. Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. […]
Nehemiah 13:1ff

Summary of the Text

The dedication of the walls (Neh. 12) is the culmination of the three movements that make up this book of Ezra/Nehemiah. The centrality of worship (under Zerubbabel), the necessity of faith in & obedience to the Word (under Ezra), and the unmingled joy of a resurrected city and citizenry (under Nehemiah) all foreshadowed the glories of the New Jerusalem. Ezra opened (Ez. 1:1) declaring that Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled by these events (Cf. Jer. 31:31-40). It all seems to be coming together, and yet as the book comes to a close, we are horrified to find that the puzzle is missing pieces. 

There is a bit of chronological challenge here in our text. After the dedication of the wall, Nehemiah, we’re told, had at some point returned to his post as the cupbearer of Darius (13:6). There is a 12 year span, and either he maintained his position as governor of Jerusalem from afar, making occasional visits to Jerusalem, or he is appointed to another term and that is what he is retiring for, or his return is simply as a private person. The “on that day” which opens this chapter leaves us asking whether it belongs with the events from the dedication of the temple or in conjunction with this later return of Nehemiah. I would argue for it belonging with this return visit of Nehemiah. Let me paint the picture. Nehemiah returns, and it just so happens that the text that is read that day regards the issue which has prevailed throughout Ezra/Nehemiah: the marriages with idolaters (vv1-3); Nehemiah’s presence puts the people in mind to maintain that which they had committed to previously (10:30), and they make a start at getting back to what they had committed to do. Their failure on this point had some plausible deniability, because even the high priest had compromised by allowing the half-jew, and Nehemiah’s arch-nemesis, Tobiah, to renovate some rooms in the temple that ought to have stored the tithes for the Levites (vv4-5). When Nehemiah returns and discovers this, he tosses all of Tobiah’s furniture out of the temple, cleansing and restoring the rooms to proper use (vv6-9).

Nehemiah then addresses three areas where sin has slowly but surely compromised the house of the Lord. First, the people had reneged on their commitment to support the temple service with their tithes, and no wonder when the priesthood has set such a rotten example for them. So Nehemiah contends with the leaders and upbraids them for their negligence (vv10-13). He then pleads with God to remember his good (but rather unpopular) works (v14, Cf. 5:19).

Secondly, he deals with the Sabbath compromise that had slowly grown from minor infractions of the Sabbath to major negligence of it (vv15-22). He once more deals sternly with those involved, rebuking the Jewish leaders for their abdication, and even threatening the merchants with physical punishment should they continue to violate the Sabbath. For this too he pleads with God that though others may despise him, the Lord might remember him with hesed (v22).

Third, he gets in a fist fight with those who were in mixed marriages. They had sworn to not give their children in marriage to idolaters, and yet here they are again with children speaking with pagan tongues and thus weren’t devoted to the Word and Worship of Jehovah (v24). The people had followed Solomon’s example, which had brought about the very judgement they had just recovered from (v26). Even the priest’s had given his son to the daughter of Sanballat (vv23-28).

So Nehemiah closes his memoir as he opened it: with prayer. This prayer asks God to remember (i.e. bring judgment upon) the defiling priests. And then closes with a brief summary of all he had done, reforming the people and supplying the needs of the temple, and for all this he asks God: remember me.

Remember Me

When Nehemiah heard of Jerusalem in ruins he asked God to remember His covenant oath, that though the Jews be scattered due to their sin God would regather them, even from the furthest corner of the earth, to bring them once more into the house where God’s name dwells. Nehemiah asked God to remember His word, and then once in 5:19 he asks God to remember him in the midst of the usury controversy, and now three times in this closing chapter he pleads with God to remember him.

Ezra/Nehemiah has been a template on revival. One of the principle signs of revival is that God’s people diligently turn to Him in prayer (Zech 12:10). True prayer is reminding the God who cannot forget what He has told us He would do, and to ask Him to remember us in His mercy. Prayer calls upon God to do as He promised and a large part of His promise is to show (remember) mercy to those who come to Him in faith. We plead for this mercy not because we deserve it, or have earned it, but because we have acted in faith. 

Nehemiah’s story has set him in conflict a number of times. His actions for holiness were unpopular. It was certainly tense. It would have been easy for him to become intimidated, discouraged, and think twice. Yet, when revival comes, when holiness pours out, it will necessarily offend. It will necessarily cut. It will necessarily cause some furniture to get rearranged. Nehemiah walked in faith, and he pleads with God that amidst his many actions of obedience, that God would remember mercy towards him. In other words, he trusts God to judge righteously whether his reforms were good and right or not, but he trusts himself entirely to God.

It might be discouraging to see this glorious restoration as so incomplete. The “already and not yet” paradigm of Christ’s kingdom might lead us to apathy or unbelief. In our own lives, we might be tempted to grow weary of well-doing and think that walking by faith doesn’t do any good. When the puzzle seems incomplete, temptation grows strong to leave the path of holiness. But true revival is marked by faith which manifests itself by prayer and holy action. Such holy action will certainly disrupt and cause controversy. But this is not a sign that things are going wrong. Nor is the imperfection a sign to stop trusting what God is building. The missing pieces should spur us to prayer and action, not resignation or relapse into sin.

The Missing Puzzle Piece

When you look at Nehemiah’s story what do you see? A man who weeps over Jerusalem in ruins. A man who is unflinching despite the raging of both Jewish and Gentile leaders. A man who throws furniture around in the temple. A man who calls Israel to repentance. A man given to prayer. A man renowned for rebuilding and restoring Jerusalem.

It seems to be almost a perfect fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy of Jerusalem perfectly restored. But then we are left with a glaring disappointment. This is because, as with other great saints, Nehemiah’s work was merely a faint shadow of the complete work which Christ would bring about. Consider that when Jesus comes He contends with the very scribal tradition which Ezra founded, who had veered from the simple faith of that great man. Jesus found the temple courts teeming with greedy robbers, disguised as priests, who were keeping Gentile worshippers from drawing near, and thus He threw their furniture out. The priesthood which Nehemiah’s closing prayer declares to be defiled and petitions God to remember and judge their wicked ways, is the priesthood which persecuted Christ and thus revealed themselves to be an unclean and inadequate priesthood, thus making way for the perfect priesthood of Jesus. 

When Jesus turned over the money changers’ tables, He did so as Nehemiah had done before; in a sense, answering Nehemiah’s prayer for God to remember his bold deeds done in faith. As Christ cleanses the temple we see that He is the final piece. As Christ cleanses the temple He does so for a particular reason: zeal for the Lord’s house consumed Him. The Lord’s house was set apart to be a house of prayer for all nations.

A House for Prayer

Nehemiah begins and ends his whole project in prayer. This is how all saints are to live, and when the temple of Jesus’s body was torn down, and three days later He rebuilt it, He gave to the saints a perfect house of prayer. When you pray, you pray in Jesus name. You come before the Father in Christ, the perfect house of God. And if you come in Christ, should you doubt that the Father will not hear? The Father invites the Son to ask for the nations, and the Father will give it as the Son’s inheritance.

Consider our own situation and how much work is yet to be done. The WLC frames it well in Q191:

What do we pray for in the second petition?

In the second petition, (which is, “Thy kingdom come”, ) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel-officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate; that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted; that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever; and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.

Prayer demands that you look at the incompleteness and imperfections surrounding you and still pray in bold faith, “Thy kingdom come.” Christ has purchased the World. The kingdom of God has come upon us already. Yet we await the final judgement when our faith will be made sight. The church is beset with persecutions, it is infected with heresies, it is torn by divisive men. Thus, you are commanded to pray: come, Lord Jesus, come. And then, like Nehemiah, work diligently at the section of the wall right in front of you, with a sword in one hand and a shovel in the other. 

Charge and Benediction

As we conclude this series, the charge is this. We live in the ruins of Christendom, we have our work cut out for us, and the duty before us is to pray in faith and then act boldly in faith, trusting as Nehemiah said, “Our God shall fight for us.” I want to especially encourage you to focus your efforts on defeating the referendum on abortion that will be on the ballot this fall: Idaho Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessings of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon, and remain with you always. Amen.