Nehemiah 13:22-31

Ne 13:22

And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.

Then Nehemiah commands the Levites that they should ceremonially cleanse themselves as they prepare for the Sabbath Day.  Part of their responsibility was to keep or guard the gates to makes sure no one desecrates the Sabbath Day.  The Sabbath Day was to be kept holy unto the LORD.  Then Nehemiah prays one of his short but powerful prayers.  He asks the LORD to remember him concerning his decrees to keep the Sabbath Day holy and if he has done anything wrong in that, he asks the LORD to spare him according to his great mercy.  His desire was to obey the law of the Sabbath and to bring Israel back to that same mindset.

Ne 13:23

In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:

Then another situation which occurred in his absence was that many of the Jewish men had married wives of pagan nations.  Ashdod was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines.  Ashdod was where the Philistines placed the Ark of the Covenant next to Dagon and Dagon kept falling down on the ground.  And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. (1 Samuel 5:3) Then they also married Ammonite and Moabite women.

Ne 13:24

And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.

Then there was the problem of the language of the people.  Instead of the Jews speaking in the Hebrew tongue, instead they each spoke the language of the women they married thus forgetting their Hebrew language.  This would have happened when the mothers who were home with the children would speak in their own language instead of learning Hebrew and then teaching the children in the Hebrew language.  This would have made it hard for the children to learn the word of God since it was written in Hebrew.  It was almost like the tower of Babel where all the languages were confused.

Ne 13:25

And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

Here Nehemiah contended with them fiercely and cursed them.  Not using vulgar language but cursing them by calling God’s curse upon them for allowing the mixed marriages and then allowing the children to learn the heathen languages and neglecting their own.  The contention was so sharp that Nehemiah actually pulled their hair out by the roots.  In ancient Athens they punished adulterers by pulling all their hair out by the roots and placing hot ash on their heads.  Then Nehemiah made them swear by God that they will not allow their children to marry any of the heathen races which were in the area and that prohibition not only applied to their children but also applied to the men.

Ne 13:26

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

¹ But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; ² Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. ³ And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. (1 Kings 11:1-3)

Then Nehemiah brings up the sin of Solomon who loved many wives of different heathen religions and they were loved by Solomon.  In addition to 700 wives he had 300 concubines.  This is also a great verse which teaches the eternal security of the believer.  Though Solomon had sinned greatly against the LORD he was still loved by Him yet there were penalties for his actions.  After he died the kingdom was divided into two kingdoms, north and south.  Nehemiah was attempting to get these rulers and the people to realize that even though Solomon was a great king, he failed in the area of allowing strange or foreign women to eventually turn his heart away from the LORD and there are great consequences from turning away from the LORD.

Ne 13:27

Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?

In other words, just because you want to marry strange wives, should we allow it which also means that you are sinning against the LORD in a great way?  God had forbid the Israelites from marrying the women of pagan religions because he knew it would cause a turning away from him.  Allowing you to marry strange wives would be a heinous sin against God which is one of the sins our fathers provoked the LORD with.  Are you willing to provoke the LORD and to experience his judgments as the forefathers did?  This is also a great lesson for the Christian.  We must never marry an unbeliever but we are to marry another Christian.  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14) 

Ne 13:28

And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.

Since this son was a priest and it seemed that the religious slackness was also prevalent among the priests, Nehemiah chased this man from doing any of the temple duties since he was polluted for marrying the Daughter of Sanballat who was an enemy of Israel.  This man had lost all privileges of the priesthood and was also no doubt cast out of the city so he would not have any influence over those who were still ministering.  The word “chased” carries with it the meaning of “put to flight or driven away.”  This is also a good lesson for the church.  When someone is discovered as being an enemy of Christ, namely an unbeliever, they must never have any position of authority in the church or else them being unsaved would only bring in satanic confusion and would bring in conflict to the congregation. 

Ne 13:29

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.

Then Nehemiah prays an imprecatory prayer because he is asking the LORD to remember those who have defiled the priesthood, the covenant which would also include the desecration of the Sabbath, and of the Levites.  Nehemiah knew that he could only see these problems and attempt to fix them from a human standpoint but he wants God, who knows and sees everything, to keep the priesthood pure according to his ability to see deep into man and know his inner thoughts and intentions.

Ne 13:30

Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business;

Then Nehemiah had cleansed the Levites and Priests from all the strange women and now they were back on track for the time being.  Part of the cleansing was to remove those from office who had defiled the temple and the Covenant.  He then appointed the ward of the Priests and Levites.  The wards were their posts and duties.  To do their business was to perform the duties associated with each particular office.

Ne 13:31

And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.