The next step - he kept his sandals on

Last time we studied, we noticed that Nehemiah actually SAW the problem as a problem. The other leaders had just let things go or had not noticed the problem of compromise. Step two was that he got upset -- he had righteous anger (not sinful anger) about the permissiveness and compromise that he saw. We'll see that the next step was one of strong action.

Again, this fits what we know about Nehemiah. He was a man of prayer and a man of action. It wouldn't fit if we thought that Nehemiah simply walked in his house and sat down in his recliner. He could lean down and untie his sandals next. Picking up the paper, he would begin to open it, while he leaned back in the chair and bemusedly said, "You know, it just makes me so mad to see how Israel is drifting from the Lord!" and then bury himself in the latest sports scores or an account of a skirmish at the edge of the territory.

Ummmmm, no. Not Nehemiah!

He met problems head on!

Let's see what he did:

I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9 I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense. (Nehemiah 13:8-9)

In fact, he really did keep his sandals on. No relaxing in the recliner for him. He personally threw Tobiah's household goods, trinkets, and furnishings out of the storerooms! Then he gave orders to purify the rooms.  And then he helped personally put the grain offerings and the temple furnishings and tools back into the storerooms.

This is strong, unmistakable action. There's no room to misunderstand his intentions nor the reasons behind his actions. Can you imagine how Tobiah looked when he came "home"? Imagine his surprise when he saw the pile of furniture and clothes outside, and then his face when he opened the door to his "apartment." There would have been bowls and urns and special boxes of incense, and also bags and bags of grain!

We saw that Nehemiah had reprimanded the officials -- he followed up those words with more actions; he restored them to their posts and appointed faithful men to oversee the collection and distribution of the tithes (verses 12-13).

He had scolded them about the Sabbath -- now he took action on that problem, too. 

 When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love. (v. 19-22)

He not only commanded that the gates be shut and locked on the Sabbath, but he found faithful men to enforce the closure. When merchants (maybe those merchants from Tyre) camped outside the gates, he warned them to leave or he would use force to make them leave. And he commanded the Levites to purify themselves, and then to stand as gatefkeepers.

Remember the problem of marrying outside the faith? We already saw in those verses that he contended with those who were guilty pretty strongly! Verse 28 is another example of his strong actions:

 One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me. (v 28)

He left no room for misunderstanding there, either! Chasing the young man out of town! Why? Remember who Sanballat was? Go back and check those first chapters if you like -- Sanballat was a mocker, a schemer, a hater of YAHWEH, and he was determined to do all he could to stop Nehemiah and the people from restoring the temple and the walls. So when Nehemiah discovered that the high priest's grandson had married Sanballat's daughter, he took action!

Just like when we looked at the contrast between righteous anger and sinful anger, we need to be careful before we confront anyone in sin. We must check our flesh and our hearts; we must be sure that our motives are God's motives, not our own. We must be accountable to God.

And it's true: sometimes a more gentle approach will work more effectively. But being gentle doesn't mean being nice. Not so nice that people don't really "get" what we mean.  Jesus was gentle when he pronounced woes upon the Pharisees and called them hypocrites. Paul was filled with the Spirit when he told the magician that he was a fraudster and a son of the devil (Acts 13).

We see that Nehemiah was well aware of his accountability to God. Four times in this chapter, he utters brief prayers about his actions. He was doing all of this for God's sake, not for his own. I'll just bet, too, that he was going to be under attack after this, even though the Bible's look into his life ends with this chapter. I expect that the people whose lifestyles he was changing were pretty upset with him! But Nehemiah wasn't doing this for a popularity contest - he was seeking to please God by calling the people back to godly living.

A focus on God, just like Nehemiah had, is essential if we want to confront and change the permissiveness of our world. If we lose focus, we can easily become self-righteous and full of pride. We can fall into the trap of forgetting our own sins, and looking down on others. 

Living with awareness and gratitude for His presence will give us the courage to stand, alone if need be, and show His love.