Nehemiah: “Get Your House In Order”
Rev. Randy McLelland
June 18, 2023
Nehemiah 13:1-14
Nehemiah’s Final Reforms
13:1 On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
2 for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3 As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,
5 prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
6 While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king
7 and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.
8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber.
9 Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.
11 So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.
12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.
13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers.
14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

Base Camp Questions
The Book of Nehemiah: “Get Your House In Order”

Read Nehemiah 13:1-14 again.

The natural tendency of a fire is to

1 . What three basic ingredients are needed in order for a fire to exist?

2 . When we speak of a spiritual “fire” in one’s soul, what would be the ingredients needed to start that fire?

3 . Once the wall was completed, the people were excited. They were, once again, on fire for God. Nehemiah left for some years. When he returned, he found that the hot hearts of his people for their God had grown cold. Can you identify some of reasons this could have happened?

4 . Has there ever been a time in YOUR life when you were more “on fire” for God than you are today? If so, what happened? If not, share with the group how you keep that fire burning?

If you’re not as hot for God today as you once were, ask him to show what you can do to see that fire rekindled. (Keep in mind……there may be things you need to put BACK into your life that were once there, and there may be things you’ve allowed into your life that need to be REMOVED.)

Pray for each other, that there will be a desire in each heart to live the life that God has called us to live…..that others, when near us, will see that “glow”
and want to know how they, too, can experience it.