Who occupies the centre?
Neh. 13
When Nehemiah went to Jerusalem to build the wall, “Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab” (Neh. 2:19) created a lot of troubles. But, Nehemiah, knowing that they were just asking for trouble, continued his work and completed building it in just 52 days (Neh. 6:15). After they have finished the building, Nehemiah returned to Babylon. After 12 years, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem with permission from Artaxerxes the king (Neh. 13:6).
In his absence, the people of Judah had neglected the temple and worship. Additionally, Eliashib the priest had “prepared for Tobiah a large room 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” (Neh. 13:5).
Because “the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, (they) had gone back to their fields” (Neh. 13:10).
Eliashib had done a great sin. Deuteronomy 23:3 says, “No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD.” In addition, he had given the most important room to the family of Tobiah, the one who had opposed its building. Moreover, the Levites were forced out and to go to the fields.
Therefore, when Nehemiah returned, all Israelites were separated from all those of foreign descent (Neh. 13:3). He also remonstrated with the officials saying, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” (Neh. 13:11). He also gathered them together and set them in their stations.
From this story, I want us to look at the church today and ask everyone: who do we keep at the centre?
In our service and works for the LORD, what offensive things do we keep and bring inside the church? I wonder what sort of offensive things we may have kept in our personal lives or in the church. In the same vein, who or what would we have evicted from the LORD’s house?
If we have too many Sanballats or Tobias, we won’t be able to move forward in our services. In fact, they will always be our stumbling blocks.
If we always chase after worldly wealth and glories only, how will the LORD become the centre?
Our compromises with sin have become our biggest stumbling blocks in our lives as Christians; and it will become even more so in time.
Therefore, like Nehemiah, let us rebuild the crumbling church today and cleanse it from all the filth that we call greatness in this world and make the LORD and His word the centre of our lives.
