Overview
Nehemiah: At the dedication of the wall, Nehemiah assembled singers from around Jerusalem and the leaders of Judah. They formed two choirs. One went south and the other north on the wall. Afterwards they offered sacrifices and there was great joy in Jerusalem. Men were also appointed to serve taking care of contributions at the temple. During the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah people took care of the needs of the temple workers.
They also read from the Book of Moses on that day and discovered that Ammonites and Moabites should not be included in the congregation. They then separated foreigners from Israel.
Nehemiah went back to Babylon in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes. When he returned, he discovered Eliashib the priest had given Tobiah a place to live in the temple. Nehemiah was angry and threw him and his stuff out of the temple. He then had the room cleansed and used for its original purpose to store offerings and vessels.
He also found that the Levites were not getting their portions and went back to work in the fields. He confronted the officials and restored it. He also saw people working on the Sabbath and foreigners bringing goods into the city to sell on the Sabbath. He confronted the elders on this too. He made sure the gates were closed before the Sabbath and not opened until afterwards. He threatened the merchants camped outside during the Sabbath and they didn’t come back on the Sabbath. He also confronted (beat, pulled out their hair) those who married foreign women explaining that Solomon had sinned because of this. He banished the son of the high priest Eliashib because he married Sanballat’s daughter. He and others had desecrated the duties of the priests and the Levites.
He asks God to remember him for making these reforms.
Psalm: David asks God to fight against his enemies. He doesn’t pull any punches but wants them put to shame, dishonored, scattered like chaff, and destroyed. He lists several reasons and they are all personal attacks against him. He tried to treat them kindly but they repaid him evil when he stumbled. He will rejoice when God whacks them.
Proverbs: Putting pleasures first including wine and oil will keep you poor. Wicked and treasonous people will end up paying in place of the righteous.
1 Corinthians: Paul addresses the practice of prayer and prophesying for men and women. He establishes the basis of his teaching on Christ being the head of every man, a man is the head of his wife and God is the head of Christ. He says a man dishonors God if his head is covered and a woman dishonors her husband if her head is not covered. If she doesn’t cover her head when praying then she should shave her head and that is disgraceful. A man should not cover his head since he is the image and glory of God. Woman was made from and for man but man now comes from woman but everything comes from God. Therefore, she should have a symbol of authority on her head for the angels.
Paul asks them to judge for themselves if it is proper for a wife to pray without a head covering. He argues from nature that a woman’s long hair is her glory given to her as a covering but it is a disgrace for a man to have long hair. If anyone wants to argue about it, that is the only teaching he has for all the churches.
What Stood Out
Nehemiah: “Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love” (Neh 13:22).
Psalm: “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me” (Ps 35:1)!
Proverbs: “Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich” (Prov 21:17).
1 Corinthians: “If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God” (1 Cor 11:16).
Insight
Nehemiah: After Nehemiah left, the people of Judah and Jerusalem quickly fell back into their old practices. Not only did they stop taking care of the Levites so they could do the work needed for the sacrificial system and praises the Lord in song, but they treated the Sabbath as an ordinary day. The priest Eliashib was one of the worst offenders as he allowed their previous enemy, Tobiah, to have a room in the temple. He also had his son marry Sanballat’s daughter. Sanballat and Tobiah were the two ringleaders who wanted to stop rebuilding the wall and wanted to kill Nehemiah.
Nehemiah had to clean house when he came back from Babylon. He had the authority and the will to make sure the reforms were accomplished. While we would like to see reforms in many areas of our society, we simply don’t have the authority to get it done. What do we do? We do what Paul tells Timothy. Timothy had his church and he was told to set an example, keep preaching the Word, keep on doing it and keep a close watch on his teaching and his own example and he would save those who hear (1 Tim 4:11-16). We may not have a church or other forum to preach, but we can be examples and we can share the Word in many more ways than just preaching. Nehemiah asked to be remembered for his reforms sparing him according to God’s steadfast love. We need to remember that God will welcome us into his kingdom as our reward but it isn’t because of us but because Jesus has made it possible by his steadfast love dying for us.
Psalm: There are times in our lives when things just get too overwhelming. We feel like everyone is against us and we have been wrongly accused, bullied, or otherwise persecuted. It may or may not be because we are Christians. It could be that we simply are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe we were trying to do something good but others have beliefs that conflict with what we want to do for the Lord and we end up on the wrong side of their anger and even the law. What do we do?
We do as David did. We cry out to him to contend for us. We don’t take vengeance because that belongs to the Lord. We try to live that good life and hope that they will be ashamed of their slander as we try to live godly lives (1 Peter 3:16). When we trust in the Lord, we know that we will be able to persevere through the storms of life, whether they are caused by sinful man or a broken and disease-filled world.
Proverbs: It doesn’t always seem that people who pursue pleasure, wine, and oil result in poverty during this lifetime. However, poverty can be the result when wine results in alcoholism and poor health when one indulges in too much rich foods (oil). From a spiritual standpoint, this Proverb is very true. Putting pleasures ahead of everything else in this life will eventually result in the ultimate poverty in eternity, hell.
1 Corinthians: Paul introduces this topic of how to pray or prophecies with or without a head covering in verse two, which was in yesterday’s reading. “Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you” (1 Cor 11:2). This verse then introduces this as a tradition and not necessarily a command. Some of it is based on the culture of his day and that of Gentile and not Jews. Jews demanded that a person’s head be covered to show that he was ashamed before God. Gentiles saw that being a representative of an authority (Christ) should pray without a covering but a woman had to be covered to show she was subject to her husband’s authority as established by God (Adam Clarke's Commentary, 1 Cor 11:4-5).
Clarke's Commentary confirms that Paul’s teaching in this case was to establish a consistent tradition that resolved divisions and disputes as he specified in verse 16.
So how do we apply this to our current culture? That depends entirely on your culture. I’ve seen pictures of African Christian women who have shaved heads. What would Paul have made of that? I’m quite sure God doesn’t have any problem with it. I went to a cowboy church and discovered that the tradition was for the preacher to wear a cowboy hat. That would seem very odd in my church. I knew a woman that would rip the ball cap off of one of her boys and whap him on the head with it if she saw him in church wearing it. Paul would have applauded her as do people in most western churches.
We don’t want to miss the point of this and previous verses. A worship service should not be a place where there is contention over method or dress for worship. If we are there to worship God, we must have the correct attitude in our hearts before we get upset about the way others are dressed or their traditions. When our attitude is correct, we will forbear other’s peculiarities and not make someone sin by demanding our rights to worship with our peculiarities. We will also allow others to wear their ball caps and not judge their hearts.
Application
When it comes to worship, there are many ways to worship. There are different type of music and ways of preaching. I want to be there to worship our Lord Jesus and not be distracted by what others are doing or wearing. That isn’t always easy but Paul’s instruction is what I need to follow and not be contentious about it.
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