Wow, can you believe this is the 3rd last post of 2011 already? Unreal. I'm so pumped about having been through the entire Bible twice now and looking forward to carrying on in 2012 in a new way.
In Nehemiah today, we talk about what happened after the walls were rebuilt. Nehemiah had gone back to his important position as cupbearer to the king of Persia, but later he returns to Jerusalem to see how things are going. What does he find? Once again, the people have slacked off in their duties. They are not honouring the Sabbath and keeping it holy. They are once again intermarrying with foreigners. They are once again neglecting and misusing the house of God.
Nehemiah comes across, to me anyway, as a bit of a blunt instrument, if you will. He's not a politician. He doesn't use diplomacy or pussyfoot around the issues. He finds someone has been given lodging in the place where grain offerings and such are to be stored, and rather than sitting them down and talking to them about it, he chucks the guy's stuff out and has the room purified. When he finds that the tithes weren't being brought, he rebukes them. (Definition-Express sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behavior or actions.) Not asks nicely, rebukes. Same with the ones who were working and selling things on the Sabbath. He rebukes them. The ones who'd married women from the surrounding areas were not only rebuked, but cursed and beaten! Now, he makes a good point about King Solomon and what marrying foreign women did to him, but boy, it kinda seems like he's letting his temper get away on him.
Having said that, sometimes it's really hard to know how to handle situations where you find someone in the wrong. Do you talk to them gently, or rebuke them? Do you shake your head and say "Someday you'll have consequences for these actions," or do you intervene in some way? Obviously, it depends greatly on the situation, who is involved, and your relationship to the people involved - and definitely prayer should be involved as well!
I marvel (and am thankful) once again that God can and does use us just as we are, as he's created us, with our strengths and weaknesses, gifts and flaws, to accomplish His purposes. Nehemiah may have been a blunt instrument, but look at what wash accomplished! He was strong and decisive and probably offended people, but without him, would the walls have been rebuilt? Would the Law of Moses have been re-read and re-instated?
I'm obviously not encouraging anyone to go around rebuking everyone and cursing and beating on people who disobey God's laws. Not even those people you know should know better. But maybe sometimes we should worry a little less about offending people and hurting their feelings and act in their best interests instead. They probably won't thank you for it at the time, but hopefully they will realize the value in it when they look back on it later. Our motivation, however, should always be from love, a desire to build the other person up (which sometimes requires a little breaking down first), or seeking to restore. We want to show love and kindness to people, as "love your neighbour as yourself" is one of the greatest commandments we are given in the Bible, but at times a stronger, blunter approach is actually more loving than tiptoeing around someone's feelings or standing by and allowing them to carry on down the wrong path until the inevitable consequences catch up to them. By then, it could be too late. Let us pray for the wisdom to know when to use delicacy and when to use the blunt instrument!
Happy Thursday, and Happy New Year!
Tomorrow's passage: Malachi 1-2; Revelation 21.
2 comments:
It always kinda makes me giggle when I try to visualize Nehemiah grabbing men by their hair and beating them... Can you imagine?? What always strikes me is the people's seemingly willing realization here that they screwed up BIG TIME. Even to the point of men sending away their wives and children because they should never have married foreign women in the first place. I guess in most cases, God wouldn't approve of "breaking faith with your first wife" even if the marriage did break God's commands (and especially now with Christ's coming and the redemption and grace we are now freely offered through Him), but here it seems to be exactly what pleased God.
Great post Miriam. Nehemiah sure was blunt that's for sure. And I think, when things have gone so far, there's nothing else that's effective.
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