Leaders and Disappointments (Part One)

When Oliver Cromwell was sitting for his official portrait, the artist assured him that he planned on “touching up” some of Cromwell’s facial imperfections. Cromwell said, “No! Paint me warts and all.” Raymond Brown reminds us in his book The Message of Nehemiah, that this is exactly what the Bible does. The Bible is an honest book. It portrays people warts and all. “Sin often spoils the story. Abraham attempts to deceive, Jacob cheats, Moses loses his temper, David commits adultery and Peter lies. The stark honesty of the Bible makes it such compelling and relevant reading. Following the rebuilding of the walls, Nehemiah’s story appears rich in promise” (p.218).

But the revival in Nehemiah 8, the confessional prayer in chapter 9, the promises of obedience in chapter 10, and the joyous dedication of the wall in chapter 12 lead us to conclude that all would be well for the Israelites. But all was not well as we read the sad story of backsliding in Nehemiah 13. Temple, marketplace, and home were meant to be the places where God’s name was revered and His values honored. How could this happen? We begin today by seeing the first two of three causes for their spiritual collapse…

Causes of the Collapse

1) The absence of a spiritual leader (13:6)
It would be easy to miss it in a casual reading of Nehemiah 13, but the governor wants us to know that this collapse of the earlier spiritual revival did not take place “on his watch.” After 12 years as their leader, Nehemiah decided to return to Susa. We do not know how long he was away, but long enough for the proverbial saying, “when the cat is away, the mice will play,” to occur. A gradual spiritual drift took place. It’s called backsliding in the Old Testament. Nehemiah’s sabbatical in Persia may have contributed to the collapse. An overdependence on a pastor for our spiritual life can happen today.

2) The weakness of the new leadership (13:4,28)
Pastor Jeff Manion recently authored a book entitled The Land in Between. In it, he traces Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness and draws some helpful lessons from that land between Kadesh-Barnea and Canaan. When God’s people today are in that land in between pastors, it is a testing time. Will the church family hold together? Are the leaders who remain able to lead with wisdom and strength?

In Nehemiah’s absence, weak leaders failed. The two major opponents of Governor Nehemiah were Sanballat and Tobiah. Strangely, their names reappear: “Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah” (13:4). This is a red flag. “And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat” (v.28). Another red flag! So with these ties to the enemies of God and Nehemiah, they were in no position to lead the people spiritually.

Tomorrow we will continue with a third cause for this spiritual collapse, and the scope this collapse took.