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I am using readings from the 49 Week Bible Challenge as the basis for these devotions. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are Acts 6; Exodus 18; Numbers 8; Nehemiah 13.
Nehemiah 13:1-9
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.
Nehemiah 13 today struck me strongly today. It is all about purity of the Sabbath, the Lord’s Temple, the Priests, and the nation itself. There is no place afforded foreigners. This particularly caught my eye and touched my heart: “no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God.” That seems particularly harsh.
This has much to do with the desecrating of the Temple, the laxity of true worship, profaning the Sabbath, and abusing the priesthood. The situation was horrible. The room in the temple reserved for tithes had been turned into a sleeping quarters for Tobiah. Tobiah was a known enemy of the community. It was a bad situation that had to be dealt with. The whole of the Jewish faith had been abandoned, abused, and desecrated. So Nehemiah took action.
When Jesus came to earth he discovered a different kind of abandonment and desecration. The Jewish leaders of his day had made the Sabbath into a mere outward performance. Rules about the Sabbath put Jesus under scrutiny for healing someone on that day. The Temple was guarded and the offerings were scrutinized so much that people had to use special temple currency to purchase certified animals for the sacrifices there. The priests were well taken care of while the people were oppressed. The whole of the Jewish faith had been abandoned. So Jesus took action.
Jesus action – specifically in relation to the temple – was to overturn the tables of the money changers in the Temple court. But his ultimate action was not to drive out the foreigners, but to offer himself as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. In him, every people, tribe, nation and tongue are welcome into his eternal kingdom.
As I thought about the prohibition of the Ammonites and Moabites, I also thought of Ruth. She was a Moabite woman. Yet she is listed in the genealogy of Jesus. In the end people from every tribe, nation, and tongue will have a place at the great feast of victory. We’ll never be pure enough on our own – nor will even our religion be untainted by sin. Thank God Jesus is the pure and spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
That includes foreigners – like you and me.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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