Unwelcome Guest | Nehemiah 13
Welcome to Real Life . Not every guest is welcome. Perched on death-defying cliffs. Walls three-feet-thick. Moats lined with razor-sharp objects meant to maim. I toured five castles in Slovakia last month. Unlike Disney's Cinderella castle, these fortresses were designed to repel enemy invaders. Spiš Castle, Slovakia Jerusalem's city wall provided such fortification. Empowered by God, Nehemiah and the remnant Israelites rebuilt it in a mere fifty-two days. (See previous post, Ask Boldly ). However, upon his return from reporting to King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah received disturbing news. "I learned about Eliashib’s evil deed in providing Tobiah with a room in the courtyards of the Temple of God. I became very upset and threw all of Tobiah’s belongings out of the room. Then I demanded that the rooms be purified, and I brought back the articles for God’s Temple, the grain offerings, and the frankincense" (Nehemiah 13:7-9 NIV). Eliashib welcomed in the very ene...