ETERNAL VIGILANCE

NEHEMIAH 13

Pastor Rick Jackson

An old quote goes, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” It could equally be said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of God’s blessing on a nation”. The many troubles of Israel and the United States are enough to validate that quote. Case in point is Nehemiah 13.

I. THE WOLF AMONG THE SHEEP [v. 1-9] a wall should keep out wolves

1. Separation is a Bible Doctrine [v. 1-3, 2 Cor. 6:14-18]

2. Separation is a Bible Priority [v. 4-5, 2:10, 19; 4:3, 7; 6:1, 12, 14, 17, 19, etc.; Matthew 7:15, Acts 20:29]

3. Separation is a Bible Duty [v. 6-9, 3 John 1:9-11]

II. THE SNOWBALL EFFECT [v. 10-28] Eliashib’s lack of separation “snowballed”

1. Forsaking of the Temple [v. 10-14]

2. Breaking the Sabbath [v. 15-22]

3. More Intermarriages [v. 23-28]

III. THE REPROACH OF SIN OR THE EXALTATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS [v. 29-31, Prov. 14:34]

1. God Knows the Wicked [v. 29, 6:14, 13:29, Rev. 20:11-15]

2. God’s People are to Be Vigilant [v. 30-31a, 1 Cor. 5]

3. God Remembers Faithfulness [v. 31b, Nehemiah 5:19, 6:14, 13:14, 22, 31; Hebrews 6:10]