Nehemiah 13:10 - Meaning and Application

Here is another wrong that Nehemiah set right.

The Levites had been mistreated. Their share had not been given to them (Nehemiah 13:10). Perhaps Tobiah, when he took over the storage rooms, also took the supplies and, with Eliashib the priest’s help, used them for himself. The complaint is not that the gifts were never collected from the people, but that they were never passed on to the Levites. The Levites were so modest that they did not press for what was due them, and the singers and Levites had all gone back to their fields.

This explains why their support was withheld, or at least why it was so quickly noticed. The Levites were away from their work when they should have been serving in the temple, so the people were less willing to maintain them. If ministers do not receive the support they should, they should ask whether their own neglect has helped bring that contempt on them. Or more likely, Nehemiah noticed the problem because the Levites were missing from their posts. “Where are the singers?” he might have asked. “Why are they not at their duty, praising God?” The answer was that they had gone back to their homes and farms to earn a living for their families, because their calling would not support them. A poor wage often leads to poor work. The work was neglected because the workers were gone. Not long before, the payment of the singers had been put in good order (Nehemiah 12:47), and yet it had soon failed because no one kept watch over it.

Nehemiah laid the blame on the rulers, who should have made sure the Levites did their work and had proper support. Christian rulers, too, should use their authority to encourage ministers to do their duty and people to do theirs. Nehemiah began with the rulers and called them to account: “Why is the house of God abandoned?” (Nehemiah 13:11). “Why are the Levites being driven out of it? Why did you not notice this and stop it?” The people had forsaken the Levites, even though this was plainly forbidden (Deuteronomy 12:19; Deuteronomy 14:27). Then the Levites forsook their place in God’s house. Ministers, people, and rulers who leave religion behind, or fail to do what they can to keep it in order, will answer for it.

He did not delay in bringing the scattered Levites back and setting them in their proper places (Nehemiah 13:11). A Levite in the field, away from temple service, is out of place. God’s house is where he belongs. Many careless people would do much better if only someone called them back to duty. “Tell Archippus, the minister, to pay attention to the work he received” is the same kind of warning (Colossians 4:17).

Then Nehemiah required the people to bring in their tithes, their required giving for God’s work (Nehemiah 13:12). His zeal stirred up theirs, and when they saw the Levites back at their work, they were no longer ashamed to withhold their pay. They brought it in honestly and gladly. The better the church’s work is done, the more willing people will be to support it.

He also made sure the Levites’ pay would be given fairly and on time. Men were appointed to handle this (Nehemiah 13:13), and they were trusted men, proven faithful in other responsibilities. In this way they had earned a good standing (1 Timothy 3:13). People should be tested before they are trusted, and trusted first with smaller tasks before larger ones. Their job was to receive and distribute, giving each brother his proper share at the right time.

Nehemiah got no reward from the people for all this, and it is not even certain that he received thanks. So he looked to God as the One who would repay him (Nehemiah 13:14): “Remember me, my God, for this.” Nehemiah often prayed brief prayers like this. In every situation he looked up to God and handed over himself and his work to Him.

He took comfort in what he had done for God’s house and its service. It gave him joy to know that he had helped restore and support religion in his country and had corrected what was wrong. Any kindness shown to God’s ministers will be returned in this way, through the quiet joy of having done good, and done good to many, even to souls. He also left it with God to judge him kindly for it, not in pride and not as if he had earned salvation by his work. He was simply appealing to God with a sincere heart, trusting that God would not forget his work and the love behind it (Hebrews 6:10).

Notice how humble his request is. He only asks, “Remember me,” not, “Reward me.” He says, “Do not wipe out my good deeds,” not, “Publish them” or “Record them.” Yet God did reward him, and his deeds were recorded, because God gives more than we know how to ask. Good deeds done for God’s house and its service, for the support and encouragement of true religion, are truly good deeds. They are both righteous and godly, and God will surely remember them. He will not wipe them out, and they will not lose their reward.