Having no Root.
The sky is brilliant and cloudless, the snow-clad mountains stand out
clear in the distance, the air is laden with the scent of orange and
lemon groves, and the sweet fragrance of thousands of lilies. Nehemiah
the Tirshatha is once more in Shushan; his feet are treading again, as
in days gone by, the streets of the capital of Persia.
It is thirteen years since he left the City of Lilies with his brother
Hanani, in order that he might go to Jerusalem, and do his utmost to
improve the ruined and desolate city. He has returned with his work
accomplished. The walls are built, the gates are set up, the bare spaces
in the city have been built over, the whole place has been strongly
fortified, the people have been brought back to their allegiance to God,
and, as the topstone of his work, he has seen, just before his departure
for Persia, the city and all it contained dedicated to the service of
the Great King.
Very glad, very thankful is Nehemiah, as he enters once more the
glorious palace on the top of the hill, and stands before his master
Artaxerxes, the long-handed, to give in his report of all he has done
since the king gave him leave to return to his native land.
Nehemiah finds himself once more surrounded by luxury and refinement and
beauty. What is Jerusalem compared with Shushan? Surely, now his work is
accomplished, he will settle down to a life of ease in Persia, where he
may dwell free from fear or anxiety or care, eating the dainties from
the king's table, and partaking of all the pleasures of an Eastern
court. After the rough life he has led during the last thirteen years,
after the perils he has undergone, and the difficulties he has
surmounted, he may surely retire, now that his work has been so happily
accomplished, and spend the remainder of his life in peace and comfort.
But no; Nehemiah's heart was in Jerusalem, he preferred Jerusalem above
his chief joy. All the time he had been absent he had been hungering for
news, and receiving none; there were no posts across the vast deserts,
nor did he live in these luxurious days when the heartache of anxiety
may be relieved and set at rest by a telegram. What had been going on in
his absence? Were the Samaritans quiet, or had Sanballat and Tobiah
taken the opportunity afforded by his absence, and invaded Jerusalem?
And the people; how were they? Were they keeping the solemn covenant
which had been sealed in his presence? Were they continuing to serve and
obey the Heavenly King? All this, and much more, Nehemiah longed to
hear.
He is therefore only too thankful when, after spending a year in Persia,
Artaxerxes gives him leave to return as governor of Jerusalem.
'In the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, King of Babylon, came I
unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king.
'After certain days.' This is a common expression in the Bible for a
year. The same Hebrew word is translated a whole year in many other
passages, _e.g._ Lev. xxv. 29, Num. ix. 22. Thus we may safely conclude
that a year was the length of time that Nehemiah was absent from
Jerusalem.
As soon as he had received the king's permission, Nehemiah left the
lovely City of Lilies behind, and set out once more across the desert
for Jerusalem. Probably no one there knew when he was coming, or whether
he was coming at all. When Nehemiah left the city he possibly had no
idea that he would be allowed to return, but expected that his royal
master would again require his services as Rab-shakeh in the palace of
Shushan; nor was it likely that any news had reached the city of the
permission given him to return. Suddenly, one day, a small cavalcade of
camels, mules, and donkeys arrived at the northern gate, and the news
spread through the city that Nehemiah the governor had returned. Was
this intelligence received with unmixed joy and thankfulness, or were
there some in the city to whom it came as anything but pleasant tidings?
No sooner has the governor arrived than he begins to look round the
city, to see and to inquire how all has been going on in his absence. He
goes up to the temple, and no sooner has he entered the gate leading
into the outer court, than he notices that the whole appearance of the
place is changed. The temple enclosure looks empty and deserted; a few
priests in their white robes are moving about, but where is the company
of Levites who used to wait upon them, and help them in their work?
Nehemiah had left no less than 284 Levites in the temple, now he cannot
see one of them. And, not only does he miss those Levites, whose duty it
was to attend upon the priests, but he misses also the temple singers;
the sons of Asaph and their companions are nowhere to be seen. The
temple choir has entirely disappeared, and the services have accordingly
languished. As Nehemiah looks round the whole place appears to him
quiet, empty, and dismal. Nothing seems to be going on, all is
apparently at a standstill.
Nehemiah feels sure that something is wrong, and the further he goes
into the temple area the more convinced he is that he is not mistaken.
Passing through the Beautiful Gate, he crosses the Court of the Women,
and ascends the steps into the Court of Israel, where stands the temple
itself.
Into the temple Nehemiah cannot pass, for none but the priests may enter
the Holy Place and Holy of Holies. But round the temple building there
had been erected an out-building or lean-to which surrounded the temple
on three sides, and which was made up of three stories, each containing
a number of rooms, some smaller, some larger. Just such an out-building
as this had been made by Solomon in the first temple (1 Kings vi. 5-10),
and the builders of the new temple had copied the idea, and had put up a
similar lean-to against the outer walls.
In these rooms or chambers were kept all the stores belonging to the
temple. The corn, and wine, and oil belonging to the priests and
Levites; the first-fruits and free-will offerings brought by the people
for the temple service; and the meat-offerings, which were cakes made
of fine flour, salt, and oil. One of these cakes was offered twice a
day, at the morning and evening sacrifice, besides on many other
occasions, and with several other sacrifices; so that it was necessary
to have a number of them always ready for use. In these chambers was
also stored the frankincense, of which a large quantity was used every
day, for a handful of it was burnt on the altar of incense both morning
and night. This frankincense was very costly; it was brought on camels'
backs from Arabia, where it was obtained by making incisions in the bark
of a tree which grew in no other country. Out of these incisions oozed
the gummy juice of the tree, and from this was made the frankincense. It
was very rare, and could only be obtained occasionally, and therefore it
was important to store it carefully in the temple.
Nehemiah wonders if the stores of the temple are in good condition, and
he throws open the door of one of the chambers, to see if its contents
are plentiful and well-stored. As he does so, he starts back in dismay.
The whole place is altered, utterly and completely transformed. The
small rooms have all been thrown into one vast chamber, the partition
walls have been removed, the corn, the wine, the oil, the frankincense,
and all the other stores are nowhere to be seen, they have all been
cleared away; the vessels in use in the temple, the knives for cutting
up the sacrifices, the censers for incense, the priests' robes and other
garments have all disappeared. There is not one single thing to be found
which ought to have been found there, and this chamber of the temple,
instead of being a useful and necessary store-house, has become more
like one of the grand reception rooms of the King of Persia, a
luxurious drawing-room, fit for the palace of a king. Gay curtains cover
the walls, costly furniture is set in order round the large room, the
softest of divans, the most comfortable of cushions, the most elaborate
ornaments and decorations surround Nehemiah on all sides, as he stands
amazed and disconsolate in their midst.
Nehemiah calls one of the priests, and inquires the meaning of this
extraordinary change in the building. He is told, to his horror, that
this grand reception room has actually been made for the use and
convenience of Tobiah the secretary. Tobiah the heathen, Tobiah, who had
mocked them as they built the walls, and who had done all that was in
his power ever since to annoy and to hinder Nehemiah and his helpers.
This splendid apartment has actually been made and fitted up, in order
that Tobiah may have a grand place in which to dwell, and in which to
entertain his friends whenever he chooses to pay a visit to Jerusalem.
What an abominable thing is this, which the poor governor has
discovered! For was not this Tobiah an Ammonite, a Gentile? and as such
Nehemiah knew perfectly well he had no right to set his foot in the
Court of the Women, or the Court of Israel; much less then had he the
right to enter the temple building.
Where is Eliashib the high priest? How is it that he has not put a stop
to this proceeding? Nehemiah finds, to his dismay, that Eliashib has
actually been the very one who has had this chamber prepared. The very
man who was responsible for the temple, and who had, by his office, the
right and the power to shut out from the holy building all that was
evil, had been the man to introduce Tobiah the heathen, with marked
honour, into the temple itself.
Eliashib had begun well. Earnestly and heartily he had helped in
building the walls; he had actually led the band of workers, and had
been the very first to begin to build, chap. iii. 1.
But Eliashib had a grandson named Manasseh, and this young man had made
what he thought a very good match. Priest though he was, he had married
the daughter of Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, a heathen girl, who
was rich and possibly good-looking, and whose father was the most
powerful man in the country, but who did not fear or own the God of
Israel. And the grandfather, so far from forbidding the marriage, seems
to have connived at it and sanctioned it.
Nay, he seems not only to have allowed himself to be allied with
Sanballat the governor, but also with Tobiah the secretary, chap. xiii.
4. In what way he was connected by marriage we are not told, but
inasmuch as both Tobiah and his son had married Jewish wives, one or
both of these may have been closely related to the high priest, chap.
vi. 17, 18. So the friendship with the Samaritans had grown; Eliashib
had probably visited Samaria, and had been made much of and royally
entertained by Sanballat and his secretary; and in proportion as his
friendship with the heathen had grown warm, his love and earnestness in
the Lord's service had grown cold.
In the latter part of the Book of Nehemiah we never find Eliashib coming
forward as a helper in any good work. Ezra stands in the huge pulpit to
read the law of God, thirteen of the chief men in Jerusalem stand by
him to help him, but Eliashib the high priest, who surely should have
been well to the front in that pulpit, is conspicuous by his absence.
How could he stand up and read the law to the people, when he knew, and
they knew, that he was not keeping it himself?
Nehemiah draws up a covenant between the people and their God, in which
they promise to obey God and keep His commandments. No less than
eighty-four seals are fastened to that document, but not one of those
seals bears the name of Eliashib.
How could he engage to keep that covenant, one article of which was a
promise to have nothing to do with the heathen, when at the very time he
was living on the most friendly terms with both Sanballat and Tobiah?
Then comes the grand service of dedication, when the city and all it
contained was devoted to God. Not a single mention is made of Eliashib
in the account of the services of the day. Many priests are mentioned by
name, but the high priest, who, we should have expected, would have
taken a prominent part in the proceedings, is never heard of throughout.
Eliashib's connection with the heathen had made him cold and remiss in
the service of God. It is no wonder then that so soon as Nehemiah went
away, and the restraint of his presence was removed, Eliashib did worse
than ever, and at length actually entertained Tobiah in the temple
itself.
But poor Nehemiah had not come to the end of his painful discoveries. He
inquired next what had become of all the stores of corn and wine
belonging to the Levites, all the tithes which the people were
accustomed to bring to the temple for their support, and which, in that
solemn covenant, they had so faithfully promised to supply. Since these
stores have been removed from the place which was built on purpose to
receive them, Nehemiah wishes to know what new store-house has been
prepared for them. But the governor finds, to his sorrow and dismay,
that no sooner was his back turned upon Jerusalem, than the people had
ceased to bring their tithes and their contributions for the house of
God.
It was not surprising then that Nehemiah found the temple so deserted.
How could the Levites serve, how could the choir sing unless they were
fed? They could not live on air, no food was provided for them; what
could they do but take care of themselves? In order to save themselves
from utter starvation, they had been driven to leave the temple, and to
go to their fields and small farms in the country, which they had been
accustomed to cultivate only at such times as they were not engaged in
the work of the temple (Num. xxxv. 2). Now they were compelled to resort
to these fields, as a means of keeping themselves and their families
from beggary. No wonder then that few were found ready to help in the
temple services.
The first Sabbath after Nehemiah's arrival, he sets out, with an anxious
heart, to see how it is kept by his fellow-countrymen. In the solemn
covenant the people had promised carefully to observe the day of rest.
They have broken their word in the matter of the tithes; have they kept
their promise with regard to the Sabbath?
Nehemiah, as he walks through the city on the Sabbath day, finds a
regular market going on in the streets. He is horrified to find that all
manner of fruit and all kinds of food are being bought and sold, as on
any other day of the week. Wine, and oil, and merchandise of all kinds
is being bargained for, and the streets are filled with the noisy cries
and shouts of the sellers and purchasers.
Going on to the Fish Gate, Nehemiah finds that a colony of heathen
Tyrians have come to live there, in order that they may hold a
fish-market close to the gate. The fish was caught by their
fellow-countrymen in Tyre and Sidon, and was sent down to Jerusalem
slightly salted, in order to preserve it from corruption. Nehemiah finds
that these Tyrians are doing a grand traffic in salted fish, especially
on the Sabbath day. The Jews loved fish, and always have loved it. How
they enjoyed it in Egypt, how they longed for it in the wilderness!
'We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely.'
So they sighed, and murmured, as they thought of their lost luxuries.
There was nothing a Jew liked so well for his Sabbath dinner as a piece
of fish; and, therefore, on the Sabbath, the Tyrians found they did more
business than on any other day.
As Nehemiah leaves the city by the Fish Gate, he meets donkeys and mules
bringing in sheaves of corn, or laden with paniers containing figs, and
grapes, and melons; he meets men laden with all kinds of burdens, and
women bringing in the country produce that they may sell it in the
streets of Jerusalem.
Then, passing on into the fields, he notices that work is going on as
usual. They are tilling the ground, gathering in the corn, pruning the
vines, and standing bare-footed in the winepresses to tread out the
juice of the grapes.
So the promise about the Sabbath has been kept no better than the other
promise; the covenant has been totally disregarded.
Turning homewards, Nehemiah discovers that the remaining article of the
agreement has also been broken. For, as he passes through the streets,
and listens to the children at play, he finds that some of the little
ones are talking a language he cannot understand. Here and there he
catches a Jewish word, but most of their talk is entirely unintelligible
to him. On inquiring into the reason of this, he is told that these
children have Jewish fathers but Philistine mothers, and that they are
being brought up to talk the language and learn the religion of their
heathen parent. They are making for themselves a strange dialect, a
mixture of the two languages they have spoken; it is half Jewish, half
Philistine.
'Their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak
in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people,'
xiii. 24.
Poor Nehemiah must have been filled with sorrow and bitter
disappointment, as he found Jerusalem and its people in such a
disgraceful condition. He had left the holy city like the garden of the
Lord, he comes back to find the trail of the serpent all over his
paradise. They did so well whilst he was there, they wandered to the
right hand and the left so soon as he was parted from them.
Nor is Nehemiah the only one who has had this bitter disappointment;
many a parent, many a teacher, many a friend can enter into his
feelings, for they have gone through the same.
The young King Joash 'did that which was right in the sight of the Lord
all the days of Jehoiada the priest.' But as soon as the old man was in
his grave all was changed, and he did instead that which was evil.
And Joash has many followers, those who do well so long as they are
under good and holy influence, and who do so badly when that influence
is removed.
The young man, with the anxious, careful mother, who does so well as
long as she lives, and who wanders from the right path as soon as she is
taken from him; the young woman, who, whilst living under her parents'
roof, sheltered and guarded by wise restrictions from all that would
harm her, seems not far from the Kingdom of God, but, who, leaving home
and becoming her own mistress, drifts into frivolity and carelessness;
the man or woman who, when removed from good and holy influence, falls
away from God and goes backwards; all these are followers of Joash, all
these cause pain and distress to those who watch over their souls.
What is the reason of this sad change? Why is it that some only stand
firm so long as they are under the care and influence of others? The
Master has answered the question. He tells us the reason.
'These have no root.'
Last Christmas we had in our house a large green fir-tree. It reached
from the floor to the ceiling, and spread its branches abroad in all
directions. It stood well and firmly; it had all the appearance of
growing; it held its head erect, and seemed as likely to stand as any of
the trees outside in the garden.
But our tree only stood for a time. So long as the heavy weights and
props which held it up remained, so long as the strings, which were
tightly tied to nails in the wall, were uncut; just so long the tree
remained upright and unmoved. But the very instant that the props and
supports were taken away our tree came down with a crash.
What was the reason of its downfall? Why did the trees in the garden
stand unsupported, and yet this tree fell so soon as its props were
removed?
The answer is clear and simple. The trees in the garden had each of them
a root, our Christmas tree had no root. Having no root, it was
impossible for it to stand alone.
There is, alas, plenty of no-root religion now-a-days. We see around us
too many whose godliness is dependent on their surroundings and their
circumstances. They mean well, they try to do right, but there it ends.
They have no root; the heart is unchanged, unconverted, unrenewed. Their
religion is merely a surface religion.
So they for a time believe, for a time do well, for a time appear to be
true Christians, but in time of temptation they fall away. Their
'goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.'
If we would stand firm, we must see to it that our religion goes deep
enough. I myself must be made new if I am to grow in grace; my heart
must be Christ's if I am to stand firm in the faith.
'As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.
Rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith.'