The Danger of Dwindling Loyalty: A Study in Nehemiah 13:10-14
- Thad DeBuhr
- Nov 11
- 6 min read
NEHEMIAH 30 Day Challenge: DAY 28
Imagine a small church struggling to keep its doors open. The youth pastor, who poured his heart and soul into mentoring your son, has just announced his resignation. He isn't moving to a bigger church; he's leaving ministry entirely to take a job driving a delivery truck. The reason? The church simply couldn't afford to pay his family a living wage anymore. His passion didn't disappear, but his support did. When we see dedicated, called people forced to abandon their ministry because of lack of resources, we often feel anger or sadness, pointing fingers at the church board or the economy. But what if the problem, as ancient as the book of Nehemiah, lies not with the leaders, but with the lukewarm loyalty of the people?
What does the health of our finances truly reveal about the passion of our faith? The answer is found when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem and discovered a community that was literally starving the ministry that was meant to feed their souls.
Before you dig into the story, I would encourage you to read through the passage in two different bible translations from this list: NIV, NLT, NASB, ESV, NKJV
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Setting the Scene:
When Prosperity Led to Betrayal
Our study focuses on Nehemiah chapter 13, verses 10 through 14. This passage documents a massive failure that occurred shortly after one of the greatest spiritual revivals in Israel's history.
1. The Broken Covenant
Just 12 years earlier, the people, led by Nehemiah, had solemnly renewed their covenant with God. In Nehemiah chapter 10, verses 37 through 39, they specifically vowed to regularly bring their tithes (a tenth of their produce) to the Temple storehouse. This was not a suggestion; it was a deeply ingrained commitment under the Law of Moses to provide the sole salary and support for the Levites and priests, who, unlike the other tribes, received no inherited land to farm.
2. The Context of Prosperity
The key context often missed by modern readers is that this financial failure was not a crisis of poverty. By the time of Nehemiah's return to the Persian king (around 433 BCE) and his subsequent trip back to Jerusalem, the community had achieved stability. The Temple was rebuilt (Ezra chapter 6), the walls were finished (Nehemiah chapter 6), and, crucially, the fields were yielding a successful harvest—the source of the tithes. The mention of "grain, new wine, and olive oil" (Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 12) confirms agricultural success. Their problem was not inability, but unwillingness.
3. Prosperity as a Magnifying Glass
When Nehemiah was gone, the people's success became a magnifying glass for their true loyalty. They chose to stock up their own storehouses with the full harvest, keeping the 10% designated for God's house. This betrayal of their covenant vow and their spiritual complacency is precisely what the prophet Malachi addressed during this same period, warning the people that they were "robbing God" (Malachi chapter 3, verses 8 through 10). The Levites being forced to abandon the Temple ministry was the direct, physical consequence of the people's greed and negligence.
Applying it Today: Restoring Your Obedience 🛠️
The lesson from Nehemiah is stark but clear: Financial obedience is a powerful gauge of spiritual passion. Neglecting one will ultimately starve the other. Nehemiah’s four-step restoration plan gives us a blueprint for applying this principle to our own lives today.
Step 1: Confront the Lie (Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 11)
Principle: Identify the Neglect. We must address our spiritual compromise honestly, just as Nehemiah confronted the officials.
🛑 Doing it Wrong (Neglect): We fall into the trap of blaming the leadership or the economy for why our giving, serving, or other commitments have lapsed. We externalize the problem, refusing to see our own role.
✅ Doing it Right (Restoration): We practice humility by confronting the self and admitting, "I have prioritized my own comfort and desires over my direct commitment to God's work."
Step 2: Return to the Call (Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 11)
Principle: Re-establish the Priority. We must put the ministry and our foundational covenant commitments back in their rightful place.
🛑 Doing it Wrong (Neglect): We continue making excuses for the consequences of our actions (like rationalizing why the ministers had to leave) or clinging to broken vows as if they don't matter.
✅ Doing it Right (Restoration): We demonstrate repentance by renewing our commitment through consciously making room for ministry support—whether it's in our budget, schedule, or time commitment.
Step 3: Recommit the Tithe (Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 12)
Principle: Act in Obedience. We restore the physical action of giving and serving, proving our change of heart with concrete action.
🛑 Doing it Wrong (Neglect): We limit our giving to only the leftovers or what's convenient after all personal needs and wants are comfortably met. This mirrors the complacency of the post-exilic Jews.
✅ Doing it Right (Restoration): We honor God by giving the firstfruits (as the Bible teaches in Malachi chapter 3, verse 10), setting aside the portion for God before budgeting for our personal desires, affirming His sovereignty over our entire income.
Step 4: Appoint Reliability (Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 13)
Principle: Ensure Accountability. We put trusted systems in place to sustain our commitment and prevent future backsliding.
🛑 Doing it Wrong (Neglect): We rely only on willpower or simply hope we'll remember to give or serve when we feel a spike of passion or receive an unexpected windfall.
✅ Doing it Right (Restoration): We leverage modern tools by setting up automatic giving (financial) or scheduling service/ministry time (time) to make our obedience consistent and reliable, moving beyond emotional fluctuations.
Questions to Chew on and Discuss:
Nehemiah found the Temple neglected because the people broke a vow they had recently and enthusiastically made. Think about your own spiritual vows or commitments (daily time with God, service, giving). Has a season of personal comfort or success made it easier to let those commitments slip?
The Levites’ departure showed that the people valued their personal gain over their corporate worship and teaching. How does the way you spend your discretionary money, time, or energy demonstrate where your primary allegiance truly lies?
Nehemiah responded with both zeal (confronting officials) and wisdom (appointing reliable treasurers). Why is it dangerous to have one without the other when serving God?
Journey Group Discussion Starter:
Think about a time when you personally gave generously to a cause or ministry, only to realize the majority of people around you were not contributing. How did that lack of shared support challenge your commitment or make you feel about the state of the community?
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