Scripture Daily

Context No. 2288 of 4322 · Nehemiah

Context · Reflection

Nehemiah 13:23-31: in context

23In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; 24and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people. 25I contended with them, cursed them, struck certain of them, plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves. 26Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin. 27Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?” 28One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me. 29Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. 30Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners and appointed duties for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work; 31and for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.

Nehemiah confronts a serious problem among the returned exiles: they had married foreign women who drew them toward the idolatry of the surrounding peoples, so that their children could not even speak the language of God's people. Nehemiah acts forcefully to stop it, and he appeals to history: did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Though there was no king like him, loved by his God, even Solomon was led into sin by foreign wives. If the wisest of kings was corrupted by such influences, Nehemiah warns, how much more must they guard against them.

Nehemiah's concern, and his appeal to Solomon, points to a danger worth heeding: the corrupting influence that close relationships can have on our devotion to God. The issue was not the foreignness of the wives in itself but the direction they drew the people's hearts, toward other gods, away from the LORD. And Nehemiah's example is Solomon: the wisest of kings, loved by God, was nonetheless led into sin by the influence of those closest to him, whose hearts were not with God. His wives turned his heart, the record says, after other gods. If even Solomon could be corrupted by such influence, no one is safe from the power of close relationships to draw the heart from God. This searches the influence of our own closest relationships on our devotion to God. Our deepest ties, the people closest to us, shape us profoundly, for good or ill. And there is a real danger, which Nehemiah names and Solomon illustrates, that our closest relationships can draw our hearts from God, corrupt our devotion, and lead us into sin, especially when those we are closest to do not share our devotion to God. The influence of the intimate runs deep; it turned even Solomon's heart. Bad company, Paul warns, corrupts good morals; and the closer the company, the greater its power to shape us. This calls us to guard our devotion to God from being corrupted by our closest relationships. This does not mean withdrawing from others, or regarding those different from us with suspicion; the point is not about foreignness but about the influence on the heart. It means being aware that our deepest ties shape us, and guarding our hearts so that our closest relationships strengthen rather than undermine our faithfulness to God. If even Solomon was drawn away by the influence of those closest to him, we do well to be watchful, to choose and cultivate the influences of our deepest relationships wisely, and to guard our devotion from being corrupted by them. This calls us to watchfulness over the influence of our closest ties. Nehemiah warned that even Solomon was led into sin by the influence of those closest to him, whose hearts were not with God; and we are called to guard our own devotion to God from being corrupted by our deepest relationships, being aware of the power of the intimate to shape our hearts, and taking care that our closest ties draw us toward God rather than away from him, lest we, like Solomon, be turned aside by the influence of those closest to us.

Am I aware of the power my closest relationships have to shape my heart and devotion, for good or ill, and can Nehemiah's warning that even wise Solomon was led into sin by the influence of those closest to him, whose hearts were not with God, move me to guard my devotion to God from being corrupted by my deepest ties, taking care that my closest relationships draw me toward God rather than away from him, lest I too be turned aside by the influence of the intimate?

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