‘If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.’

Then, too, the Holy Spirit will be grieved and will cease to move you, and without His help you can do nothing; He cannot inhabit that temple in the secret chambers of which is to be found cherished sin.

In such a case nothing but strong measures will avail.  That sin must be given up, or your soul will be darkened; that chamber must be cleansed, or the holy presence of the Lord cannot remain.

Do you say, It is hard to give it up, to clear it out; it has become a second nature to me, and I know not how to rid myself of it?

Surely it is worth making the effort, however much pain and suffering it may cause.  Amputation, however much agony it may entail, is necessary if mortification has set in.

’If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee:  for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee:  for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.’

The first evil has been dealt with and cleared away, Tobiah and his goods have been cast out of the temple.  Nehemiah now passes on to the next thing which had so greatly shocked him on his arrival in Jerusalem, namely, the neglect on the part of the people with regard to the payment of what was due from them for the temple service.

Again Nehemiah takes strong measures.  He calls together the rulers, as the leaders and representatives of the rest, and he gives them very strongly his mind on the subject.  No smooth words or gentle hints will do.  He tells us, ‘I contended some time with them’ (that is, I reproved them and argued with them), ’and I said, Why is the house of our God forsaken?’

Then, without waiting for a response to his appeal, he sends round to all the Levites and singers, bidding them with all haste to come up to the temple and to take up their work again.  And the people, seeing he was determined, and that there was no possibility of his allowing the matter to drop, came also, bringing with them the corn, and the wine, and the oil, with which once more to fill the empty chamber.

’Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.’

And, in order to prevent such a thing ever happening again, Nehemiah appointed treasurers to look after the temple stores.  Eliashib the high priest had been the store-keeper before, xiii. 4, but he had shown himself unworthy of his office.  Four men are accordingly chosen to collect the stores, and afterwards to deal them out to the priests and Levites.  One is a priest, one a Levite, one a layman of rank, and the fourth a scribe, ver. 13.  Nehemiah tells us why he selected these four men.  ‘They were counted faithful,’ and as faithful men they could be thoroughly depended upon.