And [one] of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; and I chased him from me.
Nehemiah's last act of reform reaches the high priest's own family, where a grandson had married a daughter of Sanballat, one of the chief opponents of the work in Jerusalem. Does high religious rank shield a man from discipline, and what can a leader do when the sin sits at the top?
Nehemiah acted here without softening anything, and the offender's rank changed nothing:
We do not see the grief that Ezra showed in his chapters 9 and 10. Still, we see uncompromising zeal, in a way more natural to a governor (v. 25). Nor could the highest religious position shield anyone here. A grandson of the high priest was son-in-law of the notorious Sanballat the Horonite, so Nehemiah chased him away. Here he prayed that God might remember them as polluters of the priesthood and of the covenant that belonged to them and the Levites.
The man Nehemiah chased away came from a line that once received a promise with a condition attached:
In this last sin the priestly family was again prominent, as we see in verse 28. The unnamed son of Joiada, grandson of Eliashib, was a great-great-grandson of that Jeshua the high priest. Zechariah the prophet had a remarkable vision about him, and recorded it in his prophecy: Zechariah 3. Read that chapter, and we see that God made him a promise: "If you will walk in my ways and will keep my charge." Whatever that Joshua (or Jeshua) did, one thing is certain. His descendants and successors neither walked in the ways of God nor kept His charge. Nehemiah saw this, and as to this son of Joiada, he "chased him from me."
This marriage was not the family's first tie to an enemy of the work. The same writer traces where it started:
We may learn the further lesson that departure from the will and way of God is, we might say, an infectious thing. The chapter begins with Eliashib striking up an alliance with Tobiah the Ammonite. It ends with his grandson making an even closer alliance, by marriage, with a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. Sanballat was the more prominent adversary of the two, since Nehemiah 2:10 introduces Tobiah as "the servant." If departure from God and His word starts as only a trickle, it may soon become a torrent.
Some of the people would not give up their foreign marriages, and one writer explains why:
In verses 23 to 28 we meet a new result of Eliashib's unfaithfulness. Most of the people had purified themselves, but some of them had stayed stubborn. The eyes of the zealous servant, from which nothing escaped, discovered this quickly. The congregation no longer allowed the Ammonite or Moabite in. Even so, some people had not broken their marriage ties with Ammon and Moab. The example of Eliashib's family (v. 28) had encouraged them.
Nehemiah was governor, with power to punish. He drove the man away and then handed the case over:
Driving the sinner away was all Nehemiah himself could do. But he had another resource, and he used it: he committed the matter to God… Nehemiah had the authority of governor, so it might seem strange that he went no further in punishing this guilty priest. The fact is, in the way of discipline it is impossible to go beyond the moral state of the people. To do so would only play into the hands of the enemy. For this reason many a godly man has to stay inactive while others openly and plainly depart from the word of God. Like Nehemiah, he has to content himself with crying to the Lord against the offenders. Where there is no conscience about the sin, the Lord alone can deal with the offender, though it is often necessary, as here, to "chase" away the sinner.
One reference work follows what became of the priest Nehemiah drove out:
Josephus speaks of the man as Manasseh, and says that Sanballat built a temple for him at Gerizim, which became a refuge for Jews who had abandoned the faith. This naturally increased the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans.
- No shield. The highest religious position protected no one here. A line that once heard "if you will walk in my ways" had stopped walking in them.
- Infection. An alliance with Tobiah at the start of the chapter became a marriage to Sanballat's daughter by the end — a trickle turning into a torrent.
- Example. A leader's compromise is never private. The example of the high priest's family kept others from breaking off their marriages with Ammon and Moab.
- Chased. Nehemiah drove the man out, then left the rest with God. Discipline cannot go beyond the moral state of the people.
- Aftermath. Josephus knows the man as Manasseh. Sanballat built him a temple at Gerizim, and it deepened the hatred between Jews and Samaritans.
Remember them, my God, for they are polluters of the priesthood, and of the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites!
Nehemiah's last chapter ends with a hard scene: the governor drives a priest's grandson away and then hands the case to God. Two questions follow — what had these men polluted, and why did Nehemiah, who held real power, stop at prayer?
The offender belonged to the high priest's family. The failure there ran back through the chapter.
We may learn a further lesson: turning away from the will and way of God is, we might say, infectious. The chapter begins with Eliashib forming an alliance with Tobiah the Ammonite. It ends with his grandson forming an even closer alliance, by marriage, with a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, an even more prominent enemy. If turning away from God and His word starts as only a trickle, it may soon become a torrent.
The damage did not stay inside one family.
So here, in the high priest's family, was the source of the corruption. From it the dark and bitter streams of sin flowed out through the people.
Nehemiah names two things as polluted: the priesthood itself, and the covenant attached to it. One writer explains what that covenant asked of the priests, and how they broke it in Malachi's day.
God meant the priest to be a "messenger". He was to know the law and pass it on to the mass of the people. The "law of truth" was in Levi's mouth at the start, but it was not so in Malachi's day. It had left the hearts and lips of the priests. They were not only off the right path themselves; they also made others stumble and led many off the path. So they had corrupted God's original covenant with their tribe.
Nehemiah did not soften when the offender turned out to be the high priest's grandson.
We do not see the grief that Ezra showed in his chapters 9 and 10. But we do see uncompromising zeal, in a way that came more naturally to a governor (verse 25). The highest religious position was no shield here either. A grandson of the high priest had become son-in-law to the notorious Sanballat the Horonite, so Nehemiah chased him away. Then he prayed that God would remember them as polluters of the priesthood, and of the covenant that belonged to them and to the Levites.
Nehemiah could drive the man out. He could not change the conscience of a whole people. That limit explains why the verse ends in prayer.
Driving the sinner away was all that Nehemiah himself could do. But he had another resource, and he used it: he handed the matter over to God. It might seem strange that Nehemiah, who held the authority of governor, went no further in punishing this guilty priest. The fact is that discipline can never go beyond the moral state of the people. To try would only play into the enemy's hands. That is why many a godly man has to stay still in the face of open and blatant departures from the word of God. Like Nehemiah, he has to be content with crying to the Lord against the offenders. Where there is no conscience about the sin, the Lord alone can deal with the offender.
Three times in this chapter Nehemiah asks God to remember him for good. Here the same word carries the opposite weight.
Nehemiah then pleaded that God would remember them — not to bless them, but to repay them according to their works. In the case of the sons of Eliashib, they had corrupted the priesthood and God's covenant concerning it. This was abominable evil in God's sight.
One writer sees Nehemiah's clean-up as a small picture of a greater one.
For the moment everything is set in order according to God. In this way Nehemiah becomes a shadow, if not a clear picture, of the One who will "sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD."
- Source — The rot started inside the high priest's own family. From there sin flowed out through the people.
- Spread — Turning from God's word is infectious. A trickle in one generation became a torrent in the grandson's marriage to Sanballat's daughter.
- Standing — The highest religious position shielded no one. Nehemiah chased the offender away, because rank does not excuse.
- Stop — Discipline cannot outrun the conscience of the people. Where there is no conscience, the faithful man cries to God instead.
- Settlement — "Remember them" asks God to repay these men according to their works. And the cleansing Nehemiah began points to the Refiner who will purify the sons of Levi.