I don’t think it was a coincidence that Jesus used the metaphor of finding a treasure in a field or selling a massive pearl when he spoke of the value of the kingdom of God. Jesus knew that, if there was anything that would call to our hearts, it would be the lure of riches. Money brings power, authority, time and freedom, and much more. There isn’t anyone who would say that he doesn’t want money. Everyone does.
And we will be happy to give up everything to get it.
That is exactly what seems to be happening in Jerusalem. Nehemiah had just led the work to put into place once again the walls of Jerusalem. Then he set to work to reset the people as the people of God. The Law was read and the people all agreed to follow it. And finally, Nehemiah repopulated the city with people from all around the various local towns so that they could once again see the city of Jerusalem grow to be both populous and prosperous once again, serving God once again.
And yet, once Nehemiah returns back to his post in Susa with Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon, Jerusalem begins to fall apart.
Rooms from the house of God are given for storage purposes.
The Levites are no longer provided for as they do their work, so they leave and return back to their homes in the countryside so that they can work and eat.
Work and trading go forward on the Sabbath.
The men were once again marrying foreign women.
I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.
Nehemiah 13:10
Trade took over. The desire for wealth and riches took over. The people left the ways of God. They left the kingdom of God so that they could build their own kingdoms. They desired to give themselves more instead of desiring to give God more.
This is what Nehemiah found as he returned back to Jerusalem and so he set to work to return the city of God back to the ways of God. He knew, and told the people, that these compromises were precisely the path that led God to destroy the city of Jerusalem in the first place. They had repented, but now they had returned back to their old ways.
May we learn the lessons from the story of Nehemiah. May we return back to serve God once again so that we will not come to destruction. May we rebuild the walls, rebuild the people, and sacrificially move to do the same both amongst our own people as well as with others. May this be the point and purpose of our lives. Not trade, not building our own kingdoms, but building the kingdom of God.