Remembered With Favor
Words of Faith 9-4-26
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2026
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Nehemiah 13
[23] Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. [24] Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. [25] I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God's name and said: "You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. [26] Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. [27] Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?"[28] One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me. [29] Remember them, O my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. [30] So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. [31] I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me with favor, O my God.

         It is an interesting thing for which Nehemiah asks to be remembered. He wants to be remembered for beating and pulling hair from the heads of people who had married foreigners. Interesting. Did he learn this in pastoral care class?

        To be honest, this is the one tirade I would have left out of the book if I were the writer, but I was not. Every pastor has a bad day, but this is a bit extreme. One commentator calls Nehemiah's temper "volcanic". It all leads us to wonder just what caused this volcano to erupt.

If we look beneath the violent response, we see in Nehemiah a passion for God's people. Nehemiah was familiar with the painful, disastrous consequences that come to a nation when families lose faith in God. They lose everything. Everything! This passage is actually about family values, an issue with which we are certainly familiar.

        Some will make fun of family values, but Nehemiah had a passion for God's people to honor the Lord in everything they did. He had a passion for God's people to speak the language of Israel and practice the worship of Almighty God. He had a passion for strong families united by the one true God. He had a passion for men to have integrity and lead strong families. Pulling hair out of the heads of those who were not faithful may not have been the most winsome witness, but we get the point. Loud and clear. Compromise is costly.

        The issue here was not "foreigners"; it was losing the faith within just a generation or so. Hair pulling may have been the best way to wake people up before it was too late. And hair pulling was probably much less painful than the destiny of a Godless nation. You can be sure that Nehemiah will never be accused of being a "softy". The task for us is to try and hear his heart even though his methods seem harsh to us.

        How do we respond to that passion? We might do well to ask ourselves: Where are the families of Christ around us going? Where is my family going? Are our children more fluent in the language of the world than they are in the language of the Kingdom? Have we caved in to the culture of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab? Have we abandoned the foundations of Christ that make us strong and the walls that make us safe? Pulling out the hair of the offenders will not make the difference, but commitment and accountability to one another will. Then perhaps we will be remembered with favor.

        Lord, as for me and my house... we will serve the Lord. Teach me this day to lead those I love with a servant heart. I pray a hedge of protection around the household of Christ and the home where He is honored. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy.