Eliashib Prepared a Chamber for Tobiah - Nehemiah 13:5

In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude, and before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah”, and in chapter thirteen and verse five of Nehemiah, Nehemiah shared how Eliashib, “prepared for him a great chamber” where we read,

And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.

The verse reads, “And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, ...” Nehemiah began with the words, “and he had prepared for him” which means “and he, Eliashib, fashioned, accomplished and made on behalf of him, Tobiah” “a great chamber” or “a massive and large room”, “where aforetime” which means “which in advance and before that time” “they laid the meat offerings” or “they, the priests and Levites”, put, set and ascribed the grain oblations, sacrifices and tributes”, “the frankincense” which means “the white resin burned as a ceremonial fragrant incense”. Nehemiah shared how “Eliashib” fashioned a large room for “Tobiah”where the priests and Levites previously kept “grain and frankincense” for ceremonial oblations. 

The verse continues, “... and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.” Nehemiah added the words, “and the vessels” or “and the articles, implements, utensils and objects”, “and the tithes of the corn” which means “and the one-tenth offerings pertaining to the grain or wheat”, “the new wine” or “the fresh fruit of the vine”, “and the oil”which means “and the fresh, shining and pure oil”, “which was commanded to be given” or “that was to be granted, bestowed and assigned” “to the Levites” which means “to the descendants of Levi whose name means joined to and were specially set aside by God for His service”, “and the singers” or “and the ones who made music with their voices”, “and the porters” which means “and the gatekeepers, janitors and doorkeepers”; “and the offerings of the priests” or “and the contributions, sacrifices and tributes belonging to the spiritual leaders and spokesmen”. Nehemiah shared how the utensils, tenth-part of grain, the fresh wine and the fresh and pure oil that was ordered and assigned to the descendants of Levi as well as the ones who made music with their voices, the janitors and the contributions within were from the spiritual leaders. 

When we meditate upon words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah we see how “Eliashib” not only gave a room to “Tobiah”, but he gave him a large room that was used to store all the instruments of worship. In other words, “Eliashib”cleared out a special space for “Tobiah”. We will see how Nehemiah responds to this in our next few verses, but for now let us just imagine how ill-advised this was. God wants us to follow His ways, and when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and raised Him from the dead after three days, He made the way for us to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and given the wisdom of His Holy Spirit to teach us when our ways are unlike Him.

Next time Nehemiah says, “in all this time was not I at Jerusalem”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".