Foreigners Excluded
13 On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2 because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 So when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel.
Tobiah Expelled and the Temple Cleansed
4 Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being [a]related to Tobiah, 5 had prepared a large [b]room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the [c]contributions for the priests. 6 But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king, 7 and I came to Jerusalem and [d]learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a [e]room for him in the courts of the house of God. 8 It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9 Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.
Tithes Restored
10 I also [f]discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had [g]gone away, each to his own field. 11 So I [h]reprimanded the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts. 12 All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses. 13 In charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable, and it was [i]their task to distribute to their [j]kinsmen. 14 Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.
We shouldn’t be amazed by now, that when Nehemiah left for “some time”, his fellow Jews forsook their duties and things fell into disarray once more. After all, the Jews were conquered by Assyria and taken captive because they repeatedly failed to keep God’s commands. But it seemed they had “turned over a new leaf” when they learned what the law required, and there was much rejoicing, remember?
Nevertheless, it wasn’t just the “commoners” that forsook the law, but even the high priest Eliashib invited Tobiah to live in the temple. This is the same Tobiah who tried to thwart everything Nehemiah and Ezra did. Never mind that he was a foreigner, no one should have gone into the temple except the priest and Levites. Even Nehemiah refused to enter the temple to seek refuge when his enemies (Tobiah and company) tried to trick him in chapter 6.
That said, I think they may have gone a bit far when they “excluded all foreigners from Israel”, though we don’t know exactly what that meant. It may be a repeat of an earlier promise to abstain from marrying foreigners. Regardless, God’s promise to Abraham was that his children would be a blessing to all nations. God gave them instructions and commands to keep them on that path, but when they strayed from the law, they weren’t even a blessing to their fellow Jews.
They became focused on self, and things that brought them gain. It’s a warning to us all, that we need to keep our eyes on God, and worry less about ourselves. Certainly we need to keep our own house in order, but that will come naturally when we are following God’s lead in our lives. His word is a “lamp to our feet, and a light to our path”. Follow His light, and everything else will come naturally.