Who was Tobiah

I was reading an interesting passage in Nehemiah 13:4-13 this morning, which tells the tale of how Tobiah gained access to the chambers of the House of the Lord and set up shop there. Let us read the first two verses that set the scene.

Now, before this, Eliashib, the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah.  And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests. 

What is striking here when referring to the rest of the book of Nehemiah is that Tobiah, an Ammonite, had done everything he could to oppose the rebuilding of the city, even to the extent of conspiring to make Nehemiah think he was about to be killed in the attempt to make him sin and seek sanctuary in the House of the Lord. Tobiah had, with his side kicks, written letters to the King of Babylon and openly mocked and intimidated Nehemiah and the Israelites to discourage them from carrying out the will of God to rebuild the city and Temple of God. So Tobiah is a character who is not an Israelite and therefore excluded from even entering the Temple; he was an enemy of the state and an informer to the slave master of Babylon, stood against the will of Almighty God and the wellbeing of the nation of Israel. He was an evil man with evil intent and used his connections and influence to build his empire in the very place where he was excluded from and, by his very presence, defiled the House of God.

Now, let us see the outcome of his taking up residence in the chambers of the House of the Lord. We read in verse 10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. In other words, Tobiah, by using the store chamber, it hadn’t then been used to store what would have been given to the Levites who served in the House of the Lord; they were left destitute and were forced to give up their high calling, return home and work the land instead of serving the Lord in the temple. This, in effect, caused the everyday running of the temple to be forsaken, as mentioned in the next verse. This made Nehemiah very angry once he discovered the injustice, resulting in him throwing Tobiah and his belongings out of the room, and it restored to its previous use.

The interesting thing about this story is that Tobiah, the enemy of the Lord and the state, was given his place in the House of the Lord by the High Priest Eliashib because he was allied with him. Now, if we allow this story to reflect upon where we are in world history, do we not find a similarity with the current events? Suppose Eliashib is a type of the Established Church, Nehemiah the remnant true believers and Tobiah, the enemy of the true believer Satan or one of his stooges. In that case, it shines light upon what we face today and what must be done.

Has the established state-sanctioned church allowed the enemy to set up shop within its midst, and as a result, the workers in the Kingdom have suffered loss and sought other means of making ends meet? Hasn’t the House of the Lord been defiled and degraded so that the oil and the wine (a type of Holy Spirit) are no longer found in the sanctuary? Does this mean there is no true worship in the church as frankincense often means in the bible? Does it mean that there is no bread to feed the servants of the Lord, as mentioned by the grain offerings? And what about the articles mentioned in verse 5? The Hebrew word here can also mean weapons, armour, and shields. Are they not missing from the Church at this time?

Is this not a stark warning to the Church of our day but more of a wake-up call to true believers to rise up, remove the enemy from within, and clean the House of the Lord? Is it time to act, as Nehemiah did, to identify the offence, become grieved and then act upon the injustice? Is it not time to reestablish the offering of worship in Spirit and Truth in the House of the Lord again and bring those who have laid down their calls back to where they need to be?  Is it not time to take up the weapons and armour we have laid down and use the equipment we have been given to establish the Kingdom of God and rout the enemy? Is it not time to actively engage with Holy Spirit, to come under His anointing and be the new wine in this new era?

Finally, in this season of constant change in the political landscape of many nations, should we, the Church, make sure that we don’t give room in the House of the Lord for any political favour or allegiance and keep it separate from the Church?  A stark outcome awaits the Church that fails to make the distinction between Church and State and allows the sacred to be defiled.  Is history about to be repeated, or do we rise as one, defend the sanctuary of our hearts collectively, and remain pure and undefiled, immune from the promises and posture of a wolf in sheep's clothing?