Nehemiah 13:2

Neh 13:2 Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

Ver. 2. Because they met not the children of Israel] A bare omission of observance subjected them to divine vengeance. As God requiteth the least courtesy done to his people, be it but a cup of cold water; so he repayeth the least discourtesy, or but neglect of them, to whom the glorious angels are ministering spirits, and may not think themselves too good to serve them, Heb 1:14.

But hired Balaam against them] With the rewards of divination, Num 22:7, the wages of wickedness, Jdg 1:11 2Pe 2:15, which he greedily ran after; and not so much as roving at God, made the world his standing mark, till he had got a sword in his guts.

Howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing] So he did the pope’s curse to Queen Elizabeth, and before her, to Luther. Quo magis illi furunt, eo amplius precedo, saith he in a certain epistle; the more they rage and ban me the more I proceed and prosper. The pope excommunicated him, the emperor proscribed him, &c. Omnium animi tum erant arrecti, quid illa Caesaris et pontificis fulmina essent effectura. All men’s minds were then set an end, and stood on tip-toes, as it were, to see what would be the issue, saith mine author (Scultet. Annal.). A wonderful work of our God surely, and worthy to be chronicled! Luther is conveyed out of the way by the Elector of Saxony for ten months, till he would be hid no longer. Meanwhile Pope Leo dieth, the Emperor Charles V is first called into Spain to suppress seditions there, and afterwards is so busied in his wars with the French king, that he hath no leisure to look after Luther. After this, when the French king was beaten by the emperor, and carried prisoner into Spain, he was released and sent home again, upon the condition that the emperor and he should root out the Lutheran heresy, as they called it. But our God broke their designs, and turned this curse also into a blessing. For the French king returning home, and conceiving that the conditions that he had yielded unto, to get off, were unequal, entereth into a league with the pope and the State of Venice against the emperor. The pope, that he might cover his false dealing with the emperor, sends abroad his Bull and therein calleth knave first. The emperor, on the other side, complaineth of the pope’s malice and double-dealing, exhorteth him to peace, and concludeth that it were fitter for them to unite against the Lutherans. And when he could prevail nothing by writing, he abolished his authority throughout all Spain, sends his armies against him under the duke of Bourbon, claps him up prisoner in St Angelo, proclaims open war against the French, &c. So that religion got ground, and all things fell out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, Php 1:12. Let them curse thy Church, Lord, but do thou bless; when they arise, let them ever be ashamed; but let thy servants rejoice, and speed the better for their ill wishes. So be it, Psa 109:28.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh_13:2

Howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

The curse turned into a blessing

This was just like God, whose name and nature are love.

1. The devil turns the blessing into a curse. When God created man He endowed him with the power of choice, made his will free, so that he might choose good and evil. The creature was thus endowed with an inestimable blessing. The devil, by the subtlety and force of temptation, turned mans dignity against himself and effected his ruin, and through successive generations he has sought to turn the blessing into a curse.

2. Man often turns the blessing into a curse. Physical strength, intellectual endowments, social position, wealth, opportunities for usefulness--things good in themselves--are often transformed by mans depraved nature into instruments and occasions of evil. Of all the plots and assaults of the devil, all the mischievous purposes of wicked men, all the disasters of life, all the forms of evil we may have to encounter we may say, Howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

I. God has turned the curse of sin into a blessing. The existence of sin is an awful and mysterious fact, permitted by God for wise and gracious issues. We can conceive of no greater curse. It separated man from God. It destroyed his original righteousness. It cut him off from happiness. It brought upon him condemnation and death. God comes to man in this state with the blessings of His grace.

1. The fall of man furnished an occasion for the exercise of the restoring grace of God. Sin prepared the way for salvation. Paradise Regained is more than Paradise Lost.

2. The curse of sin has supplied an opportunity for such an exhibition of the character and glory of God as we nowhere else behold. Gods brightest glory shines in the method of mans salvation. God in Christ is more glorious far than God in creation. In the Saviour of the world we have the most perfect manifestation of God.

3. Throughout the earth, following in the track of the destroyer, God bestows the blessings of His great salvation. God is still in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.

II. God turns sorrow into a blessing.

1. Sorrow is a teacher. Sorrow seems sent for our instruction as we darken the cages of birds when we would teach them to sing. As the night brings out the stars, so trouble reveals to us many truths that would otherwise remain unseen. It clears our visions, so that we get new views of God and ourselves, of truths and duty, of this world and the next.

2. It awakens thoughtfulness.

3. Under this gracious ministry and discipline the noblest characters have been perfected. Poets, it is said, learn in suffering what they teach in song. Sorrow is one of the best nurses of godliness. Some plants thrive better in a poor than in a rich soil; so some virtues come to speedier and fuller perfection in grief than in gladness. When spices are crushed, then they emit their odours. After the diamond is ground and polished On the wheel, its facets flash with lustre. It is said that when growers of roses want to develop the bloom of a favourite tree in special richness and beauty they sometimes deprive it for a season of light and moisture. In this condition its leaves fall off. But while this process is going on, and the tree is almost leafless, a new life is springing, from which come in due season a tenderer foliage and a choicer and more abundant bloom. This suggests some of the sweet uses of sorrow,

4. In the gracious arrangements of God sorrow is often succeeded by joy,

5. God is preparing the way for the extinction of sorrow on the earth.

III. God turns the curse of death into a blessing. To the Christian man death ceases to be the king of terrors, and becomes a friend to call him home, He delivers him from the infirmities of the flesh, the corruptions of sin, the temptations of Satan, and the sufferings and troubles of life. Death is the gate of life. In conclusion--

1. The subject teaches us the benevolence of God.

2. Learn the loving confidence you may cherish in God. Let us learn to imitate God. Let us endeavour through life to turn the curse into a blessing. (William Walters.)

Sorrows turned to blessings

We might tell of the blessed effects of the captivity of Joseph--the means of preserving his fathers household and the lives of the thousands of Egypt. We might speak of the happy results of Israels national calamities; how they were led to seek the Lord in their sorrow, and the Lord hearkened and heard them. We might tell of Pauls imprisonment issuing in the conversion of his jailor and his household; or we might speak of Johns banishment to the lonely Isle of Patmos, where his spirit was refreshed with those wondrous discoveries of Gods doings and purposes that form the last book in the Canon of Sacred Writ. In these instances sorrow is not to be denominated a cures, but a blessing--not a punishment, but a medicine. True it is that sorrow has been Styled the winter of the soul, because it freezes up the streams of comfort, and ices the soul over with the frosts of sadness; but, like as that season, rough and stormy and bleak as it is, is conducive to the ultimate fertility of the earth, so the moral Winter at once prepares for the fuller enjoyment of the coming spring of peace, and is productive of a richer harvest of righteousness to the praise and glory of our God. Affliction has been styled the storm of life; but, like as those tempests that agitate the bosom of the ocean serve alike to overpower the shattered bark, and to urge forward others more speedily to their desired haven, so these moral tempests, while they may overwhelm the wicked and impenitent, are ever conducive in speeding forward the journey of the children of the kingdom to heaven and to God. (J. Macnaughton, A. M.)

Curses and blessings

Nehemiah sees God at work in this transformation, and openly, gladly, gratefully acknowledge that the transformation of the curse was not the work of human good-will or of human genius, but a direct operation of the Divine almightiness itself. We lose so much by not seeing God immediately. Why do we allow God to go so far sway from our consciousness and appreciation and love? Why do we not cry for Him, and bid Him come to us, and give Him no rest until He draws near? This is the true religion; this is the noble piety.

I. To be cursed of man is really no proof of Gods disapprobation.

II. He ought to be a very great man, and a very pure, lofty, and godly soul, who under takes to curse anybody else.

III. To be blessed of man is no proof of Gods favour iv. The vanity of trusting in anything which can be turned into a curse. Application of these truths to your personal experience:

1. The frowns of society.

2. Wronged in business.

3. The seeming opposition of nature, God is willing and able to turn all curses into blessings.

But the blessing will not be given without action on our part. Art thou suffering? Go to thy knees; tell God thy sin; then the film shall be taken from thine eyes--thou shall see the great, mighty, redeeming Cross of Christ, and He shall say, Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee The curse will be turned into a blessing, and thou shalt be the better for the abasement. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

Sorrows keeping front worldliness

An evangelist tells of a young lad who left his fathers home to be a sailor. He was absent for three years, and on the return voyage, just as he was thinking of how soon he should see all the dear ones at home, his ship was wrecked off the coast of Norway. Many were lost, but he and some others managed to get into a boat. They tried to row for the shore, but the men being wet, and the cold so intense, many of them were frozen to death. The first mate had command of the boat, and the lad being a favourite of his, he was afraid that he should fall a victim to the cold, and whenever he saw him dozing, or showing any signs of sleeping, he thrashed him with a ropes-end. In vain the lad expostulated, the thrashing continued until all drowsiness was gone. At length they reached land, and were hospitably entertained by the natives, and in time were forwarded home. That young man often says he owes his life to the mate who administered to him that timely discipline. The sufferings and sorrows which God puts upon His people are like that thrashing. Only to keep them from falling into the sleep of worldliness that leads to death, to keep them alive in grace, looking unto Him, does He afflict them.

Gods Providences not to be feared

We ought never to be afraid of Gods providences when they seem to break up our lives and crush our hopes, and even to turn us away from our chosen paths usefulness and service. God knows what He wants to do with us, how He san boot use us, and where and in what lines of ministry He would have us serve. When He shuts one door it is because He has another standing open for our feet. Whoa He breaks our lives to pieces it is because they will do more for His glory and the worlds good broken and shattered than whole.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. because they met not, &c.] Cf. Deu_23:4, ‘Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they (Heb. he) hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse thee.’

Balaam is referred to by the Deuteronomist as the prophet whose curse would be fatal; the Deuteronomist writer, like the prophet Micah (Neh_6:5) follows the Jehovist account in Numbers 22-24, and shows no sign of acquaintance with the Elohist’s description of Balaam (Num_31:8; Num_31:16) as an instigator of the Midianite plot to corrupt the children of Israel.

but hired] The verb in the Hebrew is in the singular ‘he hired’, as in Deu_23:4, referring possibly to Balak the son of Zippor in Num_22:2.

against them] Literally ‘against him’, i.e. Israel, corresponding to the singular ‘against thee’ in Deu_23:4.

that he should curse them] R.V. to curse them.

howbeit our God] The remainder of the verse gives in general terms the substance of Deu_23:5-6.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because they met not the children of Israel with bread,.... The same reason is given, and what follows in this verse is observed in Deu 23:4; See Gill on Deu 23:4, Deu 23:5.

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Nehemiah 13:3

neh 13:3

neh 13:3

neh 13:3Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law,.... Or the law concerning the Ammonite and the Moabite, and which included other nations also, and forbad marriage with them:

that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude; all of these, and other nations, they had contracted affinity with.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2 follows closely Deu_23:4, Deu_23:5, merely substituting the third for the second person, and abbreviating a little. On the turning of Balaam"s proposed curse into a blessing see Num_24:10.

Foes turned into friends.

"Our God turned the curse into a blessing." Balaam, who was hired to curse Israel, and desired to do so, was compelled to bless them. A unique instance; but suggesting the general truth that God makes the efforts of men to injure his people a means of doing them good: and of doing good to others through them, which is also a mode of blessing them. How does he effect this?

I BY HIS OVERRULING PROVIDENCE. The case of Joseph is a notable instance. (see Gen_45:5-8 Gen_50:20) The enmity and cruelty of his brothers, the anger of Potiphar"s wife, issuing in his own exaltation, the preservation of his family, and their settlement in Egypt.

II BY THE POWER OF HIS SPIRIT.

1. On those desiring to injure good men. Sometimes turning their hearts to friendship. Paul going to Damascus to persecute the Christians, but arriving to co-operate with them.

2. On those whose injury is sought. Turning the enmity of men, and even of Satan, into means of grace to his people; promoting in them

a. Compassion and good-will towards their enemies. So that they bless those who curse, pray for them, forgive them.

b. Trust in God, and experience of his supporting grace.

c. Patience and resignation.

d. Power to overcome temptation.

e. Christian character in general. And, as the result of all-Power to do good.

3. On the hearts of others. The example and the utterances of Christians thus exercised and thus blessed being made more influential to encourage and strengthen their fellow-Christians and to promote the salvation of sinners.

Illustrations abound in Scripture, biographies of Christians, and ordinary Christian life. David was fitted for the throne by the discipline which the enmity of Saul afforded; and by the experience of varied trials was so enriched in spiritual life as to be able to write psalms meeting the wants of godly men throughout the ages. We owe the sublime death of Stephen to the rage of his malignant foes. If St. Paul had not been persecuted he would not have been so great in goodness, or effected so much good in life, or written epistles so full of inspiring thoughts and powerful consolations for the benefit of the Church for ever. St. John, banished to Patmos, sees heavenly visions, hears heavenly voices, and writes the Book of Revelation. And "the noble army of martyrs," how much they owed, how much we owe through them, to their persecutions. But the grand instance is that of the Lord himself, made "perfect through sufferings," and becoming thereby the Saviour of the world, the sympathising Friend and Consoler of his suffering people, the perfect example of meekness, resignation, and forgiveness of enemies. Note, however, in conclusion, that in the case of impenitent sinners blessings from God and man are turned into curses. What are meant for good the gifts of Providence, enjoyments, sufferings, the gospel and the grace of God all become evil.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.