On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people, and therein was written that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God forever. Nehemiah 13:1
The worst of the days of segregation in the United States is hopefully long gone, although there are still strong prejudiced attitudes in some areas that would discriminate against some people because of the colour of their skin. If we go back far enough, we will find rules that required black people to sit in the back of the bus, in the outside places at public events, and in their own underprivileged schools. Black people were not entitled to many of the privileges that white people enjoyed. In some cases, they were not even allowed to vote, hold public office, or attend universities. If we examine all of those unfair and disturbing prejudices, we find only one reason behind them all: the attitude of some of the white people that they were somehow better than the black people. That is an evil and erroneous reason for excluding one particular group of people from existing as a normal part of society. Our text today tells about some people who were also excluded from being a part of the Jewish society in Nehemiah’s day, but in their case, there was a very good reason behind the exclusion.
The Ammonites and the Moabites were neighbours of the Israelites. In fact, if you traced them back far enough, they were directly related to the Israelites, they being the descendents of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. But these people, despite a natural kinship, had showed themselves to be no friend to the children of Israel as they were making their way to the promised land. Because of this wicked attitude, God had declared them forever unfit to be part of Iarael’s congregation or to enjoy Israel’s blessings. Even so, there are people around us who have forfeited any right to be part of God’s promises and blessings, or to take part in the company of the Lord’s people. People who are not saved, no matter how friendly or how closely related by blood they are to the Christians, have no place within the fellowship of the Lord’s people. Unsaved children, or spouses, or other relatives, of the Christians can often become very close to the Christians, and can often act and talk like us. We can often forget that they do not belong to the same spiritual family as us. While we love them dearly, and pray for them daily, and long for their salvation, we need to recognize that they are still outside, and still do not have the same appreciation of our Saviour or of the things of the Lord.
The spiritual Moabites and Ammonites around us do not share our love for our Lord, and we should be careful that we do not give them a position that God’s word says they do not have. -Jim MacIntosh