And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah. Nehemiah 13:4
One of the young men in an Assembly some years ago had a friend who he chummed around with before he was saved. His friend was a fun-loving character who the young Christian – I will call him Donnie – still maintained a friendship with. The two would spend time together, including time examining the things that the unsaved lad had stolen from some of the homes that he had broken into in the area. Although his friend was trouble, Donnie did not want to give up their friendship, despite the urgings of his family and the warnings of the Assembly oversight. One day, as the two young men were looking at the stolen items in a shed, the police burst in upon them, and arrested them both. Donnie found himself facing the possibility of a criminal record and jail time, just because he refused to separate himself from the friendship of a thief. He was like the priest in our text who should have known better than to be a friend of an enemy of God and his people.
There is an old saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. A corollary to that is the enemy of my friend is my enemy. Eliashib had made an unwise choice of a friend who was an enemy of God. Because Tobiah was an enemy of the Jews who had come to resettle the land and restore the worship of God, and an opponent of the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem, Eliashib should have regarded him as an enemy. And as a priest, his former friendship with Tobiah should have been severed sharply and permanently. Perhaps he failed to see the harm that Tobiah was doing and was trying to do. Perhaps Tobiah was a fun person to be with, perhaps he had business connections, or maybe he was a relative of someone close to the family. For whatever reason, Eliashib maintained his friendship with Tobiah, and it caused problems for those around him. Such friendships always do.
If we read the following verses, we see that Eliashib’s effectiveness as a priest was seriously compromised by his friendship with Tobiah. In addition, the service of the Lord in the temple was also badly affected, as Tobiah had taken up residence in part of the temple. He was occupying space that was reserved for God. Unsaved friends are always a threat to occupy space that should be for God in our lives, our service, and our worship. We need to be careful that such friendships – and yes, we can have some friends who are not Christians – do not occupy space in our lives that prevents us from being all that we can be as Christians. They must not take time that we should devote to our prayer and Bible study, or to meetings of the Assembly. They must not take our interests away from the things of God. And we must always keep in mind that they do not have the Lord Jesus Christ and His honour as their highest priority as we should.
As believer-priests, there should be little room in our lives for unsaved friends, and no room at all for outright enemies of the Gospel. – Jim MacIntosh