Nehemiah 13:10

THE PEOPLE HAD STOPPED PAYING TITHES TO THE LEVITES

"And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; so the Levites, and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field. Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. Then brought all Judah the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries. And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute unto their brethren. Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds which I have done for the house of my God, and for the observances thereof."

"The Levites ... were fled every one to his field" (Nehemiah 13:10). The people, particularly the landowners, princes and rulers of the people, stopped paying tithes; and the Levites, left without support, fled at once to farms to make a living. Of course, the rulers (Nehemiah 13:11) had a financial interest in abolishing tithes; and that is why Nehemiah began by assembling them and demanding an answer as to why the temple was deserted.

"I contended with the rulers" (Nehemiah 13:11). "The sin of profaning the temple was principally charged against the priests; but the omission of the payment of tithes was due to the indifference or opposition of the rulers."[8]

"Remember me, O my God, concerning this" (Nehemiah 13:14). This pitiful plea on the part of Nehemiah is understandable. The sudden and almost unbelievable totality of the people's rejection of God's Word and their wholesale violation of all his commandments surely must have alerted Nehemiah to the fact that all of his high hopes for the nation of Israel would never be realized. There are four similar prayers of this nature in this single concluding chapter.