Eliashib’s Testimony - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate.
Nehemiah 3:1 NKJV

Eliashib's Testimony
When God's people first returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, Jeshua the high priest helped rebuild the temple (Ezra 3:2, 8). Now, almost 75 years later, his grandson Eliashib (see Neh. 12:10) took the lead in repairing the city walls. It is God's principle that His work must be done in a priestly character—that is, with a clear realization that we are serving in the presence of the Lord. It was good that Eliashib, a mature, older leader among his brethren, led the way in this work.

However, he did not continue well. Only a few years later Eliashib was "allied with Tobiah" (Neh. 13:4), a man who continually tried to hinder God's work. Nehemiah 3 records Tobiah's mocking insults, chapter 4 his threats of violence, and chapter 6 his attempts to make Nehemiah afraid. Yet Eliashib the priest gave Tobiah a room "in the courts of the house of God" for his personal use, taking space away from the Levites to do so (13:4-8). Moreover, Eliashib's grandson married the daughter of Sanballat, another enemy of the Jews. It seems Eliashib exercised neither personal discernment nor moral authority in leading his family.

It is common to exhort young people to live for the Lord, but how often do we exhort adults? In the Scriptures, many mature believers failed. David was middle-aged when he sinned with Bathsheba. Jonah was a respected prophet when he disobeyed the Lord. Rebekah was likely in her sixties when she advised her son to deceive her husband. Eliashib the priest, once an encouragement to his brethren, caused many to stumble through his failure. Let us not think that only young people fail. We older ones have as many, if not more, opportunities to sin. All believers need encouragement to depend on the Lord in every stage of life.

-- Stephen Campbell