Nehemiah 10:28-31 – Living a life separated unto God

The leaders, priests, and Levites signaled their intention to take God seriously. They not only made their intention known verbally but also had their names recorded in a sealed document. Now joined by the rest of the people which included priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants Nehemiah 10:28-29 said they renewed their oath to God. Notice that the pledge is referred to as “a curse and an oath.” Walking in obedience to God’s law was the intention but a curse would be triggered if they chose to disobey it. In other words, the best way to avoid the curse was to walk in obedience to God's stipulation. 

The whole community unitedly made their commitment. Verses 28-29 said at all of them including “…their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law….” Making the allegiance earnestly, they pledged to keep and observe all the law, and commandments of God their Lord, all His ordinances and His statutes, which He had given through Moses, His servant. They had made up their mind to live as a separate community from the people of the land.  

In verses 30-31, firstly, they pledged not to intermarry with the people of the land, saying, “… we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.” Secondly, they pledged to refrain from buying any items from foreigners on the Sabbath and any holy day. Thirdly, they would do what had been stipulated for the Sabbath year. They would not plant crops and nor exact debt owed to them.   

The crux of the text is about living a life that is separated unto God. As Christians, we are people called out of the world to be God’s own possession. We are called to live wholly for God and not to be conformed to the system of this world. We must choose to renew our minds by tearing down the value system of the world and building a new value system based on the Word of God. Friendship with the world, according to James, would make us enemies of God. We must no longer seek to follow the pattern of this world but to live lives based on the principles derived from God’s Word. As we do so we will practically experience the perfect will of God.      

Nehemiah 9:38-10:27 – Make living for God intentional

The Jerusalem after the exile was a far cry from the one before. Though the temple and walls and gates were rebuilt and restored, the sense of loss was still felt. We can imagine that they would invoke a sense of sadness among those who had returned from exile. Their ancestor’s departure from the law of God and waywardness were the main cause of why they had landed in this state of affairs. All these made a time of mourning, confession, and prayer necessary to hasten restoration. And all these the returnees did were needed to plead with God to initiate the move. However, they did one more thing to show their desire and intention to right the nation’s wrongs. Nehemiah 9:38-10:27 provides a list of the names of the leaders, priests, and Levites who agreed to what was right. They did not just agree verbally but put in a written sealed agreement their intention to follow the law of God from that day onward.  

As the leader and governor, Nehemiah set the example by having his name placed first. And in this list were many priestly names.  Not all the priests were mentioned individually. Fifteen of those names were named by families. That was probably why Ezra was not mentioned because he belonged to the Seriah family. Like the names of the priest, both the Levites and the leaders were also listed individually as well as by families.  

 

It helps to put an agreement in writing. They show their sincerity and willingness to abide by what they had unitedly and corporately agreed to do. A written agreement tells us that a decision has been neither hastily nor emotionally made. It is one that is rationally entered. A written agreement can also give an added motivation for one to keep what one has agreed upon. It is true that a recorded pledge is more likely to be observed than one given verbally. That’s why most contracts are put in writing and aptly sealed.  In our journey with God, it helps to put in a record what we have gleaned from the Word of God and are determined to act upon. It helps us to live a life that we can account for.          

 

Nehemiah 9:32-37 – Living with accountability

Having acknowledged and confessed their unfaithfulness, the Jews who had returned from exile made their petition to God in verses 32-37. They asked God to take notice of all the difficulties they as a nation had to endure. Their kings, princes, priests, prophets, ancestors, and all of God’s people, everyone went through much from the time the Assyrians had taken control till this present moment.

However, despite the intense hardship, they knew that God had been faithful. It had nothing to do with God’s faithfulness but everything to do with their waywardness.  God on His part had been just in His dealings. They deserved what they were getting as a nation for their disobedience in not keeping God’s law.  But now they resolve to turn away from their evil. They recognized that while they were in the land God had given them as He had promised, they were living as slaves to foreign powers. Having to pay huge taxes, they were now in great distress.    

 

Israel’s national sin is the sum of the individual sins of every generation. Bear in mind that sin is pervasive. It always affects the whole The prayer they prayed pointed no finger at any individual but at the entire nation. We learn from here that regardless of who had done wrong, the whole community has to own up to the wrong if corrective action has to be taken. Everyone needs to bear the wrong for the whole. There is no time for blaming. If revival is to come to the church, every believer needs to do his or her part. We are a body when one part suffers, the whole will suffer. Let’s live responsibly and be accountable.   

 

Nehemiah 9:16-31 – God is faithful

The Creator God has been faithful to His people since the day He called Abraham and made him and his descendants His very own. He has shown Himself not only as righteous but also merciful. Despite the multiple times they had failed Him, His loving-kindness toward them would remain. He would still pursue them relentlessly. The difficult times, He allowed them to go through, were never intended to destroy them but to bring them to the realization of His love and how much they needed Him.

Being a forgetful people the Israelites had failed Him ever so often. How often they would return to their old ways after God’s dealing. They would very quickly forget the gracious work of God’s redemption. These verses in Nehemiah 9:16-31 recall all the things the faithful God had done for them since the day He delivered them from their bondage in Egypt. But while God had proven Himself to be a gracious God repeatedly, they on their part had shown themselves to be ungrateful people just as often.

While they had left Egypt, the mentality they adopted and developed while there had never left them. They would often pine to return to the land of bondage though they were badly oppressed while they were there. They had stubbornly resisted God’s grace in so many ways even when they were unprovoked. Here we see a description of a compilation of them. They built the golden calves though told not to make God into an idol. They would provoke God and demonstrate their waywardness through the wilderness even though God unfailingly provided food and drinks for them for forty years. And for that duration, he did not allow the clothes and shoes to wear out. Through Him, they conquered great cities and possessed lands, but still, they would rebel and turn away from His law. They even killed the prophets whom God had sent to warn them. Yet in the times of their distress, they would cry to Him, and He would still graciously answer and deliver them without considering how they had spurned his gracious overtures repeatedly. God’s patience with them had been worn thin by their unfaithfulness, even then in His compassion, he never gave them up.

The loving-kindness of God is hard to comprehend. He would go to great lengths to demonstrate that. Ephesians 2:7 Paul tells us that he is so compassionately faithful “so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” And Titus 3:4-6 remind us that “…when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior….” Let us seek not to spurn His love toward us. Like the Psalmist, let us respond to Him in obedience and seek always to emulate His faithfulness!

Nehemiah 9:5-15 – Our great God is a promise keeper

After the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacle where they lived in booths made of leafy branches, the people now proclaim a day of fasting and mourning. They wore sackcloths, put dirt in themselves, and separated themselves from the foreigners. They confessed their sins and that of their ancestors and read the law of God and worshipped. Eight Levites on a platform then loudly cried a prepared prayer, most likely to be written by Ezra. This was perhaps one of the longest prayers in the Word of God.

 

The prayer began with a confession of the greatness of God in Nehemiah 9:5-15 where they started with a proclamation of the glorious name of God. Then they recalled his work of creation and praised his wonderful works for making the heavens and earth and everything in them. They also acknowledged His calling on the life of Abraham, and the covenant He made with him to make him and his descendants His own people. They also gratefully acknowledged the gift of the promised land.

 

Influenced greatly by the recent reading of the Word of God. They rehearsed how God had delivered them out of their bondage in Egypt with great signs and wonders and brought them into Canaan, in fulfillment of His promise. They remembered how God opened the sea and led them by the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud. And how He also gave them the law at Mount Sinai and instructed them on the Sabbath rest. He not only delivered them but provided manna from heaven and water from the rock for them in their journey through the wilderness. This righteous God had indeed been faithful to His people.  

 

In reflecting on these verses, we cannot get away from our wonderful God who alone deserves to be acknowledged and praised. He is the creator God who faithfully sustains His people. He is also a covenant maker and a promise keeper. This God is not only righteous but also merciful. How not to honor and love Him in return? Let us like them give our best to only worship and revere Him through life.            

           

Nehemiah 9:1-4 – True repentance

After celebrating the Feast of Tabernacle there came the day of corporate mourning and fasting on the 24^th day of the month. The people wore sackcloths, put dirt on themselves, and separated themselves  from the foreigners.

Nehemiah 9:2 said that together they confessed the sins and iniquities of their ancestors. Then they followed a format on that day. For a quarter of the day, approximately 3 hours, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God. Then for another quarter of the day, they confessed and worshipped the LORD their God. Verse 4 tells us that eight Levites, Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, stood on a platform and cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. They were probably reciting the prayer that had been written by Ezra beforehand.

When God’s people encountered him, the outcome would always be the realization of sin. This in turn would produce a willingness to repent. This was what happened to the people. When the law was read, they saw how far they had fallen and departed from the LORD. Then they were convicted and became deeply contrite. All that resulted in the people turning to God in worship.

Here is something we learn about true repentance. It’s a process that invariably involves the total man. Firstly, a person’s mind activates when the word is read. Then what has been heard would begin to make spiritual sense to the person. The Spirit of God would then work in his or her heart to bring about contrition. It would be here that the person's will would respond to God allowing change and worship to take place.  True repentance always begins with conviction leading to contrition and conversion.   

 

Nehemiah 8:13-18 – Living life for God joyfully and faithfully

The Feast of Booth also known as the Feast of Tabernacle was one of the seven feasts God instructed the people to celebrate. In Deuteronomy 16:13-15, the people of God were specifically instructed to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacle. They were told: “You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands so that you will be altogether joyful. Its purpose was to commemorate the time God saw them through the wilderness wandering.”

This feast was to be a thanksgiving commemoration of the time God sustained his people through the wilderness. During the Feast of Tabernacle, the Jews would build temporary tents or tabernacles with palm leaves on their rooftops to celebrate this occasion for seven days. In Exodus 23:16, this feast was also referred to as the Feast of the Ingathering.

As Ezra read the Law to the heads of the household on the second day, they were taken by surprise in learning about this feast. They found out that “the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month.” And this feast had not been celebrated since the days of Joshua the son of Nun. They had totally forgotten about this feast and had disregarded it for the longest time. Hence a proclamation was made asking the people to go to the nearby hills to cut and “…bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written” to commemorate this occasion.  

So enthusiastically, the entire assembly who had returned from the exile complied. So Nehemiah 8:16 said that “the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.” Each day for the week-long celebration Ezra read the law before the solemn day of assembly on the eighth day.  

In this Feast of Booth or Tabernacle, we cannot escape the call to live a joyful life of faith and obedience. It is a call to celebrate the goodness of God. This feast reminds us that we are on a journey. We need to know that earth is our temporary dwelling. Our destination is to be with God. While we journey toward our destination, our goal is to cultivate a life of faith and obedience leading to Christlikeness. As we journey, we must also take care of the needy and not leave them out. We must learn to live joyfully, obediently, and faithfully for God!