Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 10-27-17

Confessions And Commitment Nehemiah 9:32-38; 10:28, 29
mighty (strong). He is also called awesome. God is ac- knowledged as one who keeps his covenant of love. God is faithful in keeping his side of the agreement .
God is also acknowledged as righteous (just) and faithful (truthful). God’s people en- joyed the great blessing of ex- periencing life under God’s loving reign (his kingdom). Fi- nally, God’s tremendous kind- ness expressed in physical blessings is mentioned. The people enjoyed spacious and fertile land, and ate all the good things it produced. Make no mistake about it. God is faithful as a covenant keeper.
Unfaithfulness Nehemiah 9:32b, 33b, 34, 35b, 36a, 37
The Levites (speaking for the people) spared no words admitting the breaking of the covenant. The exiles returning from Babylon likened their re- bellion to that of their fellow Israelites during the earlier Assyrian captivity. They urged God not to allow the hardships
that had happened to them to seem trifling (little).
The people also confessed that they had acted wickedly (evil). They acknowledged that their leaders did not follow the law and didn’t pay attention to the commandments and the statutes (testimonies). The people didn’t serve God or turn (repent) from their evil ways. They admitted they had been in slavery (see John 8:33), had sinned, and had seen their crops and cattle confiscated by the kings. No wonder they were in great dis- tress (trouble, affliction). These were painful words to read, but people never get well without doing reality therapy on their own sins.
Renewal Nehemiah 9:38; 10:28, 29
Israel literally signed on to keep God’s covenant. They even put it in writing (en- graved). The leaders led the way.
The covenant or promise between the people of God had 6 provisions: They agreed to:
1) not marry people of the land- non Jewish neighbors; 2) observe the Sabbath; 3) ob- serve every 7th year as a Sab- bath year; 4) pay a Temple tax; 5) supply wood for the burnt offerings in the Temple and 6) give dues to the Temple.
The rest (remnant) fol- lowed suit. Ten groups of peo- ple are mentioned who were willing to bind themselves with a curse and oath to obey the covenant.
The wall was completed and the covenant God made with the people in the days of Moses was restored (Deuter- ronomy 8). In this covenant are principles which are im- portant for us today. Our rela- tionship with God goes beyond church attendance. Itf should affect our relationships, or time and our material re- sources. When you chose to follow God, you made a prom- ise to serve him in this way. The Israelites had fallen away from their original commit- ment to follow God. We must be careful not to do the same.
More than 500 years had passed since the events of last week’s lesson. The 10 northern tribes had been taken captive by Assyria (722 BC), and the two southern tribes had been taken captive by Babylon (586 BC). But God raised up Cyrus to send the exiles home (Isa- iah 45:1). They came home in three waves—one under Zerubbabel; one under Ezra; and one under Nehemiah. The good governor would work hard to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1-6). But he knew that it would take more than brick and mortar to rebuild the Stone City. It would also take the Word of God (Nehemiah 7-13).
Faithfulness Nehemiah 9:32a, 33a, 35a, 36a
As Ezra and his helpers presented the Word of God to the people, all the right things took place—reverence for God, heartfelt worship, great contri- tion, celebration of God’s goodness, and renewal of key festivals of their faith (Ne- hemiah 8:1-18). Our text brings us to the time when the day for crying had come.
Nehemiah 9 is one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible. It is a long rehearsal of a rebellious history. The Levites led out in this magnificent prayer on behalf of the re- turned exiles. God’s people celebrated the faithfulness of God as a covenant keeper. At least eight qualities and ac- tions of God’s faithfulness are identified. God is called great (high, large in magnitude) and
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