Page 86 - Principles of Leadership - Nehemiah

• They appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt
• God did not abandon them
• To top all their rebellion off, they cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, “This is your God
who brought you out of Egypt, and they had committed terrible blasphemies.

7. God shows His generosity (9:19-31)
19 You did not abandon them in the wilderness because of Your great compassion. During the day, the pillar
of cloud never turned away from them, guiding them on their journey. And during the night, the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go. You sent Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold
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Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst. You provided for them
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in the wilderness 40 years, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet
did not swell.

They lacked nothing (21) and appreciated nothing (17). In this passage, Nehemiah is recalling their wilderness
wanderings and appeals to the character of God. Over and over, the pronoun You appears to magnify the
goodness of God, and that despite the rampant disobedience on the part of Israel, God is good! Yet Nehemiah
recalled Israel's feelings when they felt that God abandoned them in the wilderness. But the real truth was that
You did not abandon them in the wilderness because of Your great compassion. Everyone feels that God has
abandoned us in our own wilderness wanderings at one time or another. Like the Psalmist, we ask, “Can God
really spread a table in the wilderness?” (Psalm 78:19) Yet the reality was in their lives, they lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples and assigned them to be a boundary. They took possession of the
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land of Sihon, king of Heshbon, and of the land of Og, king of Bashan. You multiplied their descendants like
the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You told their ancestors to go in and take possession [of it].

Notice the subtility that is used in verse 23 when it says that you brought their descendants… to the land. It
was not those whom He told to take possession of it. This history of Israel is a history of rebellion. It’s a history
of God being good to Israel and Israel using God’s goodness to them to rebel against Him.

In their journeys, they now move to possess the land. So their descendants went in and possessed the land:
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You subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land before them and handed their kings and the surrounding
peoples over to them, to do as they pleased with them. They captured fortified cities and fertile land and
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took possession of well–supplied houses, rock-hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees
in abundance. They ate, were filled, became prosperous, and delighted in Your great goodness. (1 cycle of
st
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sin-judgement and deliverance) But they were disobedient and rebelled against You. They flung Your law
behind their backs and killed Your prophets who warned them to turn them back to You. They committed
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terrible blasphemies. So You handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. In their time
of distress, they cried out to You, and You heard from heaven. In Your abundant compassion, You gave them
deliverers, who rescued them from the power of their enemies. But as soon as they had relief, they again
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did what was evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the power of their enemies, who dominated them.
When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven and rescued them many times in Your compassion.
29 You warned them to turn back to Your law, but they acted arrogantly and would not obey
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Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a person will live if he does them. (2
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cycle of sin-judgement-deliverance) They stubbornly resisted, stiffened their necks, and would not obey. You
were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit warned them through Your prophets, but they
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would not listen. Therefore, you handed them over to the surrounding peoples. However,
in Your abundant compassion, You did not destroy them or abandon them, for You are a gracious
and compassionate God. This cycle was repeated many times, which brought them to this great confession
beginning in verse 32.

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