Page 91 - Principles of Leadership - Nehemiah

they were over 2500 years ago. The basic principles will remain the same; however, the details may differ. The
relevance of what was going on in Nehemiah's lifetime is the same as the issues we deal with today. Therefore,
the specific actions that they took should likewise be translated into our culture so that we can take similar
specific actions for God's glory.

It is interesting to note that the first signer of this sworn oath to follow the law of God was Nehemiah, the
governor. Again, Nehemiah realized that everything rises and falls upon leadership; therefore, he wanted to be
the first to sign this binding agreement that was made in writing. Nehemiah represented the civil power that
was placed in authority by the king. The next group, verses 2-8, represents 21 of the priests of Israel. The next
group found in verses 9-13 was composed of 17 names of Levites, which also represented individuals and family
names. And the final 44 names represent noble families of Israel found in verses 14-27. Nehemiah 10:28 tells us
that the rest of the people… This informs us that the list of names was not exhaustive. The priests, Levites,
singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who can
understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to [obey] the law of God. Don’t
miss this last phrase, those who have separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to [obey] the law of
God. This is speaking about non-Israelites. Those who realized that Jehovah was God and wanted to follow the
law of God. They had separated themselves from something to something, the law of God. We must realize that
our God really is global, and He has the world in His heart. Yes, he had to preserve the purity of the Jewish
bloodline to fulfill the promise of the coming messiah. However, as proven in this passage, Psalm 67, and a host
of other Old Testament passages, he has the world in his heart.

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All of these people, join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the
law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commands, ordinances, and
statutes of the LORD our Lord.

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2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim,
Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and
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Shemaiah. These were the priests. The Levites were: Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad,
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Kadmiel, and their brothers Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
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12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu. The leaders of the people were: Parosh,
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Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
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18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, Meshezabel, Zadok,
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Jaddua, Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, Rehum,
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Hashabnah, Maaseiah, Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, Malluch, Harim, Baanah. The rest of the people—the
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priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters,
everyone who can understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to [obey] the
law of God— join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the law of
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God given through God’s servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of
the LORD our Lord.

Before we begin to look at the five specific commitments the Israelites committed to, we need to remind
ourselves again regarding the high view of the Scriptures that Israel took. In Nehemiah 10:28, they committed
themselves to [obey] the law of God, and in verse twenty-nine, they also pledged with a sworn oath to follow
the law of God given through God’s servant Moses. They realize that if God is God and has spoken to us in the
Bible, as the church has always confessed he has, then this book is supreme over us. Therefore, in response to
his law, they made the following commitments. In the following verses, you will notice that the dominant word
is we, referring to the entire community.

In contrast to people with receptive hearts, there have always been those who do not want to change. When
this is prevalent in the faith community, there is always an attack upon the messenger because he preaches a
message of repentance. For example, when Moses confronted his brothers for their behavior, notice what they
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