Nehemiah 9:1-38
9:1 The people entered a state of spiritual regeneration. God had generated the blessing of their release from captivity as well as the construction of the wall which would solidify their freedom. His tremendous power inspired them to humble themselves in both gratitude and repentance.
The participated in a collective fast, dressed in sackcloth and brushed with dust on their heads. The physical display of lowliness was meant to be representative of their comparison with God. Based on recent divine intervention, their modest nature became apparent to them.
As individuals, we benefit our life greatly when we endeavor to live in a state of humility. For when we are aware of our deficiencies, God instructs us on how to fill them. And anything that is out of our power is solidly within His. The apostle Paul gleefully claimed his weaknesses as he understood them to be hosts and invitations to God's strength. Every void (anger, greed, weakness, fear) within us is a place that can be filled by the light of God.
Therefore the people humbled themselves. They had never made so much progress as they did when they stopped trying to lead and started instead to follow. So often we begin to chart and travel our own course, in pursuit of self-focused desires, but that is a chaotic and cyclical journey. To actually progress we must place God in the forefront and personal desires behind.
9:2 The people of the Israelite lineage separated themselves from the others, they had something specific to atone for: their own disobedience and the disobedience of their ancestors despite the covenant God personally made with them. Once we have a personal relationship with God, our experience with Him is much more intimate: disobedience becomes a personal affront.
9:3 For one-fourth of the day, the people dedicated themselves to reading scripture. For another fourth, they confessed and worshiped God. It is so important that we dedicate ample time to intimacy and worship with God. In the space of worship, we can confess our transgressions but also our fears and hopes and questions. In the space of worship, we can profess and thus deepen our love for Him. We should make a commitment to spend time considering the generous and compassionate nature of our God. We should make a commitment to observe and ponder not just Who He is but also what He has created within and around us.
9:4-5 The spiritual leaders of Jerusalem made a supplication to our God whose glory is worthy of interminable praise (which continues to the end of the chapter):
“Stand up and bless the Lord your God
Forever and ever!
“Blessed be Your glorious name,
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
9:6 In awe, the leaders spoke of the magnitude, eternity and creative omnipotence of God.
You alone are the Lord;
You have made heaven,
The heaven of heavens, with all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.
9:7 The acknowledgement of the transformation Abraham's faith in God produced. It is important for us to know the history of God's people because through them, we learn of the glorious work God can cultivate within us too. He adds depth and breadth to our lives, so much that our old selves must be made new in order to carry the weight of abundant blessing.
“You are the Lord God,
Who chose Abram,
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
And gave him the name Abraham;
9:8 God proved Himself to be honorable in the fulfillment of His promises. We can trust God to make steadfast covenants with us when we proffer to him our faithful heart. A faithful heart is an unwavering commitment and submission to righteousness, compassion, and humility. A faithful heart is spiritually conscientious: thorough, dutiful, attentive, studious.
You found his heart faithful before You,
And made a covenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites,
And the Girgashites—
To give it to his descendants.
You have performed Your words,
For You are righteous.
9:9 God is both aware
and responsive. He is fully informed of our condition and our lamentations reach His compassionate ears.
“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And heard their cry by the Red Sea.
9:10 To those who observe, God makes clear the difference between His power and the supposed power within the world. The power of the world is dependent on fickle, mortal and selfish humans. The power of God has no such limitation, neither is it bound to any law of man or nature. He is able to decimate any person, power or entity which behaves or believes otherwise.
You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants,
And against all the people of his land.
For You knew that they acted proudly against them.
So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
9:11 God is able to re-calibrate the earth and universe in order to orchestrate our survival amid impossible conditions. We each have a (or a series of) "red seas" in our life. God is able to help us cross them all, even if it means He has the redefine the laws of science. The lesson, figuratively spoken of, is that God makes a way through whatever mighty water, Isaiah 43:16.
And You divided the sea before them,
So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
And their persecutors You threw into the deep,
As a stone into the mighty waters.
9:12 God does not simply free us. He makes a way and then leads us through, throughout it. He is our beacon as well as our shelter. Our protection as well as our warm. He is with us in the day; He is with us in the night. He is aware of every provision we require to thrive.
Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar,
And by night with a pillar of fire,
To give them light on the road
Which they should travel.
9:13-14 He graciously delivers instruction in order to encourage us to live within the coordinates of His absolute refuge.
“You came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven,
And gave them just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
You made known to them Your holy Sabbath,
And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,
By the hand of Moses Your servant.
9:15 In the wilderness, God became provision. He becomes so for us in our wildernesses. We can depend on His heaven-sent sustenance; we can trust that He will bring forth water out of rocks if He needs to before He will ever let us shrivel.
You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst,
And told them to go in to possess the land
Which You had sworn to give them.
9:16 From our spiritual ancestors, we learn the grace of faith but also the consequence of faithlessness. The children of Israel became arrogant and ungrateful. They became stubborn and heedless of His commandments. They tarnished their relationship with Him, forfeit His provision, corrupted their character and condemned their soul.
“But they and our fathers acted proudly,
Hardened their necks,
And did not heed Your commandments.
9:17 Selfishness tempted them into disobedience. They replaced God and in the seat of power they placed sin. Yet God remained patient and magnanimous. Jesus came in the spirit of our Father; they came to gather, heal, and transform the sick, Mark 2:17. Thus we have the blessed benefit of the resilience of God's love and patience.
So many times in Exodus (and beyond), the children of Israel were unworthy and ungrateful but God never abandoned them. He disciplined them. He reprimanded them. But He did not abandon them; it was they who abandoned Him. God creates a covenant with us that, at least on His end, endures.
They refused to obey,
And they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them.
But they hardened their necks,
And in their rebellion
They appointed a leader
To return to their bondage.
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.
9:18 They replaced God with idols. Instead of obedience to Him, they were obedient to their desire for money, vengeance and lust. We must not let those things be our gods; inanimate gods like money and fame, lifestyles of corruption, it all steadily
kills us. Only our God gives us life. He should be our motivation and pursuit, the leader and authority within our lives.
“Even when they made a molded calf for themselves,
And said, ‘This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,’
And worked great provocations,
9:19 God always provides a beacon for us to follow Him. Although humanity often disregards and opposes Him, He is always there. He is always patient for us to realize how advantageous a righteous lifestyle will be. He provides the chance and choice for us to be better.
Yet in Your manifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness.
The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road;
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To show them light,
And the way they should go.
9:20 God's leadership and instruction is available to us. His provision is abundant and generously offered. Should we chose to become obedient children of righteousness, we find both haven and sustenance from and with which to practice His ways and become more like our Father.
You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
And gave them water for their thirst.
9:21 There is no limit to God's hospitality, generosity or compassion. They lacked nothing. The depth of our faith determines the amount God will fill our lives with. When we trust Him with everything, we find ourselves in possession of everything we need and surplus. He covers us from every angle, supports us at every level, sustains each atom in our body and light in our soul.
The Holy Spirit doggedly works to get us to understand that the how of our situation is God's business and not ours to figure out. Like the children of Israel, we worry so much about the hows... we focus so intently on the buts. How can I cross a desert? But what if I get tired? How will I eat? But how will I know the way?
Throughout our life journey, we worry so much about failure and getting lost even though our God has already planned both our triumph and our arrival at our destination. Our hopes vary, as do our doubts, but God works personally, intimately, arduously with each of us to bless and reassure us through them all. The hows in our life are not important, toss them out the window; the Who in our life is, put Him in the driver's seat.
Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;
They lacked nothing;
Their clothes did not wear out
And their feet did not swell.
9:22 Those who followed, by God were led home. They were established, organized, and blessed.
“Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into districts.
So they took possession of the land of Sihon,
The land of the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
9:23-24 By God their blessings abounded in the fulfillment of His word. Lifelong adherence to God's will cultivates a bright and beautiful land for our souls. Closely follow His instructions, cling to His love; He will steadily build a beautiful life around you.
You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.
So the people went in
And possessed the land;
You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.
9:25 God made every aspect of their life ripe and abundant. We can trust God to surround us with solemnity, health and joy. His great goodness provides more than we could ever plan or procure ourselves. God blesses elements and aspects of our lives we do not even realize needed revival.
And they took strong cities and a rich land,
And possessed houses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and grew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great goodness.
9:26 Unlike our spiritual ancestors, we should make every effort to remain obedient. The children of Israel chose to be like the world, rather than separate and holy with God. We should not make the world's values our own, for fame and wealth and aesthetics are hollow things, too brittle to ever serve as the pillar of a person's happiness or character.
Jesus is the only celebrity. Wealth only has merit in
charity. And beauty is
justice, beauty is
compassion, beauty is
love.
Whatever does not serve the Kingdom of God, does not serve any child of the Kingdom. Therefore, should we ever attain fame, wealth or beauty, if they are to be any benefit to us, they must be a platform from which we exalt and serve the
Kingdom of God rather than ourselves.
“Nevertheless they were disobedient
And rebelled against You,
Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets, who testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.
Although a former people rejected them, killed them, God's prophets walk about the corridors of our hearts and minds every time we open, read, and live scripture. Listen to them, heed their advice! Allow them to turn your whole body, whole heart, whole mind, whole soul to God.
9:27 When they needed correction, God our Father disciplined them. He remained present with them, but He employed the tough love that would precipitate the redemption of their character.
Invite every element of God as a Father into your life. He is intentional. Productive. He is precise and resourceful in the way the He designs the regeneration of our body, mind and soul. In 1 Peter 5:10, the apostle Peter actually prayed for God's discipline in your life:
But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
He understood that the less obviously compassionate elements of God's nature were just as important as the obvious ones (if not more so). His discipline produces quality, maturity, authenticity and strength.
Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You heard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.
9:28 As consistently as the people abandoned God, God forgave them. The people within the newly-built wall of Jerusalem were regretful, sorrowful because they became aware of how unfaithful they and their ancestors had been. They were ashamed. Remember to thank God for the way that He continues to
remain and
reclaim us every time we disengage.
“But after they had rest,
They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
9:29 For when we neglect to be grateful and receptive to His will and word, chaos ensues. Our enemies, fears, failures encamp around us. He is our protection, therefore when we deconstruct our faith, we deconstruct our wall of protection: darkness floods in when we push away the light.
And testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,
‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’
And they shrugged their shoulders,
Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.
9:30 The Old Testament is a cyclical story: rebellion, repentance, redemption. Escape the circle and follow God on a progressive path.
Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
9:31 Juxtaposed the repetitive nature of humanity's disobedience, God's merciful and gracious nature is made starkly apparent. He chooses not the lose patience with us. He chooses not to fall out of love with us. He chooses to endure our insult and neglect.
Nevertheless in Your great mercy
You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.
9:32 The people therefore make a supplication to God, they wish to retain His merciful nature. They wish to call upon and claim His grace, the grace that persists with them even though they are unworthy.
“Now therefore, our God,
The great, the mighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
9:33-34 God is honorable. The leaders were aware in their exhortation: they were in the wrong, God was and had always been in the right. The took full ownership of their crumbled situation as they asked God to once again take ownership of them.
However You are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But we have done wickedly.
Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.
9:35 The leaders admitted that their ancestors had not served the Kingdom, the children of God, with their blessings. In 1 Corinthians 12, it is explained in depth that God blesses us and gifts us in order that we bless and gift others. As God's children, we are meant to be pillars of the kingdom and the instruments through which God's blessings are built into the earth. We are blessed not so that we can selfishly indulge, but so that we can selflessly serve the foundations of the Kingdom: compassion, justice, love and wisdom.
For they have not served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.
9:36 That day, in this chapter of Nehemiah, the people spiritually prostrated themselves as servants of God's will. Never could we make a more impactful choice than to submit to the creator of the universe, the One Who designed then jump-started our hearts and filled our lungs with His own breath.
“Here we are, servants today!
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!
9:37 The submitted to God because finally, they understood their need of Him. Their situation was bleak and only His light could transform it.
And it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.
9:38 They regenerated their covenant with God; they spoke it, wrote it and sealed it.
“And because of all this,
We make a sure covenant and write it;
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it.”
Seal your covenant with God, prostrate yourself spiritually as a servant of His will. Life will explode with blessing.
