Neh 9

1. Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month [ch. Neh 8:2 ] the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them [Comp. 1Sa 4:12 ; 2Sa 15:32 , etc.].

2. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers [ Heb. strange children], and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

3. And they stood up in their place, and read [ i.e. engaged in the reading of the law. The actual readers were no doubt Levites (see ch. Neh 8:3-8 )] in the book of the law of the Lord their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the Lord their God.

4. Then stood up upon the stairs [or scaffold], of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the Lord their God.

5. Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiahc Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up [the people had knelt to confess and worship God ( Neh 9:3 ). They were now to take the attitude proper of praise], and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6. Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host [cf. Gen 2:1 ], the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all [ lit. thou givest them life]; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee [ i.e. the angels (see 1Ki 22:19 ; Psa 103:21 )].

7. Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham

8. And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

9. And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;

10. And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly [the same phrase is used by Jethro ( Exo 18:11 )] against them. So didst thou get thee a name [comp. Exo 9:16 ], as it is this day.

11. And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters [ rather, into mighty waters, or, into fierce waters].

12. Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.

13. Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:

14. And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandest them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

15. And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

16. But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

17. And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon [ Heb. a God of pardons], gracious and merciful, slow to anger [cf. Joe 2:13 ] and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

18. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

19. Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go.

20. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them [ Psa 32:8 and Psa 143:10 . This truth is not openly announced in the Pentateuch], and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst 21. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

22. Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners [ rather, thou didst distribute them on all sides]: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

23. Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven [cf. Gen 22:17 ], and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

24. So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would [ Heb. according to their will].

25. And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods [see Deu 6:11 ], wells [or, cisterns] digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees [ Heb. tree of food] in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat [ i.e. grew proud, or wanton a rare phrase, only occurring here and in two other places, Deu 32:15 ; Jer 5:28 ], and delighted themselves [luxuriated] in thy great goodness.

26. Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

27. Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours [see Jdg 3:9 , Jdg 3:15 (where Othniel and Ehad are called “saviours”), and comp. Jdg 4:6-24 ; Jdg 6:12 , etc.], who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

28. But after they had rest [cf. the frequent phrase, “and the land had rest,” in Judges (Jdg 3:11 , Jdg 3:30 ; Jdg 5:31 ; Jdg 8:28 )], they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had their dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;

29. And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do [these words are taken from Lev 18:5 ] he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder [cf. Zec 7:11 ], and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

30. Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands [ i.e. the heathen (comp. the use of the expression in Ezr 9:1-2 )].

31. Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

32. Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

33. Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

34. Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

35. For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

36. Behold, we are servants [as we would not be thy servants, we are servants to the king of Persia (comp. Ezr 9:9 )] this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

37. And it yielded much increase [ i.e. it pays tribute in money and kind (see Ezr 4:13 , ante, p. 166)] unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

38. And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it. [The exact force of the phrase used is doubtful; but its general sense must be that the classes named took part in the sealing. It was usual in the east to authenticate covenants by appending the seals of those who were parties to them (Jer 32:10 ; see also note, post, p. 262.)].

Revealed In Song

THIS wonderful chapter deals with the Fast, the Confession, and the Covenant. After a single day’s rest the people came together again with all the tokens of sorrow, even to dust on the head. It would appear that in this instance there was distinct consistency between the outward and the visible sign and the inward and spiritual condition. It is noted in the second verse that “the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers.” There is a change from “children” to “seed,” and in the relation in which the event occurs that change is profoundly significant. The seed of Israel had sins peculiarly their own to confess, and they showed their wisdom in separating themselves from all strangers, and standing in their uniqueness to make their sorrowful statement.

“Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, [also] the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah” ( Neh 9:4-5 ).

It does us good to read so strange a list of names, showing how great has been human history, and how widely separated men are from one another, in locality, in name, in education, and in everything that makes up distinctive civilisation. Here we are confronted by quite a host of unknown names. Having nothing to judge by but the names, we should instantly pronounce all these persons utter and absolute strangers; we know nothing about them; they might be the names of objects rather than of persons, of rivers or of mountains rather than of living men: but is there not another standard by which to judge than that of nomenclature? We may be related to this very people by sympathies which have not yet been discovered; we must hear them speak; perhaps in tone we may discover the germ of union, and may be able to overleap the barrier of names, and to join hands together in common worship before the throne of the One Father. How do we really know men? Sometimes we know them by their thoughts: the moment they reveal their mental condition to us, and show us within what scope their mind operates, and upon what objects their best confidence is fixed, we begin to feel towards them all the sensations which belong to truest kinship. There is a family of souls as well as a household of bodies. Herein the great Fatherhood is magnified above all local and personal parentage, for our parents themselves are but the children of others, and all men are the children and heritage of God. For convenience’ sake, it is well to have men divided into separate houses, families, tribes, and the like; but all such division should be regarded as a division only, and not as expressing the deeper realities of the divine purpose. That purpose regards all the human family as one, and the earth as one great house in which God has placed his family for the culture, discipline, and perfecting of ideal, alike of character and service. Sometimes we know men by their music: without being able to explain a single word they utter, the air they sing enters our hearts, acts persuasively upon our better nature, and draws us towards them in a spirit of recognition and trustfulness: we say that the utterers of such music must themselves be good; no heart could be the fountain or medium of such strains that had not first been purified by a great baptism from heaven. Sometimes we know men by their religion. To know how truly we shrink from idolatry we must see the rites of idolaters as practised by themselves; then we contrast with all the ritualism of heathenism, the simplicity, the quietness, the tenderness of Christian worship. In a far-away land where everything is strange to us, could we hear any man lift up his voice and say, “Our Father which art in heaven,” we should instantly feel united to that man by the deepest and most vital of all bonds. In the light of these explanations it is possible that we may find kinship as between ourselves and the men whose uncouth names are now before us. Do not let us be turned away by those names, saying, It is impossible that they can be associated with any common thought or worship; rather let us study the song which is sung, and determine whether within its music there is not ground enough on which to find common standing, and pathos enough to bring all the worshippers into a state of common emotion.

“Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise” ( Neh 9:5 ).

Are the men such strangers now as they were? Do they not seem to be standing near us, and cannot their voices and ours be blended into the same strain of hallowed worship? We are not deterred from this union by the nobility of the expression; we feel that the nobility belongs to us as well as to the ancient Jews, because the same God is our God, and we adore him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nor are we separated from these worshippers by their high rapture. Christian worship, too, has its own sublime enthusiasm. In the utterance of Christian adoration we think of the eternity of God, and his glorious name, and his exaltation above all blessing and praise. A very remarkable expression is found in this verse. The people are exhorted to “bless the Lord,” and the reason would appear to be that he “is exalted above all blessing and praise.” We must thus read the verse Bless the Lord, who is above all blessing; praise the God, who is beyond all praise; stretch out your souls towards him, who never can be comprehended in all the fulness of his grace and glory. Thus the finite is called upon to assert itself in lowly worship, because the object before which it bows down is nothing less than the Infinite. Our idea of God, whatever it be, determines the nature and range of our worship. Evidently the Jew had a grand conception of the divine nature, and therefore his song was lofty, solemn, and triumphant. That the Jew had this conception is evident from the sixth verse

“Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast, made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.” ( Neh 9:6 ).

Thus the whole universe comes within the purview of the uplifted eyes of the true worshippers. How word is piled upon word, and thought upon thought, until all the help of time and space becomes useless, and imagination is left to create for itself all the possibilities of divine essence and royalty and purpose! “The host of heaven worshippeth thee:” the stars glitter forth thy praise, and above the stars are the singing angels who night and day hymn the ineffable praise of God. In joining such a company as this the worshippers must prepare themselves to be meet companions. Earth must bring its noblest tribute when she joins the choir of the skies. Feeble, untrained, and inadequate voices that is, voices which are purposely so have no place in grand tribute of song. The leader of the choir determines the quality of all who compose it. In this instance the whole heaven leads the universe, and the universe must therefore rise to the sublimity of the occasion, and pour forth its noblest strains.

From the seventh to the thirty-first verse we find what we have repeatedly found before, namely, a graphic representation of God in history. This paragraph would seem to be a condensation of the Old Testament. He who has this paragraph in hand may be regarded as possessing all the history of the ancient Jews. How they delighted to begin with the election of Abram, and the taking forth of that pilgrim out of Ur of the Chaldees, enlarging his name, and leading him onward towards the land of Canaan! The Jews never forgot the affliction of their fathers in Egypt, or the triumph of Israel over Pharaoh and his hosts. As they looked backward they saw continually the cloudy pillar which made the day solemn, and the pillar of fire which turned the night into the brilliance of day. Never did they forget the grandeur of Sinai, when God spake with their fathers from heaven, and gave them right judgments, true laws, good statutes and commandments. How tenderly the heart of the Jew lingered over the memory of the Sabbath the sweet breathing time, the sacred rest, which was as a pledge and symbol of heaven! On the one hand, whilst the Jew magnified the goodness of God in his history, he never forgot that his fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to God’s commandments, but remembered that they refused to obey, neither were mindful of God’s wonders that he did amongst them; but hardened their hearts, and how they appointed a captain in their rebellion that they might return to their bondage. As the black cloud gathered around the memory, the Jew himself confessed that judgment would have been mercy in answer to such stupendous guilt; yet the Jew remembered that God was ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and unwilling to forsake his people: he reminded himself that even the molten calf, to which they said, This is the God that brought us out of Egypt, did not wholly turn away the heart of God from his people; even though they fell down before that useless calf, yet God in his manifold mercy forsook them not in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud was still there by day, and the pillar of fire was there to show them light, and the way wherein they should go was made obvious to their eyes. The song rolls on from paragraph to paragraph, each one of which is a historical mount. In one we find the giving of manna and the pouring out of water; then we are reminded of the sustenance for forty years in the wilderness, so that the travellers lacked nothing “their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not;” then we are told how God gave them kingdoms and nations, and divided them into corners, so that they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan; and still the history rolls on, until Israel took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in God’s great goodness.

The song might well have ended here; but truth compelled an extension of the music until it included the shame as well as the the glory

“Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations” ( Neh 9:26 ).

Then God did not cut them off, though he delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them. In the time of their trouble Israel cried unto God, and he heard them from heaven, and according to his manifold mercies he give them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. Then again they turned to their evil, after having recruited themselves with the rest which God so graciously gave they rested them from evil that they might return to it with redoubled energy. For a time they were left in the hand of their enemies, who had dominion over them; yet again they returned and cried unto God, and he heard them from heaven, yea, many times did he deliver them according to his mercy; many years did God forbear them, and testified against his people by his Spirit in his prophets; yet they would not give ear. Verily, they came near to destruction, they were upon the very brink of hell; yet in this extremity we come upon the “nevertheless,” which forms such a prominent word in the evolution of divine providence:

“Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them: for thou art a gracious and merciful God” ( Neh 9:31 ).

Is nothing to be learned from this summary of the history of Israel? The thing to be learned is that we are to endeavour to take a comprehensive view of all the dealings and purposes of God. As history grows an opportunity for the profoundest study of God presents itself. At first there is but little to see and little to think about; day by day proceeds, and God’s writing becomes more conspicuous; year is added to year, and a few pages are filled with sacred writing; century is added to century, and then that which was mysterious enters into the region of revelation and shines with brightest glory. Never let a man forget even his own little personal history. Day by day, when he is cast down or conscious of exhaustion, let him begin at the time when he was in the cradle, and follow all the line of divine providence in his own life; let him set things which belong to one another together, and see what shaping and directing there has been in all the mystery of being. In this respect every man should become his own bible; his own assurance of the divine existence, his own proof of providence, his own fountain of evidence. It is well that men should, so far as their mental capacity will allow, have grand conceptions of universal history, but it is absolutely essential to save the soul not only from difficulty but from blank despair, that every man should vividly recollect the days of his own life, and remember how God has lifted him up, preserved him, enriched him, and made the wilderness of earth blossom as with the flowers of heaven. Every man loses standing-ground when his recollection of personal history becomes blurred and dim. It is not every one who can discuss great philosophical questions of history, but surely every man can trace his own life, and see in it a daily miracle of grace and love.

The singers having sung this song of history they turn in upon themselves and make a solemn personal application of all the truth which they have reviewed in music:

“Now therefore our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them” ( Neh 9:32-34 ).

So the people confess the general collapse of the nation, and they acknowledge their own iniquities individually. The great purpose of historical review is to fix an exhortation upon our own souls, and to visit our own souls with all the stimulus of memory, of self-reproach, of ill-requited goodness, so that the times past may more than suffice. They confessed that kings were set over them because of their own sins. We suffer for our actual transgressions: we not only suffer for the sins of past ages. We cannot so detach ourselves from the currents of history as to escape the consequences of other people’s sin, though that sin were committed ten thousand ages ago. The world is one, history is one, God is one. In this sense we belong to one another: no man liveth unto himself, no man sinneth unto himself, no man can say that he is injuring himself alone. He who commits any one sin injures the whole human race. It is often supposed that we ought not to suffer on account of the sins of others, but apart altogether from biblical doctrine we find in history itself that sin, done by whomsoever, carries with it consequences to the third and fourth generation. No man can drink away his senses, or steep himself in sensuality, or give the bridle to his lusts and passions, and yet save his posterity from evil consequences. Though the law may seem to operate unfairly in this one direction, yet the law of the Lord is equal: no man can attend to the laws of health, be wise, true, prudent, and wholly good, without his children reaping great advantage from such discipline and culture.

Now the people enter into the covenant

“And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it” ( Neh 9:38 ).

Each party impressed his seal on moist clay, which was then hardened. We are told that these seals were sometimes attached to the document by separate strings. It is not enough to make a general covenant; the covenant must be single and individual, each man regarding it as if he were severally responsible for it. Verily this is a joint and several note presented to God by humbled and penitent souls. It is nobly signed if we look at the infinite number of the signatures, and it is pathetically signed if we look at the signatures one by one, each soul saying I have sinned, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: I have lost my inheritance: God be merciful to me a sinner! There is great utility in solemn vows and covenants; they have a tonic effect upon the soul. Who could look over all the covenants and vows which he has written down as promised to heaven, and yet remain unmoved by the melancholy writing? In looking back upon such declarations of sin, such vows and confessions of penitence and brokenheartedness, men may read their spiritual history, written as with a pen of light. Take down the book, and turn over its pages one by one, and listen to the soul as it muses upon the autobiography: Here I must have sinned some black sin, blacker probably than any other I ever committed, for see how deep is the river of my tears, hear how loud and bitter is the moan of my penitence; there I must have been awakened suddenly to a gracious sense of God’s goodness, for see how I write of daily mercy and daily comfort, and give myself away to heaven’s service with all the passion of grateful love: that must have been a lustrous day in my spiritual history, I must have seen heaven itself opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God; see here again my soul accuses itself of penuriousness, niggardliness, love of the world, a diligent pursuit of useless things, and at the end it says with the preacher, “all is vanity”; and here again I become a better man, vowing that my soul shall no more go astray; this vow I will now repeat; I have learned this lesson, however, that a vow uttered in my own name, and determined upon in my own strength, shall be but as the morning cloud it shall pass away and leave no impress behind; I must register my vows at the Cross, I must seal them with the signet of Calvary, I must write them as with the blood of Christ; I will now vow that, if thou wilt be gracious unto me, and forgive me, and mightily redeem me from the perdition of the past, I will live unto thee, lovingly, self-sacrificingly, in the very spirit of him who died that I might live.

We cannot leave this chapter without being struck with the slowness yet the certainty of spiritual education. Again and again it would seem as if Israel had wholly fallen back from the point which it had attained in upward progress. The beginning would seem to have been better than the end, for of Abraham it is said, “Thou foundest his heart faithful before thee.” Can a higher compliment be paid to human nature than that it shall be accounted faithful before God? Then the people praise the Lord; and no sooner does the song cease than the sin begins. Around the base of Sinai the people tremble, and vow that they will be reverent evermore; yet even there they turn their hearts towards idolatry and forget the living God. They cry unto heaven in their hunger, and whilst the manna is in their mouths they blaspheme the giver. Is there any progress being made in true goodness? Truly it is slow; at the same time we cannot but regard it as certain. All growth is imperceptible There are times of recession when we think that all the water of the sea has gone away from the shore, yet presently we find that the refluence has only been in order that the next rush of the tide might come farther upon the golden strand. God measures things by a standard of his own; he who dwelleth in eternity takes no heed of the little hours and weary days and nights of time. Many years did God forbear his people, and yet the years were as nothing to him, because he saw in that very forbearance a necessary instrument and medium of spiritual education. God hears in our last prayer more than he heard in the first; the words may be the same throughout, but the tone is different, the pathos is deeper, the voice of the suppliant is charged with deeper significance. All this may be hidden to ourselves, but, blessed be God! it is all known to him who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins. Little by little we grow before him. It would appear as if it were worth God’s while to wait ten thousand years for the human race to learn another syllable of his name. We count the time long, because we ourselves are mortal: God sits in the sanctuary of the everlasting and he looks upon all things from an elevation which reduces our standards, measurements, times, and distances to insignificance. He would not keep the universe where it is, and as it is, if he did not know that progress was being made. From the beginning he foresaw the end. Everything is passing exactly at the rate which he foreknew. Have pity upon us, thou Mighty One, when we are impatient, restless, fretful, and resentful. We cannot help it. This is the proof of our weakness, the very seal of our humiliation. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Son of God, it is thy right to reign take thy right, and rule all the ages of time and all the lands of earth!

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXIV

THE READING OF THE LAW AND RESETTLEMENT OF THE CITIES

Nehemiah 8-13

In Neh 8 we have Ezra coming on the scene again. The date of this appearance is 444 B.C., and we have not heard from him since 456 B.C. He had dropped out of this history for about twelve years. He must have been called away just after his work in 456 B.C. and after a space of about twelve years returned to Jerusalem. The occasion that called him forth then was the reading of the Law.

We come now to look at the work of Ezra, with Nehemiah sustaining him in his work of reform. The great task of Ezra was the bringing of the law of Moses to Jerusalem and the adoption of that as the law of the land for the people. By this law of Moses is doubtless meant the Pentateuch. Ezra had not produced this book of the law thus far. The time had not been ripe for the reading of the Law and its explanation to the people. But the city was now fortified and organization perfected. Then Ezra went forth and produced this book of the Law. We are told in Neh 8 that the people asked him to bring forth the book of the Law and read it.

Now we have a remarkable scene. It is unprecedented in history. One of the greatest revivals in the world now opened. He proceeded to organize the people. He had Levites and other officers to help him. A great assembly of all the people was convened. A pulpit had been built and Ezra took his place before all the people. He opened the book which was simply a roll. It was the law of Moses, that is, the laws of the Pentateuch. The great meeting went on. The Law was read by Ezra, and it was explained by the Levites.

The effect of the reading upon the people was that they began to weep. Why should they weep? Perhaps the reading was the setting forth of those awful chapters in Deuteronomy where the awful curses upon those who violated this Law were set forth. With their remembrance of what God had already done to them because they had violated this Law, and their remembrance of the sins they had committed, was enough to bring tears. Now Ezra tells them that they are not to weep; that this is a holy day, holy unto the Lord; so they should rejoice and not weep; that it was the joy of fellowship with God that was their strength.

Then follows the story of how they built booths and kept the feast. This was according to the law of Moses that had been read. They lived in these booths during the time of the feast, which was called the Feast of Tabernacles.

As soon as the feast was over the people again assembled. Six hours were spent in this meeting. Three hours in the reading of the Law, and three hours in the confessions of their sins and praying. This is a wonderful revival of religion. Neh 9 deals with confession and prayer. It is the recounting of a series of acts in the drama of redemption. There are three scenes in every act: God’s goodness in caring for his people, the people sinning and turning away from God, and God’s forgiveness and offer of restoration. The people at last read the lessons of their history and learn them well. Neh 9:37 speaks about their present condition: “It yields much increase to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins; they have power over our bodies and over our cattle, and we are in great distress.” As an effect of this repentance (Neh 9:8 ) they made a covenant and wrote it, and the princes, the Levites and the priests set seal unto it.

Neh 10:1-27 give a list of those that sealed the covenant. These were the leading men of the nation. The rest of Neh 10 tells how they attempted to keep that covenant, how they gave the payment of the tithe regularly, and observed the sabbath. All this was in perfect keeping with the law of Moses. Thus Moses’ law was established in Jerusalem, and Judaism starts off on its great career.

They followed this with two ordinances: (1) They set aside one-third of a shekel for the Temple tax, and provided for the wood to be used in the sacrifice; (2) they instituted measures to increase the population. They wanted more men in the city. Many came to live in Jerusalem. In that way they increased the population considerably. The priests lived there, but not many of the people. We have this statement: “In Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah and Benjamin.” Of the priests, some of them lived in the city; the majority of them lived in the country villages outside of the city. A large majority of the common people also lived in the cities around Jerusalem.

Now the problem we have to deal with regarding the cities is not how to increase the population, but how to decrease it. People are rushing to the cities and crowding them. The measure that did most to bring the people to Jerusalem was the draft of one out of each ten who volunteered, and these were compelled to come and live in Jerusalem.

Then followed the account of the dedication of the walls. Now the manner of procedure was about this: They gathered together all the Levites, and brought them to Jerusalem. They came together at a certain signal, and the people, all of them that would come, were divided into two companies, Nehemiah at the head of one of the companies himself, and Ezra at the head of the other company. They marched upon the walls. The walls of the city were broad, and there was plenty of room for them to march upon them. They marched thus about the walls, one company one way and the other company the other way. They went on around until they met. This was a joyous occasion, a glorious day. Jerusalem had now been inaugurated as a fortified city, the city of Jehovah, the holy city of Jerusalem.

With that great dedication the first great work of Nehemiah was completed, but he attended to a few other matters, such as the appointment of Temple officers, treasurers, singers, chief singers as in the time of David, the separation of the foreign element, Ammonites and Moabites, from the congregation, and then he returned to Persia by authority of Artaxerxes and remained about one year, after which he returned to Jerusalem and found certain things in bad condition. The people had backslidden. He found that Eliashib the priest had prepared for Tobiah a great chamber in the Temple, where the treasures were kept. Nehemiah finds that he is allied with Tobiah, and casts him out with all the stuff of Tobiah, and cleanses the Temple.

Next, he orders that their portion be given to the Levites. They had failed to bring in all the tithes and the Levites were actually suffering. Nehemiah contends with the rulers saying, “Why is the house of God forsaken?”

Then he enforces the sabbath laws. People were working on the sabbath day. They were bringing in their produce on that day to have it ready for the market the next morning. Nehemiah prohibits that. They came up to the outside of the city walls on the sabbath day and waited there to enter bright and early on the morrow. Nehemiah found this out and put a stop to this also. Next he compels the Jews to put away their foreign wives. Ezra had dealt with that thing before. He went about weeping and bewailing the sins of the people in this matter. Now when Nehemiah came he did not cover himself with his mantle and weep. He cursed them and plucked off their hair and beard, and made them swear that they would not do this thing. He had back of him the authority of the great king. He also chased away the son-in-law of Sanballat. Here was a priest who had married the daughter of his enemy. When Nehemiah found that out he chased him away. We do not know how fast he ran, but he lost no time in escaping. The last item of Nehemiah’s reform is the cleansing of the priesthood, and thus he closes his book: “Remember me, O my God, for good.” He offered what he had done to the Lord and petitioned his kindly regard.

The book of Malachi has its setting right in these last verses of Nehemiah, and reflects the conditions herein set forth in a most emphatic condemnation of these evils.

QUESTIONS

1. How may we account for Ezra not appearing in the history before Neh 8 , and what occasion brought him forth before the people here?

2. Where did the people assemble on this occasion?

3. Who constituted this marvelous assembly?

4. How long did this continue and what was the method?

5. How did the people show their reverence for the Word of God?

6, What was the effect upon the people of the hearing of the Law, why did Ezra suppress their emotions and what did he recommend?

7. What great feast was here reset and how was it celebrated?

8. Describe the fast kept by the Jews, and the prayer which followed.

9. Recite the history from the creation to Abraham as recorded here.

10. Recite their history from Egypt to the establishment in the land as given here.

11. What was their history in the period of the judges according to Nehemiah?

12. What acknowledgment do they make here relative to Jehovah’s dealings with them?

13. Describe the covenant which followed.

14. What the ordinances made here also?

15. What methods did they adopt in populating Jerusalem and the cities round about?

16. Describe the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem.

17. What officers were appointed on this day of the dedication of the wall?

18. What law was discovered concerning the Ammonite and Moabite and what was the result?

19. What was the proof of Nehemiah’s leave of absence from Jerusalem and how long was he away?

20. Upon his return what evils did he find and how did he correct them?

21. What prophet comes in this period and what was his special message?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Neh 9:1 Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

Ver. 1. Now in the twenty and fourth day ] A day after the feast of tabernacles, they keep a solemn fast:

Usque adeo nihil est, ex omni parte, beatum.

There is in this present life an interchange of all things, a succession of feasting and fasting. Of the best, while here it may be said, as Pliny doth of Metellus, Infelix dici non debet, felix non potest; unhappy you cannot call him, happy you may not (lib. vii. cap. 47). One compareth him to the Ark, which was ever transported, till settled in Solomon’s Temple; another to quicksilver, which hath in itself a principle of motion, but not of rest.

The children of Israel were assembled with fasting ] As Epaminondas walked heavily the day after his triumph. Deadness of spirit is apt to follow our liveliest joys; but that must be looked to, and security prevented, which is wont to seize upon men after holy duties; like as worms and wasps eat the sweetest fruits. These fasters had wept at the hearing of the law, and were stilled by the Levites, Neh 8:11 , because it was unseasonable. Now the feast being over, and their hearts yet full of grief for their great sin in taking strange wives (not yet put away, though they had vowed to do it, Ezr 10:3 , &c.), they first put away those wives on the twenty-third day, and then humble themselves by fasting and prayer on this twenty-fourth day; being wrought thereunto by the reading of the law, as is implied in the next verse.

And with sackcloth ] As acknowledging themselves unworthy of the coarsest clothing; and that, but for shame, they would have stripped themselves naked.

And earth upon them ] As those that had forfeited all, and deserved to be as far underground as now they were above.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Nehemiah Chapter 9

In the 9th chapter there is another thing that followed. It is when the heart enters thus spiritually into the word – when there is subjection of heart to it, and when the bright hope of the people of God fills the heart with joy – it is then that we can have a deeper sorrow. It is the greatest mistake to suppose that one truth is antagonistic to another. “In the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting.” The more you fill the hearts of the saints of God with God’s future for His people, the more they feel their present shortcomings. This was right. This is the true and divine way of delivering us either from self-deceit, on the one hand, or from the power of the world, on the other. They are found confessing their sins, and mark how they did it. “And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.” And so they gathered together, and poured out the heart before the Lord. They owned their real state, but, at the same time, the heart turned to God with full confidence.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Neh 9:1-4

1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God. 4Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

Neh 9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloths, with dirt upon them Two days after the Feast of the Booths (cf. Neh 8:13-18) and twenty-three days after the reading of the law (cf. Neh 8:2), the repentant actions so characteristic of the Day of Atonement (cf. Leviticus 16, which was to be observed on the 10th day) occurred (cf. Neh 1:4). During the reading of the law these returnees felt these same feelings of remorse and guilt (cf. Neh 8:9). Israel needed forgiveness as the rest of chapter 9 clearly shows. Their covenant God was faithful (cf. Ezr 9:8-9), but they were not (cf. Neh 1:6; Ezr 9:6-7; Ezr 9:10). See Special Topic: Grieving Rites .

Neh 9:2 descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners This VERB (BDB 95, KB 110, Niphal IMPERFECT) means to withdraw from, separate ourselves from. This withdrawal was for the stated purpose of obeying YHWH’s commands (cf. Exo 33:16; Lev 20:24; Lev 20:26; Ezr 6:21; Ezr 9:1; Ezr 10:1). To worship and obey YHWH meant a complete break with the pagan and semi-pagan culture and practices (cf. Lev 20:24; Lev 20:26; e.g., marriages to foreign women).

confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers This VERB (BDB 392, KB 389 II, Hithpael IMPERFECT) means to confess (cf. Lev 5:5; Lev 16:21; Ezr 10:1; Neh 1:6; Dan 9:4; Dan 9:20). Apparently this confession involved personal and national sin (e.g., Lev. 26-40; Jer 3:25; Jer 14:20).

Neh 9:3 they stood in their place This seems to refer to Neh 8:4 (cf. Neh 9:4).

they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day These returnees longed to be instructed from the Law of Moses. It seems at this point that a major turning point in the life of the Jews occurred. Instead of being primarily people of the temple (ritual, liturgy, and form) they became people of the Book (the influence of the synagogue). This was a reading/teaching session lasting three hours in the morning (Bible study) and three hours in the afternoon (confession and worship).

Neh 9:4 If Neh 9:3 refers to Neh 8:4, then this verse must refer to a separate platform. The names mentioned here refer to the Levites of Neh 8:7, who translated and interpreted Ezra’s (and the men standing with him) words.

These two groups may have been involved in antiphonal reading interspersed with translation and interpretation.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

this month. In 404 B.C., not in 426 B.C. (Neh 7:73). Same as Ezr 9:1-4. See App-58.

children = sons.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 9

Now in chapter 9:

In the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them ( Neh 9:1 ).

So, again, it’s quite a picturesque sight. The people have all gathered together. They’ve been fasting. They’re wearing sackcloth. Rough garments, no doubt very irritating. And they’ve got dirt on them. The custom of, just a sign of mourning again. You just, you know, rubbed dirt on your face and you look miserable.

And the seed of Israel separated themselves from the strangers, and they stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God ( Neh 9:2-3 ).

So, again, can you picture them there for a fourth part of the day? The reading of the Scriptures, and now for a fourth part of the day just worshipping God, praising God and worshipping God.

It’s interesting how that we get fidgety sitting in comfortable pews after a half hour, an hour or so. You know, we’re so fidgety, and yet here are these people standing for a fourth part of the day hearing the Word of God read, and then for another fourth part of the day just standing there worshipping God. They’d never get by with it today.

Then stood up upon the stairs the Levites and they cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God. And they said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; and thou hast made the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee ( Neh 9:4-6 ).

So this glorious acknowledgment of God, the greatness of God, the glory of God, the power of God. “You’ve made the heaven of heavens. You are above everything. You’ve made the universe and You’ve preserved the universe.”

Now it is interesting that Paul tells us in the book of Colossians concerning Jesus Christ that all things were made by Him, and by Him all things are held together. This whole universe is held together by the power of Jesus Christ. According to Coulomb’s law of electricity, positive forces repel each other; opposite forces attract. Try and put two positive poles of a magnet together and you’ll see how the positive poles repel. But the whole concept of a magnet and the attraction is that of the opposite poles attracting, with positive poles repelling.

There is actually a tremendous repelling force in positive poles or positive charges, the protons. If you had one tablespoonful of protons on the North Pole, solid, another solid tablespoonful on the South Pole, at that distance of some 8,000 miles, the repelling force would be so great that it would take 3,000 tons to hold those protons on the poles. Even at that distance the repelling force of positive protons, positive particles.

So we know that an atom has in its nucleus positive charges held together. But how are they held together? The scientists talk about the nuclear glue.

Now we have discovered that we can upset the nuclei of an atom by bombarding it with slow moving neutrons. And when we can upset the nuclei of an atom, that we can then cause these positive poles to respond according to their nature. And we have an atomic explosion. That’s what it’s all about. Upsetting the nuclei of an atom by these little bombardment of slow moving neutrons that get in and upset these positive forces, and they respond according to their own nature of repelling. And when they do, you see the tremendous force that is unleashed when you start a fission reaction of these positive poles responding to their own nature. And you get this tremendous explosion of the atomic bomb. All it is is releasing the positive charges to respond according to their nature of repelling.

Now, if that much power is unleashed by nature when they are responding to their nature, then it also stands that it takes at least that much power to hold them together contrary to their nature. If the whole material world would respond according to the natural laws of the repelling of positive forces, immediately this whole thing would just dissolve and would just be one gigantic poof! And positive particles would be just going all over repelling each other and the whole universe would just blow to pieces. But there’s a power that’s holding it all together.

Imagine the tremendous power it must take to hold this material universe. Even the power it would take to hold this pulpit together. The amount of fissionable material in the bomb at Hiroshima was about the size of a dime. And yet when those positive particles were allowed to respond according to their nature, look at the tremendous damage that was accomplished. But what force is holding them together.

Here they talk about it. “Oh God, You created the heaven of heavens. You’re so great. Your power is above all things. And You actually are preserving the whole thing.” Paul tells us He’s holding it together. By Him all things consist, or are held together. How glorious the power of God!

Now Francis Schaeffer said that the time has come when we as Christians just shouldn’t say, “God.” “Oh, God did this for me or God did that for me,” because there are many concepts of God today in the minds of people. And when you say God, a person thinks of the God in their own concept. That which they have in the thought of God and it may be far different from the thought that you have of God. Some fellow may sit and meditate upon his navel and say, “Oh, that’s God, you know.” Or you sit and you hold a rose and you smell of it and you say, “Oh, that’s God.” So when you say God, a person may think of this rose. And so he said that we must start defining and saying, “The God who created the heavens and the earth.”

Now they are defining the God because there were many gods that were worshipped around them. Baal was worshipped and Molech was worshipped and Mammon, and so many various gods were worshipped by the people around them that as they began their worship of God they make really a definition and a distinction of the God that they are worshipping. “Bless Jehovah your God for ever and ever: blessed be Thy glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and praise. For even Thou, O Yahweh or Jehovah, alone has made the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, the whole universe, with all of the host, and the earth, and all of the things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein.”

Now they’ve been reading the law of Moses and they’ve been reading Genesis. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” ( Gen 1:1 ). Been reading the first few chapters of Genesis. And so they acknowledged that God was the One who has created even as is declared in Genesis, this whole universe and all that is in it.

Now it is interesting in the New Testament, the fourth chapter of the book of Acts, when the apostles were responding to the prohibition that was laid upon them by the religious leaders not to speak any more in the name of Jesus, Peter and John gathered with the disciples and they told them the experience they had before the Sanhedrin. And they prayed, and when they started to pray, they said, “O Lord, Thou art God, Thou hast created the heavens, and the earth, and everything that is in them” ( Act 4:24 ). Probably remembering the prayer offered here in Nehemiah where much the same thing is said. “Thou art the God who has created the heaven, and all the host, the earth and all the things that are in the sea, and all the things therein, and You preserve them all and the host of heaven worshippeth Thee.” So the host of heaven would be a reference to the angels who worshipped God. So when he said He created all the host of heaven, it would be He has created all of the angels. And they do worship Him.

Thou art Yahweh, the God, who did choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, you gave him the name of Abraham; and you found his heart faithful before thee, and you made a covenant to give him the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, [and so forth], and you have performed your words; for you are righteous ( Neh 9:7-8 ):

Acknowledging that God made the promise to Abraham, God fulfilled the promise to Abraham. “Here we are, we’re in the land. For God, You are righteous.”

And you did see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, you heard their cry by the Red sea; you showed your signs and wonders upon the Pharaoh ( Neh 9:9-10 ),

And so they’re just rehearsing their history. They have been reading this history. They have been listening to it. They have been reading the law of the Lord from morning till noon. And so these are the things that they were reading in the first five books.

You did divide 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 deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters ( Neh 9:11 ).

That sort of puts down the little theory that it was the Sea of Reeds and it was only eighteen inches deep. Figures don’t lie, but liars sure can figure.

Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. And you came down also upon mount Sinai, and you spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right judgments, true laws, good statutes and commandments ( Neh 9:12-13 ):

Notice, He gave to them right judgments, true laws, good statutes and commandments.

And you made known unto them your holy sabbath, and you commanded them the precepts, and the statutes, and the laws, by the hand of Moses: you gave them bread from heaven [the manna in the wilderness] for their hunger, and you brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, and you promised that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give to them. But they and our fathers dealt proudly ( Neh 9:14-16 ),

Now here is the acknowledgment. God, You were faithful. God, You kept Your word. But our fathers, they failed. Always the failure is on our part. So many times we’re wanting to blame God. God is righteous, God is faithful. God will keep His word. We’re the ones that have failed. Never God. The failure is always on our part. “But our fathers dealt proudly.”

they hardened their necks, they didn’t hearken to your commandments. They refused to obey, neither were they mindful of the wonders that you did among them; but they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they asked for a captain to return them to their bondage: but you are a God who is ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and you forsook them not ( Neh 9:16-17 ).

Isn’t that beautiful? They say, “Oh, I don’t believe in the God of the Old Testament. He’s a God of wrath and judgment, vengeance. I love the God of the New Testament, you know, believe in the God of the New.” As though there were two gods revealed in the scriptures. Never. One God. And He’s revealed in the Old Testament right here as “gracious, ready to pardon, merciful, slow to anger, great kindness, and He forsook them not.” That sounds like it would come from the pen of Paul as he’s talking about the grace of God in the New Testament. Oh, how gracious is God. How merciful is God. How understanding. How pardoning.

When they made the molten calf, and they said, This is the God that brought us out of Egypt ( Neh 9:18 ),

Now, again, they point out, God is faithful even when they were not. God was still faithful. They went ahead and made this golden calf.

Yet in your manifold mercies you did not forsake them in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud did not depart from them day to day, that it might lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them the light, and the way wherein they should go. But you gave also thy good Spirit to instruct them ( Neh 9:19-20 ),

Oh how good is God to us even though we often fail. Even though we often are hardening our hearts. Yet, the faithfulness of God and the mercy of God and the grace of God and the patience of God with which He deals with our lives. He won’t forsake them. He won’t forsake His people. Though they had turned their backs and forsaken Him, still He is faithful. He will not forsake them. How glorious is our God! And then giving His good Spirit to instruct them.

and you didn’t withhold the manna from their mouth, or the water for their thirst. And for forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not get old, and their feet did not swell. Moreover you gave them kingdoms and nations, and divided them into corners: that possessed the land of Sihon, and Og. And the children also multiplied as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land, concerning which you have promised to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it. So the children went in and possessed the land, and you subdued the inhabitants of the land before them. And they took the strong cities, and the fat of the land, and they possessed the houses that were full of goods, wells that were already digged, vineyards, and oliveyards that were already planted, fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. Nevertheless they were disobedient ( Neh 9:20-26 ),

Notice how they’re acknowledging always the righteousness of God and the failure of the people. And so important that we do this. “God, You were righteous. You were fair. We were the ones who failed. We were the ones who turned our backs.”

“Nevertheless they were disobedient,”

and rebelled against thee, they cast thy law behind their backs, they killed the prophets that testified against them to turn them back to you, and they wrought great provocations. Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto you, you heard them from heaven; and according to your manifold mercies you gave them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore you left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto you, you heard them from heaven; and many times did you deliver them according to your mercies ( Neh 9:26-28 );

What an accurate picture of the history of the nation Israel.

And you testified against them, that you might bring them again unto the law: yet they dealt proudly, and did not hearken to your commandments, but they sinned against your judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. And yet many years did you forbear them, and testified against them by thy Spirit in your prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore you gave them into the hand of the people of the lands. Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake you did not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God ( Neh 9:29-31 ).

Oh, that is so powerful! I love that!

Now therefore, our God, the great, and mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, our priests, our prophets, and fathers, and upon all the people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit you are just in all that you brought upon us; for you have done right, we have done wickedly ( Neh 9:32-33 ):

What an important acknowledgment to make. God, You are just in all Your ways. There are people today who are constantly challenging the justice of God. “Well, how can God, a God of love, allow this? Or how can a God of love do that? Or how can a God of love send a man to hell?” And all of the challenges of the justice of God. But let me tell you this. God is absolutely fair and God is absolutely just. “Oh, but what about that poor African who has never heard of Jesus Christ? And he dies without ever knowing, what’s going to happen to him?” God’s going to be absolutely just and absolutely fair. You better not worry about him; you better worry about yourself. You have heard. You’re the one you better be concerned about because you know. God will be fair with him if he doesn’t know. God will also be fair with you because you do know. He’s righteous. Oh God, Thou art a righteous God. You’re just in all that You’ve done. For You have done right. We are the ones that have done wickedly.

Neither have our kings, or our princes, or our priests, nor our fathers, kept your law, nor hearkened unto your commandments and your testimonies, wherewith you did testify against them. For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that you gave to them, and in the large and fat land which you gave before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that you gave unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: and it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal to it ( Neh 9:34-38 ).

Okay, here’s the whole picture. “God, You were fair. You were honest. You were right. But we were having a horrible time. We are servants in this land. The kings are ruling over us, and though the land is producing, they’re exacting taxes that are ruining us. Now God, we want to renew our covenant with You. We want to get right with You.” Important step. “We want to make a covenant. We want to sign to the covenant. Lord, we want to put our X. We want to walk in the covenant. Want to renew the covenant of God.” Marvelous, marvelous idea and purpose! So these are the guys who signed the covenant. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Neh 9:1-4

Introduction

ISRAEL’S CONFESSION OF THEIR SINS AND THEIR OATH OF ALLEGIENCE TO THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS

This chapter seems rather long, but no chapter could be long enough for an adequate record of the repeated apostasies of God’s Chosen People. Nevertheless, this abbreviation of them, along with the earnest confession of all the people, appears as one of the redeeming moments in the history of Israel, and as one of the stars in their crown of glory.

Despite all the wretched sins and shortcomings of Israel, there was indeed a righteous remnant that included the blessed apostles and prophets of the New Testament who were able, through the grace and blessing of God, to resist and effectually defy the brutal godlessness of the Three False Shepherds (Zechariah 11) and the hapless majority of racial Israel, led by the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians, and to welcome the Dayspring from on High. That glorious Righteous Remnant of Israel ushered in the Kingdom of God on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this wonderful chapter, we doubtless have some of the ancestors of that Righteous Remnant.

Neh 9:1-4

THE LEVITES LEAD ISRAEL IN CONFESSING THEIR SINS

“Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped Jehovah their God. Then stood up upon the stairs of the Levites Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto Jehovah their God.”

All of this great outpouring of grief and confession took place as a result of reading God’s law. “They had clearly desired to do this earlier (Neh 8:9); but it would have been inappropriate during the feast.” Therefore, they rallied for that purpose on the twenty fourth day of that same seventh month, the next month after the wall was built; and “This was only the second day after the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles.”

A very important revelation of this chapter is that it was the Levites, and not the priests, who led Israel in this penitential prayer of confession and praise of God. From the Book of Malachi, we learn of the near total apostasy of the Jewish priesthood; and in Zechariah, they are clearly revealed as the false shepherds who destroyed the nation. There is not a word in this chapter that even hints of any priestly participation in this great repentance, confession and prayer. Some of them were even traitors in the employ of Tobiah and had even conspired to murder Nehemiah.

“The seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners” (Neh 9:2). Keil noted that, “This is not primarily a reference to the dissolution of illegal marriages, but it is rather a voluntary renunciation of all connection with the heathen and of heathen customs.”

“Then stood up upon the stairs … Levites” (Neh 9:4). “The stairs mentioned here are those leading up to the platform or podium, which had been used for the reading of the Law.”

There follows at this point in the chapter a rather long prayer, ending in the solemn commitment of the people to be faithful to the God of Israel.

E.M. Zerr:

Neh 9:1. This month means the 7th (Ch. 8:14). That was a very important month with the Jews, for in it came the great day of atonement (10th day, Lev 16:29), and the feast of tabernacles that we have been considering. Now it was given added prominence by the public reading of the law. On the 24th day of the month the people came together into a voluntary season of fasting and other customary items connected with times of great concern.

Neh 9:2. The law had restricted them from intimate association with strangers, which meant those on the outside of their own nation. They attended to that matter and made the required separation on this day. When the people of God commit a trespass against him, there are two things required to get back into the divine favor. One is to adjust the wrong, the other is to make confession of the same. The children of Israel did both with regard to their unlawful alliances.

Neh 9:3. Two fourths of a day would reach to midday which would be an occasion for partaking of the necessities of life. Such an observance was had at the first reading of the law (Neh 8:3; Neh 8:9-12). This circumstance teaches us that even our religious activities are not expected to interfere with the actual needs of the body.

Neh 9:4-5. In view of the preceding verses, I would conclude that from here on to the end of the chapter the writer is giving us some detailed information regarding the subject matter of those verses. The present paragraph very fittingly states the names of the men who led in the exercises, that they were Levites. That was appropriate in view of Lev 10:11; Deu 17:9; Mal 2:7. I shall make comment on the following verses because of the interesting subject matter. It will be found to be a resume of the dealings of God with his people, beginning with the creation and coming down to the exile in the land of the captivity.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

After a brief interval, following the feast came the great day of humiliation. The people separated themselves entirely from all who were not actually within the Covenant, and gave themselves to confession and humbling before God. In all this they were led by the Levites, and the chapter is largely filled with the great prayer they offered on this occasion. It may have been especially prepared for them, and used by all of them; or perhaps it is a condensed account of their approach to God on behalf of the humbling of the people.

In the first section (5-15), the prayer was praise, first to God for what He is in Himself in majesty (5, 6), then to Him as the Founder of the nation through the calling of Abraham (7, 8); yet further to Him as the Deliverer from Egypt’s bondage (9-ll), and, finally, as the One who had guided as well as delivered (12-15).

The second section sets forth His grace in contrast to the repeated failure of the people (16-29). This section is a frank confession of repeated sin, and yet the burden of it is rather His being a God ready to pardon. The last movement in the prayer is definite seeking for His continued goodness and help. It is a fine model of a confessing people’s true approach to God. The heart is strengthened in contemplation of His essential glory and constant grace, and out of such consciousness it breathes its cry for help.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Gods Hand in History

Neh 9:1-21

What a blessed result of the Bible-study of the previous chapter. It led to confession, separation from evil association and worship. It is good to review the dealings of God with us and with our people in bygone days. There are hilltops in our experience where the air is clear, and we can see the way by which we have been led. At such times we look beyond second causes to the great Orderer of our lives, and our history is one perpetual assertion of THOU. The history of Gods dealings with Israel is an epitome of His dealings with ourselves. The choice in Ur, the redemption from Egypt, the wilderness wanderings, the land of rest-all these have their counterparts in our life-story. Side by side with the story of Gods care runs the story of transgression, Neh 9:16-18. The gold and black strands are closely interwoven. In the midst of Gods best gifts, we break out into sin; yet He still gives us His good spirit, and withholds not the manna which He promised, Neh 9:20.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 9

The Word And Prayer

The relations of the word of God and prayer come out vividly in this portion. The seven days ministry of the Word had had a most blessed effect, so that in the twenty and fourth day of this month (the same month that was ushered in by the great Bible-reading) the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sack-clothes, and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshiped the Lord their God (vers. 1-3).

The order here is most instructive. It was first the Word, then prayer, confession, and worship. The Word had been having its effect in a wonderfully real way since the seven days feast. What that Word judged, they had been judging. What that Word commanded they had sought to do. Hence we have as a result the remnant reaching what was probably the highest moral state they ever occupied from the Babylonian captivity to the coming of Messiah. Their separ- ation was complete. They separated themselves from all strangers. It was now for the first time that position and condition seemed to coalesce.

And so they come together again desiring to learn more of the mind of God that it might lead to increased devotedness. So the Bible-reading is again prominent. The first quarter of the day is spent in hearing the Word. Then the next quarter is given up to prayer: They confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. It is unwise, and may be hurtful, to reverse this order. The Word and prayer should ever go together-but it should be the Word first; then prayer follows intelligently. The believer should be a man holding the even balance of learning from the Word and cultivating the spirit of prayer. We need to hear God speaking to us that we may speak rightly to God.

One who gives himself pre-eminently to the Word, neglecting prayer, will become heady and doctrinal-likely to quarrel about points, and be occupied with theoretical Christianity to the hurt of his soul and the irritation of his brethren. On the other hand, one who gives himself much to prayer while neglecting the Word is likely to become exceedingly introspective, mystical, and sometimes fanatical. But he who reads the word of God reverently and humbly, seeking to know the will of God, and then gives himself to prayer, confessing and judging what the Scriptures have condemned in his ways, and words, and thoughts, will have his soul drawn out in worship also, and thus grow both in grace and in knowledge, becoming a well-rounded follower of Christ. Apart from a knowledge of the Word, prayer will lack exceedingly in intelligence; for the objective must ever precede the subjective, but not be divorced therefrom.

Here, in Nehemiah 9 (which as we have else where noticed is linked, in confession, with Daniel 9 and Ezra 9), the Levites lead the people in their prayer and praise, standing on the stairs, as though going up to the heavenly sanctuary. And in the prayer that follows-the longest in the Bible (Solomons dedicatory prayer being considerably shorter)-there is much blessed instruction as we listen to the rehearsal of Gods ways with their fathers and the confession of their own failure and sin.

The opening words remind us of the beginning of what is generally called the Lords prayer-and of what should occupy a pre-eminent place in all prayer-Hallowed be Thy Name. The Levites called on all the people to stand tip and bless the Eternal One, their God, whose glorious name is exalted above all blessing and praise. To Him alone creation is ascribed and, as though testifying against the idolatry all about them that led the nations to worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, they acknowledge that all the host of heaven worship Him. He it was who had chosen Abram, bringing him out of Ur of the Chaldees, making him in very deed to answer to his new name Abraham-the father of a multitude. To him the promise of the land of Canaan was given which in due course was fulfilled in his seed-multitudinous as the sand of the sea, brought out of Egyptian bondage, led through the sea and the wilderness by the cloudy pillar, first to the mount of God and then to the land of promise (vers. 4-12). The Levites celebrated the giving of the law at Sinai; and it is of moment to notice that they declare it was then-and not before-that the holy Sabbath was made known to them (ver. 14). This would seem conclusive evidence that whereas God sanctified the seventh day at the completion of His work, as recorded in the second chapter of Genesis, He did not give it to man by command until He had a redeemed people gathered about Himself in the wilderness. It was a sign, or reminder, not alone of Gods rest after the creative days, but of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, and the pledge of a rest yet to come.

But after celebrating the mighty acts of the Lord, the Levites go on to confess the fearful break-down of the people, and that from the very first. Their fathers dealt proudly, and in place of recognizing their dependence on this mighty Deliverer who had wrought so wondrously on their behalf, they hardened their necks and harkened not to His commandments-in their rebellion desiring even to return to the very land of bondage from which He had taken them. Their wilderness history was a most humbling record, full of evidences of their folly, and yet abounding with testimonies of Jehovahs faithfulness, who sustained them through all those forty years so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not (vers. 13-21). And when at last they reached the land given by covenant to Abraham, the nations therein were rooted out before them and they themselves planted in their place; there they multiplied and grew, rejoicing in the abundance of the fruitful fields of Canaan, and delighting themselves in the great goodness of their covenant-keeping God (vers. 22-25).

But disobedience and rebellion characterized them almost from the days of Joshua, and Gods holy law they cast behind their back, despising His precepts and slaying His prophets when such were sent to show them their sin and call them back to subjection to His word. When, in their distresses, they cried to Him He granted them deliverance-not for their deserts, but for His own names sake, according to His mercies; thus again and again manifesting His tender loving and care.

Yet scarcely had He interposed on their behalf than they turned aside as before, sinning against His judgments (that is, the testimonies rendered), which if a man do he shall live in them, thus fighting against His Holy Spirit who spake in the prophets; until, at last, the kings of Assyria and Babylonia were permitted to root them out of their inheritance, carrying them captive to the land of the stranger.

The Levites own the justice of all Gods dealings with the nation. Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly, is their humble acknowledgment. And they go on to confess how their kings, princes, priests and fathers had not kept the law, nor harkened to His commandments, nor turned from their wicked works; and so they remained bondmen to that very day, subject to the kings of Persia; even though a little reviving had been granted them, and they had been gathered once more at Gods centre. Now, bearing in mind all the evil consequences of disobedience in the past, they made a sure covenant (alas, again to be soon broken!) and, putting it in writing, signed and sealed it; pledging themselves to cleave to the Lord, to separate from all strangers, and faithfully to do His will (vers. 33-38).

That they were truly in earnest none can doubt, but the future would show once more, as the past so often had done, that man is not to be trusted, and that were Gods covenant based on human faithfulness, instead of divine grace, all hope for mans lasting blessing: would be vain.

Yet it is well to have such seasons of exercise as this which we have been contemplating. Undoubtedly, it was for many a step forward, which they never retraced, although for the nation, as such, there could be no full restoration till the advent of Gods Anointed.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Neh 9:5

Notice:-

I. The tablets on which this glory is inscribed. (1) God’s glory is conspicuously written on the tablet of His works: (a) in their vastness; (b) in their harmony; (c) in their perpetuity. (2) God’s glory is inscribed in the Divine ways: (a) in their equity; (b) in their inscrutableness; (c) in their beneficence. (3) God’s glory is written most legibly on the tablet of His word.

II. Notice the mirrors from which God’s glory is reflected. When we search for mirrors to reflect God’s glory, we find them here, in the testimony of devout intelligence; we find them in the past in the unbroken evidence of ages; and we find them yonder in the perfection of those spirits whom God Himself has perfected.

III. Notice the elements by which this glory is obscured. It is obscured (1) by restless, clamorous passions; (2) by the reluctant judgments of God.

IV. Notice the clemency amidst which this glory is enshrined. It is a clemency which inclines to the feeblest cry, and which inspires and accepts the feeblest song.

A. Mursell, Lights and Landmarks, p. 39.

References: Neh 9:9-11.-E. White, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 120. Neh 9:12.-S. Gregory, Ibid., vol. xxviii., p. 85. Neh 9:17.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1272. Neh 9:20.-Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 47. Neh 9:38.-Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 115. Neh 12:27.-A. J. Griffith, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 171. Neh 12:42.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. x., p. 143. Neh 12:42, Neh 12:43.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 1027. Neh 13:2.-W. Walters, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 371; Parker, Fountain, June 6th, 1878. Neh 13:4.-S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 69. Neh 13:18.-J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons, vol. i., p. 141. Neh 13:31.-E. Monro, Practical Sermons, vol. iii., p. 179.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 9

1. The public humiliation and confession (Neh 9:1-5)

2. The great confession and prayer (Neh 9:6-38)

Neh 9:1-5. Two days after the feast of tabernacles had been concluded this humiliation and confession of sin took place. The assembled congregation fasted, with sackcloth and earth upon them. Separation was next. Evil confessed must mean evil put away. They separated themselves from all strangers, and after their confession they worshipped the Lord. Here again is the right order of a spiritual revival. Reading, hearing and believing the Word always comes first; humiliation, self-judgment, confession and true worship follow.

Neh 9:6-38. The Levites who occupied the platform (called here stairs) called upon the people to stand up and to bless the Lord and His glorious Name. Then follows the prayer. It is the longest recorded prayer in the Bible and is much like Daniels prayer (Dan. 9) and Ezras prayer (Ezra 9). These three prayers deserve a careful comparison and study.

First there is a beautiful invocation and outburst of worship. Thou art the LORD, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Here is the praise of the Creator, whose power is acknowledged, as well as the Preserver of His creation. The covenant of God with Abraham and the seed of Abraham is next mentioned (Neh 9:7-8) and then follows the account of the deliverance of their fathers from Egypt. He was their Redeemer (Neh 9:9-11). The experience of the wilderness is stated in verses Neh 9:12-21. The Creator-Redeemer led them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night; He spoke with them, gave them His commandments. He supplied them with bread from heaven and water from the rock. Then follows the story of their disobedience, and with what graciousness the Lord had dealt with their fathers. Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. The possession of the land of Canaan is given in verses Neh 9:22-25, revealing Gods faithfulness and His power in behalf of His redeemed people. Neh 9:26-30 cover the period of the judges and the prophets. In all the mercy of God is exalted. Then comes the prayer for mercy, with the acknowledgment of their sins as a nation.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Now: On the first of this month was the feast of trumpets; on the tenth, the day of atonement; on the fourteenth began the feast of tabernacles, which lasted seven days, ending on the twenty- second; on the twenty-third, they separated themselves from their illegitimate wives; and on the twenty-fourth, they held a solemn day of fasting and confession of sin, and reading the law; the whole of which they closed by renewing their covenants.

twenty: Lev 23:34, Lev 23:39, 2Ch 7:10

of this month: Neh 8:2

children: Jdg 20:26, 2Ch 20:3, Ezr 8:23, Est 4:3, Est 4:16, Isa 22:12, Joe 1:13, Joe 1:14, Joe 2:15-17, Jon 3:5-8, Act 13:2, Act 13:3

earth: Jos 7:6, 1Sa 4:12, 2Sa 1:2, Job 2:12

Reciprocal: Gen 28:20 – vowed Gen 37:34 – General Deu 29:10 – General 1Sa 7:5 – Gather 1Sa 7:6 – fasted 1Ki 8:33 – pray 2Ch 6:24 – pray Ecc 3:4 – time to weep Isa 58:5 – it such Jer 36:9 – they Dan 9:3 – with Joe 2:12 – with fasting Zep 2:1 – gather together Zec 7:3 – Should Act 10:30 – I was Rev 18:19 – they cast

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

IN VERSES Neh 9:2-3, we see the effect which the reading of the law had upon the hearers. First, they separated themselves from all the entanglements with ‘strangers’, or ‘foreigners’, that they had been permitting. Secondly, they confessed their own sins, as well as the iniquities in which their fathers had been involved. Then thirdly, they honoured their God, by worshipping Him. They recognized that the word of the Lord, which they read, demanded obedience.

And this indeed is what we have to recognize. It is worthy of note that the epistle to the Romans, which, in its opening verses calls for obedience to the Gospel when it is preached, ends with the assertion that the ‘mystery’, which concerns Christ and the church, equally calls for ‘the obedience of faith.’ All the truth of God is revealed, not to provide us with philosophical ideas for the entertainment of our minds, but rather while entering mind and conscience, to lead us into happy obedience, as those brought into subjection to the will of God. This will certainly lead us into a life of separation from all that entangles and defiles, and also confession of failure and sin.

These two things must accompany each other. To separate without confession is not acceptable to God: neither is it acceptable if we confess without separating. When both are combined we are humbled before God, and brought into that state of mind and soul which befits us to take up our happy place as worshippers in the presence of God.

The worship that was offered to God through certain of the Levites is recounted in Neh 9:4-6. They confessed Jehovah as their God, and owned that He is the Great Creator of heaven and earth, and exalted above all earthly and heavenly praise. It was suited to the revelation of God, in the light of which they lived. If we read Eph 1:3-7, we find the Apostle uttering worship in the light of the revelation that has reached us in Christ. And if we read Rom 11:33-36, we find the same Apostle in the spirit of worship as he contemplated the end to which His dealings with Israel will bring them, as well as ourselves. The Levites of Nehemiah’s day could not anticipate the things made known to us, ‘upon whom the ends of the ages are come’ (1Co 10:11, New Trans.).

Having owned the Lord, as they knew Him at that time, they proceeded to recite before Him the wonder of His dealings with their nation, from Abram onwards through the centuries. The chapter is a lengthy one, and if it be carefully read, their chequered history comes before us, and we cannot fail to be struck by three things. First, they vindicate God in all His disciplinary dealings with them, as well as acknowledge His mighty power, that had wrought on their behalf in their deliverance from Egypt, their sustainment in the wilderness and their possession of the promised land. In all His dealings, God had acted towards them according to both mercy and righteousness.

And, in the second place, owning that the law with its ‘right judgments’, and ‘good statutes’, was perfect in its place, they made no attempt to justify their ancestors or themselves in their repeated sins and failures. They condemned themselves for their disobedience, which went even to the length of slaying the prophets, by whom God had testified against them and maintained His truth; and they owned the rightness of all that had come upon them, so that, though back in the land, they were still in a position of servitude to kings who were over them. This humble confession of sin was indeed good, equally with the acknowledgement of the rightness of all God’s dealings with them.

But there was a third thing, which comes to light in the last verse of the chapter. Owning the ‘great distress’, that was still their portion, indeed because of it, they proposed to renew the old covenant of law, established originally with their ancestors, by making what they called ‘a sure covenant’, which they would write, and to which they would put their ‘seal’.

So evidently they had not yet learned what the Apostle Paul so forcibly set before the Galatians-‘As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse’ (Gal 3:10). The full period of Man’s probation had not yet expired. Israel was the nation chosen of God in whom that probation, or testing, was to take place, and it did not end until they had crucified their Messiah. So we are not blaming these God fearing Israelites for again making a covenant on the original lines of the law, and putting their seal to it, in the hope that they would succeed better than their fathers in keeping it.

We shall do well to note, however, what transpired in their later history. We shall not conclude our reading of this book without finding grievous failure recorded: and if we pass on to the book of the prophet Malachi, written perhaps half a century after this time, we find that a most deplorable state of things had developed amongst their children and descendants. There was still a certain amount of outward religious profession, while the law itself was broken, the whole spirit of it perverted, and the transgressors themselves completely self-satisfied and intolerant of criticism: so much so, that they repudiate with indignation any accusation that the prophet had to bring against them in the name of the Lord.

There was, however, a spirit of revival, clearly at work among the people, and since their place and standing before God was on the basis of the law of Moses, some fresh resolution to reverence and obey it was the appropriate thing they had to offer. There have been moments of revival in the history of the church, graciously granted by God, but what has marked them has been some fresh recovery, not of what we ought to do for God, but of what He has done for us-some fresh understanding and realization of the fulness of the grace into which we have been brought by the Gospel, and to the place of favour and heavenly relationship which is the church’s portion, according to the eternal counsels and purposes of God.

In this long prayer of confession, as they reviewed the history of their nation, we find that twice they acknowledged one of the great root causes of their sin: their forefathers had, ‘dealt proudly’ (verses Neh 9:16; Neh 9:29). Out of this spirit of pride, helped on doubtless by the very privilege and favour in which they stood as a nation, sprang the self-assertion and disobedience that had characterized their whole history; and that in their early days came to a head in the fact that they ‘appointed a captain to return to their bondage’ (verse Neh 9:17), and when they ‘made them a molten calf and said, This is thy God’ (verse Neh 9:18).

As a matter of history, the calf preceded the captain, for it was made at Sinai, when Moses was for so long on the mountain, as recorded in Exo 32:1-35; whereas the proposal to appoint a captain and return to Egypt was made when they were condemned to 40 years wandering in the wilderness after the bad report of the spies, as recorded in Num 14:1-45. In reversing the historic order, it would seem that they first mentioned the effect, and then went back to the underlying cause.

The inspired comment on all this is, ‘So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief’ (Heb 3:19). Unbelief wants a God plainly visible to the natural eye: hence the making of the calf. It also is not prepared to face a 40 year sojourn in a wilderness without visible resources: hence the desire for a captain after their own heart, to lead them back to a land of plenty, even if it be a land of slavery. It is easy for us to see their error, but let us not forget that the flesh in ourselves has exactly the same desires and tendencies. It longs for something visible, and for what panders to our natural desires, even if we are spiritually enslaved in obtaining it. Here is indeed a case in which the Old Testament Scriptures, which Timothy had known from a child, are able to make us ‘wise unto salvation’ (2Ti 3:15).

We cannot indeed avoid the impression that similar evil principles were at work in the early centuries of the professing church. As faith vanished or declined, they wanted some visible representation of the Saviour, and then of His virgin mother. They wanted too a visible leader, who would relieve them of the troubles connected with the life of a stranger and a pilgrim in this present evil world, to which the Christian is called. As the centuries passed they got what they wanted in the crucifixes and images, and in the Papal chair, and its occupants, in Rome, that led them back into the spiritual bondage and darkness, of which Egypt was a type.

So the covenant was signed, which evidently reaffirmed their adherence to the old covenant, given at Sinai, which was indeed ‘sure’, in an absolute sense. They spoke of the covenant that they wrote and signed, as being sure, and so it was on God’s side; but not so sure on their side, as we have already remarked. The first 27 verses of chapter 10, record the names of the leaders, who signed the covenant on behalf of the people; and then the rest of that chapter records how the people generally bound themselves to observe the law as to questions of marriage, and of ordinances concerning the upkeep of the temple service, and of the priests and Levites. They had separated themselves to obey the law, and as it says, they ‘entered into a curse’. Everyone who stands before God on the basis of law, enters into a curse. Significantly enough, the last word in the Old Testament is the word ‘curse’.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Neh 9:1. Now in the twenty and fourth day The feast of tabernacles began on the fourteenth day, and ended on the twenty-second, all which time mourning had been forbidden, as contrary to the nature of the feast, which was to be kept with joy. But now, on the twenty-fourth, the next day but one after the feast, their consciences having been fully awakened, and their hearts filled with grief for their sins, which they were not allowed to express in that time of public joy, they resume their former thoughts, and, recalling their sins to mind, set apart a day for solemn fasting and humiliation.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Neh 9:1. On the twenty fourth day of this month. The third day after the feast of tabernacles, the people assembled with fasting, to abjure associations with heathen women. See Ezr 10:3.

Neh 9:3. One fourth part of the day. The morning exercise was divided into two parts, a full course of festival reading, in which the whole law was read in the succession of the week; then a copious psalm of rehearsal, versifying the words they had heard; and then they joined in the prayers and confessions of the sanctuary. The worship of the afternoon was divided in like manner. This edified a people that could not read.

Neh 9:5. Then the Levites, the readers, said, Stand up and bless the Lord. The substance of this bold and noble song is much the same in words, as in other psalms of like nature. Psa 40:3; Psa 68:34; Psa 103:19.

REFLECTIONS.

We may here ask, why had not the rulers separated the Hebrews from their unlawful connections before? It is likely that they could not till Nehemiah had arrived with full Persian powers; and they had been too busy in building the walls. Now, the people found that their children could not be registered, nor could they inherit the estates of their fathers.

From this song we learn, that a hallowing reverence of God should be cherished in our hearts. The noblest creatures, says Job Orton, cannot praise him as he deserves, cannot make him more excellent. He is not only above our blessing and praise, but above all blessing and praise, and we are to consider him as the creator and preserver of the whole.

The circumstances which our fathers experienced should be recollected by us, that we may be thankful for favours bestowed on them, in the benefit of which we share. We should lament their ingratitude and disobedience, that we ourselves may act differently. This will tend to encourage our own better obedience, and our expectation of help in time of need.

The goodness of God in giving us laws and ordinances ought to be reflected upon with peculiar thankfulness, Neh 9:13; particular notice also is taken of the sabbath, Neh 9:14. It was a singular and valuable gift, a sign between God and them that they were his people, and the worshippers of the true God. He gave them also his good Spirit to instruct them. This blessing we have particular reason to be thankful for. The laws of Christ are right, true, and good, and are not so burthensome and grievous as the Jewish laws. The sabbath is continued, and the observance of it enforced by the authority of Christ, in commemoration of his resurrection; and we have the hope of the heavenly Canaan. These mercies are of great value, and should be acknowledged with peculiar thankfulness in our public assemblies; and let it be remembered that they will greatly aggravate our guilt, if we are disobedient and irreligious.

With solemn exercises of devotion it is proper to enter into engagements to be the Lords, Neh 9:38 : because of all this mercy, and of our disobedience, we make a sure covenant. When we are convinced of the evil of sin, we should solemnly engage to have no more to do with it; when we have recollected the mercies of God, we should bind ourselves to make all suitable returns, and promise and engage to keep his commands. This we have frequently done; let us often reflect upon it; and having sworn, let us perform it, that we will keep Gods righteous judgments.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Neh 9:1-37. The Fast and a National Confession.All that took place, as described in this section, was the result of the reading of the Law. The command to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles having been observed, there followed a spontaneous outburst of self-condemnation on the part of the people, who were conscience-stricken on account of having hitherto neglected to observe the Law; they had clearly been desirous of expressing their sorrow before (see Neh 8:9), but it would have been inappropriate during the feast. Fasting and prayerful confession were fitly followed (see next section) by a solemn act of resolution of amendment.

Neh 9:1. the twenty and fourth day: the second day after the celebration of the feast, i.e. in the seventh month (see Neh 8:2).

Neh 9:2. the seed of Israel: an appropriate expression in this connexion.separated themselves . . .: the incongruity of those who were not strictly Jews taking part in what was to follow is obvious.confessed their sins: viz. of non-observance of the commandments of the Law, not necessarily offences of a moral character. The confession was not personal but national; this has always been a characteristic of the Jewish Liturgy; both in prayer and praise, as well as in confession, the act is neither personal nor even congregational, but national; each congregation is representative of the Jewish nation as a whole.

Neh 9:4. the stairs: presumably of the platform mentioned in Neh 8:4.

Neh 9:5. The text is not in order and there is uncertainty about the names.

Neh 9:6-37. It is not said by whom this long prayer and confession was spoken, nor do the contents of it (a review of past history reminding one of Psalms 105, 106, 107) seem very appropriate in this connexion. Its general tone is prophetic rather than priestly. The whole of the passage, Neh 9:6-37, is probably a later insertion. The opening words, the declaration of God as One and as the Creator of heaven and earth, strike a distinctly liturgical note. The passage calls for little comment, as it is made up of references to the OT history and of quotations, mainly from the Pentateuch and the Pss. It is worth mentioning that a characteristic of the Jewish Liturgy is the Scriptural tone of the prayers, into which OT phrases are woven. The late date of the passage before us is shown by the words in Neh 9:20, Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, which echo a late conception (cf. Isa 63:11). The abrupt ending should be noted. [In the Heb. the new chapter begins with what is marked as Neh 9:38 in RV.]

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

ISRAEL’S GUILT CONFESSED TO THEIR CREATOR

(vv. 1-6)

The Great Day of Atonement was on the first day of the seventh month, followed by the Feast of Tabernacles beginning the 15th day; but what should have been done on the first day was not done until the 24th day of the month (v. 1). This surely indicates that the people were not as sensitive to the seriousness of their sin as they ought to have been. However, when this was impressed on them, there was some real exercise of soul awakened, to face the guilt of their condition before God. In Ezr 10:9 we read of the Jews being gathered on the 20th day of the ninth month for the purpose of united self-judgment. It may be that this occasion required two months to complete, for likely Ezra and Nehemiah refer to the same occasion.

The gathering was with fasting and sackcloth, and even dust on their heads. At this time those who were Israelites separated from foreigners, confessing their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. Ezra emphasized the guilt of the Jews having mixed themselves by marriage with foreign people and having shared in their idolatrous worship (Eze 9:1-2).

The standard by which they were to judge was the Book of the Law of the Lord God, therefore for one fourth part of the day they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord (v. 3). Then eight Levites stood on the stairs and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord, evidently in intercession for the people (v. 4). After thus addressing the Lord, they then addressed the people, encouraging them to “Stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever! Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!” How appropriate it is to first of all give the Lord the place of Highest preeminence, for He alone is Lord, and has made heaven and the heaven of heavens with all their hosts of heavenly bodies, as well as the earth and everything in it, the sea with all its inhabitants. Having made all these things, God also preserves them. Also all the hosts of heaven worship Him.

GOD’S CHOICE OF ABRAHAM

(vv. 7-8)

Verse 6 has insisted that God is Creator, which is a very real reason for Israel judging their sins before Him; but verses 7 and 8 give an additional serious reason. God had chosen their father Abram, and called him from Ur of the Chaldees, changing his name to Abraham, to be the father of a special nation, this favored nation Israel. When God had called him out from a land of idol worshipers, then certainly any measure of return to idols on Israel’s part was an insult to God.

In fact, God had found Abraham’s heart faithful and made a covenant with him (v. 8). Notice, this covenant was not conditional on Abraham’s future faithfulness, but on the basis that Abraham had already proven faithful, so that the promise was unconditional. This should have spoken deeply to the hearts and consciences of Israel to produce within them true concern for the honor of the Lord, a willing faithfulness rather than obedience forced by the regulations of law.

This covenant involved God’s giving to Israel the land that was held by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jubusites and Girgashites. God had proven true to His Word, “for,” as the Jews now say, “You are righteous.” Such blessing being given to Israel, this was certainly a good reason for their being obedient, and now a reason for their humble confession of having been disobedient.

ISRAEL DELIVERED FROM EGYPT

(vv. 9-12)

Another reason for Israel’s proper self-judgment is given now in these verses. God in great mercy had observed the affliction of their fathers in Egypt. After leading them out, when they came to the Red Sea He heard their cry of distress (v. 4). In fact, He had shown signs before this against Pharaoh and his servants, by inflicting them with ten plagues (v. 10) to break down the stubborn resistance of Egypt, so that God’s name was exalted and the pride of Egypt brought down.

When Israel cried to God, He divided the Red Sea to make a path of dry ground for them to pass through unharmed. Then He overthrew their enemies by the return of the sea to its accustomed condition, drowning them as though they had been a stone thrown into the waters (v. 11).

Besides this, both before and after the Red Sea experience, God led Israel by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. Such miraculous intervention of God surely ought to have greatly impressed Israel. Believers today also are no less cared for by God’s miraculous power, for they are indwelt by the Spirit of God who leads always in the best way possible whether by day or night.

A RIGHTEOUS LAW GIVEN THEM

(vv. 13-15)

Here is another reason Israel ought to have kept from evil, or when having disobeyed, to turn back to God in genuine repentance. After His marvelous grace in delivering Israel from bondage, God gave them a law that was perfectly righteous in contrast to the laws of other nations. In doing so, it was transparently clear that God Himself was speaking.

Israel’s consciences could well bear witness to the fact that God’s law for them was perfectly righteous, and not only this, for He provided the Sabbath day to be kept not only for God’s honor, but for Israel’s blessing, to at least relieve the people of hard labor for one day per week, for it is always true that when God’s name is honored the people will be blessed (v. 14). These commandments were given by the mediatorship of Moses, whom Israel has always revered, at least since his death! Thus, in the law itself God had shown wonderful kindness to Israel.

Added to this were God’s miracles of giving Israel bread from heaven (the manna) and water from the rock (v. 15), just before the law was given, so that Israel was provided for all through their wilderness journey. Thus, Israel was given every reason for thankfulness and devoted obedience to God.

GOD STILL GRACIOUS WHEN ISRAEL SINNED

(vv. 16-21)

After being blessed so greatly, we are told, “they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments. They refused to obey” (vv. 16-17). This was simply cold-hearted rebellion, ignoring the great wonders God had done among them for their welfare, going so far as to appoint a leader in opposition to Moses with the object of returning to the bondage of Egypt. Of course, God would not allow any such thing. Yet, He is a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.” The patience of God with them is practically amazing. Even when they made a golden calf, worshiping it as the god who brought them out of Egypt, God still bore with their evil in His manifold mercy (vv. 18-19). He continued to lead them by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. There was no lack of testimony that God was sustaining them and leading them through a wilderness that would have swallowed them up if they had not been kept by divine power.

More that this, God give them His Spirit to instruct them by the instrumentality of Moses and Aaron, a wonderful provision of grace, though Israel showed little appreciation of it at the time. Looking back, these Levites in Nehemiah’s time could clearly discern this. At this time too the Lord did not at all withhold the manna from them, and supplied water as they needed it. This continued for the entire wilderness journey (forty years), so that they lacked nothing. Think of the many occasions very recently of thousands of people fleeing as refugees and dying for lack of food and water! Yet between two and three million Israelites were sustained by God for 40 years of wilderness wandering! In that time too their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. Were they so insensible as to not appreciate this?

GOD’S GREAT BLESSING IN THE LAND

(vv. 22-25)

The Levites then recounted the grace of God in having given Israel the victory over various enemies, whose land God had before decided was to belong to Israel. Before entering the land of Canaan, they took possession of the land of Sihon king of the Amorites and that of Og king of Bashan (v. 22). God multiplied the nation greatly and brought them into the land He had promised (v. 23), subduing the inhabitants of the land before Israel, so that Israel could take possession of this. When the power and grace of God in this was so manifest, Israel certainly had further cause for fully obeying God, and no excuse for disobeying.

“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” (v. 25).

FURTHER GUILT; GOD’S CHASTENING AND GRACE

(vv. 26-31)

Again, after Israel had been so marvelously blessed by God, they became thoroughly disobedient, rebelling and despising the law He had so graciously given them. God sent prophets to testify against their evil with the object of turning them back to Him, but they not only refused to listen: they went as far as to kill such faithful messengers (v. 26). Provocations like this moved God to deliver them into the hand of their enemies who oppressed them. This is seen in the Book of Judges and during the history of the kings.

Yet when they found themselves in such deep trouble as to cry out to God for His mercy, God did respond in compassionate goodness, as the Levites here declare, “You heard from heaven; and according to Your abundant mercies You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hand of their enemies (v. 27).

Yet, after being given relief, they again turned to evil, so that they were left some time under the domination of their enemies until they returned to God, crying to Him for deliverance. This was not only two or three times, but “many times You delivered them according to Your mercies” (v. 28). The very reading of such a history of failure, then restoration, then further failure and further grace from God, followed again by failure, becomes wearying to a reader. How much more wearying to God!

Though it is wearying to read of Israel’s continually repeated disobedience, this history surely impresses us with the marvel of the patience of God! “They shrugged their shoulders, stiffened their necks, and would not hear” (v. 29). This went on for many years, with the Spirit of God moving prophets to stir their consciences, then using enemy nations to chastise them (v. 30).

“Nevertheless,” the Levites added, “in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them” (v. 31). Why not? “For You are God, gracious and merciful.” This remains true for us today, when Israel, because of the enormous guilt of having rejected and crucified God’s Son, has been for centuries in a rebellious state and suffering for it. But God is still God, and He knows how to deliver and restore His people, as He will after they suffer the horrors of the Great Tribulation, and cry out to Him in humble repentance and faith (Hos 14:4-9).

PRAYER FOR GOD’S MERCY

(vv. 32-38)

After having acknowledged Israel’s many failures of the past, the Levites seek the face of God in earnest prayer, calling Him “the great and mighty and awesome God,” who was not like Israel in their breaking the covenant of law, but who may be depended on to perfectly keep His covenant (v. 32). They ask that God will not consider the trouble small that had come on their kings, princes, priests, prophets, their fathers and all the people, from the time of Assyria’s oppression “until this day.”

But the trouble was not small because Israel’s disobedience was not small. They confess this in verse 33, saying that God was just in what He had allowed: their suffering was no more than they deserved. God had dealt faithfully in contrast to Israel’s unfaithfulness, which they confess as wickedness on the part of all the people from the greatest to the least (v. 34). Thus they laid their hearts bare in the sight of God, making no excuses, but judging themselves unsparingly for their guilt (v. 35).

In verses 36-37 they speak of the results that they were then suffering because of their disobedience: they were servants to a foreign king, so that the fruit of their land was enjoyed by the kings who had taken them captive. These kings had dominion even over their bodies and their possessions, and could do as they pleased with the Jews. Thus they were in great distress. We must remember though, that God had shown great mercy to Nehemiah by disposing King Artaxerxes to act in unusual kindness to him and to Israel. Yet they were still in bondage, and they had to learn to bow to God’s sovereign government in allowing this unpleasant situation.

Their prayer was accompanied by their decision to “make a sure covenant.” This was of course a renewal of the covenant of law given by Moses (ch. 10:29), for Israel was then still under law. Would they succeed any better than they had before? Certainly not! But God used this occasion with the intention of making Israel more fully realize that, not only did they fail in practice, but that they had a sinful nature that could not cease from sin, and therefore that they must be born again. But we are all slow learners. Why? Because of our own selfish pride.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

THE PEOPLE HUMBLED BEFORE GOD

Nehemiah 9

The return to the word of God, resulted first in the people rendering to the Lord His portion as set forth in the previous chapter. The second result is seen in this chapter in which the people take their true place before God owning their constant failure in the past and their weak condition in the present.

Having exalted the Lord in the feast of Tabernacles, the people realize the inconsistency of maintaining associations unsuited to the Lord. Hence the feast is immediately followed by “separation” and “confession.” “The seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers and stood and confessed their sins” (2). It is still incumbent upon all who name the Name of the Lord to depart from iniquity. But separation, if true, demands confession; for the fact that we have to separate at all, is the proof that we have been in wrong associations, and this wrong calls for confession. Then again confession without separation would be unreal, for how can we continue in the evil that we confess. Hence true separation and honest confession will ever be found together.

But whether the people are ascribing praise to God or humbling themselves because of their failure, all is the outcome of the word of God applied to the conscience, as we are told, “They read in the book of the law of the Lord their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the Lord their God” (3).

The remaining portion of the chapter presents the confession of the people. It is however prefaced by praise to the Lord. However much the people of God may fail, the Lord remains their unfailing resource. Hence the people did well to “stand up and bless the Lord,” who, however much we praise Him, will ever be “above all blessing and praise” (4, 5).

And as the remnant stand up to bless the Lord “with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them,” they are led of God to give utterance to a wonderful sevenfold ascription of praise, which brings God before the soul in the Majesty of His Being and the greatness of His ways. And that such a view of God in His glory and grace, is necessary for true confession is evident. For only as we have God before our souls, can we truly estimate the gravity of our failure.

1st. God is owned as unchanging and eternal. “Thou art the Same, thou alone Jehovah” (6, N. Tr.). Amidst all changes in times, seasons, circumstances. and men, we have in the Lord One who knows no change and will never pass away. As we read in another scripture, “Thou remainest” and “Thou art the Same” (Heb. 1).

2nd. God is owned as the Creator of all. The heaven of heavens and all their host, the earth too and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is therein, are the work of His hands.

3rd. God is owned as the Sustainer of all. All creation is preserved by God and dependent upon God (6).

4th. God is owned as Sovereign. He chooses whom He will. He calls Abram out of Ur, and He changes his name (7).

5th. God is owned as the Giver of unconditional promises to those whom He has called according to His sovereign choice (8).

6th. God is owned as faithful to His word. He performs that which He has promised (8).

7th God is owned in His ways of grace and power by which He delivered His people from Egypt, brought them through the wilderness and established them in the Land (9-15).

Having given God His place, the people review their path in the light of all that God is, and this leads to the confession of their utter failure. They find no good thing to say of themselves. They review their history in the wilderness (16-21); in the Land (22-27); and in captivity to their enemies (28-31). Their failure increased with the passing of time, expressing itself in different forms of evil. But one failure was common to every position – their constant disobedience to the word of God. In the wilderness they hearkened not to Jehovah’s commandments, and refused to obey (16). In the Land they were disobedient and cast Jehovah’s law behind their backs (26). In bondage to their enemies they hearkened not unto Jehovah’s commandments but sinned against His ordinances (29).

Nevertheless in spite of all the failure of the people they recognise that God did not “utterly consume them, nor forsake them.” And hence they rightly conclude that God is “a gracious and merciful God” (31). Thus it is they appeal to the mercy of God. Linking up their present sorrowful condition with the past failure, they say, “Let not all the trouble seem little before Thee” (32). But while appealing to the mercy of God they recognise the righteous government of God. “Howbeit,” they say, “Thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly” (33). And all their wickedness they trace back to disobedience to the word. They had not kept the law (34): they had not served Jehovah, but followed their own wills in “wicked works” (35); and as a result they were in “great distress” (36, 37).

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

9:1 Now in the twenty and fourth day of this {a} month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

(a) Meaning, the seventh.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

2. The prayer of the people ch. 9

The people were not content to go about their business as usual after hearing the Word of God read. They realized they needed to hear more and to get right with God more completely.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The preparations for prayer 9:1-4

Two days after the solemn assembly (Neh 8:18), the people were still mourning over their sins (Neh 9:1). This was a genuine spiritual revival. In obedience to God’s Law the people broke off forbidden alliances with non-Jews (cf. Deu 23:3-8). They also confessed their ancestors’ sins as well as their own, listened to the reading of the Law, and worshipped God (Neh 9:2-3). Seven Levites led the people in confession and worship (Neh 9:4).

"It is of interest that the congregation did not only confess their own sins, but also those of their ancestors. This is a recurring theme in the books of Ezra-Nehemiah. They felt their solidarity with past generations." [Note: Fensham, p. 223.]

". . . ’separation’ [Neh 9:2] has nothing to do with simply disliking someone. Separation has to do, principally, with religious commitment-with the idea of covenant." [Note: Holmgren, p. 129.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

THE RELIGION OF HISTORY

Neh 9:1-38

AFTER the carnival-Lent. This Catholic procedure was anticipated by the Jews in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. The merry feast of Tabernacles was scarcely over, when, permitting an interval of but a single day, the citizens of Jerusalem plunged into a demonstration of mourning-fasting, sitting in sackcloth, casting dust on their heads, abjuring foreign connections, confessing their own and their fathers sins. Although the singular revulsion of feeling may have been quite spontaneous on the part of the people, the violent reaction to which it gave rise was sanctioned by the authorities. In an open-air meeting which lasted for six hours-three of Bible-reading and three of confession and worship-the Levites took the lead, as they had done at the publication of The Law a few weeks earlier. But these very men had rebuked the former outburst of lamentation. Must we suppose that their only objection on that occasion was that the mourning was then untimely, because it was indulged in at a festival, whereas it ought to have been postponed to a fast day? If that were all, we should have to contemplate a miserably artificial condition of affairs. Real emotions refuse to come and go at the bidding of officials pedantically set on regulating their alternate recurrence in accordance with a calendar of the church year. A theatrical representation of feeling may be drilled into some such orderly procession. But true feeling itself is of all things in the universe the most restive under direct orders.

We must look a little deeper. The Levites had given a great spiritual reason for the restraint of grief in their wonderful utterance, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” This noble thought is not an elixir to be administered or withheld according to the recurrence of ecclesiastical dates. If it is true at all, it is eternally true. Although the application of it is not always a fact of experience, the reason for the fluctuations in our personal relations to it is not to be looked for in the almanac; it will be found in those dark passages of human life which, of their own accord, shut out the sunlight of Divine gladness. There is then no absolute inconsistency in the action of the Levites. And yet perhaps they may have perceived that they had been hasty in their repression of the first outburst of grief, or at all events that they did not then see the whole truth of the matter. There was some ground for lamentation after all, and though the expression of sorrow at a festival seemed to them untimely, they were bound to admit its fitness a little later. It is to be observed that another subject was now brought under the notice of the people. The contemplation of the revelation of Gods will should not produce grief. But the consideration of mans conduct cannot but lead to that result. At the reading of the Divine law the Jews lamentation was rebuked; at the recital of their own history it was encouraged. Yet even here it was not to be abject and hopeless. The Levites exhorted the people to shake off the lethargy of sorrow, to stand up and bless the Lord their God. Even in the very act of confessing sin we have a special reason for praising God, because the consciousness of our guilt in His sight must heighten our appreciation of His marvellous forbearance.

The Jews confession of sin led up to a prayer which the Septuagint ascribes to Ezra. It does so, however, in a phrase that manifestly breaks the context, and thus betrays its origin in an interpolation. {Ezr 9:6-15} Nevertheless the tone of the prayer, and even its very language, remind us forcibly of the Great Scribes outpouring of soul over the mixed marriages of his people recorded in Ezr 9:1-15. No one was more fitted to lead the Jews in the later act of devotion, and it is only reasonable to conclude that the work was undertaken by the one man to whose lot it would naturally fall.

The prayer is very like some of the historical psalms. By pointing to the variegated picture of the History of Israel, it shows how God reveals Himself through events. This suggests the probability that the three hours reading of the fast day had been taken from the historical parts of the Pentateuch. The religious teachers of Israel knew what riches of instruction were buried in the history of their nation, and they had the wisdom to unearth those treasures for the benefit of their own age. It is strange that we English have made so little use of a national history that is not a whit less providential, although it does not glitter with visible miracles. God has spoken to England as truly through the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Puritan Wars, and the Revolution, as ever He spoke to Israel by means of the Exodus, the Captivity, and the Return.

The arrangement and method of the prayer lend themselves to a singularly forcible presentation of its main topics, with heightening effect as it proceeds in a recapitulation of great historical landmarks. It opens with an outburst of praise to God. In saying that Jehovah is God alone, it makes more than a cold pronouncement of Jewish monotheism; it confesses the practical supremacy of God over His universe, and therefore over His people and their enemies. God is adored as the Creator of heaven, and, perhaps with an allusion to the prevalent Gentile title “God of heaven,” as even the Maker of the heaven of heavens, of that higher heaven of which the starry firmament is but the gold-sprinkled floor. There, in those far-off, unseen heights, He is adored. But earth and sea, with all that inhabit them, are also Gods works. From the highest to the lowest, over great and small, He reigns supreme. This glowing expression of adoration constitutes a suitable exordium. It is right and fitting that we should approach God in the attitude of pure worship, for the moment entirely losing ourselves in the contemplation of Him. This is the loftiest act of prayer, far above the selfish shriek for help in dire distress to which unspiritual men confine their utterance before God. It is also the most enlightening preparation for those lower forms of devotion that cannot be neglected so long as we are engaged on earth with our personal needs and sins, because it is necessary for us first of all to know what God is, and to be able to contemplate the thought of His being and nature, if we would understand the course of His action among men, or see our sins in the only true light-the light of His countenance. We can best trace the course of low-lying valleys from a mountain height. The primary act of adoration illumines and directs the thanksgiving, confession, and petition that follow. He who has once seen God knows how to look at the world and his own heart, without being misled by earthly glamour or personal prejudice.

In tracking the course of revelation through history, the author of the prayer follows two threads. First one and then the other is uppermost, but it is the interweaving of them that gives the definite pattern of the whole picture. These are Gods grace and mans sin. The method of the prayer is to bring them into view alternately, as they are illustrated in the History of Israel. The result is like a drama of several acts, and three scenes in each act. Although we see progress and a continuous heightening of effect, there is a startling resemblance between the successive acts, and the relative characters of the scenes remain the same throughout. In the first scene we always behold the free and generous favour of God offered to the people He condescends to bless, altogether apart from any merits or claims on their part. In the second we are forced to look at the ugly picture of Israels ingratitude and rebellion. But this is invariably followed by a third scene, which depicts the wonderful patience and long-suffering of God, and His active aid in delivering His guilty people from the troubles they have brought on their own heads by their sins, whenever they turn to Him in penitence.

The recital opens where the Jews delighted to trace their origin, in Ur of the Chaldees. These returned exiles from Babylon are reminded that at the very dawn of their ancestral history the same district was the starting-point. The guiding hand of God was seen in bringing up the Father of the Nation in that far-off tribal migration from Chaldaea to Canaan. At first the Divine action did not need to exhibit all the traits of grace and power that were seen later, because Abraham was not a captive. Then, too, there was no rebellion, for Abraham was faithful. Thus the first scene opens with the mild radiance of early morning. As yet there is nothing tragic on either side. The chief characteristic of this scene is its promise, and the author of the prayer anticipates some of the later scenes by interjecting a grateful recognition of the faithfulness of God in keeping His word. “For Thou art righteous,” he says. {Neh 9:8} This truth is the keynote to the prayer. The thought of it is always present as an undertone, and it emerges clearly again towards the conclusion, where, however, it wears a very different garb. There we see how in view of mans sin Gods righteousness inflicts chastisement. But the intention of the author is to show that throughout all the vicissitudes of history God holds on to His straight line of righteousness, unwavering. It is just because He does not change that His action must be modified in order to adjust itself to the shifting behaviour of men and women. It is the very immutability of God that requires Him to show Himself froward with the froward, although He is merciful with the merciful.

The chief events of the Exodus are next briefly recapitulated, in order to enlarge the picture of Gods early goodness to Israel. Here we may discern more than promise; the fulfilment now begins. Here, too, God is seen in that specific activity of deliverance which comes more and more to the front as the history proceeds. While the calamities of the people grow worse and worse, God reveals Himself with ever-increasing force as the Redeemer of Israel. The plagues of Egypt, the passage of the Red Sea, the drowning of the Egyptians, the cloud-pillar by day and the pillar of fire by night, the descent on Sinai for the giving of The Law-in which connection the one law of the Sabbath is singled out, a point to be noted in view of the great prominence given to it later on-the manna, and the water from the rock, are all signs and proofs of Gods exceeding kindness towards His people.

But now we are directed to a very different scene. In spite of all this never-ceasing, this ever-accumulating goodness of God, the infatuated people rebel, appoint a captain to take them back to Egypt, and relapse into idolatry. This is the human side of the history, shown up in its deep blackness against the luminous splendour of the heavenly background.

Then comes the marvellous third scene, the scene that should melt the hardest heart. God does not cast off His people. The privileges enumerated before are carefully repeated, to show that God has not withdrawn them. Still the cloud-pillar guides by day and the fire-pillar by night. Still the manna and the water are supplied. But this is not all. Between these two pairs of favours a new one is now inserted. God gives His “good Spirit” to instruct the people. The author does not seem to be referring to any one specific event, as that of the Spirit falling on the elders, or the incident of the unauthorised prophet, or the bestowal of the Spirit on the artists of the tabernacle. We should rather conclude from the generality of his terms that he is thinking of the gift of the Spirit in each of these cases, and also in every other way in which the Divine Presence was felt in the hearts of the people. Prone to wander, they needed and they received this inward monitor. Thus God showed His great forbearance, by even extending His grace and giving more help because the need was greater.

From this picture of the wilderness life we are led on to the conquest of the Promised Land. The Israelites overthrow the kings east of the Jordan, and take possession of their territories. Growing in numbers, after a time they are strong enough to cross the Jordan, seize the land of Canaan, and subdue the aboriginal inhabitants. Then we see them settling down in their new home and inheriting the products of the labours of their more civilised predecessors. All this is a further proof of the favour of God. Yet again the dreadful scene of ingratitude is repeated, and that in an aggravated form. A wild fury of rebellion takes hold of the wicked people. They rise up against their God, fling His Torah behind their backs, murder the prophets He sends to warn them, and sink down into the greatest wickedness. The head and front of their offence is the rejection of the sacred Torah. The word Torah-law or instruction-must here be taken in its widest sense to comprehend both the utterances of the prophets and the tradition of the priests, although it is represented to the contemporaries of Ezra by its crown and completion, the Pentateuch. In this second act of heightened energy on both sides, while the characters of the actors are developing with stronger features, we have a third scene-forgiveness and deliverance from God.

Then the action moves more rapidly. It becomes almost confused. In general terms, with a few swift strokes, the author sketches a succession of similar movements-indeed he does little more than hint at them. We cannot see how often the threefold process was repeated, only we perceive that it always recurred in the same form. Yet the very monotony deepens the impression of the whole drama-so madly persistent was the backsliding habit of Israel, so grandly continuous was the patient long-suffering of God. We lose all count of the alternating scenes of light and darkness as we look at them down the long vista of the ages. And yet it is not necessary that we should assort them. The perspective may escape us; all the more must we feel the force of the process which is characterised by so powerful a unity of movement.

Coming nearer to his own time, the author of the prayer expands into detail again. While the kingdom lasted God did not cease to plead with His people. They disregarded His voice, but His Spirit was in the prophets, and the long line of heavenly messengers was a living testimony to the Divine forbearance. Heedless of this greatest and best means of bringing them back to their forsaken allegiance, the Jews were at length given over to the heathen. Yet that tremendous calamity was not without its mitigations. They were not utterly consumed. Even now God did not forsake them. He followed them into their captivity. This was apparent in the continuous advent of prophets-such as the Second Isaiah and Ezekiel-who appeared and delivered their oracles in the land of exile; it was most gloriously manifest in the return under Cyrus. Such long-continued goodness, beyond the utmost excess of the nations sin, surpassed all that could have been hoped for. It went beyond the promises of God; it could not be wholly comprehended in His faithfulness. Therefore another Divine attribute is now revealed. At first the prayer made mention of Gods righteousness, which was seen in the gift of Canaan as a fulfilment of the promise to Abraham, so that the author remarked, in regard to the performance of the Divine word, “for Thou art righteous.” But now he reflects on the greater kindness, the uncovenanted kindness of the Exile and the Return: “for Thou art a gracious and merciful God.” {Neh 9:31} We can only account for such extended goodness by ascribing it to the infinite love of God.

Having thus brought his review down to his own day, in the concluding passage of the prayer the author appeals to God with reference to the present troubles of His people. In doing so he first returns to his contemplation of the nature of God. Three Divine characteristics rise up before him, -first, majesty (“the great, the mighty, the terrible God”), second, fidelity (keeping “covenant”), third, compassion (keeping “mercy”). {Neh 9:32} On this threefold plea he beseeches God that all the national trouble which has been endured since the first Assyrian invasion may not “seem little” to Him. The greatness of God might appear to induce disregard of the troubles of His poor human children, and yet it would really lead to the opposite result. It is only the limited faculty that cannot stoop to small things because its attention is confined to large affairs. Infinity reaches to the infinitely little as readily as to the infinitely great. With the appeal for compassion goes a confession of sin, which is national rather than personal. All sections of the community on which the calamities have fallen-with the significant exception of the prophets who had possessed Gods Spirit, and who had been so grievously persecuted by their fellow countrymen-all are united in a common guilt. The solidarity of the Jewish race is here apparent. We saw in the earlier case of the sin-offering that the religion of Israel was national rather than personal. The punishment of the captivity was a national discipline; now the confession is for national sin. And yet the sin is confessed distributively, with regard to the several sections of society. We cannot feel our national sin in the bulk. It must be brought home to us in our several walks of life.

After this confession the prayer deplores the present state of the Jews. No reference is now made to the temporary annoyance occasioned by the attacks of the Samaritans. The building of the walls has put an end to that nuisance. But the permanent evil is more deeply rooted. The Jews are mournfully conscious of their subject state beneath the Persian yoke. They have returned to their city, but they are no more free men than they were in Babylon. Like the fellaheen of Syria today, they have to pay heavy tribute, which takes the best of the produce of their labour. They are subject to the conscription, having to serve in the armies of the Great King-Herodotus tells us that there were “Syrians of Palestine” in the army of Xerxes. Their cattle are seized by the officers of the government, arbitrarily, “at their pleasure.” Did Nehemiah know of this complaint? If so, might there not be some ground for the suspicion of the informers after all? Was that suspicion one reason for his recall to Susa? We cannot answer these questions. As to the prayer, this leaves the whole case with God. It would have been dangerous to have said more in the hearing of the spies who haunted the streets of Jerusalem. And it was needless. It is not the business of prayer to try to move the hand of God. It is enough that we lay bare our state before Him, trusting His wisdom as well as His grace-not dictating to God, but confiding in Him.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary