Nehemiah 9:1-2 ( ESV )
1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.
2And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
The time of the feasting had ended and now the people of Israel sought the Lord in a different way. Notice what they do in verse one, “the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.” The people of Israel now wanted to get their hearts right with their God. They laid aside their food and now wanted to focus their attention even more upon their God. They put sackcloth on themselves and put dirt upon their heads, these were signs of a people who wanted to repent and get right with the Lord.
This was evident by their actions in verse 2. The Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners. Now what does that mean? I think if we were to look at what happened in Ezra 10, 13 years earlier, as well as the end of Nehemiah 13 we will see that many of the Israelites had married foreign women. The problem was not mixed marriages, (remember the story of Ruth) as much as it was that the majority of these foreign women were unsaved and ungodly women who brought their false gods among the Israelites. Even the mighty King Solomon had fallen into this trap. It was now time to put an end to these relationships.
Please be careful with this passage. The Lord does not declare now that if you have an unsaved mate that you are to seek to separate from them. As a matter of fact in I Corinthians 7:12-16 if you are married to an unbeliever, and they wish to remain with you, you are commanded to stay with them. What happens during Nehemiah’s time was apparently a different situation in which Israel was being led astray to follow after other gods. They were told to put these marriages away.
These actions were severe, brothers and sisters. Our sinful lifestyles are severe as well. Our pet sins and the sins which so easily beset us become like a physical part of us. We become married or bound to them. We long for them, anticipate them and cling to them. The only thing that will give us peace is to be rid of them. We must put them to death. We must take up our cross and deny ourselves.
After the Israelites had done the above they now confessed their own sins. These were people who were now serious about their relationships with the Lord. They wanted to set themselves apart from that which was evil. They now began to cry out to their God how that they had failed Him, much like their fathers before them.
Nehemiah 9:3 ( ESV )
3And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.
One of the things that helps me to confess my sins before our God, is when I begin to read the Word of God. For three hours these men read about their God and the sins of their Fathers. For three more hours these men would make confession to the Lord about their walks. We must also remember that during that time of confession they also worshiped the Lord their God. Humbled, how they had acted like their Fathers, they also would worship the Lord, for His goodness, and kindness shown to them. We will see this to be true as we see this pattern through the rest of this passage.
During our times of confession before the Lord take time to read the Word. We will see ourselves quite often in the lives of the Old Testament saints. We will see ourselves falling into the sins of the churches during the New Testament times. When we see ourselves in these passages take time out from your study of the Word and ask yourself, “Lord have I acted in this way?” If you have acted in a displeasing way, then ask Him to forgive you, and to change your life in these areas. Learn to worship the Lord through confession, knowing that you have been cleansed by Him. Worship Him for He has acted in mercy time and time again.
Nehemiah 9:4-8 ( ESV )
4On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
5Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Peth-ahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
6 £ “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
7You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
8You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.
What a wonderful retelling of the goodness of God is recorded throughout this chapter. His name is glorious and as the writer of Philippians states, “The name which is above every other name.” This is to whom we are bowing down before. When I think of this one who made the heavens, the starry host, the earth and all that is on it, as well as all that is in the sea, I stand in awe. He who made the heavens, also took time to create me, and to watch over me. No wonder we are told that all the Heavens glorify His name. My lips must praise His Holy name.
I can look at Abram whom God brought out of Ur and made out of this one man the nation of Israel. Their enemies were all about them and yet, our God kept His promises to Him. He kept His promise to Israel because His very nature demanded that He would. He is righteous and will always keep His Word to me. There will be times when just like Abraham, I will rebel against His goodness. Our God though will never break his promises to me.
Nehemiah 9:9-10 ( ESV )
10and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day.
Nehemiah 9:16-17 ( ESV )
16“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.
17They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.
Nehemiah 9:21-23 ( ESV )
21Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
22“And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan.
23You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess.
Nehemiah 9:26 ( ESV )
26“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.
I know these are several passages but they give a pattern to what Israel had been like through the years and proves the point of our rebellion and God’s forgiveness.
· 9-15-Look at how God heard their affliction, sent deliverance, parted the Red Sea, gave them pillars of cloud and fire at night, came to them at Sinai and even gave them water and food. How do they repay Him?
· 16-18-They stiffened their neck against Him, obeyed not the commands and wanted to return to Egypt.
· 18-25-You did not forsake them, gave His good Spirit to instruct them, did not withhold the manna, they lacked nothing, gave them kingdoms, possessions, allowed them to delight in His goodness. How did they repay Him?
· 26-30-Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled, cast away your law, killed His prophets, committed blasphemies, you gave them over to their enemies but you would still heard their pleas even though they stiffened their necks. He would eventually allow them to be taken over by their enemies.
Be honest with yourself, as I have to be honest along with you, does this not sound familiar? Have we not acted in the same way? We shout out God forgive me and then many times fall back into the same old sin traps. Sometimes we even stiffen our necks and do not want to be lead in the way that He wants to lead us. We become stubborn in our sin and forget His tender mercies. God help us to break free. Help us to not forget who you are. Help us not to seek our own pleasures. Lord, Help me to above all remember that you will keep your Word to me just like you did Abraham. Your Promises are true and never changing.
Let me not forget the truths of verse 31. Even when I forget you, or when I am being punished for my sin, let me cry out these following words…
Nehemiah 9:31 ( ESV )
31Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
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