Nehemiah 9

²⁹ And admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law.

Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances,
By which if a man observes them he shall live.
And they ^n]">[n]turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
³³ “However, You are just in all that has come upon us;
For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.

I am not one who tries to put the results of modern nations and people in comparisons to the results of the Ancient Israelites. I don’t because I don’t see God warning anyone but his people. There is judgment set for those not of God’s house – 1 Corinthians 5:13 – there is a general warning of ungodliness and its perverted fruits. There is no need to be seen as prophetic; wisdom tends to produce good fruit, folly tends to produce bad fruit.

Here God is clear “You, my people Israel, shall live by observing my covenants and ordinances.” This is the kind of message we get pre-cross. This was not for the Assyrians or the Romans, unless they wanted to join the house.

Post-Cross we are told you are saved by faith, like Abraham (James 2:23), and are shown to be righteous by your works, like Christ (Matthew 5:17) and will therefore receive all the blessings as if you were Christ (Ephesians 1:3); as if you were the Israel that has observed all the laws and “shall live.” For there is no condemnation  for this who belong to Christ (Romans 8:1)

The questioning of God’s righteousness by those who are suffering are asking the wrong question, God is not obligated to be give anything. There is no implicit right of the created to be treated like the center of life – because the created is not the center of life, the creator is. And as the creator he will give everlasting kindness and opportunities for mercy – the giving of what is not deserved (but wanted by the recipient) and the withholding of what is deserved (but not wanted by the recipient).

The only ones that might have a good question are those who are in the house of God, those who are part of Christ and still suffer. But we our Faith is real, this should be only a small pill to swallow because we know he is everlasting in his kindness and merciful. We know that we can still walk as fleshly believers, in need of discipline – not necessarily a punishing discipline, but a readjusting and refocusing of our perspective. For He, who is loving generous and kind, is the author and perfector of our faith, that (faith) which produces (Romans 5:4) perseverance, character,  & hope, and “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts.”

If hope the product of Gods work in us, is it worth it? What would you pay to not feel despair, not feel permanent loss, but always filling satisfied, taken care of, INSURED! Knowing that at any loss you can say my Insurance is God himself!

This is Hope. Without it, the heart grow sick (Proverbs 13:12), while the one who is satisfied, or insured, is the one that has eaten from the Tree of Life (Proverbs 13:12).

Our God is good! He makes his path known. Arriving, his presence is the fullness of Joy; and at his right hand there are pleasure forever! (Psalm 16:11)

He read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day (Nehemiah 8:18; cf. 8:2-3; 9::3).

Blessed is the one... whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night (Psalm 1:2). 

When the exiles returned to Jerusalem, they understood that their great need going forward was to refocus their interests, aspirations, and affections on the LORD. Fundamental to this refocusing was reading and understanding the Scriptures, the Word of God. They were exiled because they failed to listen to and obey the Word of God. If they would be again blessed by God, they would need to make meditation on God's Word their chief preoccupation. "Day and night" in Psalm 1:2 is a merism and should be understood not as simply two times in the day but rather "all day long." 

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 2:14-17).

Paul's final charge to Timothy in his last letter is that he continue in the Scriptures, by which Timothy could both understand the way of salvation as well as the way of life and ministry that will most please God. 

Friends, the Old Testament models the central importance of God's Word. The New Testament reflects that same importance. The starting point, even the chief reference point, for any and every Christian pursuit is a daily and concentrated meditation on the Word of God. 

Friends, it is now the middle of the year. How is your daily meditation on God's Word? Do you read it like your daily meals, where missing even once would make you intensely hungry for it? Do you savor it as the choicest of foods, finding it delicious, nutritious, and thoroughly satisfying? 

My testimony of the Word of God is that the more you eat it, the more you crave it. The more you crave it, the more satisfying it becomes for you. And it is given in such a way that the Word of God leads you to both understand and delight in God, who gave you His Word. And as you understand and delight in God, you naturally want to trust, obey and worship Him more. 

So, dear friends, pick up this Book and read, and the Holy Spirit will use God's Word to transform your minds so that you will think the thoughts of God and live in the center of His will. 

Nehemiah 9:30-31

Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

For MANY years he bore, warning. Then he turned his back.. But…

We are given the revelation of God and are asked to treat people as he has treated us.

Matthew 18:33-Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'

John 13:34-"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Love is not only a happy warm feeling. It has its sharpness, its pointy end:

Matthew 10:34-Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

1 Corinthians 5: 13-God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

There is the possibility for relationships to end, and done so in a Godly manner. But consider that God endured for MANY years. Even after many years, he “did not make an end of them or forsake them” because he is mercy. He allowed the consequences to come but there was a door and a commitment to those who were subject to his wrath.

We should always have the dividing sword in hand, the unholy must not and will not mix with the holy – be holy. But redemption and reconciliation should be ready to mend and heal.

The Levites lead the people in praise and worship. Notice this repeated refrain:

But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments. They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt (Nehemiah 9:16-17).

But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets who had admonished them so that they might return to You, And they committed great blasphemies (Nehemiah 9:26).

But as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You (Nehemiah 9:28).

Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By which if a man observes them he shall live. And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen (Nehemiah 9:29).

For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them (Nehemiah 9:34).

While God's faithfulness and righteousness was unchanging, the unchanging testimony of Israel was their stubbornness, arrogance, and disobedience.

This was God's people, before whom He manifested great and miraculous works. He also defeated their enemies before them and gave revelations to show that nothing of His word would fail to come true. Yet, even with all this, they were stubbornly disobedient and rebellious.

Friends, do you think that you and I are so much better today? We have no such miraculous displays today and no such revelations to induce us to trust and obey God. Yet, many people still think that they possess the power in and of themselves to trust in God. 

We criticize the Jews for thinking that they could perfectly obey the Law, which was what was required if they were to be justified by the Law. This was the stumbling block for them, for they failed to realize their inability and the their absolute reliance upon God's grace.

Today, many face a similar stumbling block in their insistence that saving faith arises out of their own free will rather than being the gracious gift of God. They think that we can believe the Gospel message apart from God's enablement, even though Jesus clearly taught,

No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them (John 6:65).

Faith is not a matter of our ability but God's enablement. If you reject this, aren't you rejecting God? Paul's words should give us pause for thought:

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (John 10:17).

Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” (Mark 4:9).

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me (John 6:44-45).

This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
    and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people (Jeremiah 31:33).

God gives the hearing that produces faith. He gives the kind of ears that will hear so that people may understand the message of Christ. No one can come to Christ without God first drawing them, which means that He has to first teach them so that they will understand, accept, and believe in Christ. This is consistent with the heart of the New Covenant, which prophesied that God would put His law (i.e. His teaching) into people's minds and into their hearts. so that they might believe and be saved.

If you believe something else, that you are saved in part or in whole by your "free will," then are you really saved at all? Have you not stumbled over the stumbling block, finding your justification in something you did rather than wholly in God? Isn't this the heart of true repentance, by which we turn from our dead works, even our inability to justify ourselves, and completely rest in God's work alone (Hebrews 6:1)?

Am I trying to persuade you of your depravity? Am I not simply reaffirming what Scripture declares about our condition before Christ, namely, "dead in our trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1), without any inclination to turn to God (cf. Romans 3:10-18), and unable both to understand or truly accept the spiritual truths that underlie our salvation (1 Corinthians 1:14)? As Jesus clearly declares,

Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3:3).

Friends, if you still hold to the wrongful notion of a salvation that depends on "free will," I encourage you to repent and believe the Gospel of God's grace:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law... They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (Nehemiah 8:3,8).

Sometimes I think that more good might be accomplished if we simply read aloud the Scriptures in the congregation every Sunday. Rather than just read a small paragraph and then take the whole rest of the sermon to talk about this or that and everything else, what if we did just the opposite. What if the pastor were to read a lot of Scripture and just give a brief explanation of the text, just elucidating difficult words and historical situations. The same might apply to my comments on this site. I would much rather have all of you do a 10 to 1, that is, read ten times more Bible than my comments.

I only give a small snippet of Bible text. For some of you, that's the only Scripture you will read today. What a shame! That snippet has larger rings of context. It is found in a paragraph, the paragraph is found in a section, the section is found in a book, and the book is found within a certain historical framework of books, etc. The further out you go with these rings of context, the deeper your understanding will be. But extending your rings of context means reading more, even reading more at any given moment. 

Consider the response of the people:

... For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law... So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them (Nehemiah 8:9,12).

The people wept and rejoiced when they heard God's words and understood them. But today, the Sunday service is barely over and people have forgotten what they heard or have just chosen to ignore it. Yet, I feel that we should be weeping or rejoicing with a depth of conviction that causes us to reflect upon our lives, raise our perspectives to prioritize God and eternal things, and to make decisions concerning everything we do, from work, to relationships, to family, that will more perfectly align them with Christ and His mission. 

Now, whether the message is spoken or read, as here, I pray that the Word of God would cause in us such a depth of response that we cannot help but be constantly stirred, until we change, so that we become more and more conformed to the image of Christ and everything we do will be doused with the frangrance of Christ. 

Friends, in Nehemiah 8:11, we are told that when the people heard from the Book of the Law, they rejoiced greatly "because they understood the words that were declared to them." Before this happened, we are told that the people listened attentively (Nehemiah 8:3), then the Levites explained things so the people could understand (Nehemiah 8:8), and then the people wept (Nehemiah 8:9), and then they rejoiced as they immediately obeyed the words that they understood.

As I read this I recognize that this should be the response of my heart to the Word of God every time I read it. There should be attentiveness, understanding, sorrow as I recognize my sinfulness in light of God's holiness, and rejoicing for the privilege of being able to repent and walk with God again. Someone once said that the opposite of love is not hate but apathy. Therefore, when we are not loving God, it is not necessarily that we are then hating Him but rather we may have become indifferent to God's will for our lives. I pray for all of us, that as we read and meditate on the Scriptures, our hearts will remain teachable and moldable and that we remain alert, ready, and willing to trust and obey God as He gives us understanding of His Word.

Nehemiah 9:2, And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

"They separated themselves and confessed." James 4 says to, "humble yourself before God and God will lift you up in honor." I see a practical wisdom in this 'seperating.' Confession makes you vulnerable to your audience. To those in Faith, this will be an edifying process, for both the audience and the speaker. To God, you exalt his name; to the body, you show God's power; to the speaker, you grow in righteousness.
Confessing with those outside of the Faith, they witness all of the above and condemn themselves in the process, by not responding, which is part of 'the process' but what a way to worship! All as one! In one spirit and one mind, no dissonance, only the humbling of man and the exulting of God!

The people paid close attention to Ezra as he read God's Word and their lives were changed.  I asked myself how often does my mind wander as I hear a sermon, the Word being read or my Bible readings.  I realized I need to pay more attention & listen carefully & pray about how it applies my life.