Written by: Tracy Harding
Nehemiah 9 v 1-3 & 5a
On the twenty-fourth day of that same month, the people of Israel gathered. They did not eat, and they wore rough cloth and put dust on their heads to show their sadness. Those people whose ancestors were from Israel had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood and confessed their sins and their ancestors’ sins. For a fourth of the day they stood where they were and read from the Book of the Teachings of the LORD their God. For another fourth of the day they confessed their sins and worshiped the LORD their God.
Then these Levites spoke: Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah. They said, “Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who lives forever and ever.”
Notes
The word ‘sin’ is often frowned upon in today’s secular society. In my experience many people consider it insulting to think of themselves as sinners. Often people think that if they’re leading a good life, not causing others any harm, then they’ve got nothing to worry about. However, if we believe in the truth of the Bible we know that Christ came to save mankind from its sin.
The Israelites in this passage not only acknowledged their sinful nature, they publicly and openly confessed their wrongdoings. Notice the extremes they went to – turning up in the local meeting place wearing old sackcloth and dirt on their heads! I’m not suggesting that we go to similar lengths, but we can learn from the obvious sincerity of their confession to God.
Their confession followed the study of God’s word. God spoke to their hearts as a result of what they had read. Ever had that experience of ambling along in life, feeling quite holy, thinking you’ve got this sin thing sussed only for God to stop you right in your tracks saying, ‘What about this area in your life?’ If we don’t spend time studying God’s word, how can He show us where we are going wrong?
What happens after these Israelites spend time confessing their sins? They worship God. It’s so difficult to worship when you know that something in your life isn’t pleasing to God but you haven’t spent time talking to him about it. Remember if we want to know God’s plan for our lives we need to listen to him. Through the Bible and prayer God speaks to us. Unless we confess our sins, although we might not realise it, we cannot hear God as clearly as we need to or as clearly as He wants us to.
Nehemiah 9 v 5b-6
“Blessed be your wonderful name.
It is more wonderful than all blessing and praise.
You are the only LORD.
You made the heavens, even the highest heavens,
with all the stars.
You made the earth and everything on it,
the seas and everything in them;
you give life to everything.
The heavenly army worships you.
Notes
Nehemiah’s contemporaries knew that God is unique, publicly stating that He is the only Lord. In the Old Testament, statues and idols were often worshipped. Today, we are just as guilty, money, work, materialism, fame, these can all become gods when we look to them for happiness. Of course we don’t set out to worship these things but by devoting more time to them than to God, they gradually come to control our thoughts and actions.
Being in the world but not of the world is what Christ demands of us. It’s not easy but we must keep our eyes on Jesus. For example, do we always make the most of every opportunity to profess our faith and love of God? No! Sometimes it just seems easier not to stand up for what we believe, to hide in the crowd, perhaps passing up the chance to share our faith with those who need to hear. The very nature of our Christian faith means that often our values are at odds with those of our contemporaries.
When we are challenged we can take comfort from the fact that the God who created the earth and the heavens is always overseeing everything in them. Recognising the wonder of God through His creation helps to remind us of the greatness of God. It’s so easy not to give God the praise he’s due, underestimating His plans for our lives.
I was born and brought up in Devon (a wonderful place!) and was there over Christmas. I went out walking over a snow-covered Dartmoor and was inspired by the beauty that I saw around me. As you look about you at God’s creative handiwork, why not thank him for his creation and for the truth that it reveals about our Heavenly Father.
Nehemiah 9 v 7-8
“You are the LORD,
the God who chose Abram
and brought him out of Ur in Babylonia
and named him Abraham.
You found him faithful to you,
so you made an agreement with him
to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites.
You have kept your promise,
because you do what is right.
Notes
History is important to God’s people, the Israelites in this passage drew great comfort from recalling God’s faithfulness throughout the years.
“Let’s take Abraham”, they said, “look what God did for him.” First of all he chose Abram. Sometimes God chooses the unlikeliest of people – Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the Lord appeared to him! And sometimes we think we have nothing to offer!
Then God changed his name to Abraham. There was a point to this! The new name meant ‘Father of many’. In doing this God was shaping his future. He was saying, ‘Look Abraham, I’ve chosen you and I’m going to use you’. God was making Abraham a promise.
God also found him faithful. In other words, he knew his heart. Abraham wasn’t ‘superhuman’. He was a sinner, just like his contemporaries, and just like us today. But he put his faith in God and was determined to trust him – that’s what made the difference.
Then God used Abraham. Keeping his promise (Abraham – father of many), God made Abraham the founder of the Jewish nation.
By recalling this story, the Israelites weren’t reminding themselves how great Abraham was, but of the faithfulness of God. Sometimes people let us down badly, often we come to expect it and so it becomes hard to put our trust in anyone, even God. But we can rely on God who always keeps his promises.
How about taking some time to recall what God has done in your life, maybe write it down? It might amaze you to see the promises he has already kept. Don’t underestimate what God will do in your life. Ask God to show you his will for your life and put your trust in him. Work for God, follow his commands and be amazed at his faithfulness.
Nehemiah 9 v 9-12
“You saw our ancestors suffering in Egypt
and heard them cry out at the Red Sea.
You did signs and miracles against the king of Egypt,
and against all his officers and all his people,
because you knew how proud they were.
You became as famous as you are today.
You divided the sea in front of our ancestors;
they walked through on dry ground.
But you threw the people chasing them into the deep water,
like a stone thrown into mighty waters.
You led our ancestors with a pillar of cloud by day
and with a pillar of fire at night.
It lit the way
they were supposed to go.
Notes
In this passage the Israelites recall one of the most miraculous and dramatic events from the Old Testament – the parting of the Red Sea as Moses led God’s people out of Egypt, rescuing them from a life of slavery.
A major crisis to face indeed! Trapped between mountains and the sea with no means of escape. There were six hundred chariots, each carrying two people, bearing down on these poor Israelites. They must have thought that their time was up!
What would your reaction be faced with the same situation? I know what mine would be – sheer panic! Yet God had the answer to the most hopeless situation, dividing the sea and providing dry ground for them to walk on.
Not only that but he provided his people with a visible sign of his presence – a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Twenty-four hours a day they had God’s assurance that he was with them as they travelled to the Promised Land.
Often we find ourselves facing insurmountable problems and crises. These may be work related, relationship problems or we find that we just can’t cope with life anymore. Whatever the situation, it becomes impossible to see any way out.
However, as the exodus from Egypt shows, God can provide answers to even the most impossible situation. As Nehemiah’s contemporaries showed, we can focus on God’s faithfulness in the past to fill us with hope for the future. By looking at what God has already done we can face crises with confidence. There may not always be a visible sign of God’s presence, but rest assured, God is always there with you in every situation. Don’t underestimate how much God can change your life.
Nehemiah 9 v 13-15
You came down to Mount Sinai
and spoke from heaven to our ancestors.
You gave them fair rules and true teachings,
good orders and commands.
You told them about your holy Sabbath
and gave them commands, orders, and teachings
through your servant Moses.
When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven.
When they were thirsty, you brought them water from the rock.
You told them to enter and take over
the land you had promised to give them.
Notes
After escaping slavery in Egypt and going through the Red Sea, the Israelites travelled through the desert and arrived at Sinai, God’s holy mountain. Here God gave his people the law and guidelines for right living.
The Commandments were designed to lead Israel to a life of practical holiness. In them people could see the nature of God and his plan for how they should live. The commands and guidelines were intended to direct the community to meet the needs of individuals in a loving and responsible manner.
The Israelites had just come from Egypt, a land of many idols and many gods. Because each god represented a different aspect of life, it was common to worship many gods in order to get the maximum number of blessings. When God told his people to worship and believe in him, well, that wasn’t difficult because he was just one more ‘god’ to add to a long list. However when God said, “you shall have no other gods before me” this was difficult. This was putting all their eggs in one basket and required a huge amount of faith.
In this passage the commandments are recognised and respected as right and God’s faithfulness is acknowledged. When God directs our lives, are we listening to exactly what he is asking us to do? Are we expecting God to suggest something radical for us? Israel had to change their ways enormously, have huge amounts of faith and trust in God’s promises. We too must learn that deeds and legalism are not pleasing to God. We must put all our eggs in one basket, leaving materialism, legalism, point scoring and worldly ideas of what is right, instead giving our whole lives to God, trusting fully in his love for us and plan for our lives.
Nehemiah 9 v 16-17
“But our ancestors were proud and stubborn
and did not obey your commands.
They refused to listen;
they forgot the miracles you did for them.
So they became stubborn and turned against you,
choosing a leader to take them back to slavery.
But you are a forgiving God.
You are kind and full of mercy.
You do not become angry quickly, and you have great love.
So you did not leave them.
Notes
Ever felt that you’ve done something so awful that God is just going to give up on you this time? You’ve gone one step too far and this time you’ve tested God’s patience to the limit? How God must despair when we think like this! For some reason we try to measure God’s love by our own human understanding, limiting him to our own expectations and failing to realise the depth of his love for us.
In this passage Nehemiah’s contemporaries remember how, after everything God had done for them, their ancestors turned right against Him, even to the extent that the path they chose led the way back to slavery. God so far had only led them out of slavery in Egypt, parted the Red Sea, protected them in the desert etc, etc! Proud and stubborn? Refusing to listen? Forgetting what God has done for you? Any of this sound familiar? Just like them we are often guilty of ingratitude to God or of not fully recognising his part in our life’s successes.
Of course, knowing that God is ready to forgive us sometimes creates an attitude of ‘Well that’s okay, I can keep on doing wrong and I’ll ask for God’s forgiveness when I’m ready.’ But wilfully sinning is as wrong as any other sinning. It is recognising who and what God is and going directly against what you know is right! We’re only kidding ourselves, not God!
God requires us to try our hardest to follow his commandments and do his will. He is “a forgiving God,” he is “kind and full of mercy”. Don’t get disheartened by your failings, seek forgiveness and God will show you his great love. In spite of our repeated failings, pride and stubbornness, he’s always ready to pardon.
Nehemiah 9 v 18-21
Our ancestors even made an idol of a calf for themselves.
They said, ‘This is your god, Israel,
who brought you up out of Egypt.’
They spoke against you.
“You have great mercy,
so you did not leave them in the desert.
The pillar of cloud guided them by day,
and the pillar of fire led them at night,
lighting the way they were to go.
You gave your good Spirit to teach them.
You gave them manna to eat
and water when they were thirsty.
You took care of them for forty years in the desert;
they needed nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.
Notes
The people praying in this passage were rejoicing at God’s great faithfulness. Their ancestors didn’t appreciate what had been done for them yet, even when they worshipped a golden calf, God continued to guide them with pillars of cloud and fire. He kept them fed and watered, provided them with spiritual teaching and even stopped their feet swelling up! They lacked nothing.
It would be easy to condemn these Israelites. Fair enough, these people had faced many trials but in all situations God had been there, answering their every need.
However, if you’d been in the desert for 40 years, would you look back and remember the bad times or the good? Would you celebrate the good times or commemorate the bad? Do we take God’s goodness for granted? So often we get too used to where we are in life and slip back instead of pushing forward for more of what God wants from us. If we fail to thank God for all that he is doing in our lives then we fail recognise his greatness.
Praise and worship involves both thanking God for the past and praying and looking to the future under God’s guidance. Don’t slip back into a way of life that God doesn’t want for you, don’t reject what he has done for you or what he is going to do for you in the future by closing your eyes and ears to His glorious will.
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version
(Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes