Nehemiah 8-13
Spiritual and Physical
Renewal

The last part of the psalm might have been prompted by the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem, but goes beyond that to envisioning the enthronement of God in the sanctuary in Jerusalem and the Messiah's permanent rule in Jerusalem. The scope broadens beyond a mere victory of God over the enemies of Israel to the ascension of the Messiah to the throne and establishment of Israel as the pre-eminent nation. At no time in Israel's history have millions of chariots been in Jerusalem so it is most likely a reference to the angels. When an emperor would return from a victory, he would receive gifts and servants from his vassals, and give gifts to his faithful (see how this is used in Ephesians 4).

When God acts, the righteous will rejoice and proclaim His praises. This verse (68:4) identifies God's name as Yah, a shortened form of Yahweh.

David recalls the past actions of God in blessing the righteous and needy, and in destroying the wicked, giving him confidence in God's future actions.

At the beginning of the religious year (seventh month – Feast of Trumpets [Lev. 23:2] Rosh Hashanah), the returned exiles make a new beginning, starting with blessing God and reading-understanding His law. Ezra read from early morning to midday, and everyone paid close attention. Many of the hearers had grown up speaking Aramaic, and didn't understand the Hebrew, so the Levites translated and interpreted. Reading is not a magic charm; it is the understanding (and doing) of what God revealed for His people to do in response to His word, that makes the difference.

What the people understood was that they were not doing what God wanted, and that they had chosen the path of harmful ignorance and cursings, so they wept and grieved. The leaders encouraged them with the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets, which began the most sacred month, and symbolized the new beginnings of the nation. Joy, resulting from an expectation of blessings, provided emotional (e-motion) strength to move in the right direction.

On the next day the leadership gathered for more in-depth Torah/Bible study, and discovered the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles which occurred after the harvest and wine had been gathered, and commemorated the Israelites dwelling under God's protection after their deliverance from Egypt. 1Kg 8:2,65; 2Chron 7; Ezra 3:4 indicate the feast had been kept, but the joy with which it was kept hadn't been seen since Joshua's day.

Three hours of Bible reading followed by three hours of confession puts a crimp in one's day, but crispness in one's soul. The pattern of responding to revelation in confession of sin (where necessary) and planned obedience (always necessary) is the essence of worship (response to revelation).

This is one of the great prayers of the Scriptures, giving the history of God's dealings with His people in a nutshell. It's worth reading multiple times in it's entirety (like every day for a week, and once a month for a year), focusing on the revealed character and purposes of God. He is the Creator and Sustainer of both the universe and His people.

Note that God chose Abe, and after finding his heart faithful (Abe obediently left Ur and sojourned - Gen 12), then God made the covenant with him to give him the land (Gen 15).

God glorified Himself in delivering His people from Egypt, and then provided for their spiritual, physical, and aspirational needs.

The people chose to rebel, yet God graciously pardoned and remained loyal to His covenantal promises (hesed). He continued to care for them, and correct them, so He could bless them, and cause them to delight in His great goodness.

Instead of responding to God's great goodness with loyal obedience and service, the Israelites rebelled and “cast your law behind their back” (9:26). This is exactly what the wicked do in Psalm 50:17-18. In that psalm and this passage, the wicked are redeemed people who know and don't do God's word. In fact they go on to kill the prophets God graciously sent to get them to repent. God disciplined them and then delivered them when they repented. His goal was to get them to obey the law (9:29). Anyone who says that God didn't expect His people to obey, or that the law was given to show they couldn't keep it, is promoting Satan's lies (either through ignorance of the Scriptures or sin 2Tim 2:26).

Nevertheless, God, in His hesed preserved His people through their just, earned discipline. The people look like they are learning from the history of disobedience and make a covenant to obey, so they might enjoy the fruit of the land rather than sending it to the overlords who oppress them.

The community bind themselves with a covenant and curse (sanctions for violating it) to obey the law as written. The specifics mentioned are not intermarrying, honoring the Sabbath every week and the Sabbath year, and providing the financial resources for all the offerings, including the wood for burning them. They pledge to not forsake the house of God (and all that was required to maintain it). This will all be forgotten by chapter 13.

Since Jerusalem wasn't the best neighborhood, lots were cast to have a tenth of the population live in the city and protect it. Some cared more about the glory of God than their landscaping, and volunteered to move in.

The dedication of the wall was an occasion for joy. The godly leadership of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah made sure that the Levites were adequately equipped to do their job. Good leadership and good parenting also celebrate milestones and accomplishments that keep people progressing in the right direction.

This last chapter highlights the crucial leadership task of oversight. Nehemiah had shepherded God's people to a good pasture, but while back in Babylon, Satan had wormed his way into the system and undermined the obedience of the people (all the things they promised to obey in chapter 10). Like a good leader Nehemiah found out what was going on, and took decisive steps to correct the evil, in the first place, tossing Tobiah and his possessions out of the temple.

Nehemiah next had to confront the leaders who had neglected their job of oversight, in letting the covenanted obedience lapse. They had failed to support the Levites who taught and carried out the divinely mandated worship, so the Levites had gone back to their fields to support themselves. Nehemiah reproved the leaders and restored the Levites. Study his prayer in 13:14 and see if you can state his motivation in a sentence.

Another covenanted obedience was honoring the Sabbath command of “no work.” This sin, which brought God's wrath on the people was being repeated, again. Nehemiah exercised his authority to correct the situation, instructing the people in the process. The section ends with another sentence prayer of Nehemiah,

Incredibly, the biggest sin that was addressed by both Ezra and Nehemiah, and which the people also covenanted to forsake, resurfaced: they were marrying foreign wives! The son of the high priest had married one, defiling the priesthood. Earlier, Ezra had pulled out his own hair over the pagan marriages. Nehemiah, however, pulls out the hair of the sinners, and re-cleanses the people. The book ends with yet another sentence prayer underscoring the motivation of Nehemiah which enabled him to do so much good: “Remember me, my God, for good.”