A New Beginning (Neh 9)

A NEW BEGINNING (NEHEMIAH 9:1-18)

Dan Crawford (1870-1926) spent most of his adult life serving as a missionary in Africa. When it was time to return home to Britain, Crawford described to an old Bantu the kind of world he was about to return to. He told him about ships that ran under the water, on the water, and even those that flew above the water. He described English houses with all of their conveniences, such as running water and electric lights. Then Crawford waited for the old African to register his amazement.

“Is that all, Mr. Crawford”? the aged man asked.

“Yes, I think it is,” Crawford replied.

Very slowly and very gravely, the old Bantu said, “Well, Mr. Crawford, you know, that to be better off is not to be better.” (The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, Warren Wiersbe, p. 188)

The Jews that returned with Nehemiah had completed the building the walls of Jerusalem in a record-breaking fifty-two days (Neh 6:15). Previously in chapter 7, all the people assembled on the seventh month to hear Ezra the scribe read from the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel (Neh 7:73-8:1). In chapter nine, 24 days later, the Levites, in turn, led the people to respond to God’s word.

What makes us truly better, not just better off? How are we reconciled to God? Is it more material prosperity or spiritual revival?

Reconciliation to God Begins with One’s Contrition
1 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads. (Neh 9:1)

Two little boys were playing together one afternoon. They had not been playing long when the larger boy took advantage of his weaker playmate. Georgie, the smaller one, too proud to complain, withdrew some distance and sat by himself, manfully winking back the ready tears.

After a short time, the larger boy grew tired of his solitary play and called, “Say, Georgie, come back. I’m sorry.” Georgie, warned by previous experience, did not respond to the invitation at once. “Yes,” he replied cautiously, “but what kind of sorry? The kind so you won’t do it again?” (from Illustrations of Bible Truths # 604)

The book of Nehemiah is a story of two halves, the first half about rebuilding the walls and the second half about rebuilding lives. The first is physical repairs and the second is spiritual awakening. Previously in the book Nehemiah on his own mourned and “fasted” and prayed (Neh 1:4), but this is the first instance that the congregation as a whole was “fasting,” wearing “sackcloth,” sprinkling “dust” on their heads, and “separated themselves” (v 11). Fasting was a late development in Israel’s history that began after the Pentateuch, as late as nearing the end of the book of Judges (Judg 20:26) in the new land. The most famous and most-mentioned case of fasting in the Bible is David fasting for his dying son (2 Sam 12:16x2, 21, 22, 23), but the most serious case of fasting, without a doubt, was observed by the exile community in Esther’s time, when Jews in every province were in great mourning, their fasting was accompanied by weeping, wailing and crying (Est 4:3, 9:31). Many lay in sackcloth and ashes (Est 4:3). Fasting in the exilic and post-exilic period was unlike most previous fasting. From exile onwards, fasting in the three books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Ezra 8:21, Neh 9:1, Est 4:3, 9:31) was always corporate, never personal. No one was left behind. The person, the neighbors, the community all joined in it.

Wearing sackcloth is an outward sign of regret, remorse, and repentance. It is an acknowledgement of the need for God’s renewal, revival, and reawakening. Wearing sackcloth has a rich and grand history. The first person in the Bible to wear sackcloth is Jacob, who was hit so hard by the news of Joseph’s death that he wore sackcloth (Gen 37:34). He mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters failed in their bid to comfort him (Gen 37:34-35).

You might be surprised to know of the three post-exilic non-prophet books of Nehemiah, Esther and Ezra, Nehemiah is the only book that reveals the sprinkling of dust (v 1), which was a lost practice by the time of the kings. Samuel was the last to do it when the ark was captured by the Philistines (1 Sam 4:12). It is a sign of one’s lowliness, worthlessness, defenselessness, helplessness, and powerlessness.

Reconciliation to God Begins with One’s Correction
2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. (Neh 9:2)

Once a professing Christian sold a bale of poor hay to a certain colonel who rebuked him, and the church member whined, “I am a soldier too.” “You!” exclaimed the colonel in disgust. “What kind of soldier are you?” “I am a soldier of the cross,” said the skinflint with a detestable flourish of the hand. “That may be,” said the colonel, “but you’ve been on a furlough ever since I knew you.” (from Illustrations of Bible Truths # 940)

More important than the external acts of fasting and wearing sackcloth is the commitment to correction. They separated themselves from all foreigners. By the way, the Bible is not against foreign wives; Ruth is a foreigner and has a book dedicated to her. The foreign wives in question are idolatrous wives. “Separate” or “divide” is a sharp contrast or break. No chapter is as sharp as Genesis 1. It occurs first and most in Genesis 1, is first used in the Bible for the separation of light and darkness (Gen 1:4), water under the expanse from the water above (Gen 1:7) and day from the night (Gen 1:14). So, separation means having no fellowship, having nothing in common, having nothing to do with someone or something. It is to put space between two objects, not sharing a bed, a house any a gap, break, a room. The teaching is strongest in Leviticus, where it differentiates the holy and unholy, the unclean and clean (Lev. 10:10), climaxing from animals to people, and that God’s people are to be holy to me because the Lord is holy, and He had set the Israelites apart from the nations to be His own (Lev 20:25-26). The act must not divorced from its aim – to be holy to Him.

The act of separation is a distinctly post-exilic practice not seen in previous historical books even though it was spelled out in the Pentateuch. In the continuing chapter (Neh 10:28-33), those who separated themselves included priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants (10:28), and nobles (10:29). The act of separation is not for the sake of separation. The purpose is to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord (v 29), including not giving their sons and daughters in marriage to the neighboring peoples (v 30), not working on the Sabbath and other holy days, resting the land an cancelling all debts every seventh year (v 31), giving their fair share to support the house of our God. The first and second concern neighbors, the second fellow Israelites, and lastly the house of God. Why? They did not want to walk in the sins and wickedness of their forefathers (v 2).

The final thing I want to say about separation is that the purpose must take priority over the practice, or it will descend into legalism, as it had happened in Jesus’ time and to many fundamentalist churches. A form can quickly become formality if the purpose of formation is lost. The form must be examined in the light of its function. For example, churches use to segregate the men and the ladies, but the practice is seldom practiced today because the purpose is lost. I once met a couple who no longer attends a church that forbids mixed-sex seating. When I asked them why they no longer go to their home church, they replied, “It is too hard seating in separate rows with kids.” I would add, It is inconvenient, impractical and almost impossible to do so.

Also, note that correction without the intake of God’s word (v 3) is futile, fruitless and fleeting.

Reconciliation to God Begins with One’s Confession
3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. 4 Standing on the stairs were the Levites-Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani — who called with loud voices to the Lord their God. (Neh 9:3-4)

Confession must not be mistaken with castigation. True confession is asking for pardon, no asking for punishment. It ends with worship (v 3). It is not the Catholic version, as portrayed in the move “The Da Vinci Code,” where the adherents of the extreme Opus Dei sect inflict punishment and pain upon themselves as penalty for their sins. The shocking scene in the movie is that the sect members practice self-flagellation with whips and other instruments of torture to appease their Catholic guilt. True confession focuses on God’s attributes. It is not about “You,” not “me.” The personal pronoun “You/Thou” occurs 40 times in KJV and 74 times in NIV. Our God is righteous (v 8), ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness ( v 17), gracious and merciful (v 31), great, mighty and terrible (v 32), and just (v 33).

The Israelites confessed (v 2, 3) their sins, which they spent a quarter of the day or three hours doing (v 3). The confession is important because it is the post-exilic community’s first collective act of confession so far. Previously the word “confess” appeared long time ago when Nehemiah confessed the sins the Israelites have committed against God (Neh 1:6). “Wickedness” or “iniquities (KJV),” (v 2) like sins, are plural, even though it was singular previously (Neh 4:5), in its other occurrence in the book. Sin and wickedness both occur in the account of Cain and Abel, the latter translated as punishment (Gen 4:13) in the story. Like Nehemiah (Neh 1:6), the Israelites confessed the sins of the fathers (v 2) as well as theirs. In doing so they confessed they were no better than their fathers.

There are many references to “crying to the Lord” in the Lord (NIV – called with loud voices), especially in the book of Judges (Judg 3:9, 15, 6:6, 6:7, 10:10, 1 Sam 7:8, 7:9, 12:8, 12:10, 15:11). What makes the crying to the Lord in Judges unique is not merely crying out or crying out to the Lord, but crying out to the Lord “in a loud voice,” a phrase which won’t be repeated in the Old and New Testament again.

The prayer tells of three periods of history by the statements introduced by the pronoun “Thou are Lord/God”: (1) Neh 9:6 “Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven…”, (2) Neh 9:7 “Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram…”, (3) Neh 9:17 “Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.” The first is His creation of the world, the second His choice of Abraham and lastly His compassion to Israel.

What did they confess to? The classic verse in the chapter is in verse 16: “But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands.” (1) “Proud/arrogant” occurs three times in the chapter (vv 10, 16, 29), more than any chapter or book in the Bible passage. (2) “Hardened/stiff-necked” also occurs three times in the chapter (vv 16, 17, 29). Pride is the heart’s attitude, hardened is the body, hear “not” is the ear. The phrase “hardened their necks (harden + neck)” makes its debut in the Bible shortly before the exile (2 Kings 17:14). Nehemiah is the champion chapter in the Bible on hardening; it has the most “harden (their) necks.”

The word “hear” occurs seven times in the chapter (vv 9, 16, 17, 27, 28, 29x2), three times for God/Thou “heard” the Israelites (vv 9, 27, 28), three times for the Israleies not hearken to God or his commandments (vv 16, 29x2), and one time falt “refuse to obey” (v 17).

The word “provocation/blasphemies” (vv 18, 26) are the most occurrences in the Old Testament; not only that, it is “great provocations” or “awful blasphemies” in NIV. The law (Moses’ time, v 34) and the prophets (continual time, v 30) served to “testify” against the Israelites Neh 9:34), but it was in vain.

The focus of the prayer is from verse 17 on, a four-fold praise of God’s “great” attributes, including “great kindness (chesed),” translated as “abounding in love” in NIV (v 17), His great compassion/mercy (vv 19, 27, 31), and great goodness (v 35). God “left/abandon” them in the hands of the enemies to rule over them (v 28), but never “desert/abandon” them (vv 17, 31), just as he did not abandon them in the wilderness (v 19).

Conclusion: God is gracious (v 17, 31), ready to “pardon” – first occurrence in the Bible (Neh 9:17) and merciful (9:17), slow to anger and abounding in love (v 17). He does not forsookest them not (vv 17, 19, 31).