Nehemiah - Chapter 10
9:38 – 10:29
THE AGREEMENT IS SEALED
Ezra's reading of the Law of Moses to the entire assembly of the people of Israel had brought forth a joyful celebration which then led to a time of national confession.
In the Hebrew text of the book of Nehemiah, verse 38 of chapter 9 is actually verse 1 of chapter 10. It provides a transition between the two chapters and it seems to serve as a better introduction to chapter 10 than as a conclusion to chapter 9. This verse begins with the words “...And because of all this...” showing clearly that the renewal of the covenant by the people in chapter 10 was based upon the confession of chapter 9.
This confession focused importantly not just on the repeated failures of Israel but much more upon the repeated mercy of God toward those whom He had chosen so long ago to be his especially blessed but peculiar people.
The leaders and people of Israel did NOT make a “sure covenant” with God because of their sin or repentance, nor in order to gain the approval of God. They made the covenant solely on the basis of God's grace, in response to His everlasting mercy.
In reality the people did not make a covenant at all. In the original Hebrew, the language says “we are cutting a firm agreement and are writing it.” So in chapter 10 the Israelites do not make a covenant with God, rather, they make a firm agreement to live according to the former covenant that God had established through Moses. Here is a profound truth. God is the covenant maker. His people are covenant renewers.
We notice quickly that in these verses there is no mention of Ezra among the verses of leadership. In this list, leaders are call by their family names, and Ezra is a son of Seraiah (verse 2) so he has not been left out, just listed in another way.
The text of 10:28 clarifies for us those who “signed on” with the leadership on the basis of their “knowledge and understanding”. This confirms for us that this agreement was not only with the heads of families, but also to “their wives, their sons, their daughters” as well. All confirmed the agreement that day with each individual making their own choice to rededicate their lives to the Lord.
These people joined with the nobles and leaders also by entering into “... a curse and an oath to walk in God's law...” (verse 29). They not only swore to walk obediently but they also swore to be punished if they failed to do so.
30-39:
SPECIFICS OF THE AGREEMENT
The people promised to obey all of God's law and in addition, made specific promises concerning intermarriage (verse 30), the sabbath (verse 31), and support for the temple and its personnel (verses 32-39).
Some of these promises accepted already stated portions of the law, but some went beyond the original law. One example was the promise made to bring the “first fruit of all trees” which went farther than the law had commanded. So the law was reconfirmed and in some ways extended. One particular issue was the matter of the sabbath. There were many non Jews living in Jerusalem who saw no problem working in their chosen business or farm on the sabbath. These foreigners were engaged in commerce, buying and selling, seven days a week. So the question arose as to whether the Jews might now do the same. Verse 31 brought the answer that NO, the Jews must not work at all on the sabbath day. So here the Jews installed by reconfirming this ancient commandment a version of what we in the south used to call “Blue Law” with businesses all closed on the sabbath.
We will see this matter rise again in chapter 13.
We should remember at this crucial point in our study of Nehemiah that whenever we are considering renewing our own covenant with the Lord, we run the risk of trying to earn His grace by so doing, (if grace were earned, it is no longer grace).
As Nehemiah and the people knew, such arrogance easily slips into our hearts if we are not careful. In their confession of sin, the people remembered in strong detail how they had broken their covenant with God. They remembered how, again and again, God had been far more than faithful in His endless mercy. The covenant renewal we see in Nehemiah 10 is not an attempt to earn back God's favor. It is a response, in gratitude, to His favor already given.
The people did not make a covenant with God. They renewed their commitment to the covenant God had already made with them, only on the basis of His overwhelming grace toward those He had Himself chosen.
Whenever we renew our covenant or rededicate our lives, we do so because God's Holy Spirit has drawn us and we should never forget that our very desire toward Him is a result of His Spirit working within us.
Grace, revealed and confirmed to us by the life and sacrifice of Christ is the light that beckons us from darkness into the light He has reserved for us by His mercy.