The Covenant Keeping God

Nehemiah 9:32–38 ESV

32 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress. 38 “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.

What the returnees do in Nehemiah 10 is an excellent example for us today.

Who participates in the new covenant? Those who trust in Christ, those who have been redeemed by the blood of the death of the new Passover lamb (1 Cor 5:7).

Believers are in the new covenant, and when we sign something like a church covenant, what we are doing is making a covenant with one another to keep the covenant that God has made with us.

Significance of Covenants in Scripture.

Many times today we shy away from or do not talk about covenants. However, we should, because they are one of the primary themes that runs throughout the whole of scripture.

Perhaps the reason that we do not talk about covenants is that we fail to commit to anything in our lives today. In fact commitment has become a bad word in our culture today.

A covenant is a relationship between two partners who make binding promises to each other and work together to reach a common goal.

They’re often accompanied by oaths, signs, and ceremonies. Covenants define obligations and commitments, but they are different from a contract because they are relational and personal.

5 Key Covenants in Scripture

1). Nohatic covenant: The Covenant made after the flood.

2). Abrahamic Covenant: The covenant of a blessing and a curse.

3). Mosaic Covenant: Mt. Sinai Moses received the 10 commandments.

4). Davidic Covenant: David’s line from which Jesus Christ would be born.

5). New Covenant: through Jesus Christ Sacrifice on the cross and resurrection we are now grafted into God’s chosen people.

Note: A Covenant in the Old Testament was ratified by cutting in half animals and dividing them into two separate rows. The parties involve in the covenant would then walk through the middle of the animals to signify that if they broke the covenant let the same thing happen to me.

As God’s people, redeemed by the blood of Christ, we need something for which to live.

We don’t live for ourselves. We need a cause to which we can give everything. We need something to summon forth from us all we are and have.

They have now rehearsed the goodness of God, their sin, and God’s Mercy. Now they are prepared to make a covenant to keep a covenant.

Nehemiah 10:1-27 Those who signed their names.

Nehemiah 10:28–31 ESV

28 “The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29 join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. 30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

How often do we make promises to God that we never keep?

Perhaps you’ve heard of the philosophy of the Navy SEALs, an elite branch of the United States Navy.

United States Navy SEAL Philosophy:

In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation’s call; a common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest special operations forces to serve his country and the American people, and to protect their way of life. I am that man.

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes who have gone before, it embodies the trust of those whom I have sworn to protect. By wearing the Trident, I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life.

It is a privilege that I must earn every day.My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans, always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves.

I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own.

As Christians, our ultimate commitment is not to any earthly government but as those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb our commitment is first and foremost to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In Nehemiah chapter 10 they are now going to make a covenant to keep a covenant.

3 Obligations and Commitments

1). Not to intermarry with pagans.

2). To keep the Sabbath Holy.

3). To support the ministry of the Temple.

THE Curse and the Oath

All those who have separated themselves from the pagan nations of the world to the Torah or the Law. (all that Moses taught in the first four books of the Bible)

“They are also saying that anyone else who wants to separate themselves from the abominations of the Land and adhere themselves to Yaweh, you are welcome.”

WE ARE BEING SEPARATED FROM SOMETHING AND TO SOMETHING

The curse is a result of the fallen world we live in, the Oath is our commitment to God.

Some People might say isn’t this legalistic. My response is no, this is a response to the Mercy that has been given over, and over again to His people.

Legalism is being unduly subjected to a law or rule that is not in line with God’s teaching or His word.

What We are to Keep and Do.

English Standard Version Chapter 10

to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord and his rules and his statutes

The destruction of the temple and the exile from the land was like Israel being killed, with nothing left but a valley of dry bones (Ezek 37; cf. Hos 5:14). Their being brought back to the land was like resurrection from the dead (Ezek 37:10–14; Hos 6:1–3).

This led to Nehemiah and Ezra concluding that they needed to cut a covenant by hand to reaffirm the covenant that they had made at Mt. Sinai.

We now see the first thing that they commit themselves to in Nehemiah 10:30

Nehemiah 10:30 ESV

30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.

1. The Lord is the Point of Marriage.

Marriage is Not about You!

Marriage exists to display the way God loves His people.

In our secular culture today we have made the marriage covenant all about us and what we want, what we desire, we define the relationship.

The reality is that God is the one who defined the marriage covenant from the very beginning. God performed the one flesh union when He brought the woman to the man and Adam declared the one flesh union as bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

GOD DID THIS NOT YOU AND ME

“We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons.”

This commitment addresses the problem of intermarriage. The problem with intermarriage with those of other people groups does not arise from something on the surface.

The problem is intermarriage with people who have not separated themselves from the abominations of the peoples of the lands, separating themselves to the Torah of Yahweh.

The marriage covenant affects the other two covenants. If both husband and wife adhere to Deuteronomy 6 and train their children to do the same, this would lead to the keeping of the 10 commandments, as the Torah was taught to be lived at home.

*Marriage is About Christ and His Church

Paul taught in Ephesians 5 that the marriage is about Christ and the Church.

Ephesians 5:22–27 ESV

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Paul learned this from the Old Testament, where the relationship between Yahweh and Israel, the covenant, is treated as a marriage (e.g., Jer 31:32; Hosea).

If a man and his wife were not united in the worship of God, how could their marriage reflect the relationship between God and His people?

CULTURAL PROBLEM

We try to separate the marriage covenant from God by making it little more than a social construct that we have created.

However, if one of the participants in the marriage covenant is a follower of christ while the other one is not, they will never be able to share in the communion of the Saints as the body of Christ does every time we gather for worship.

Some people come into the marriage covenant assuming their spouse to be a believer only to find out they were playing the part to get the ring.

Some people come into marriage knowing that their partner is not believer, however, ignoring the “do not be unequally yoked” part of scripture assuming they can change their spouse once they are married.

Some people come into marriage where both parties are unbelievers and during the course of marriage one of them comes to faith in Christ. Therefore, leaving them in an unequally yoked relationship.

The marital requirement is not merely a box we check, as though a believing spouse settles the matter.

We want to pursue what this points to:

The relationship between God and Israel in the Old Testament, and Christ and His Church in the New Testament.

We want to cultivate wonderful marriages that point Christ and His church. So, in essence our marriages are a direct reflection of the Gospel.

If you are married let me invite you to renew your commitment to the accurate view of the love between Christ and His Church.

If you are not married I want to implore you to marry only someone who is united with you in worshiping the one true living God by faith in Christ.

2. The Lord is the Point of the Sabbath.

The Old covenant Israel rested from their labor to declare that Yahweh was their provider. We rest from our works and take on the easy yoke Christ offers to proclaim that He saves us; He gives us rest.

There are several parts of this one commitment. 1) The weekly Sabbath, 2) the Levitical Year, and 3) the obligation to cancel debts.

Apparently the Israelites had found a loophole in the law to not work on the Sabbath. It was the idolators who were doing the work in the trading so in their minds they were not breaking the law.

The command to keep the law is not about legalism, it is all about their commitment to Yaweh.

A person cannot keep the Sabbath apart from faith due to the reality that they would always find something they would rather be doing. The only way that he could keep the Sabbath was truly trusting that resting would be much better than whatever production he thought would be better.

Believers today continue to dispute whether the Sabbath is required. The Sabbath was given to Israel as a covenant sign, and Israel was commanded to rest on the seventh day.

We see elsewhere in the Old Testament that covenants have signs, so that the sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow (Gen. 9:8–17) and the sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision (Gen. 17). The paradigm for the Sabbath was God’s rest on the seventh day of creation (Gen. 2:1–3). So, too, Israel was called upon to rest from work on the seventh day (Exod. 20:8–11; 31:12–17).

What did it mean for Israel not to work on the Sabbath?

Sabbath was a day for social concern for rest mandated for all of Israel.

It was also a day set aside to worship and honor the Lord.

Special burnt offerings were offered to the Lord on the Sabbath.

Sabbath was also a day of remembrance from slavery in Egypt

I do not believe that the Sabbath is a requirement now that the new covenant has arrived in the person of Jesus Christ. However, Jesus doesn not clearly abolish the Sabbath for today.

Jesus observance of the Sabbath is not a strong case for ours today. Jesus lived under the Old Testament Law of the day. Remember that Jesus proclaims as the son of man that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. However, Jesus did say that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law.

Jesus even proclaims in John 5:17 that He like His Father works on the Sabbath. Remember that Jesus even healed on the Sabbath.

THE SABBATICAL YEAR

Similar things can be said about the Sabbatical year. Keeping the Sabbatical year also gave evidence of faith. One who did not have faith would not do this.

Imagine the absurdity of the Sabbatical year: year seven rolls around, and a man is not to work his land. He was not to till, plant, sow, or harvest.

He was to let his fields lie fallow. He was to do nothing in the way of farming.That doesn’t look like good farming practice, and it doesn’t seem like economic wisdom. Proverbs 3:5–6 comes into play: a man had to trust the Lord not his own understanding. He had to know Him in all His ways.

RETURNING DEBTS

Perhaps the most difficult Sabbath ritual would be every seventh year returning debts to the one who owed you.

This was a selfless thing to do and showed they believed in the god who truly provided for all their needs according to His riches and glory.

What does the New Testament mandate not to neglect or forsake our meeting together as some are in the habit of doing?

*The Sabbath is a Gift of God’s Love and Mercy

From the very beginning before the fall God said, that it is not good for man to be alone.

Mark 2:27 ESV

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

The Sabbath Day was not Meant to be a Burden!

Why do so many people view the Sabbath as a burden?

Most Christians today enjoy sports, ,movies, social media, recreation, hobbies far more than they enjoy the direct interaction with God and His people in worship.

Let me ask you a question, if I told you that next Sunday I had tickets for you to go watch your favorite sports team or come worship with the body which brings greater joy and excitement to your heart.

People whose hearts are set more on the pleasures of the world. 1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Sabbath is as gift of God’s love and mercy towards us.

The Bible does instruct us to pray and commune with Him in private, however, that will never be the greatest, deepest, most joyful experience of God. That is reserved for His Church, the Ecclesia of God.

Note: You should want to be a part of a local body of believers. 1 Corinthians 12:12-30

We are all a part of the body and each of us have a part to play in God’s greater mission plan.

Nehemiah 10:32–39 ESV

32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law. 35 We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; 36 also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; 37 and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. 38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.”

3. The Lord is the Point of our Offering.

The point of that temple being beautiful, the point of those priests offering sacrifices, the point of the seasonal trips to Jerusalem to worship the Lord there—all that is about being with God, knowing Him, enjoying His presence.

Every statement in the closing section communicates the peoples commitment to support the work of the ministry at the Temple.

What is the difference between tithing in the Old Testament as apposed to the New Testament?

A widespread cynicism has grown towards giving exists in our culture today. Much of this has to do with funds that non-profit churches have mis-used or mis-managed. Leading many to dis-trust the discipline of giving.

Some unscrupulous televangelists have given tithing a bad name, so many believers do not contribute to the work of the church.

This, I believe, is a significant error, for the Bible commands Christians to be good stewards of their resources for the sake of the kingdom of God.

You look at the early Church in Acts and we see that people did not question whether they should be generous or not.

The Concept of Stewardship

Stewardship is Established in His Creation

Stewardship is celebrated throughout all of scripture. Psalm 24:1

Psalm 24:1 ESV

1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

The Steward in ancient time was not the owner of the house. He was hired by the owner to manage his household. He managed the property and allocated the resources to benefit the owner.

Stewardship began in the Garden of Eden as God gave Adam and Eve full dominion over all of His creation.

They were to ensure that the garden was tilled and cultivated and not abused or exploited, and that the goods God provided were neither spoiled nor wasted

In our own households, we learn that if we spend fifty dollars on clothes, that’s fifty dollars we no longer have for other purposes. Everyone, even billionaires, functions with limited resources.

Every time we use a resource, we make a decision, and that decision reveals what kind of stewards we are. That's where God holds us accountable.

He held Adam and Eve accountable for how they took care of the garden. God is interested in how we take care of our ministries, personal lives, homes—every aspect of life. All of these areas deal with managing and allocating resources.

Stewardship is in our First-Fruits

In Israel, everyone gave the same percentage but not the same amount. In this structure, a person who makes $10,000 per year returns $1,000 in tithe. The person who makes $1 million per year returns $100,000. The rich person returns far more money, but it is the same percentage that the poor person pays.

Trouble developed in the Old Testament when the people held out on their tithes. They were not obedient to God's law. Malachi 3:8–10 tells us:

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, “How have we robbed you?” In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

This means that if the tithe principle is still in effect, we systematically rob God when we don't tithe. Let me repeat that. Malachi’s teaching indicates that when we fail to tithe, we are not merely robbing the church, the clergy, or Christian educators—we are robbing God Himself. But note that God had words not only of condemnation for the people but also a promise of prosperity were they to change their ways.

God challenged them to be faithful, giving His own promise that He would open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon them.

Cultural Problem

Unfortunately many today fail to bring their first-fruits to God. Here is what happens much of the time. See if this sounds familiar? We wait until the end of the month to bring our offerings to God.

We make sure we have taken care of everything else first and then if there is anything left we will give our left-overs to God. What do you think this tells God about our faith? First-Fruits is a greater test of our faith.

Note that in Malachi 3:10 it is the only place the the Lord tell us to test him and see if He will not provide for your needs.

Stewardship is Investing in the Kingdom of God

“We will not Neglect the House of our God.”

We can come up with all kinds of excuses and reasons not to give and in our own mind it can appear to be the right thing for us to do.

However, I want you to consider one last example of stewarding our gifts to the kingdom of God.

A widow comes into the outer court of the temple. Unnoticed by the throng, she is alone. By definition, she is without a husband in a culture that makes it incredibly difficult for a woman to provide for herself. In her poverty, aloneness, and vulnerability, she is the emblem of those who have been ravaged by sin.

Even though she lives, she feels the sting of death and lives in its shadow. Yet, without a husband to provide for her or to protect her, she comes faithfully to the temple to worship God through the giving of her meager offering.

Many had put in large sums. In contrast to the loud clinks heard as those before her dropped in their heavy gifts, only a whisper is heard from her small coin falling.

Jesus, seeing and hearing what this frail widow does, calls His disciples to Himself and seizes the moment to teach them not only the true nature of our giving to God, but the true nature of His kingdom. She, in Christ’s words, has put in more than all those who have gone before her, even though she gave the least.

Conclusion

Jesus knew that the Temple was to be a place of caring and compassion as well as worship. The nation of Israel had just rebuilt the Temple and experienced their first worship in the presence of God.

She knows that she is giving into the hands of those who have neglected and treated her poorly. Yet she gave all she had. She knows something that many people miss, She is giving into the very hands of God.

No wonder Jesus condemns the hypocrisy of the scribes.

But He will do more than this. He will replace their ministry of neglect with one of compassion.

He will build a new temple in Himself that will truly minister to the broken and neglected.

He will lay down His life for her in a way that far exceeds her faithful giving. In doing so, she will have a new husband—Christ Himself—and He will never leave her nor forsake her. Not even death will separate them.

What truly motivates our giving?

May it be because we give ultimately into the hands of the God who sees and has provided all that we need in Christ.

ARE YOU SEEKING TO MAKE YOUR MARRIAGE ALL ABOUT HIM?

ARE YOU SEEKING TO MAKE YOUR ACT OF WORSHIP ALL ABOUT HIM?

ARE YOU SEEKING TO MAKE YOUR GIVING ALL ABOUT HIM?

If not, then today I would encourage you to confess of your sin and neglect of God’s work in marriage, worship and our gifts to Him.