The Covenant signed Nehemiah 10

Introduction

In chapter 9 the levites prayed and gave a history lesson to the Israelites that showed just how good God had been to them.

As they closed the prayer they made a covenant with God, and here they are going to sign the covenant. They were going to have a new beginning.

Alexander Whyte said “the victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”

Jude 24 “24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

Psalm 37:23–24 “23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.”

While the nation had sinned they are taking steps at rededicating their lives to God and obeying his commands.

The signers of the oath vs 1-29

Nehemiah the Governor is the first one to sign the oath and 83 others followed.

The list was broken up into 3 groups

The priests 2-8

The levites 9-13

The leaders of the people vs 14-27

In verse 28 we see a lot more people lumped in to the covenant but didn’t individually sign their name.

All those who had heard the word of God and were committed to keeping it signed the covenant.

Putting their name on the oath wasn’t something to take lightly, verse 29 tells us it was a sworn oath to God.

Maybe as they were signing the oath they were thinking back to Ezra reading Deuteronomy 29:10–13 “10 Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, 11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water: 12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day: 13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

The law governing oaths is found in Numbers 30 and is introduced with these words in Numbers 30:2 “2 If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.”

In the New Testament Jesus warned against using empty oaths

Matthew 5:33–37 “33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

Solomon gave a similar warning in

Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 “1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.”

We must be careful that if we tell God we are going to do something, we do it!

The breakdown of the oath vs. 30-39

They will not give their daughters in marriage to the surrounding people and will not take the daughters of the surrounding people as wives for their sons.

Exodus 34 tells us the danger of mixed marriages and that is the loss of faith on the part of a Jewish mate

How could a Jew married to a Gentile observe the dietary laws or celebrate the annual festivals? He or she would be continually ceremonially unclean.

What does this mean for us today? As a believer you shouldn’t date or marry an unbeliever. You are unequally yoked

They won’t buy or sell merchandise on the sabbath

The Sabbath was primarily a Jewish practice and often the gentiles would come into town to buy or sell on the sabbath, and the Jews would buy or sell from them.

The Sabbath day was supposed to be a weekly reminder to the nation that they were Jews and had a special calling in the world, it was a day devoted to rest and to think on spiritual things, but they had turned it into just another day.

No more, they vowed to not buy or sell on the sabbath or a holy day.

They would bring back the sabbath year to let the land rest

This would take a lot of faith as they were trusting God to provide food for two years

Leviticus 25:4 “4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.”

they would also forgive all the debt

Deuteronomy 15:1–2 “1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.”

They would support the house of God vs 32-39

They would pay the temple tax vs 32-33

Exodus 30:11–16 KJV 1900

11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. 14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. 16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.

The original tax was used to make silver sockets and hooks for the tabernacle, but in later years it was used to pay for the expenses of the ministry.

The wood offering vs. 34

Since the fire on the brazen altar needed to be burning constantly it required lots of wood to keep it going. The drew lots to see who would provide the wood and when they would provide it to ensure the fire never went out.

The first fruits vs. 35-37a

The Jews were taught to give God the first and the best Proverbs 3:9 “9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, And with the firstfruits of all thine increase:”

The first born son had to be redeemed by sacrifice because they belonged to the lord

Exodus 34:19–20 “19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. 20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.”

The tithe vs. 37b-39

The Jews were to bring a tenth of their produce to the Lord each year for the support of the Levites (Lev 27:30-34) the levites gave a tithe of the tothe to the priests (Numbers 18:25-32)

The Jews were also to tithe the 90% that was left and take it to the temple for the annual feasts (Deut 26:1-11)

A third tithe was added every 3 years for the poor.

They end the oath with “we will not forsake the house of our God” can we say the same?