Commiting to God

Committed to God

One day the chicken approached the pig and said, “ I have a great idea for something that we can do for the farmer! would you like to help?

The pig, quite intrigued by this said “ of course.” What do you propose?

farmer enjoyed a good healthy breakfast. He also knew how little the farmer had to make a good breakfast. “ I think the farmer would be very happy if we made him breakfast.

The pig thought about this, while not as close to the farmer, he too knew of the farmer’s love for a good breakfast. “I’d love to help you make breakfast for the farmer. What do you suggest we make?

The chicken , understanding that he had little else to offer suggested, “ I could provide some eggs”

The pig knew the farmer would want more, that's a fine start. What else could we make?

The chicken looked around … scratched his head.... then said, ham??The farmer loves ham and eggs!

The pig, very mindful of what this implied, said “ that's fine, but while you’re making a contribution i’m making a real commitment.

Commitment means committing to one’s spirit to God. to entrust oneself entirely.

To be committed I have to believe and have faith in what I’m doing. Put in whatever it takes.

Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.”

The people saw how committed Nehemiah was despite all his challenges.

Remember how the city was before Nehemiah arrived.

Nehemiah 1:2–3 “that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”

The people had been in bondage for 70 years under Babylon and had started to live like them. They had pagan God’s. married women not from their descendants.

Then we they went back to Jerusalem with Ezra to rebuild the temple. They experienced lots of oppositions and became discouraged. The priests were working outside the temple and not performing their duties. things were very much disarrayed .They became committed to serving God after seeing the leadership of Nehemiah.

A chicken and a pig lived on a farm. The farmer was very good to them and they both wanted to do something for him.

One day the chicken approached the pig and said, “ I have a great idea for something that we can do for the farmer! would you like to help?

The pig, quite intrigued by this said “ of course.” What do you propose?

farmer enjoyed a good healthy breakfast. He also knew how little the farmer had to make a good breakfast. “ I think the farmer would be very happy if we made him breakfast.

The pig thought about this, while not as close to the farmer, he too knew of the farmer’s love for a good breakfast. “I’d love to help you make breakfast for the farmer. What do you suggest we make?

The chicken , understanding that he had little else to offer suggested, “ I could provide some eggs”

The pig knew the farmer would want more, that's a fine start. What else could we make?

The chicken looked around … scratched his head.... then said, ham??The farmer loves ham and eggs!

The pig, very mindful of what this implied, said “ that's fine, but while you’re making a contribution i’m making a real commitment.

Last week we looked at reflect, repent and restore the people.

Now the people are making a commitment together.

which I think is good because it holds each other accountable.

Nehemiah 10:1–26 NKJV

Now those who placed their seal on the document were: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah, Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests. The Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, and Kadmiel. Their brethren: Shebaniah, Hodijah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah, Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, Hodijah, Bani, and Beninu. The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, Hodijah, Hashum, Bezai, Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, Ahijah, Hanan, Anan,

22 priest

17 levites

44 chiefs of the people.

Nehemiah is the first to sign showing unity in this document and his roll on account of his high official role.

notice that Ezra isn't named. not known why.

Nehemiah 10:28 “Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding—”

Priests_ performed exclusive rights to serve in the temple.

Aaron was the first high priest to offer sacrifice for the sins of the

children of Israel. his sons were set apart for the priesthood.

, A person who performed sacred rites of a religion and acted as a mediator between humanity and a deity.

first priest mentioned in the bible is Melchizedek.

Genesis 14:18–20 “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.” “

means King of righteousness.

Hebrews 7:11–17 “Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For He testifies: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.””

levites - performed duties for the priest, they did not receive property but instead received cities in other tribes.

Singer- worshipped in the temple, played instruments to praise God. David chose 4,000 of the Levites fro temple service and all of them were musicians. 30-50 years of age and had training.

Nethinim- a distinct group of returned exiles who served alongside the levites.

1 Chronicles 9:2 “And the first inhabitants who dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and the Nethinim.”

Ezra 2:70 “So the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.”

Nehemiah 10:29 “these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes:”

A curse They knew if the disobeyed God they would receive a curse and not a blessing from God.

Remember these people can remember the captivity in Babylon. because they had disobeyed God’s law. The law set for them in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 28:15–29 NKJV

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. “The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.

God remembers everything that we do. We may think he isn't going to do anything about it. But God never forgets. the good and the bad.

Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

Nehemiah 10:30–31 “We would not give our daughters as wives to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons; if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and we would forego the seventh year’s produce and the exacting of every debt.”

If God’s people needed to be a witness and honor him they needed to be accountable to each other and be united in their commitment.

Deuteronomy 7:3 “Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.”

God wanted to keep the line pure,

and marrying out of the line would cause them to idolatry.

Nehemiah 10:32–33 “Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to exact from ourselves yearly one-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: for the showbread, for the regular grain offering, for the regular burnt offering of the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the set feasts; for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.”

shekel today .27 cents.

According to MacArthur shekel is a 4 day wages.

The People pledged to support the work of the ministry and the personal. now the priests would be able to do the duty.

only 5% tithe and 80% only give 2% of their income.

Nehemiah 10:34 “We cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for bringing the wood offering into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at the appointed times year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God as it is written in the Law.”

casting lots a method to drawing straws or tossing a coin.

They used sticks or stones.

mentioned 70 times in OT and 7 times in NT

to replace Judas Iscariot

Acts 1:24–26 “And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

cast lots for Jesus clothes.

Mark 15:24 “And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.”

Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.”

Nehemiah 10:35–39 NKJV

And we made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the Lord; to bring the firstborn of our sons and our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks, to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God; to bring the firstfruits of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all kinds of trees, the new wine and oil, to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God; and to bring the tithes of our land to the Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes in all our farming communities. And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes; and the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms of the storehouse. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine and the oil, to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are, where the priests who minister and the gatekeepers and the singers are; and we will not neglect the house of our God.

Notice is says We. they were united in their commitment.

The people needed to be trained on giving back their first fruits to God.

according to God’s law the people were to give one tenth of produce to the temple to support the priests and the levites.

Today we are still to give God our first fruits. Not our leftovers.

Someone once told me. I dare you to try and out give God. see what happens.

So clearly we can see how they were committed to God.

1 Kings 8:61 “Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.””

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established.”

Being commited to God and following him obeying him turn out to be a blessing for us. Haitian pastor illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ. His parable: A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.

After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

The Haitian pastor's conclusion: "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation."

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

We need to let go of things that will keep us from being committed to God