04-09-06 The mercy of God

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Nehemiah 9

Introduction:

It has been said it appears to be a different God in the Old and New Testament.

It is usually explained that God deals with people differently in different times, but God is consistent much more merciful in the Old Testament than it appears, we need to look at a bigger picture and have that picture reflect back what it means for us, as well as our response to it….

1.      Israel of the OT is a type of mirror or looking glass for us 

2.      It’s all about God’s Mercy

3.      God’s Mercy is always calling for a response from us to God  

Nehemiah 9

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them.

2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.

4 Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever!

O may Your glorious name be blessed

And exalted above all blessing and praise!

6 “You alone are the Lord.

You have made the heavens,

The heaven of heavens with all their host,

The earth and all that is on it,

The seas and all that is in them.

You give life to all of them

And the heavenly host bows down before You.

7 “You are the Lord God,

Who chose Abram

And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees,

And gave him the name Abraham.

8 “You found his heart faithful before You,

And made a covenant with him

To give him the land of the Canaanite,

Of the Hittite and the Amorite,

Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—

To give it to his descendants.

And You have fulfilled Your promise,

For You are righteous.

9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,

And heard their cry by the Red Sea.

10 “Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,

Against all his servants and all the people of his land;

For You knew that they acted arrogantly toward them,

And made a name for Yourself as it is this day.

11 “You divided the sea before them,

So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground;

And their pursuers You hurled into the depths,

Like a stone into raging waters.

12 “And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day,

And with a pillar of fire by night

To light for them the way

In which they were to go.

13 “Then You came down on Mount Sinai,

And spoke with them from heaven;

You gave them just ordinances and true laws,

Good statutes and commandments.

14 “So You made known to them Your holy sabbath,

And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law,

Through Your servant Moses.

15 “You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,

You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,

And You told them to enter in order to possess

The land which You swore to give them.

16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;

They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.

17 “They refused to listen,

And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them;

So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.

But You are a God of forgiveness,

Gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;

And You did not forsake them.

18 “Even when they made for themselves

A calf of molten metal

And said, ‘This is your God

Who brought you up from Egypt,’

And committed great blasphemies,

19 You, in Your great compassion,

Did not forsake them in the wilderness;

The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,

To guide them on their way,

Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.

20 “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,

Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,

And You gave them water for their thirst.

21 “Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;

Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.

22 “You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,

And allotted them to them as a boundary.

They took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon

And the land of Og the king of Bashan.

23 “You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven,

And You brought them into the land

Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

24 “So their sons entered and possessed the land.

And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,

And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,

To do with them as they desired.

25 “They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.

They took possession of houses full of every good thing,

Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,

Fruit trees in abundance.

So they ate, were filled and grew fat,

And reveled in Your great goodness.

26 “But they became disobedient and rebelled against You,

And cast Your law behind their backs

And killed Your prophets who had admonished them

So that they might return to You,

And they committed great blasphemies.

27 “Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them,

But when they cried to You in the time of their distress,

You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion

You gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.

28 “But as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You;

Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them.

When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven,

And many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,

29 And admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law.

Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances,

By which if a man observes them he shall live.

And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

30 “However, You bore with them for many years,

And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets,

Yet they would not give ear.

Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

31 “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them,

For You are a gracious and compassionate God.

32 “Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,

Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,

Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,

From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

33 “However, You are just in all that has come upon us;

For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.

34 “For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law

Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.

35 “But they, in their own kingdom,

With Your great goodness which You gave them,

With the broad and rich land which You set before them,

Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.

36 “Behold, we are slaves today,

And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty,

Behold, we are slaves in it.

37 “Its abundant produce is for the kings

Whom You have set over us because of our sins;

They also rule over our bodies

And over our cattle as they please,

So we are in great distress.

38 “Now because of all this

We are making an agreement in writing;

And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.”

I.       The children of Israel are held up as a mirror for us, but more a looking glass

A.   It started with a very long church service ALL DAY

1.     It started with fasting personal sacrifice with a purpose on focusing on God, not loosing weight….

2.     It continued with humbling them selves (sac cloth) and throwing dirt in the air on them selves I picture a whole lot of Pig Pen…people .. the lot of them

3.     It moved to separating them selves from the foreigners

a)    They were told not to marry with the foreigners, it would pollute their love for God (and did)

4.     It moved to confession of their fathers sin

a)    So they could more easily recognize their own  

B.   Specially favored people but specifically ungrateful

1.     They transgressed against God’s light and love, instruction and illumination, wooing and warning, entreaty and rebuke

a)    God is trying many approaches to us all times

2.     With the Lord before their eyes, they refused to see Him; with wonders in front of them, they refused to believe Him

a)    Cloud by day pillar of fire at night   

3.     We are given so much of God, yet we continue to sin with every sin specifically against light

C.   They were dependent on God for everything but intensely proud of their own abilities

1.     If any people in the world ought to have been humble …”

2.     They were on God’s welfare yet proudly claimed things for themselves we’re entitled to it

3.     All we have is of God, yet we take credit for it and hold it as if it were something we produced

D.   Israel enjoyed a type of fatherhood but were deliberately rebellious

1.     It was not mistakes or errors but deliberate disobedience (vv. 16-17).

16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;

They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.

17 “They refused to listen,

And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them;

So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.

But You are a God of forgiveness,

Gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;

And You did not forsake them.

2.     They would listen to everyone but their God

a)    Who are we elevating?

b)    Who are we touting?

c)     Who are we listening too? | 

3.     The majority our sin is not mistake or inadvertent error; it is deliberate rebellion against God

E.   Israel was singularly blessed yet crassly unmindful of what the Lord had done for them

1.     They were constantly plagued by the crime of unbelief

a)    Yet, not victims,

b)    But, willing accomplices’ to their own demise  

2.     God had delivered greatly;

a)    The slightest trouble or difficulty, their faith disappeared

b)    What God had done had no effect

3.     Does each new trial in our life

a)    Cause us to forget God’s significant past blessings and to throw down our faith

b)    Or to embrace God’s great love for us and know that he has plans for a hope and a future  

F.    They had great spiritual privilege but committed an act of apostasy.

1.     They organized to go back to Egypt (appointed a leader)

2.     They forgot the degradation and servitude

3.     Are we are guilty of the same thing every time we turn back to things we have renounced at the direction of the Holy Spirit

G.  They had specific commands yet fell into idolatry.

1.     They set up a molten calf (v. 18).

18 “Even when they made for themselves

A calf of molten metal

And said, ‘This is your God

Who brought you up from Egypt,’

And committed great blasphemies,

2.     They attributed to the calf things which the Lord had done.

3.     We may be more guilty of replicating this than any of the sins of Israel—we are constantly setting up idols in our lives

a)    Anything you are more afraid of losing then your fellowship with God is a potential idol

(1)  Spouse, children, job, possessions, positions, stature, respect, power  

II.    The response of God shows His mercy.

A.   He shows mercy to His children

1.     He continued to guide them while in their sins (v. 19), and we continue to know His guidance even when sinful

19 You, in Your great compassion,

Did not forsake them in the wilderness;

The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,

To guide them on their way,

Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.

2.     He continued to teach them while they arrogantly resisted (v. 20), and we have the ministry of the Holy Spirit even when wrong

20 “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,

Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,

And You gave them water for their thirst.

3.     He continued to provide for them while they were asserting their own rebellious independence (v. 20), and without His provision we would have nothing

21 “Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;

Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.

4.     He sustained them until the end and brought them to the promised land (vv. 21, 24–25), and He will do the same for us regardless

24 “So their sons entered and possessed the land.

And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,

And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,

To do with them as they desired.

25 “They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.

They took possession of houses full of every good thing,

Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,

Fruit trees in abundance.

So they ate, were filled and grew fat,

And reveled in Your great goodness.

B.   He even shows His mercy to the unconverted.

1.     He extends love to people yet in their sins

2.     He makes no conditions on His love

3.     He actually provides Himself the things He demands of man (sinlessness, righteousness, etc.) through His son Jesus….


! III.  His mercy calls forth a response from us.

A.   Note the instructive conduct of the children of Israel.

1.     In the wilderness Israel simply responded

a)    By piling provocation upon provocation

b)    Mercy was answered with more offenses

2.     In the return to God

a)    Israel framed a covenant of commitment (10:28-39

b)    With v. 28-30 summarizing the heart of it

Nehemiah 10:28-30

28 Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants 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, all those who had knowledge and understanding,

29 are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes;

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

B.   Note the response it calls forth from us.

1.     Some theologians fear teaching the mercy of God; they are afraid we will act as the Israelites did.

2.     Remember that there was another band of Israelites which acted properly, and we should follow their lead

a)    Seek God seriously

b)    Own what our parents did wrong ourselves, and repent

c)     Repent of their sin to help us identify ours 

d)    Repent of our own 

e)     Show gratitude

f)      Display humility

g)    Exemplify submission

h)    Develop memory for what god has done and is doing

i)       Cleave to the new ways of the Spirit leading us

j)      Tear down our personal idols

 

Conclusion:

God’s mercy is part of His character. He can’t do otherwise.

Our response ought to be like that of the people in Nehemiah’s day.

We should covenant to walk in the ways of the Lord

And to refuse every attempt to wean us away from it.

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