Nehemiah 10: Living in the New Covenant

Intro

Context

We are going to continue our sermon series in Nehemiah where we are looking at how God’s people are invited to join God in his work to save sinners.

And as we continue in , we will see that God has always been in relationship with his people through covenants that he has made with them.

The Big Idea of today’s sermon is that we worship God by living according to the covenant that he has made with us.

So when you ask, How do I worship God, you are essentially asking how do I walk in, obey, live according to the covenant?

What is a Covenant?

Covenants are sometimes described as contractual agreements, but in reality, a covenant goes much deeper than that because a covenant implies a relationship.

In a Covenant, both parties are committed to seeing the covenant or agreement fulfilled not only for their own benefit, but also the benefit of the other person.

Think about the covenant of marriage. When you get married, you make vows to the other person and commit yourself to seeing them through. Rich or poor, sickness and in health. That’s what a covenant is.

And before you ask, Well aren’t covenants an Old Testament thing? We worship God by following Jesus not living in a covenant.

In other words, how we are able to have a relationship with God and what that relationship means for the life of the believer.

And what I want you to see today is if you are a Christian, you are called to worship God by walking in the New Covenant which God has given us through the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

but before we jump into chapter 10, let me give you a little context for where we’ve been.

Since , there has been a religious revival going on in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah had led the people of Israel to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that they could be a holy people and a light to the nations of God’s salvation.

And after completing the walls, Nehemiah moved from rebuilding the walls with bricks and stone to rebuilding the people of God themselves so that they could recapture their identity as God’s holy people as a testimony to God’s power to save sinners.

And rebuilding the people all started with Ezra the priest, reading the Bible and the people confessing and repenting of their sin.

Then the people move from this repentance sought to obey God’s Word fully by celebrating the Feast of Booths to obey God’s Word fully.

Then in , The Levites, who were the religious leaders of the Temple, recounted all of God’s faithfulness towards his people despite their sin and rejection of living according to his covenant with them.

The people are again reminded that the reason they were taken into exile and removed from the promised land, is because they had not walked in step with their covenantal relationship with God.

In the Old Testament there are multiple covenants that God makes with his people.

Even though covenants are sometimes described as contractual agreements, in reality, a covenant goes beyond a contract because it also implies a relationship between the two parties that is deeper than a business agreement.

It is a unifying relationship where both parties are committed to seeing it through not only for their own benefit, but also the benefit of the other person.

Some of the covenants in the OT are one-sided and unconditional like the Abrahamic covenant where God promised to make Abraham into a great nation and bless the nations through him. God said I’m going to do this for you Abraham and it is all on me to make it happen.

However, some covenants were conditional such as the covenant God made with his people at Mount Sinai. And this is important for us, because it is the Covenant at Mount Sinai that the people in Nehemiah are renewing in chapters 9 and 10.

The Covenant at Mount Sinai was made after God saved his people from slavery in Egypt and he gave the the Law.

And God gives them the Law and says you are my people, you are holy before me, Therefore you must live according to my Law.

And if you live according to my law I will take you into the Promise land and I will bless you and make you prosper.

But if you reject my Law, if you walk out of step with this covenant, I will remove you from the land and take you into exile.

The covenant at Sinai was made with Israel after God brought them out of Egypt where he gave them the OT Law. This covenant was the one that a new generation of Jews renewed right before they entered into the Promised Land because the generation that was alive at Sinai had died during the 40 years in the wilderness because of their lack of faith that God would actually give them the land that he had promised them.

In this covenant God said, because you are my people (Again this was part of the unconditional covenant God had made with Abraham), Because you are my people, you must reflect my holiness by obeying my Law.

And if you obey, I will bless you and you will dwell in the Land I promised to your father, Abraham. But if you disobey, I will remove you from the land and you will again be slaves to foreign nations because you have rejected my love and grace to be your only God.

And as we know from the OT and the history the Levites proclaim in , the people of God did reject this covenant and because of their disobedience they were taken out of Israel and into exile by the Assyrians and Babylonians.

But now, through Nehemiah and Ezra’s leadership God was restoring his people.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

And desiring to worship God and remain in the Promised Land and enjoy the blessings of being God’s holy people, the people of Nehemiah renew covenant that their fathers had broken saying 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.

If God’s people were going to live as the light to the nations that God had called them to be, then they needed to walk in relationship with God by obeying the covenant he had given them.

So Nehemiah records all the names of those who ratified this covenant showing us that...

I. Israel Committed to Obey the Covenant

On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu.

9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

In the first 27 verses of , Nehemiah lists all the leaders who signed the covenant by placing their name on the seals.

A seal is basically a way of putting your name on the dotted line.

And these leaders were signing the covenant as representatives of all the people of Israel. In effect, they were saying, “We are going to obey the covenant and lead our people to do the same.”

You had Nehemiah the governor signing, you have the priests and the Levites, and there are the chiefs of all the people.

And what I want you to see in these 27 verses of names are how the people of Israel were committing to live in obedience to the covenant and submission to God’s Word in every area of their life as a nation.

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. On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

You had Nehemiah the governor. He was the political leader of Israel.

There are the priests and the levites. These are the religious leaders of the people.

Then you have the chiefs of the people who were the cultural and family leaders of the nation of Israel.

So what is going on in this list of names is that all of these leaders were signing the covenant as representatives of all God’s people to commit to lead Israel to submit to the Lord in every sphere of life and be his holy people.

In other words, Israel was committing to worship God and follow his covenant with every area of their life. It was a total commitment to the Lord. Not a half measure of worship.

What this means for Christians is that while we do not live in a theocracy and therefore do not have the political or cultural clout in this world to bring all people in submission to God’s Word, we should strive to allow God’s Word and his kingdom to influence every area of our lives as Christians even as the culture calls us foolish for living according to our faith.

That means following Jesus should affect your political beliefs where you vote according to what the Bible says, not according to what is pragmatic or what seems best according to the culture.

Let me make it real. That means if you are a Christian you cannot vote for a candidate or a party who affirms and advocates the murder of the unborn. That is sin.

Now I’m not telling you that if you are a Christian you have to vote Republican. There are some legitimate criticisms about their policies as well and how they line up with caring for the poor and oppressed.

However, how you must think as a Christian is in regards to conscience. There is no debate that the abortion issue is one of the prevailing issues for the Democratic party. If you don’t affirm abortion rights then you will not become a Democratic leader. God’s word is clear that we cannot be party to the murder of the unborn in any capacity.

In regards to Republicans, you may have legitimate biblical reasons why you don’t want to vote for them, but these are debatable because the very platform of the Republican party is not based on an explicit policy of injustice towards the oppressed. You might think their policies lead to that and, if so, you should not vote for them according to your conscience.

We should hold our political beliefs against the Word of God and bring those beliefs into submission to what God has said where it is explicit, and in areas where the Bible is less clear in how it works itself out in our modern day polictics, we must vote according to our conscience following God’s Word as best as we are able.

God’s Word should also be the standard by which we evaluate our religious beliefs and practices.

When Jesus said he is the way the truth and the life, that means that must reject cultural relativism that says anyone that worships any God is going to go to heaven.

In addition, when we look at how we will organize our weekly rhythms as God’s people we must consider how we can engage our lives in the local church so that we can grow in our discipleship.

God’s Word even speaks to the kind of churches that we should engages our lives in through church membership because a church that claims to be a Christian church doesn’t necessarily make it so. We must commit only to churches that hold to orthodox Christian belief that is founded upon God’s Word and refuse to acquiesce to the culture.

Finally, we must organize our families according to God’s Word.

That means our families must seek to honor the Lord in how we speak and treat one another.

Our homes should be a place of grace and forgiveness. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Our families should be marked by the fruit of the Spirit. Not bitterness, strife, chaos, division, and anger.

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .love, joy peace patience kindness gentleness self controland forgiveness. Not overbearing dominance towards our spouse or our children.

The big idea is that in every area of life, political, religious, cultural, and familial, we must submit to the Word of God as we seek to honor Christ with our lives just as the people in Nehemiah.

And by committing to obey the covenant, what we see is that all Israel was really just committing to was to worship God.

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...

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

II. Israel Committed to Worship God

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.

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.

So after listing the names of all the leaders who signed the covenant, In verse 28 on, Nehemiah writes out what is actually in this covenant.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

And the first thing we see is that it is made completely clear that everyone in Jerusalem, all the way down to the youngest children who were able to understand were committing themselves to keep the covenant.

And Nehemiah describes the people as those who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands.

And Nehemiah describes the people as those who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands.

This shows that the people of God has always had definite limits for who was a part of God’s people and who was not.

Separating from the neighboring peoples was crucial for Israel to retain their faith and remain committed to obeying God’s Law because it was these other nations years earlier and encouraged and tempted Israel to worship their idols.

This led Israel away from worshiping God alone, and brought upon them the judgement of exile that God was now redeeming them from.

In separating from the world the people are affirming their identity as God’s holy people and committing themselves to obey the covenant.

You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

Being separated from the world wasn’t just God’s desire for Israel in the OT. This is what he calls Christians today to as well.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Our being separated from the world is for the purpose of proclaiming the excellencies of Christ. It is about our witness to God’s salvation.

Just like the Jews in Nehemiah’s day, we are also a people for God’s own possession. The church is to be holy as God is holy and as such, must be distinct and separate from the world.

Now when Christians have tried to separate from the world, there has been traditionally two errors that keep them from seprating themselves to the Lord as God intended..

The first error is that of syncretism.

This is where Christians say we don’t need to be separate, we need to be relevant and they adopt the philosophies and ways of the world to such a degree, that they lose their distinctive way of Christian thinking and living.

These would be Christians who look no different than those who do not believe in Christ.

These are carnal Christians who do not live with God’s Word as their highest authority, but hold the same values, goals, and beliefs as those of the world because they have adopted the idols of the culture that surround them.

So these are Christians who live for money by sacrificing anything and everything for that next promotion.

Or they live for their own happiness buying into the lies of the world that if your spouse doesn’t make you happy, you can just leave.

Or they live for pleasure seeking to satisfy their lust through pornography or sexual immorality with others treating sex the same way the world does instead of a gift from God that he intended to show the union that a husband and wife share in marriage.

But here is what John said, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Christians cannot love the things of the world because when we fail to separate ourselves from the values and goals of those in the world, we show that we actually love our sin more than God.

Instead, we must listen to Paul who wrote But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The second error that Christians can make is isolationism.

This is where in an effort to separate themselves from the world, Christians completely remove themselves from the culture.

This is typical of groups like the Amish or extreme fundamentalists who reject the world to such a degree that they actually start hating those in the world who live for sin that they are called to love.

signing the covenant, the people of Israel take the next step in ratifying the covenant by taking upon themselves and an oath and a curse for living in accordance with the covenant.

The problem with that is, how can we bear witness to the gospel of Christ if we are not in the world as a light to the nations just like the people in Nehemiah.

As Paul said, How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

So separating from the world does not mean that we completely remove ourselves from the culture.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

After all, even Jesus prayed, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

So what does it mean for God’s people to separate themselves from the world?

Lets look back at Nehemiah. separating from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God... to walk in God’s Law... and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes.

Submission to God’s Word is the unmistakable command here for God’s people separating themselves from the world. .

The people of Israel were separating from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God to obey all its commands.

Submission to God’s Word is the unmistakable command here for God’s people separating themselves from the world. .

The distinguishing mark of God’s people that separates them from the world is that they know God, and because they know God are devoted to keeping and practicing God’s Word.

Another way to say it is they are committed to loving God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, by loving God’s Word and obeying God’s Word.

And As the people of Nehemiah renewed the covenant with the Lord, they were renewing their relationship with God because to know God is to walk in his covenant.

The OT prophets emphasized time and again that knowing God meant walking in his covenant.

Therefore, we as Christians must see our call to separate from the world not as removing ourselves from the culture physically, but rather removing ourselves from the values and goals that the world upholds, and instead committing to live all our lives according to God’s Word no matter the cost out of love for him.

Hosea prophesied in

Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,

for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

So to live separated from the world, means that we die to ourselves and to the culture around us to say all our life is for Christ and his kingdom and then to live that out by obeying God’s commands by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,

and no knowledge of God in the land;

Basically, God was saying that no one was loving him in Israel because no one knew him. And because no one knew him, they were giving into all kind of sins like lying, murder, adultery. Just horrible evil.

2  there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;

they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Then, just 4 verses later, God says that not knowing him is synonymous with not knowing his law.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ho 4:1–2.

What God desires is not religious observance, but genuine love for him which is expressed as his people walk in covenantal relationship to him.

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,

Remember, Hosea earlier linked the knowledge of God with the knowledge of his Law. Therefore, God is saying that he would rather his people walk in obedience to his covenant which emphasizes his love and grace in choosing Israel in the first place rather than just performing wrote religious duties.

the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Separating ourselves from the world is not about looking down other others and judging them, it is about how we live as Christians in the world.

And after God’s people sign this covenant and commit to worship God by obeying tit, the people of Israel take the next step in ratifying the covenant by taking upon themselves a curse and an oath.

The curse here is directly tied to their oath. It is a matter of cause and effect. If the people of Israel break the oath, then the curse of the covenant will be brought upon them.

What this means is that the people of Israel were committing themselves to obey the covenant under the threat that if they failed to do so they would be taken into exile all over again.

Consider for a moment how serious the people of God were in their commitment to worship the Lord. Many of them had lived in exile or disgrace their entire life.

And here, they commit to worship God saying, if we fail to live for you, you must rip us out of the land again.

The curse here is directly tied to their oath. It is a matter of cause and effect. If the people of Israel break the oath, then the curse of the covenant will be brought upon them.

The principle here for us as Christians is because God has given us the grace to see the redemption he has worked for us in the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, just like the people of Nehemiah’s day saw the Lord’s redemption of them in bringing them out of exile, then we can offer the Lord nothing less then total commitment to him.

To give our life to the Lord as Paul said in , as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is our spiritual worship.

And after entering into this oath and curse, the people of God write down some of the specifics of the covenant, explicitly naming some of the ways they are going to worship God by obeying the covenant going forward.

As we work through this passage, there are really three ways God’s people were committing to worship God by keeping the covenant.

1. Worship God Alone

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

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

This was a way of Israel saying that we are committed to worshiping God alone as God’s holy people.

The law prohibited intermarriage between the Jews pagans from other natinos not because God’s law was racist or ethnocentric, but because marrying foreign people’s with foreign gods would lead God’s people into apostasy.

It would lead them to worship false God’s and idols once again.

Now this didn’t prohibit foreigners from becoming worshipers of God and marrying a Jew. One biblical example of this is Ruth from the book of Ruth. She was a Moabite woman who married a man named Boaz who would be the great grandfather to King David the ancestor of Christ himself.

But it did say that the people of God must not join themselves to the people of the world because this would lead God’s people away from true worship to idolatry.

The second way God’s people were committing to Worship God by obeying the Covenant was by...

Now if you are married to an unbeliever, either by getting married as unbelievers and becoming a believer after your marriage, or your spouse renouncing the faith and saying they do not believe in Jesus, you are not in sin. Peter says that you are there in that marriage to bear witness to the gospel in hopes that your spouse will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

It just means that if you are not yet married, you should not seek a relationship with someone who is not a Christian.

Because if you marry that person, you will have a harder time following the Lord faithfully and leading your children to do the same because you and your spouse will have different worldviews that will always be competing.

God’s people must commit to worship God alone and part of that means we listen to the Lord when it comes to choosing someone to commit ourselves to and spend the rest of our lives with.

2. Worship God As King

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.

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.

The Law said that Israel was to keep the Sabbath every week by resting from work on the Sabbath day, and every seven years to allow the land to have a rest from agriculture and to forgive every debt to honor the Sabbath year.

Honoring the Sabbath and keeping it holy was part of the 10 commandments.

Why was the honoring the Sabbath so crucial for God’s covenant?

If you’ve ever wondered why the Pharisees in the gospels argued with Jesus so much about the sabbath, here it is.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The Sabbath day was a sign of the covenant at Mount Sinai.

Just like God declared the 7th day of Creation holy when he rested from his work, he declared Israel holy and invited them to rest from theirs.

Just like God declared the 7th day of Creation holy when he rested from his work, he declared Israel holy and invited them to rest from theirs.

It was to show Israel that they were chosen and set apart by God to be his holy people.

This was why it was a day of rest. God gave the Sabbath to remind the people that he had chosen them to be his people before they even obeyed one Law before or done one work to worship him.

In the ten commandments, God commanded Israel Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Then later in , God told Moses that He wanted Israel to honor the Sabbath because it was a sign of the covenant he had made with them at Mount Sinai.

What this means, is that God gave the people of Israel the Sabbath as a sign of the Covenant at Sinai.

God commanded Israel to keep the Sabbath as a sign of the covenant to be a weekly reminder that it was God who had saved them and not their works or self-righteousness.

The Sabbath was a sign to make sure Israel knew that it was God that made Israel holy. It was a sign that God had chosen Israel to be his people.

When God gave Israel the command to keep the Sabbath holy by resting from work, he was saying, “Just like I declared 7th day of Creation holy, I have made you holy regardless of your works. There is nothing you can do to prove your own holiness before me.”

When God declared that the 7th day of Creation was a holy day, and then gave Israel the command to keep the day holy by resting from work, he was saying, “Just like I declared that day holy, I have made you holy.”

Theologically, then, the Sabbath was given to Israel to be a weekly reminder that God was their Creator and their Redeemer.

Theologically, keeping the Sabbath every week was to remind Israel that God is the Creator and their redeemer. Therefore, keeping the Sabbath was a pronouncement of God’s Lordship. That he was the king of his people!

So, as Israel kept the Sabbath they were proclaiming that God was the king of his people!

And every time Israel broke the Sabbath, it was a tangible way in which they showed that they had thrown off God’s Lordship over them.

When Israel broke the Sabbath, it was a tangible way in which they showed that they have thrown off God’s Lordship over them. When God would rebuke Israel through his prophets he would consistently note how they broke his Sabbaths because it was symbolic of how they had completely disregarded his covenant with them because they disregarded the very sign of the covenant.

So the people of Nehemiah reclaim the sign of the covenant that they were renewing to say that they were going to remember that God alone was their God and king.

IT was a way of saying in effect, God has not saved us to be holy.

For this small religious community in a larger world of pagans and foreigners, the path of least resistance was to do business on the Sabbath in order to accelerate their growth as an independant nation, but the Jews refused to compromise their faith for worldly gain.

The third way Israel committed to worship God by walking in the covenant was by....

3. Making Worship A Priority

A. The Temple Tax

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.

In God commanded Israel that every year, every person over 20 years old was to pay a tax for themselves as a ransom that would go to the worship of the temple.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The point of the law was to remind the people that they same way they were paying they were paying a ransom for their lives, God had ransomed them from slavery in Egypt.

This also points to how Jesus ransoms us from our slavery to sin and death.

B. Wood to Burn Sacrifices

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.

The sacrificial system was the temporary way God dealt with his people’s sins as a foreshadowing of how Jesus would cleanse God’s people through his’ perfect sacrifice on the cross.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The people in Nehemiah were committing to taking their sin seriously and have wood available to offer sacrifices to the Lord.

C. Giving of Their First Fruits

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;

Israel committing to give their first fruits, was committing to give to God their first and best.

First, that God was worthy of the best that their worship could offer.

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;

This communicated that God was worthy of the best that their worship could offer.

In addition, the people were committing to obey the law to consecrate, or devote their first born sons and animals to the Lord.

In God commanded his people to offer their firstborn male animals as a sacrifice to the Lord and to redeem every first born son of the people of Israel.

This was to remind the people of how God had killed every firstborn in Egypt but had redeemed his people because of the blood of a lamb that was painted over their doors.

This was to foreshadow what Christ would do for his people because he is the sacrificial lamb that covers us with his blood so that we might not suffer under God’s wrath in hell, but be redeemed by him to be God’s holy sons and daughters.

When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. 13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. 13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

D. Giving of Their Tithe

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.

For the worship of the Temple to continue, God’s people were called to offer 10% of their money. This would go to maintaining the temple as well as supplying the physical needs for the priests and the Levites so they could focus on ministering to the people.

This is one of the reasons why Christians are called to give their tithes and offerings to the church.

Not because God needs your money. He owns all things and he promises to build his church for his purposes.

But God wants the hearts of his people.

This challenges us to commit to the mission of God by giving a portion of the money the Lord has entrusted to us to our local church so that the proclamation of God’s Word and the Worship of Christ can continue to edify believers and save sinners.

Jesus said that we cannot serve God and money and when we give to God’s kingdom by supporting the worship and ministry of the local church body that we are a part of, we are saying in a tangible way, God I want your kingdom to go forth more than I want the pleasures of this world.

So in the covenant, the people of God in Nehemiah were committing to worship God by worshiping him alone, remembering that he was their King who had declared them holy by his grace, and making worship a priority.

And at the end of the day, what I hope you are beginning to see is that the Law was not given to Israel a list of dos and don’ts. It was given to show God’s people how to worship him.

The Covenant was Given to Show God’s People How to Worship Him

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

We will not neglect the house of our God.

God's Laws were given to make God's people worshipers.

God is not interested in making tidy, cleaned up religous people. God is interested in raising those who are dead in their sins and trespasses to worship the Living God.

He was not interested in making tidy, cleaned up religious people.

God is not interested in making tidy, cleaned up religous people. God is interested in raising those who are dead in their sins and trespasses to worship the Living God.

Rather, God’s work from the Fall of humanity into sin through today has been to raise those who are dead in their sins and trespasses to new life to worship the Living God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The people’s commitment in renewing the covenant could be summed up in verse 39 by saying, We will not neglect the house of our God.

In other words, we are going to worship God alone and remain committed to him by obeying his law.

This is what the covenant was all about.

It wasn’t about doing all the right things, or obeying God in some effort to be accepted by him. It was all about worshiping God alone by living in the covenant.

So what does this have to do with us today?

We’ve talked about a few of the applications that teaches Christians.

We should worship God in every area of our life.

We must separate ourselves from the world and live devoted to the Lord by honoring God’s Word as our highest authority.

It challenges us to be faithful to make worship our highest priority by

Committing to Worship God alone and live for him as our heavenly King

giving financially to support the work of the Kingdom in our local church

and by engaging our lives in the work and life of a church.

However, I think in light of Christ work on the cross, there is a bigger picture for us to enjoy as Christians.

Where the people in Nehemiah were renewing the covenant that God had made with his people at Sinai in the book of Exodus and again at Moab in the book of Deuteronomy, Christians today are invited to live in the New Covenant with the Lord Jesus.

And in the same way that the people of Israel committed to worship God by obeying their covenant...

III. Christians Worship God by Living in the New Covenant

III. Christians Today Must Commit to Live as Worshipers by Living in the New Covenant

III. Christians Today Must Commit to Live as Worshipers by Living in the New Covenant

God has always entered into relationship with his people through covenants and Christians today are not different.

In giving the Lord’s Supper, Jesus said the cup represents the new covenant in his blood (, ) meaning that through Jesus’ sacrificial death he ushered in a new covenant that the people of God must walk in.

This covenant is described in several places in the OT but I want us to focus on to see what it means to worship God by living in the New Covenant.

And before you wonder if this covenant was for Israel and not Christians, let me remind you that according to , Gentile, that is non-Jewish, believers have been grafted into Israel.

The church does not replace God’s people Israel, rather they are grafted into receive the promises of God as members of the true spiritual Israel.

2 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

First, the need for a new covenant was not because earlier covenants were flawed.

Rather, it was because of the perennial problem Israel’s hard-hearted rebellion against the Lord where as the Bible says in the stubbornness of their hearts as they refused to worship God and obey his commands.

The people of Israel refused to keep the covenant and this made their judgement and exile certain because they had dead, stony hearts that needed to be changed because there was no desire to worship God alone.

As Ephesians says, we were dead in our trespasses and sins with no hope of loving and obeying God. We needed Him to give us new life. To give us new hearts with new desires.

This is where we start getting into the benefits of the New Covenant for God’s people.

1. A New Heart with New Desires

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.

First, in the New Covenant we are given new hearts with new desires.

Remember how we said that walking in covenantal relationship with the Lord requires that God’s people keep his Word and obey his commands.

Well under the New Covenant, instead of God’s people trying to obey him out of their own power from their dead stony hearts, God changes our hearts to give us the desire to love him and obey his Word.

But here’s the thing you need to see or else you’ll get all of the Christian life and the gospel backwards.

We don’t obey God’s Word in order to get this new heart. God gives us a new heart with new desires through salvation, and because we are saved, then we love God in return by obeying his commands.

We don’t obey to get a new heart. We obey because God has given us a new heart.

Speaking to this, Ezekiel said, I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

God says the way that he gives us a new heart is through the Holy Spirit who regenerates, or makes alive, our hearts through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

God’s people today have the Holy Spirit, God himself, the third Person of the Trinity, who lives inside of them to work God’s word into their hearts so that they joyfully walk in obedience to the Lord as they put sin to death in their life.

This is what it means to walk by the Spirit.

And if you want more information for what that actually looks like in the life of a believer, I’d encourage you to go back to a sermon we had a couple of weeks ago called God’s People Obey God’s Word.

God giving us a new heart is truly an amazing gift that God gives his people because in without it, in our sinful, wicked old self there is nothing good that dwells in us and therefore, we cannot desire the things of God.

But through Christ we are given the Holy Spirit who not only gives us the desire to Love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, but actually works his power in us to do so by writing God’s Law in our hearts.

Our desires actually become God’s desires. We are transformed to want to worship God and not live for our sin!

Since the heart of God’s people is transformed in the New Covenant, it is not like the covenant God’s people made at Sinai that was written on tablets of stone because the people broke that covenant.

Under the New Covenant, the people of God will be completely faithful and loyal to the Lord by his power working in them. We are truly able to keep God’s covenant because he is the one working in us to do so.

Number 2, not only do we receive a new heart with new desires in the new covenant, but we are also...

2. Chosen to be God’s holy people

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

In every covenant God made, God’s goal was always to make a people for his own possession.

To save people from their sin and their idolatry to be a part of God’s family and worship him alone.

Because God empowers his people to obey him and walk in his covenant by the power of the Spirit, there is a certainty that God’s people are able to endure as God’s holy people.

No longer will the people of God have a divided heart to worship idols, because as we saw earlier, in giving us a new heart, God cleanses us from our idols and gives us the grace put the sin that we use to worship those idols to death by the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in us.

But not only are made a part of God’s family in the New Covenant, but because of Jesus every Christian is also given...

3. A Personal Relationship with God Because Our Sins Are Forgiven

34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Under the old covenant, people became members of the covenant community simply by being born a Jew. As they grew up, some would believe in God while others did not.

This created a division in the covenant community because there were some people who knew and loved God and others who did not instead choosing to live for their sin and could be encouraged to Know the Lord

In the New Covenant though, no one becomes a member through their physical birth. You only become a member of God’s covenant community by being born again through faith.

Thus, in the New Covenant, every believer, no matter who they are, from the least to the greatest, knows the Lord in a personal way because God has forgiven their sin through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

This means, if you are in Christ, you are not far from God but have been brought near by the blood of Jesus and God loves you so much that and desires you to know him so intimately that He invites to call him your Father.

So in the New Covenant we are given a new heart that desires to worship God, we are chosen by God to be his holy people and we even have a personal relationship with him as our Father. The final benefit of the New Covenant for God’s people today is that it is an...

4. An Everlasting Covenant

35  Thus says the Lord,

who gives the sun for light by day

and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the Lord of hosts is his name:

36  “If this fixed order departs

from before me, declares the Lord,

then shall the offspring of Israel cease

from being a nation before me forever.”

37  Thus says the Lord:

“If the heavens above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

for all that they have done,

declares the Lord.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Benefits of the New Covenant:

2. An Enduring Relationship With God as God's Holy People

Nothing you ever do can remove God’s blessing from you or take you out of relationship with him.

And you might say well don’t these verses say this is what God will do for Israel? How does this apply to us?

In Paul says that Gentile believers, that is not Jewish people, are grafted into the true Spiritual Israel.

So in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile we are all a part of God’s one, holy people.

3. A Personal Relationship with God Because Our Sins Are Forgiven

Therefore, because of Jesus, God will never destroy us in his wrath or reject us for our sin.

These verses tell us that as sure and as permanent as sunlight in the day and moonlight at night, and the waves of the sea that we will always be God’s people.

Not only that, but just as sure as we cannot explore all the heavens or even all the depths of the earth, so also God will never cast us off or reject us because of our sins, because he has paid for each one of them in Jesus...

…and you can be a part of this New Covenant Community if you believe that Jesus died for your sins under God’s wrath that he had against you and rose again three days later to give you new life through faith.

Application:

Just as God’s people in Nehemiah committed to worshiping God by living in the covenant they renewed, Christians today must commit to living in the New Covenant.

This means that we live in accordance with our new heart and new desires and put our sin to death to the glory of Christ.

To live as God’s holy people and to grow in our love for the Lord by walking in obedience to Christ by the power of the Spirit.

Does your life reflect a life that enjoys the blessings of the New Covenant?/Do you live a New Covenant life? (They are factually true for you. Are they functionally true for you?)

So the question I want you to pray through, wrestle with, talk about with your family and Community Group is: Do you live a New Covenant life?

Do you live a life that reflects that God has saved you and changed you to worship him alone or do you still live for your sin.

All the blessings of the New Covenant are factually true for every Christian, but we must work out our own salvation by God’s power so that these things that are factually true might be functionally true for us.

What I mean is, If you are a Christian than

You have been given a new heart and new desires to worship God

you are a part of God’s holy people.

You know him personally as your Father,

and there is nothing that can ever snatch you out of his hand.

But many Christians don’t live a life of worship because they still live for their sinful passions and old desires.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

When you ask yourself, am I living in the New Covenant, what you are asking is Am I living out my new desires to love God and obey Him with all my life, or am I still walking around gratifying the desires of my flesh?

Basically, Am I living in the new nature or the old?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Living in the New Covenant means because God has saved us and adopted us as sons and daughters through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we enjoy the blessing of that relationship by putting our sin to death by the Spirit’s power.

Living in the New Covenant means that walk by the Spirit who lives in us and writes God’s law on our hearts causing us to grow in our love for the Lord and to surrender our all our life to his will, not our own.

And what is amazing is that because of the New Covenant, God’s gives us eternal life that is marked by joy in the Lord. We live a life of joyful worship because God gives us new desires to worship Him that he then satisfies those very desires in Christ!

Jesus died and rose again to bring God’s people into a New Covenantal relationship with him. He died to make God’s people worshipers.

In the new Covenant God invites his people to experience the joy of eternal life that he freely gives through the gospel of Christ to transform sinners into worshipers who die to themselves, repent of their sin, and love Him alone.

May we at Metro, be committed to worship God by living in the New Covenant where we put our sin to death by the Spirit’s power and work in us so that we can be a light to the nations and proclaim the gospel to the lost so that more people might be forgiven of their sins and brought into God’s New Covenant community.

Let’s Pray

Worship you in all our life

Live separated from the World and uphold your Word

Make worship a priority to worship you alone

Live in the new covenant. Show us how to walk in the blessings of the covenant and the freedom from sin that you have secured for us.

Scripture Reading:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .