Nehemiah 10: Devoted Obedience

The Text in Context

The process begun in is completed in .

According to , the restored Israelites will experience God’s forgiveness and have a genuine desire to obey his law.

depicts the people as joyfully eager to hear God’s word and obey it, aware of the mercy God has already shown them, and desiring a more complete fulfillment of his promises to them.

They now declare that they are committed to the type of relationship envisioned in the new-covenant prophecy, in which their role involves submissive obedience to God’s instructions.

The structure of events in is the same as that described briefly for the confirmation of the Sinai covenant in

Exodus 24:7 CSB

7 He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded.”

and repeated in subsequent covenant renewal ceremonies. The people hear God’s word and then respond with commitment to obey. This portrays the actions of this section as another renewal of the covenant, further enhancing connections with the new-covenant prophecy. The restoration begun with the return of the exiles to the land in would be incomplete without the spiritual renewal of the people described here. Nehemiah showed that he understood this in his prayer in . A rededicated Israel creates the expectation of greater blessing from God in the future. Interpretive Insights 9:38  In view of all this. This section continues directly from 9:1–37. The setting in time is the same, and the flow of thought is logically connected. Because the community recognizes their history of sin and God’s history of mercy toward them described in 9:1–37, they will make the commitments outlined in 10:29–39. we are making a binding agreement. Although the speakers in 9:5–37 were the Levites, they were leading the whole community in prayer and speaking on their behalf. The pronoun “we” continues to represent the community. The Hebrew word for “agreement” likely does not have bilateral implications, as a covenant would. The only other use of this word in the Old Testament is in , where a formal translation could be “a regulation was over the singers’ daily activity.” The people are making a rule for themselves to follow—namely, that they will obey God’s law. They are expressing their degree of determination to be obedient. Yet the Hebrew word in 9:38 for “making” is the verb usually used for making a covenant. The combination of the familiar verb with the rare noun suggests that the similarities to a covenant-renewal ceremony should be recognized, while stopping short of asserting that the new covenant has fully arrived. The choice of the noun may also be influenced by the reference to Abraham’s faithfulness in 9:8. The Hebrew words for “faithful” and “agreement” are from the same root. The community is expressing their determination to be faithful to God as Abraham was. affixing their seals to it. A wax or clay seal, imprinted by a stamp bearing the name of the owner, was often used to keep a rolled document closed. Here the seals represent their owners’ legal assent to the document’s contents, like a signature would today. 10:28  The rest of the people. This verse lists various categories of people in order to emphasize that all of the people join in. This is not merely a decision made by their leaders. The only conditions for inclusion seem to be ability to understand God’s law, willingness to avoid compromising relations with the surrounding peoples, and, of course, desire to participate in the agreement itself. The new covenant is explicitly for people from all walks of life (). 10:29  a curse and an oath. The people took an oath with a curse attached to it as a consequence if they did not keep their word. This was common in the ancient Near East and demonstrated that the people were serious about their decision. follow the Law of God . . . the commands, regulations. The ancestors shamefully ignored and disobeyed God’s laws, commands, and ordinances (). They did not turn from their evil ways even when they were enjoying God’s goodness in the promised land (9:35). The returnees pledge that, although not yet enjoying God’s goodness to the extent the ancestors did (9:36–37), they will do the opposite of what the ancestors did and obey God’s instructions (“ordinances” in 9:29 represents the same Hebrew word as “regulations” in 10:29). 10:30  not to give our daughters in marriage . . . for our sons. The returned exiles had already struggled with this issue (). Passages such as and had warned against marrying non-Israelites. Since true converts to faith in Yahweh, such as Rahab and Ruth, were allowed to marry Israelites (see ), the prohibition against intermarriage was not racially or ethnically prejudiced. The intent was to avoid being drawn into idolatry, as happened to Solomon (). The earlier biblical laws listed specific nations the Israelites were not to intermarry with, but here the community expresses and follows the principle behind those laws. 10:32  the commands to give a third of a shekel each year. instructs each Israelite male age twenty or over to pay a half-shekel during a census. The money is to be used for the operation of the sanctuary. No annual payment is stipulated in the Pentateuch. By the time of , the ancient Near Eastern economy had become more money based than previously. It would have been harder for all the needs of the temple to be met solely by offerings of animals and grain. It appears that the Judeans recognize the new need resulting from new circumstances. They honor the principle of the old law that cash should be given for the sanctuary. But they modify it by disconnecting it from censuses and reducing the amount from one-half to one-third of a shekel but also by making it an annual payment. The net result would be more money given for the temple under the new version. 10:34  have cast lots. There is no direction given in the law about organizing the provision of wood for sacrifices at the sanctuary. The community considers everyone eligible for this obligation and then casts lots to determine assignments. This is a way of letting God decide the responsibilities rather than letting the influential people place the burden on others. as it is written in the Law. Since there is no command to bring a wood offering in the Pentateuch, it is likely that the community is referring to the commands that the fire on the sanctuary altar must never be allowed to go out and the priest must add wood to it every morning (). The Torah command implies that wood must be supplied regularly, so the people are making the implicit explicit. 10:36  the firstborn of our sons. The Israelites were to give the first of every kind of blessing they received to God. In the case of sons, they were to pay a “redemption fee” in lieu of donating the child to work at the sanctuary (). The firstborn of unclean animals were similarly redeemed, but the firstborn of clean animals were brought for sacrifice. These are ways of affirming God as the source of all blessing and placing priority on worshiping him. 10:39  We will not neglect the house of our God. Throughout Chronicles the attitude a king of Judah takes toward the temple is an important indicator of his spiritual character. Those who provide for its services and upkeep are considered godly and are blessed. Those who do not are not (e.g., ). The returned exiles realize that it would be very easy to become lax about the responsibilities that God had given them for the temple and its personnel. They therefore give special prominence to these obligations. Theological Insights This passage illustrates an essential aspect of being in relationship with God. He always stands willing to forgive, but he actually forgives only those who understand their own sinfulness and appreciate his willingness to forgive them. Going forward, such people have a strong desire to obey him and consciously commit to doing so. As we understand from human relationships, genuine reconciliation with God takes place only when we are honest about how we have harmed the relationship with him and are sincere about investing ourselves in it appropriately, which means, in the case of a relationship with God, on his terms. An important principle of how God communicates through Scripture underlies the activity of this passage. The community discerns the intent of the individual laws in their original setting and seeks to produce the same effect in the current setting, even if some details must be modified to do so. The resulting standards are at least as high as those set by the original laws. The reason they are able to follow this procedure is that God’s word to the original hearers was a statement of his timeless principles expressed in specific examples relevant to their setting. Although the details of people’s historical circumstances change, God’s principles do not change. In contemporary Western culture, which promotes the concept that every system of values is equally valid, one of the more challenging aspects of God’s nature is his insistence that distinctions be drawn between right and wrong, implying precisely that not every system of values is equally valid. Rejecting mixed marriage, honoring the Sabbath, and maintaining temple worship in strict adherence to God’s instructions would strike many today as arbitrary demands and were seen that way even by many in preexilic Israel. Yet the distinctions God draws cannot be ignored. Those who do not correctly apply the principles in his Word to the setting in which they themselves live set out on a course that ultimately leads away from him. Teaching the Text It may appear at first sight that there is little application for Christians to make from this passage. Yet the attitude of obedience it portrays is as relevant for God’s people today as ever. (especially vv. 13, 19) echoes the thought that all who have received God’s grace and forgiveness should be as obedient to God as possible. Whether individuals or groups wish to make written declarations of their intentions to obey God like the Judeans did is optional, but the same resolve should be evident in their lives. Figuring out how to apply God’s teachings in the contemporary world—a challenge to an even greater degree for the church than it was for the postexilic Judeans—is just as necessary now as it was then. The cultural differences between today’s world and the worlds of the Old and New Testaments are larger than the gap between the world of the Torah and the world of the Persian Empire. But the approach is basically the same: the principle behind the original teaching must be understood. God gave specific commands to specific people in specific circumstances. Those commands illustrate timeless principles that God wants to teach his people. Once the principles are understood, it becomes possible to envision what it would look like to live by them in contemporary settings. Seeking to keep the spirit of the law over its letter will frequently lead to a higher standard of ethics (e.g., ). As believers seek to live obediently, they will identify areas of life where it seems particularly difficult, as the Judeans found. Although Christians are not constrained by ethnic barriers to marriage (though God still expects them to marry only other Christians; see ), nor required to provide for the Jerusalem temple as the Judeans were, nor even expected to keep the Sabbath with the same stringency as the Judeans (), they are still called to a lifestyle that many find difficult to maintain. As the Judeans understood, some of the hardest areas of obedience are those that preserve the distinctiveness of faith in God from the unbelieving culture. Of many possible examples, one suggested by this passage involves the high priority God’s people should place on the corporate aspect of faith. The Jerusalem temple was the center of worship for Israel and represented God’s presence among them. Everyone was required to worship there at least three times a year. It was impossible to maintain a private faith in God that did not involve other believers. Modern Western culture places a high value on privacy and personal convenience, and many Christians are tempted to disengage from the church, believing they can worship God just as effectively alone. However, the New Testament affirms the importance of the church functioning as a body, with members vitally connected to one another. As in postexilic Israel, this calls for conscious prioritization of the contributions required, in terms of time, effort, and money. Neglecting the church is not acceptable.

and repeated in subsequent covenant renewal ceremonies.

The people hear God’s word and then respond with commitment to obey.

This portrays the actions of this section as another renewal of the covenant, further enhancing connections with the new-covenant prophecy.

The restoration begun with the return of the exiles to the land in would be incomplete without the spiritual renewal of the people described here.

Nehemiah showed that he understood this in his prayer in .

A rededicated Israel creates the expectation of greater blessing from God in the future.

Nehemiah 9:38 CSB

38 In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.

Nehemiah 10:1 CSB

1 Those whose seals were on the document were the governor Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,

Nehemiah 10:9–10 CSB

9 The Levites were Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel, 10 and their brothers Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,

Nehemiah 10:14 CSB

14 The heads of the people were Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,

Nehemiah 10:28–29 CSB

28 The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to obey the law of God— 29 join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the Lord our Lord.

So, let’s take time to really look at the names.

Question:

“What do you immediately take away from this list of names?”

Now, let’s finish the rest of the chapter

Nehemiah 10:30–39 CSB

30 We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons. 31 When the surrounding peoples bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day. We will also leave the land uncultivated in the seventh year and will cancel every debt. 32 We will impose the following commands on ourselves: To give an eighth of an ounce of silver yearly for the service of the house of our God: 33 the bread displayed before the Lord, the daily grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbath and New Moon offerings, the appointed festivals, the holy things, the sin offerings to atone for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our ancestral families at the appointed times each year. They are to bring the wood to our God’s house to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law. 35 We will bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the Lord’s house year by year. 36 We will also bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as prescribed by the law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who serve in our God’s house. 37 We will bring a loaf from our first batch of dough to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God. We will also bring the firstfruits of our grain offerings, of every fruit tree, and of the new wine and fresh oil. A tenth of our land’s produce belongs to the Levites, for the Levites are to collect the one-tenth offering in all our agricultural towns. 38 A priest from Aaron’s descendants is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites are to take a tenth of this offering to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God. 39 For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and fresh oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the priests who minister are, along with the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.

Nehemiah 10:

Interpretive Insights

Nehemiah 9:38 CSB

38 In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.

9:38  In view of all this.

9:38  In view of all this. This section continues directly from 9:1–37. The setting in time is the same, and the flow of thought is logically connected. Because the community recognizes their history of sin and God’s history of mercy toward them described in 9:1–37, they will make the commitments outlined in 10:29–39. we are making a binding agreement. Although the speakers in 9:5–37 were the Levites, they were leading the whole community in prayer and speaking on their behalf. The pronoun “we” continues to represent the community. The Hebrew word for “agreement” likely does not have bilateral implications, as a covenant would. The only other use of this word in the Old Testament is in , where a formal translation could be “a regulation was over the singers’ daily activity.” The people are making a rule for themselves to follow—namely, that they will obey God’s law. They are expressing their degree of determination to be obedient. Yet the Hebrew word in 9:38 for “making” is the verb usually used for making a covenant. The combination of the familiar verb with the rare noun suggests that the similarities to a covenant-renewal ceremony should be recognized, while stopping short of asserting that the new covenant has fully arrived. The choice of the noun may also be influenced by the reference to Abraham’s faithfulness in 9:8. The Hebrew words for “faithful” and “agreement” are from the same root. The community is expressing their determination to be faithful to God as Abraham was. affixing their seals to it. A wax or clay seal, imprinted by a stamp bearing the name of the owner, was often used to keep a rolled document closed. Here the seals represent their owners’ legal assent to the document’s contents, like a signature would today. 10:28  The rest of the people. This verse lists various categories of people in order to emphasize that all of the people join in. This is not merely a decision made by their leaders. The only conditions for inclusion seem to be ability to understand God’s law, willingness to avoid compromising relations with the surrounding peoples, and, of course, desire to participate in the agreement itself. The new covenant is explicitly for people from all walks of life (). 10:29  a curse and an oath. The people took an oath with a curse attached to it as a consequence if they did not keep their word. This was common in the ancient Near East and demonstrated that the people were serious about their decision. follow the Law of God . . . the commands, regulations. The ancestors shamefully ignored and disobeyed God’s laws, commands, and ordinances (). They did not turn from their evil ways even when they were enjoying God’s goodness in the promised land (9:35). The returnees pledge that, although not yet enjoying God’s goodness to the extent the ancestors did (9:36–37), they will do the opposite of what the ancestors did and obey God’s instructions (“ordinances” in 9:29 represents the same Hebrew word as “regulations” in 10:29). 10:30  not to give our daughters in marriage . . . for our sons. The returned exiles had already struggled with this issue (). Passages such as and had warned against marrying non-Israelites. Since true converts to faith in Yahweh, such as Rahab and Ruth, were allowed to marry Israelites (see ), the prohibition against intermarriage was not racially or ethnically prejudiced. The intent was to avoid being drawn into idolatry, as happened to Solomon (). The earlier biblical laws listed specific nations the Israelites were not to intermarry with, but here the community expresses and follows the principle behind those laws. 10:32  the commands to give a third of a shekel each year. instructs each Israelite male age twenty or over to pay a half-shekel during a census. The money is to be used for the operation of the sanctuary. No annual payment is stipulated in the Pentateuch. By the time of , the ancient Near Eastern economy had become more money based than previously. It would have been harder for all the needs of the temple to be met solely by offerings of animals and grain. It appears that the Judeans recognize the new need resulting from new circumstances. They honor the principle of the old law that cash should be given for the sanctuary. But they modify it by disconnecting it from censuses and reducing the amount from one-half to one-third of a shekel but also by making it an annual payment. The net result would be more money given for the temple under the new version. 10:34  have cast lots. There is no direction given in the law about organizing the provision of wood for sacrifices at the sanctuary. The community considers everyone eligible for this obligation and then casts lots to determine assignments. This is a way of letting God decide the responsibilities rather than letting the influential people place the burden on others. as it is written in the Law. Since there is no command to bring a wood offering in the Pentateuch, it is likely that the community is referring to the commands that the fire on the sanctuary altar must never be allowed to go out and the priest must add wood to it every morning (). The Torah command implies that wood must be supplied regularly, so the people are making the implicit explicit. 10:36  the firstborn of our sons. The Israelites were to give the first of every kind of blessing they received to God. In the case of sons, they were to pay a “redemption fee” in lieu of donating the child to work at the sanctuary (). The firstborn of unclean animals were similarly redeemed, but the firstborn of clean animals were brought for sacrifice. These are ways of affirming God as the source of all blessing and placing priority on worshiping him. 10:39  We will not neglect the house of our God. Throughout Chronicles the attitude a king of Judah takes toward the temple is an important indicator of his spiritual character. Those who provide for its services and upkeep are considered godly and are blessed. Those who do not are not (e.g., ). The returned exiles realize that it would be very easy to become lax about the responsibilities that God had given them for the temple and its personnel. They therefore give special prominence to these obligations. Theological Insights This passage illustrates an essential aspect of being in relationship with God. He always stands willing to forgive, but he actually forgives only those who understand their own sinfulness and appreciate his willingness to forgive them. Going forward, such people have a strong desire to obey him and consciously commit to doing so. As we understand from human relationships, genuine reconciliation with God takes place only when we are honest about how we have harmed the relationship with him and are sincere about investing ourselves in it appropriately, which means, in the case of a relationship with God, on his terms. An important principle of how God communicates through Scripture underlies the activity of this passage. The community discerns the intent of the individual laws in their original setting and seeks to produce the same effect in the current setting, even if some details must be modified to do so. The resulting standards are at least as high as those set by the original laws. The reason they are able to follow this procedure is that God’s word to the original hearers was a statement of his timeless principles expressed in specific examples relevant to their setting. Although the details of people’s historical circumstances change, God’s principles do not change. In contemporary Western culture, which promotes the concept that every system of values is equally valid, one of the more challenging aspects of God’s nature is his insistence that distinctions be drawn between right and wrong, implying precisely that not every system of values is equally valid. Rejecting mixed marriage, honoring the Sabbath, and maintaining temple worship in strict adherence to God’s instructions would strike many today as arbitrary demands and were seen that way even by many in preexilic Israel. Yet the distinctions God draws cannot be ignored. Those who do not correctly apply the principles in his Word to the setting in which they themselves live set out on a course that ultimately leads away from him. Teaching the Text It may appear at first sight that there is little application for Christians to make from this passage. Yet the attitude of obedience it portrays is as relevant for God’s people today as ever. (especially vv. 13, 19) echoes the thought that all who have received God’s grace and forgiveness should be as obedient to God as possible. Whether individuals or groups wish to make written declarations of their intentions to obey God like the Judeans did is optional, but the same resolve should be evident in their lives. Figuring out how to apply God’s teachings in the contemporary world—a challenge to an even greater degree for the church than it was for the postexilic Judeans—is just as necessary now as it was then. The cultural differences between today’s world and the worlds of the Old and New Testaments are larger than the gap between the world of the Torah and the world of the Persian Empire. But the approach is basically the same: the principle behind the original teaching must be understood. God gave specific commands to specific people in specific circumstances. Those commands illustrate timeless principles that God wants to teach his people. Once the principles are understood, it becomes possible to envision what it would look like to live by them in contemporary settings. Seeking to keep the spirit of the law over its letter will frequently lead to a higher standard of ethics (e.g., ). As believers seek to live obediently, they will identify areas of life where it seems particularly difficult, as the Judeans found. Although Christians are not constrained by ethnic barriers to marriage (though God still expects them to marry only other Christians; see ), nor required to provide for the Jerusalem temple as the Judeans were, nor even expected to keep the Sabbath with the same stringency as the Judeans (), they are still called to a lifestyle that many find difficult to maintain. As the Judeans understood, some of the hardest areas of obedience are those that preserve the distinctiveness of faith in God from the unbelieving culture. Of many possible examples, one suggested by this passage involves the high priority God’s people should place on the corporate aspect of faith. The Jerusalem temple was the center of worship for Israel and represented God’s presence among them. Everyone was required to worship there at least three times a year. It was impossible to maintain a private faith in God that did not involve other believers. Modern Western culture places a high value on privacy and personal convenience, and many Christians are tempted to disengage from the church, believing they can worship God just as effectively alone. However, the New Testament affirms the importance of the church functioning as a body, with members vitally connected to one another. As in postexilic Israel, this calls for conscious prioritization of the contributions required, in terms of time, effort, and money. Neglecting the church is not acceptable.

This section continues directly from 9:1–37.

The setting in time is the same, and the flow of thought is logically connected.

Because the community recognizes their history of sin and God’s history of mercy toward them described in 9:1–37, they will make the commitments outlined in 10:29–39.

we are making a binding agreement.

Although the speakers in 9:5–37 were the Levites, they were leading the whole community in prayer and speaking on their behalf.

The pronoun “we” continues to represent the community.

The Hebrew word for “agreement” likely does not have bilateral implications, as a covenant would.

The only other use of this word in the Old Testament is in , where a formal translation could be “a regulation was over the singers’ daily activity.”

The people are making a rule for themselves to follow—namely, that they will obey God’s law.

They are expressing their degree of determination to be obedient.

Yet the Hebrew word in 9:38 for “making” is the verb usually used for making a covenant.

The combination of the familiar verb with the rare noun suggests that the similarities to a covenant-renewal ceremony should be recognized, while stopping short of asserting that the new covenant has fully arrived.

sealed document.

A wax or clay seal, imprinted by a stamp bearing the name of the owner, was often used to keep a rolled document closed.

Here the seals represent their owners’ legal assent to the document’s contents, like a signature would today.

Nehemiah 10:28 CSB

28 The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to obey the law of God—

10:28  The rest of the people.

10:28  The rest of the people.

This verse lists various categories of people in order to emphasize that all of the people join in. This is not merely a decision made by their leaders.

The only conditions for inclusion seem to be ability to understand God’s law, willingness to avoid compromising relations with the surrounding peoples, and, of course, desire to participate in the agreement itself.

The new covenant is explicitly for people from all walks of life.

Nehemiah 10:29 CSB

29 join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the Lord our Lord.

10:29  a curse and an oath.

10:29  a curse and an oath.

The people took an oath with a curse attached to it as a consequence if they did not keep their word.

This was common in the ancient Near East and demonstrated that the people were serious about their decision.

follow the Law of God . . . the commands, regulations.

The ancestors shamefully ignored and disobeyed God’s laws, commands, and ordinances ().

They did not turn from their evil ways even when they were enjoying God’s goodness in the promised land .

The returnees pledge that, although not yet enjoying God’s goodness to the extent the ancestors did (9:36–37), they will do the opposite of what the ancestors did and obey God’s instructions (“ordinances” in 9:29 represents the same Hebrew word as “regulations” in 10:29).

Nehemiah 10:30 CSB

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

10:30  not to give our daughters in marriage . . . for our sons.

10:30  not to give our daughters in marriage . . . for our sons.

The returned exiles had already struggled with this issue ().

Passages such as and had warned against marrying non-Israelites.

Since true converts to faith in Yahweh, such as Rahab and Ruth, were allowed to marry Israelites (see ), the prohibition against intermarriage was not racially or ethnically prejudiced.

The intent was to avoid being drawn into idolatry, as happened to Solomon ().

The earlier biblical laws listed specific nations the Israelites were not to intermarry with, but here the community expresses and follows the principle behind those laws.

10:32  the commands to give a third of a shekel each year.

instructs each Israelite male age twenty or over to pay a half-shekel during a census.

The money is to be used for the operation of the sanctuary. No annual payment is stipulated in the Pentateuch.

By the time of , the ancient Near Eastern economy had become more money based than previously.

It would have been harder for all the needs of the temple to be met solely by offerings of animals and grain.

It appears that the Judeans recognize the new need resulting from new circumstances.

They honor the principle of the old law that cash should be given for the sanctuary.

But they modify it by disconnecting it from censuses and reducing the amount from one-half to one-third of a shekel but also by making it an annual payment.

The net result would be more money given for the temple under the new version.

10:34  have cast lots.

There is no direction given in the law about organizing the provision of wood for sacrifices at the sanctuary.

The community considers everyone eligible for this obligation and then casts lots to determine assignments.

This is a way of letting God decide the responsibilities rather than letting the influential people place the burden on others. as it is written in the Law.

Since there is no command to bring a wood offering in the Pentateuch, it is likely that the community is referring to the commands that the fire on the sanctuary altar must never be allowed to go out and the priest must add wood to it every morning ().

The Torah command implies that wood must be supplied regularly, so the people are making the implicit explicit.

10:36  the firstborn of our sons.

The Israelites were to give the first of every kind of blessing they received to God.

In the case of sons, they were to pay a “redemption fee” in lieu of donating the child to work at the sanctuary ().

The firstborn of unclean animals were similarly redeemed, but the firstborn of clean animals were brought for sacrifice.

These are ways of affirming God as the source of all blessing and placing priority on worshiping him.

10:39  We will not neglect the house of our God.

Throughout Chronicles the attitude a king of Judah takes toward the temple is an important indicator of his spiritual character. Those who provide for its services and upkeep are considered godly and are blessed.

Those who do not are not (e.g., ). The returned exiles realize that it would be very easy to become lax about the responsibilities that God had given them for the temple and its personnel.

They therefore give special prominence to these obligations.

Theological Insights

This passage illustrates an essential aspect of being in relationship with God.

He always stands willing to forgive, but he actually forgives only those who understand their own sinfulness and appreciate his willingness to forgive them.

Going forward, such people have a strong desire to obey him and consciously commit to doing so.

As we understand from human relationships, genuine reconciliation with God takes place only when we are honest about how we have harmed the relationship with him and are sincere about investing ourselves in it appropriately, which means, in the case of a relationship with God, on his terms.

An important principle of how God communicates through Scripture underlies the activity of this passage.

The community discerns the intent of the individual laws in their original setting and seeks to produce the same effect in the current setting, even if some details must be modified to do so.

The resulting standards are at least as high as those set by the original laws. The reason they are able to follow this procedure is that God’s word to the original hearers was a statement of his timeless principles expressed in specific examples relevant to their setting.

Although the details of people’s historical circumstances change, God’s principles do not change.

In contemporary Western culture, which promotes the concept that every system of values is equally valid, one of the more challenging aspects of God’s nature is his insistence that distinctions be drawn between right and wrong, implying precisely that not every system of values is equally valid.

Rejecting mixed marriage, honoring the Sabbath, and maintaining temple worship in strict adherence to God’s instructions would strike many today as arbitrary demands and were seen that way even by many in preexile Israel.

Yet the distinctions God draws cannot be ignored.

Those who do not correctly apply the principles in his Word to the setting in which they themselves live set out on a course that ultimately leads away from him.

Land the Plane

It may appear at first sight that there is little application for Christians to make from this passage.

Yet the attitude of obedience it portrays is as relevant for God’s people today as ever.

Romans 6 CSB

1 What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, 9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace. 15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over, 18 and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness. 21 So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death. 22 But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life! 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(especially vv. 13, 19) echoes the thought that all who have received God’s grace and forgiveness should be as obedient to God as possible.

Whether individuals or groups wish to make written declarations of their intentions to obey God like the Judeans did is optional, but the same resolve should be evident in their lives.

Figuring out how to apply God’s teachings in the contemporary world—a challenge to an even greater degree for the church than it was for the postexilic Judeans—is just as necessary now as it was then.

The cultural differences between today’s world and the worlds of the Old and New Testaments are larger than the gap between the world of the Torah and the world of the Persian Empire.

But the approach is basically the same: the principle behind the original teaching must be understood.

God gave specific commands to specific people in specific circumstances.

Those commands illustrate timeless principles that God wants to teach his people.

Once the principles are understood, it becomes possible to envision what it would look like to live by them in todays settings.

Seeking to keep the spirit of the law over its letter will frequently lead to a higher standard of ethics (e.g., ).

As followers seek to live obediently, they will identify areas of life where it seems particularly difficult, as the Judeans found.

Although Christians are not constrained by ethnic barriers to marriage (though God still expects them to marry only other Christians; see ), nor required to provide for the Jerusalem temple as the Judeans were, nor even expected to keep the Sabbath with the same stringency as the Judeans (), they are still called to a lifestyle that many find difficult to maintain.

As the Judeans understood, some of the hardest areas of obedience are those that preserve the distinctiveness of faith in God from the unbelieving culture.

Of many possible examples, one suggested by this passage involves the high priority God’s people should place on the corporate aspect of faith. The Jerusalem temple was the center of worship for Israel and represented God’s presence among them. Everyone was required to worship there at least three times a year. It was impossible to maintain a private faith in God that did not involve other believers. Modern Western culture places a high value on privacy and personal convenience, and many Christians are tempted to disengage from the church, believing they can worship God just as effectively alone. However, the New Testament affirms the importance of the church functioning as a body, with members vitally connected to one another. As in postexilic Israel, this calls for conscious prioritization of the contributions required, in terms of time, effort, and money. Neglecting the church is not acceptable.