Nehemiah 10 Renewing Our Covenant: Separated Unto God's Purpose
Notes
Transcript
Text - Nehemaih 9:38-10:39
Subject - Covenant
Theme - Making a covenant.
Thesis - God’s word caused the people to recognize their sin and their need to make a new covenant before God.
Principle - In making a covenant/promise to follow Christ, you are not simply promising to keep yourself from certain things, rather you are promising to follow the Lord.
Intro
I want us to begin by thinking a little this morning.
When was the last time you made a promise?
Were you able to keep that promise?
Did you break that promise?
Maybe you had to renew that promise, make it fresh again.
Promises symbolize our commitment to someone or something.
By making a promise, we express our dedication to fulfilling a specific action or obligation.
This commitment can be to a person, a cause, a belief, or even to ourselves.
Promises symbolize our commitment to someone or something.
By making a promise, we express our dedication to fulfilling a specific action or obligation.
Promises create a sense of accountability.
By verbalizing our intentions and commitments, we hold ourselves accountable for our words and actions.
This accountability motivates us to follow through on our promises and take responsibility for our behavior.
Promises can deepen emotional connections between individuals.
When we make promises to loved ones, friends, or colleagues, we're expressing care, affection, and concern for their well-being.
Fulfilling these promises strengthens bonds and fosters intimacy.
These are all things that God does with His people.
That God does with you and me.
Things as well that He asks us to reciprocate.
Today, we'll explore the covenant the people made - a commitment that transformed their relationships,
their rest,
and their resources.
As we unpack the significance of their promises,
My prayer is that we too can embrace God's call to separation, Sabbath, and stewardship in our lives today.
In making a covenant/promise to follow Christ, you are not simply promising to keep yourself from certain things, rather you are promising to follow the Lord.
“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,
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.
We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.
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.
“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:
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.
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.
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;
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;
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; 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.
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.
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. We will not neglect the house of our God.”
The covenant the people made
The covenant the people made
As the people immersed themselves in God’s word, it caused them to desire a commitment.
“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.
They made this promise in writing.
All of the leaders, with the authority of the people signed the covenant.
In this act we observe the role of leadership and authority.
In verses 1-27 of chapter 10 are listed the Governor, Nehemiah.
The priests, the Levites and their brothers (physical or brothers in like mind).
The chiefs of the people is the largest group from verse 14-27.
These men would have no power and no authority if the people did not follow them.
In verse 28 we see the rest of the people included.
It is interesting to note in verse 28 if you read it carefully, just what the people were doing.
All who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands.
They are doing as God said and setting themselves apart, to be a people for His possession.
But the real significance is about what is happening through this promise.
They are not only separating themselves from something.
They are separating themselves to something.
They are separating themselves to the Law of God.
The men, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding.
This is the significance of the promise.
Not that they are simply avoiding things.
In setting themselves apart to the Law of God there is
Purposeful Isolation: It's like being carved out from the rest, singled out for a specific purpose, a separation with intention and direction.
Focused Dedication: There's a sense of commitment and devotion, as if every action is aligned with the purpose for which they’ve been set apart.
Honored Responsibility: Understanding that they have been entrusted with something sacred, a recognition of qualities that warrant this separation.
Elevated Expectations: The people had begun to understand that as God’s chosen he people, He did have some expectations of them.
In setting themselves apart to God’s law it helped them to have
Clarified Identity: They were defined by their connection to God.
It revealed the need for
Selflessness: It often involves sacrifice, putting aside personal desires or comfort for the greater good of the relationship or the mission you've been set apart for.
Separating to God’s Law really brought
Empowerment: Ultimately, being set apart can be empowering, it gave them a sense of purpose and direction that propelled them forward with determination and resolve.
So what did the promise to separate from?
Promise to healthy relationships.
Promise to healthy relationships.
Immoral/un-godly relationships.
They promised to not intermarry with the people of the land.
We read throughout the OT of how this caused great difficulties and distress amongst the people.
The people had seen as the read Scripture repeated stories of compromise that started with marriages with people who worshipped other gods.
They read of King Ahab's marriage to Jezebel and how she poisoned all of Israel with Ba'al worship.
They read of Samson's pursuit of Delilah and how he lost his divine gift of strength as a result.
They read of King Solomon's compromise with hundreds of women and how he eventually used Israel's wealth to build temples for their gods.
The people discovered that whenever the enemy of their souls got them into relational compromise, they became fruitless.
Time and time again, stories like these repeated themselves in Israel's story.
These stories might feel archaic to us, but look around us today.
Can't we see a similar wicked strategy at play in our modern time?
We can see all the more clearly how sin is generating sexual confusion and compromise.
How the enemy is using this with the goal of breaking down the family.
And our society is ripe for this deception, partly because we have a highly individualistic view of the world.
It’s all about me, all about how I feel, all about what I can do.
In cultures with a more communal nature this is different, but many of those are being eroded away.
Some parts of that rightfully so.
My mind goes to some Japanese or middle eastern cultures.
Who has seen the Disney movie Mulan?
There is a lot more at play than this in this movie but the honor culture is displayed well in a way we can all understand.
What is the reason the men go to fight?
To bring honor - perhaps you can hear the song in your head right now.
What is the reason Mulan has to hide herself?
So she does not dishonor her family.
I hesitate to use this example because yes, Mulan is thinking about protecting her father when she leaves, yes she does bring honor to her family in the end.
But her deep rooted motive is our western mindset.
Her ultimate motive is for herself, and prove her ability. That is where the connection breaks down.
Connecting for us today, how do these rules apply to us today and our relationships?
Is it wrong, as a Christian to marry a nonbeliever today?
Is it wrong to live with someone before you are married?
Is it wrong to participate in the hook-up culture of the day?
Yes! Biblically these things are wrong.
They are also unwise.
God declares them wrong because they hurt society, both the church and people outside the church.
I can't imagine choosing to raise my children with someone who didn't have Christ as Lord.
It is one thing to remain faithful to an unbelieving spouse after you've found Christ,
but to be a believer who knowingly enters into a relationship with a nonbeliever is unwise.
The two of you will have opposite ways of looking at the world.
Thinking of relationships before marriage, how much baggage is brought into marriages because of frivolous relationships.
Some of you know Jim Carlson - one of his favorite sayings when I was in Bible college was be careful who you marry!
I want to add to that for those not married, what is the purpose of dating?
To know if you want to marry someone.
It has been turned into a worthless game of fickle feelings today.
The God of the universe knows our design and has a design for healthy, God honoring relationships.
Understanding that, the people made a relational commitment to keep themselves separate from unholy alliances that would bring them into compromise.
They realized this was a major part of God's pathway to flourishing.
This commitment is a significant step for those seeking renewal today—make the same commitment.
Decide that your life—relationally, intimately, and romantically—will be different.
Be willing to hold to a different standard and watch what God does!
Promise of sabbath rest.
Promise of sabbath rest.
The second thing that the Israelites commit to in this passage is the Sabbath.
This is more than taking a day off.
This is making a commitment to how the people will spend their time.
The Sabbath was one of the ways God marked them as his people.
We know from the creation story in Genesis.
And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
As the people read God’s word, they learned this pattern God had set for them.
Not only were they to take every seventh day off for rest and worship, but they were also to let their fields rest every seventh year.
And, as Nehemiah's generation read the word, they would have been reminded that their ancestors had ignored this Sabbath system for 490 years.
This was another part of why God sent them into captivity for seventy years in Babylon, as a way to get the land its rest (Jeremiah 25:12).
So Nehemiah's generation understood that keeping the Sabbath was another God-designed pathway into flourishing.
The Sabbath was a big deal because it reminded the people that they were God’s.
The nations around them bought and sold on Saturdays, but Israel did not.
When the whole country stopped for a day, it looked different, and reminded them that they were set apart to God.
We know from reading our Bibles though that this became a legalistic ritual with many more added rules that the Pharisees placed upon the people.
What it was meant to do though was to provide a weekly chance to declare God’s lordship over their lives.
The sabbath was also meant to get the people to rest.
When we are young especially, we think we can work ourselves to the brink, day after day, but it catches up eventually.
God knew we needed rest.
The sabbath forced the people to rest and depend upon God for provision rather than their own work.
Selling goods on Saturdays was another day they could make money, but God asked them to take the day and rest in Him.
Nehemiah’s generation made it a point to recommit to the Sabbath after seeing it’s importance in scripture.
The questions comes to us, is a sabbath required today?
There are many parallels between the OT sabbath and how we as a church function today.
The reason for that is because God has set a precedent for rest today.
When, how, and what that looks like though can look different for each person.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
We need to briefly separate for ourselves the Lord’s Day, and day of rest or sabbath.
In our calendar, weeks exist because of creation.
A day is a rotation of the earth, a month is the time it takes for the moon to wax and wane, a year is the time it takes the earth to travel around the sun.
The only precedent for a week is creation.
God set the precedent of working 6 days and resting on the seventh.
The Lord’s day though has been observed from the beginnings of the church.
Jesus was continually questioned about his doings on the Sabbath.
This was one of the biggest problems the Pharisees had with Him.
For example in John 5.
Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath and told him in John 5:8, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
This got the man in big trouble for carrying his bed on the Sabbath.
In John 5:16 John writes,
And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
John continues with Jesus response.
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
What does this mean?
God didn’t remain in His restful state.
When Adam fell into sin, God got up from his Sabbath rest after creation, and started to work again—
not this time on creation, but on redemption—
toward a new creation.
Jesus and the Father are creating a new world, a new humanity, and when finished, there will be a new sabbath.
The work of redemption was finished decisively on the cross.
And three days later Jesus rose from the dead to celebrate the victory he had won and the new creation he had inaugurated.
The Lord’s Day is for expressing Jesus’ rule and authority, it is for worshipping Christ.
The Sabbath is for relieving man, not burdening him.
The Sabbath is for showing mercy and doing good.
This is why the early church took the first day of the week as its day of worship and turned away from the seventh day.
The seventh day marked the victory of the first creation.
The first day marked the victory of the new creation with the resurrection of Christ.
Is a Sabbath required?
Not in the OT sense.
What we are called to is to mark a day and to celebrate the new creation and resurrection of Christ.
To stand reminded you belong to God,
to declare God's Lordship of your life,
to respect the limits of your humanity,
to more deeply depend on God,
to be trained to work hard when it's not time for rest,
to be distinct from our society,
and to be centered afresh on God
These are all benefits of committing to Sunday worship.
When we take time out of our hectic schedules it stands as an opportunity to be reminded of who we are before God.
It is a weekly opportunity to declare that God is our Lord.
Taking time to rest is also an opportunity for us to rely upon the Lord.
In taking the time to worship the Lord, we are giving Him the chance to provide for our needs.
Like Nehemiah's generation, and by the power of the Spirit, make the commitment of your time to God.
Promise of financial commitment.
Promise of financial commitment.
The final commitment we see is one of generosity.
A financial commitment.
English Standard Version Chapter 10
We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly
English Standard Version Chapter 10
We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits
English Standard Version Chapter 10
to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil
English Standard Version Chapter 10
We will not neglect the house of our God.
Their reading of scripture had shown them of times when the people had forgotten the Lord and His temple.
Even in recent years.
The book of Haggai
English Standard Version Introduction
When the first wave of Jewish exiles returned from Babylon to Jerusalem in 538 B.C., they began to rebuild the temple but soon gave up.
English Standard Version Introduction
Haggai rebuked the people for living in “paneled houses” while the house of God remained in ruins (1:4). He warned that, despite their best efforts, their wealth would never suffice, because the Lord was not pleased with their neglect of his temple
So this generation of people made the commitment to dedicate their finances as well in the worship of God.
And they planned their giving.
They made it a point in their life to give.
They decided that every year they would pay the temple tax (32).
This planned contribution would help buy the the things needed for the temple.
They made plans for all the offerings and all the tithes that would help the temple flourish.
They made this a commitment, an obligation.
This example is seen in the NT as well.
Paul told the Corinthian church to regularly plan a financial gift for the church in Jerusalem
Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.
On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.
This planned giving in both the Old and New Testaments is a wise pattern to follow.
God shows us in His word to not let our giving be sporadic and haphazard, but intelligent and planned.
We must make our giving a part of our budget.
We do this as a church as well.
We give of our church funds to support other missionaries in RMBM.
We help support the mission as a whole as well. 7% of all the funds we send to RMBM go to support the mission.
When we look at the peoples giving, it was necessary things.
Bread, grain, firewood.
It feels mundane but was essential.
Our giving today is much the same.
It goes to pay the power bill, church operations, but also pastors salary, kids club, VBS, and many other things.
The notable thing about their giving was the priority it was to take.
They gave of the first fruits, the firstborn of their families and livestock, first dough, wine, oil.
This was a reflection of the value they were to place upon God.
This high-quality giving is an important template for giving to God today.
We are often tempted to give him less than the best or most important, but God is worthy of our best.
Who has heard stories of missionaries receiving used tea bags? It happens!
We read of these OT and NT examples and ask are we required to tithe?
I don’t think so, with some reservations.
The first example of a tithe was actually seen before the law was given.
After Abram (Abraham) rescued Lot, he have a tenth of everything to Melchizedek, a priest of the God Most High.
Jesus condemned the Pharisees for tithing but not being faithful.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Both he says are important.
As a practical matter, tithing is a great goal for a believer.
I have seen its benefits many times up close and personal.
I want to be careful here not to venture into prosperity gospel territory.
We do not give so we can get.
The New Testament presents a way of life beyond the tithe
—one where Christians are as generous as humanly possible.
So to say Christians are required to tithe actually comes up short.
Instead, we should be as giving as we can because it all belongs to God anyhow.
The NT pattern is to give joyfully.
Give cheerfully.
To regularly invest in God’s kingdom and gospel work.
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
In committing our finances to the Lord, He is asking us to give us our hearts and allow Him to care for our needs.
Commit to holding to a different standard with your finances!
The covenant we need.
The covenant we need.
Circling back to the beginning -
The people didn’t simply separate themselves from immoral relationships, from being selfish with their time and finances, they separated themselves to God.
As I mentioned last week, we know where this is going.
This covenant, as with those the people made previously did not last.
Because they could not keep it in their own strength.
They needed someone greater to keep it for them.
That is where Jesus comes in.
Jesus came to make a new covenant.
A covenant of Grace and redemption.
One that still calls us to obedience though.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
It is a covenant that still calls us to separate ourselves to God.
But one that is fulfilled by faith.
Faith in the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God.
The Lamb who has taken our sins upon himself and made the payment we owe.
I want to encourage you this morning, if you have not, this is a promise you can make today.
Is it going to be easy? No.
Is it going to cause you to immediately cause you to stop sinning? No.
But it will provide you with the grace you need to move forward.
It will provide you with the Holy Spirit living inside of you to spur you on to follow God, to know His commands, to live your life for Him.
It will change your life!
You can make that promise for the first time today.
You can trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
You can rest in His promise, the covenant made with His shed blood that brings you to new life.
If this is you today, I would love to talk more about this with you and the celebrate with you.
As a church we want to walk alongside you.
This is the most significant step you will ever take in your life.
If you have already made this promise to follow the Lord.
Perhaps as we have been looking at this book you have been reminded of the things God asks of you.
I hope each of us that are believers has been reminded of our great need, and that we turn to the Lord to work in our lives.
This is a time where we can renew our commitments to the Lord.
A time to spur us on to get back into His word more regularly.
A time to refocus and begin to truly learn, or re-learn the things that Jesus has commanded.
You know the great commission that Jesus gave is to go therefore and make disciples, teaching them to obey the things he has commanded.
Are you acting as a disciple of Jesus today?
I have been thinking and considering ways we can and ought to be doing this as a church.
It is something that we are severely lacking as a church.
Something that we need to recommit to.
The ladies have a study that meets on Thursday morning and that is great, but I know not all the ladies can make it to that study.
Perhaps if you can’t make it to that study time, let’s set another time that works for another group.
Guys, I know it is difficult for us to get together, especially with schedules changing and rotating,
but Sunday morning alone is not enough for us to not be drawn away by the other things of this world.
We need to find some time or times we can commit to gathering together as believers to grow in the Lord.
Another option is perhaps we organize some home groups where families can get together, discuss the previous sermon or study something else together.
I have had a class on parenting on my mind as well as getting another marriage study scheduled and hopefully make it all the way through this time lol.
Not all of these things can happen at once and I know that.
And our schedules fill so fast!
Perhaps we need to evaluate what are our priorities.
As a church family, we need to commit to growing as individuals, and as a whole to growing in the Lord.
I don’t know the answer but I see the need.
I also know that if I start something, and don’t have the buy in, the commitment from each of you, that it will go nowhere fast.
As a church, we need to be thinking though how we are growing together in the Lord.
1 hour a week is not enough with the amount of distraction and outside influence we have in our lives today.
If this is something the Lord is laying on your heart this morning as well, please get a hold of me, I want to help facilitate growth in each of us.
For those of us that have trusted in Jesus lets us take this time today to renew or perhaps make a new covenant to grow in the Lord.
To become more godly men, fathers, brothers,
More godly women, mothers, sisters,
As I said last week, today we will celebrate communion together.
In celebrating communion, let us take this time to remember the promise of what Christ has done for us.
That through sacrifice, we are made clean.
Through his shed blood, we can have a relationship with our creator.
Let us also take this time to refresh and renew our own personal commitments to grow in Lord.
That we might flourish in Him.
To look more and more like Jesus every day!
And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.
And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.