Determined Faithfulness
Determined: Nehemiah • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 4 viewsThe people swore not to intermarry or neglect the sabbath, yet this is what Nehemiah finds them doing. Nehemiah understands the danger in hypocrisy.
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Determined Faithfulness
Determined Faithfulness
Intro
Intro
He saw Gentile people who lived in Jerusalem transgressing the Sabbath, so he confronted the nobles.
Nehemiah explained that their fathers in the past did such things and wrath came on Israel.
In response to these transgressions, Nehemiah had the gates shut during the Sabbath, to keep the Sabbath holy.
Because of these actions, he asked God to remember and spare him according to God's steadfast love.
Nehemiah also saw Jews who intermarried, so he confronted and attacked them. He also had them take an oath again not to intermarry.
He cites Solomon's downfall because of intermarriage and attacks their willingness in this evil and treacherous act.
One of the sons of the High Priest was engaging in these evil and treacherous acts as well, so Nehemiah chases him away too.
Because of these actions, he asked God to remember Jehoiada and Eliashib for desecrating the holy priesthood.
By these actions, Nehemiah cleansed the people from everything foreign to holiness and set up the necessary things to promote further holiness.
Nehemiah closes by asking God to remember him for good.
Intro
Intro
Overview of Nehemiah
We have spent the last 16 weeks looking at the life of Nehemiah.
I want to share with you some of the key aspects of Nehemiah that we have seen during this series.
(First six aspects of Nehemiah from “Nehemiah” by Edwin Yamauchi in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Revised Edition #4 ed. by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, 2010, page 568.)
Nehemiah was a man of Responsibility, as shown by his position as the royal cupbearer.
He was a man of vision, he planned accordingly then acted.
He was a man of prayer, he prayed spontaneously and even in the presences of the king (2:4-5).
He was a man of action and cooperation, realizing what needed to be done, explaining it to others and enlisted their aid.
He was a man of compassion, moved by the mistreatment of the poor, he renounced his rights as governor (5:18) and denounced others who acted in greed (5:8).
He was a man who triumphed over opposition, whether they ridiculed him (4:3), attempted to slander him (6:4-7) and even spread misleading messages—fake news—about him (6:10-14). Nehemiah triumphed over difficulties.
The key to all of these aspects was Nehemiah’s faithfulness.
Nehemiah was faithful first to God, second in the mission God had given him and lastly in his convictions.
Faithfulness is the what we are going to look at today.
READ:
READ:
How can we lives faithful lives that honor God and lead others to Christ?
PRAY
Today we will look at Nehemiah’s actions in the last several verses of his book.
Turn to Nehemiah 13 verse 15.
Points
Points
Nehemiah has not been in Jerusalem for a while possibly even years. He has been back in his home serving king Artaxerxes as we saw last week in .
Determined Faithfulness
Determined Faithfulness
Right before his departure we see that all the people made a covenant with the Lord in
(ESV)
The Obligations of the Covenant
28 “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. 30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 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 saw in the first part of chapter 13, that the people had already gone back on caring for the Lord’s house.
(ESV)
We saw in the first part of chapter 13, that the people had already gone back on caring for the Lord’s house. .
10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.
The section we are going to look at today, shows that they had forsaken all the things they had previously promised to do.
1 On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
2 for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3 As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.
4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,
5 prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
6 While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king
7 and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.
8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber.
9 Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.
11 So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.
12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.
13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers.
14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.
15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food.
16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself!
17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?
18 Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19 As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day.
20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21 But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.
22 Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
READ:
READ:
This event likely took place September-October during the Grape Harvest, Grain would have been harvested a few months earlier and the figs would be late figs or autumn figs.
General Law of Sabbath Rest is in
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Harvesting Prohibited
“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
Demand for Rest of Beast
“Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
There are two distinct groups mentioned in verse 15 and 16. In 15 Nehemiah is likely speaking of the Jews living in Judah. In verse 16, we see Tyrians, which are people from Tyre who are living in Jerusalem. The Tyrians were not Jewish, they were Gentiles.
Forsaken the Sabbath was not a new thing in Israel.
records the people impatiently waiting for the Sabbath to end so they could get back to making money.
English Standard Version Chapter 8
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
(ESV)
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
This event likely took place September-October during the Grape Harvest, Grain would have been harvested a few months earlier and the figs would be late or autumn figs.
In , we see that one of the reasons the Israelites were taken into captivity was because they didn’t keep the Sabbath holy.
(ESV)
(ESV)
General law of Sabbath rest is in , harvesting prohibited , and demand of rest for beast in
20and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.
Keep the Sabbath Holy
21Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.
22And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.
19 Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.
23Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.
24“ ‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it,
25then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever.
24 “ ‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26 And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’ ”
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
27 But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’ ”
26And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord.
2 Chronicles also talks about the Sabbath being a major contributor to the exile
(ESV)
20 He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
Nehemiah confronted the Nobles with these things in
The nobles were responsible for the good behavior of the city. To refrain from exercising their authority to restrict the disobedience was itself a crime and a profaning of the Sabbath.
James, the half brother of Jesus warns us of this same truth in (ESV)
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Nehemiah in verse 18 says "your fathers" but then says "our God". He is refusing to identify with his his nation as he did in , he is not nor would he commit this sin of Sabbath breaking
(ESV)
5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.
The people’s faithfulness to keep the Sabbath didn’t just spare them from the wrath of God, it also showed that they trusted in Him alone. It was for their sanctification. As they trusted Him for provision, their faith would grow to trust Him even more.
We can see this truth in
(ESV)
The Sabbath
12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.
(ESV)
17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”
Jeshua and Zerubbabel - Rebuilt the temple
Zerrubabel - Rebuilt the temple
These two ideas of sparing us from harm and sanctifying us to greater trust in the Lord is still true for us today.
Ezra - Renewed obedience to the Law
Nehemiah - Rebuilt the City Walls and Renewed obedience to the Law
Point 1. Faithfulness spares and sanctifies us.
Point 1. Faithfulness spares and sanctifies us.
Though we are no longer obligated to observe the Sabbath, we can see both of these ideas in Jesus’ call for us to rest in
(ESV)
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The teaching of the Law observed at this time was referred to as a yoke of teaching. The religious leaders had added 39 categories of work on the Sabbath which equaled out over 600 regulations about work on the Sabbath.
Jesus is calling us to trade Him for His yoke. What is His yoke? We must trust in Jesus by faith that He fulfilled the Law perfectly and learn what a holy life looks like.
Jesus was not concerned with what would desecrate the Sabbath as much as He was with how to sanctify it. We sanctify, which means set it apart from other days, by making it a day of rest, worshipping together and serving the Lord.
General law of Sabbath rest is in , harvesting prohibited , and demand of rest for beast in
The nobles were responsible for the good behavior of the city. To refrain from exercising their authority to restrict the disobedience was itself a crime and a profaning of the Sabbath. cf.
READ:
READ:
"your fathers" "our God" Nehemiah is refusing to identify with his his nation as he did in , he is not nor would he commit this sin of Sabbath breaking
Why is Nehemiah so upset about these Jewish men marrying foreign women?
To understand this we have to remember that God had separated out the Jews as a special people.
We also have to remember that someone could convert to become a Jew.
Lastly, religion and the God a people group served was tied heavily to nationality.
In Christ, we see all nations, tribes and tongues coming together so like observing the Sabbath we will have to find our application in the underlying principles in this verse.
The key for us is found in , .
Hebrew was the language used in the Scriptures the Jews used, it was also used in their festivals and rituals. These children didn’t speak Hebrew so their involvement in the worship of God was severely hindered!
Story of going to Jewish Synagogue for Christian Ethics class.
Story of going to Jewish Synagogue for Christian Ethics class.
I had no way of reading that scroll and I didn’t understand some of the prayers they prayed in Hebrew.
These children were in the same boat I was in.
Worse still in Nehemiah’s mind was Solomon’s example.
We have the wisest, most influential and richest man to ever live. A man love by God and the King. Yet he, too, fell, because if the outside influence of such women.
We can read the sad commentary in
(ESV)
4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Our faithfulness to the Scriptures builds us up today and it ensures that our children will hear the good news of Jesus as we share it with them.
Point 2. Faithfulness edifies today and safeguards our future.
Point 2. Faithfulness edifies today and safeguards our future.
Compromise hinders today and threatens our future.
Compromise hinders today and threatens our future.
In our day, there is a danger much like what these Israelites faced.
In 2 Corinthians Paul warns Christians of the dangers of yoking ourselves with unbelievers and false teachers.
(ESV)
The Temple of the Living God
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
7 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
We are to yoke ourselves with Christ and other believers. This must be true in our closest relationships. We should have friendships with unbelievers but our closest relationships should be shared with believers. This truth is very important in marriage as well.
Some may not be married to a believer. In these cases, we should pray diligently that God would open their eyes.
Paul says in
(ESV)
12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Read :
Read :
We saw in verses 15 and 16 that both Jew and Gentile were not observing the Sabbath. In verse 28, we see that even the High Priest’s own family was involved in these mixed religion marriages. This son of the High Priest could have been called upon to be the next High Priest and God had clearly spoken about marriage in the priesthood in
14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people,
15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”
(ESV)
14 he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”
The prophet Malachi was prophesying at this same time and he talks about the dire circumstances in the priesthood.
1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you.
2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.
4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts.
5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.
6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.
7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts,
9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”
(ESV)
Point 3. Faithful leaders are humble and obedient.
(, , )
Point 3. Faithful leaders are humble and obedient.
(, , )
The Lord Rebukes the Priests
Compromise in leadership cripples God’s people.
Compromise in leadership cripples God’s people.
2 “And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”
Not only was the son involved in a mix religion marriage, it is likely that he married the daughter of Sanballat as a direct challenge to Nehemiah’s authority. Sanballat was the archenemy of Nehemiah and stood in the way of all that God was doing. This son’s actions were not only dishonored God, but was in direct conflict with the covenant made in chapter 10.
Point 3. Faithful leaders are humble and obedient.
Point 3. Faithful leaders are humble and obedient.
We as christians are called to a higher standard—that of Jesus’ own behavior.
It is no accident you are here today, not only did these events happen during the same season, September/October as we are in but the verse of the day today is the next one on our list. Don’t miss what the Lord is speaking to us.
We see Christ’s example laid out in
(ESV)
Christ’s Example of Humility
2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus counted us more significant than the glory that He has. He is God in all His fulness yet in His human nature Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient to the Father. How much more should we be obedient to God!
READ:
READ:
Nehemiah cleansed everything foreign according to the Law and the old covenant. As I have said throughout we are no longer obligated to keep the Law to be in right relationship to God. We enter into fellowship with God through Jesus. There are many verses in the Old Testament that speak of this New Covenant coming. One of my favorites is in . The author of Hebrews was fond of this one too. He quotes it as he speaks of the New Covenant in
(ESV)
Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant
8 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
8 For he finds fault with them when he says:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
9 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.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”
13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
This leads us to every Christians mandate and goal:
Point 4. Our faithfulness points to Jesus.
Point 4. Our faithfulness points to Jesus.
We end our time here with Nehemiah.
Next week we will start a new series and we see the dawning of this New Covenant in the Gospel of John.
Introduce ESV Scripture Journals
προσευχωμεν
70 Years of Captivity