Nehemiah 9:2, 6-10, 30-36

Confession Before God

Call to Worship (Psalm 50)

The mighty One summons us from sunrise to sunset. Out of perfect beauty God shines.

God calls to heaven and earth, "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me."

The heavens declare the righteousness of God, the judge of people and nations.

Let us not forget God, but with thanksgiving as our sacrifice, let us be a people of justice.

We worship the God of our salvation.

Prayer (Psalm 50, Luke 12)

Gracious God, thank you for seeking us out, for gathering us before you, for not keeping silent in the face of our need.

Thank you for calling us into account and for challenging us with strong words to be a people of covenant and justice.

Thank you for assuring us that we need not be afraid for it is your good pleasure to give us your kingdom.

In courage and hope, we come before you to hear your Word and prepare our hearts for the unexpected hour of your

coming.In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Context

Today’s lesson comes immediately after last week’s text (Nehemiah 8:2, 3, 13-18).

Following the observance of the Feast of Tabernacles, the people had a single day off. Then their feasting

turned to fasting.

Context

James B. Coffman points out, “A very important revelation of this chapter is that it was the Levites, and not the priests, who led Israel in

this penitential prayer of confession and praise to God . . . . There is not a word in this chapter that even

hints of any priestly participation in this great repentance, confession and prayer.”

Confessing Sin

Nehemiah 9:2The people of Israel voluntarily renounced their connection

both with the heathen people and their customs. By confessing not only their sins, but those of their forefathers

as well, they identified themselves with the past generations who had moved away from God’s will.

Later they said even more about their sins (Nehemiah 9:33-37) as well as those of their ancestors (vv. 16-39).

Confession and repentance are prerequisites for God to forgive sin.

Acknowledging God

Nehemiah 9:6, 7When they stood in their places, they were apparently at the same location where they had stood to hear the law

read a few days earlier (8:5). This reading of the Law went on for “a quarter of the day” (v. 3), followed by another

quarter of the day spent in confession and worship. Their prayer began with the affirmation, “You alone are

the Lord,” echoing the basic belief of the Hebrews (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Recalling Redemption

Nehemiah 9:9, 10Even while the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt, God was still watching over them. He heard their cry at the Red Sea. In the

years that followed, the Lord’s power was clearly evident as he not only brought them out of Egypt and through the Red Sea on dry ground, but even took them to their new homeland (Exodus

14:31). Bible students have counted some 40 Hebrew words used to

speak of “miracles” and they appear about 500 times in the Old Testament. Out of these some 250 refer to the miracle of the

exodus.

Recalling Redemption

The verses that follow (Nehemiah 9:11-29) are not included in this study.

They contain additional words of praise to God, specifying how and when the Lord intervened to provide for and

protect his people. Through all of this, they admitted, “Our ancestors . . . did not obey your commands” (v. 16). When

the Lord allowed them to be conquered by their pagan neighbors, it was for the purpose of correcting them.

Admitting Truth

Nehemiah 9:30-36The people’s confession of sin is summarized. They offer no excuse. On the other hand, they do affirm that God’s mercy

and patience have gone far beyond what anyone might expect or imagine. Over and over the Lord had sent prophets

to encourage the people to obey God. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the

neighboring peoples. Even then God did not abandon them.

Admitting Truth

James E. Smith notes, “After this summary of the relationship of God and his people, the Levites made the only petition in

this long prayer (v. 32). They asked that God note all the hardship which Israel had experienced from the days of the

kings of Assyria unto that very moment.”

Admitting Truth

It is significant to see the link between the confession of sin and the reading of Scripture (v. 3).

This illustrates the power of God’s Word to reprove and correct (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). Confessing sin is important for a nation (2 Chronicles 7:14) just as it is for an individual (Psalm

51:1-4). The remnant has returned from Babylonian exile to their

promised homeland. Now they want to be sure the slate is wiped clean.

Nehemiah 9:1

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with

earth on their heads.

Nehemiah 9:1

The people of God continued to study the law of God as Ezra read and taught them from the Book of Moses. Ezra’s reading

led them to obedience and rejoicing when they learned about their sins of omission from ignorance; such as, the

failure to build booths during the festival of booths. Their sins of commission, based on their open rebellion

against the law of God by some or ignorance of the law by others led them to repent with deep demonstrated sorrow.

Nehemiah 9:1

Confession of sin is to gain purification (1 John 1:9-10) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and

his word has no place in our lives.

Nehemiah 9:2

Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the

iniquities of their ancestors.

Nehemiah 9:2

The Book of Ruth provides a good example of how a Moabite woman came to faith in the true God when she made the true

God her God and God’s people her people. The Israelites were forbidden by the law of God from marrying

“foreigners;” that is, those who remained foreign by not making God their God and God’s people there people when they married an Israelite. When an Israelite married an unrepentant foreigner,

they married someone who had committed themselves to worshiping idols and practicing paganism, and this had a dramatic

and harmful effect on their families.

Nehemiah 9:2

Hindrances that should be thrown off (Hebrews 12:1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the

sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Nehemiah 9:3

They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth part of the day, and for

another fourth they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.

Nehemiah 9:3

The Israelites (those who had returned from exile with their families and those who had remained in the land because

they had not been carried off into exile in 587 BC with their families) continued to read from the law of the Lord even

though the law condemned their practice of sin. They did not turn away from God or refuse to obey God when they learned the law of God. They confessed their sins and continued to worship the true God as they learned more of

the truth of God and God’s law.

Nehemiah 9:6

And Ezra said: "You are the LORD, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you.

Nehemiah 9:6

When Ezra prayed to God and worshiped God before the people, he prayed aloud, which helped the people learn how to pray. He prayed according to what they had learned about God from God’s words and

works in the law of God, the Book of Moses. The beginning of his prayer recounted truths they had studied from

the early chapters of Genesis in the Book of Moses.God is the only God because He is the creator (Mal 2:10) Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane

the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?

Nehemiah 9:7

You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name

Abraham;

Nehemiah 9:7

Ezra declared in prayer the truth about God being the Creator of all, and the truth about God being the Creator of the Israelites, the people of God, beginning with Abraham.

Notice that Ezra accurately described the name change of Abram to Abraham and that God called Abram from Ur of the

Chaldeans, according to the Book of Genesis that they had been reading.

Nehemiah 9:8

…and you found his heart faithful before you, and made with him a covenant to give to his descendants the land of the

Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite; and you have fulfilled your

promise, for you are righteous.

Nehemiah 9:8

Ezra had set his heart to study, to obey, and to teach the law of God. He acknowledged in his prayer that Abraham had

been faithful and obedient also. Abraham had been faithful. God had been and continued to be righteous; therefore, God kept His covenant and promise to Abraham regarding His commitment to give the Promised

Land to Abraham and his descendants.

Nehemiah 9:9

"And you saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea.”

Nehemiah 9:9

Ezra’s prayer in the Bible teaches us to sometimes pray in ways that describe our beliefs in God as the God over history

and the God who has spoken in history and the God who keeps His promises in the Bible.

At this point in his prayer, Ezra proclaimed what he had read and taught from the Book of Exodus in the Law of Moses, the

Book of the Law of God.

Nehemiah 9:10

You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that

they acted insolently against our ancestors. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day.

Nehemiah 9:10

Ezra prayed and worshiped God for His acts in the history of his ancestors according to the writings of Moses. Because

God acts in righteousness, He heard the cries of His people and He also heard the insolent words of Pharaoh against the

true God, Moses, and His people. In judgment, God showed He was above all gods and all

nature and all people, and Ezra and God’s people praised God for His great acts in their history.

Nehemiah 9:29

And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your

commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, by the observance of which a person shall live. They turned a

stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.

Nehemiah 9:29

In spite of all God had done for them, and in spite of who God is, and in spite of His law, the Israelites had remained a stubborn and

rebellious people. “Presumptuous sins” are those God’s people commit because they unrighteously think that because they are God’s people God will not hold them accountable, or responsible, or punish

them, because they are special to God and are better than other people.

They thought God would ignore their sinful behavior because they were His children. This verse includes the period covered by the Book of Judges, the Books of the Kings, and the Books of the Prophets prior

to 587 BC.

Nehemiah 9:30

Many years you were patient with them, and warned them by your spirit through your prophets; yet they would not

listen. Therefore you handed them over to the peoples of the lands.

Nehemiah 9:30

In his worship of God, Ezra reasonably remembered the wonderful, holy, pure, and loving moral attributes of God that

moved the God to be patient with His children while continuing to warn them of the consequences of their

continued disobedience and rebellion, but they would not listen; therefore, their neighbors defeated them in battle as

their judges and kings ruled over them. God’s Spirit told the prophets what to say when they gave

God’s warnings.

Nehemiah 9:31

Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful

God.

Nehemiah 9:31

Ezra continued to emphasize the moral character of God. God’s love moved God to be gracious and merciful. God’s

love moved God to not destroy His people completely, but continue to work with them to lead them to repentance.

God did not abandon or walk away from His people, because God is gracious and merciful, but He did need to justly punish

them to correct their behavior.

Nehemiah 9:31

God is patient because He does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9) 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as

some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to

repentance.

Nehemiah 9:32

"Now therefore, our God--the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love--do not

treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors,

and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until today.

Nehemiah 9:32

In addition to praising God for His holy moral character, Ezra praised God by telling God in his prayer before the people that God is great, mighty,

and awesome. God did not permit their neighbors to afflict them because He was

powerless to prevent it! God is so powerful that He sent mighty pagan kings and mighty armies to punish His people and lead to them to

repent. God’s moral attributes are displayed when His steadfast love motivates Him to keep His covenants and promises.

Only after much praise did Ezra begin to intercede and pray for God to help His sinful children, who did not deserve His help as Ezra rightly

confessed in his prayer.

Nehemiah 9:33-34

You have been just in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly; our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law or heeded the commandments and the warnings that

you gave them.

Nehemiah 9:33-34

As part of his prayer of intercession, when Ezra described the suffering of God’s people, he was very quick to say that God

acted justly and they deserved His punishment (or discipline). Ezra described again the moral character of God: God acts faithfully. God’s people had acted the opposite of faithfully.

Unfaithfulness is wickedness.

Nehemiah 9:33-34

From top to bottom, the community of God’s people had acted wickedly. In some cases the political and religious

leaders had led all the people to join in their wickedness in spite of the prophets warning.

For example, King Solomon led the way in immorality when he took pagan foreign wives. No one that Ezra knew of had

obeyed God or heeded God’s repeated warnings.

Nehemiah 9:35-36

Even in their own kingdom, and in the great goodness you bestowed on them, and in the large and rich land that you set

before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their wicked works. Here we are, slaves to this day--slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and

its good gifts.

Nehemiah 9:35-36

God has great goodness as our holy God. He expressed His goodness by giving His people a kingdom with kings such as

King David. God gave them a land flowing with milk and honey.

In spite of all God’s moral goodness and His good example of how good and reasonable and intelligent people should

behave, Ezra confessed that God’s people had not served God (a sin of omission) and God’s people had not turned

from their wicked works (sins of commission).

Nehemiah 9:35-36

Ezra confessed that the Israelites (or Jews) were still slaves to the kings of Persia and could only return to their land, rebuild

their temple, and rebuild their city’s walls, with the permission of the pagan kings who ruled over them as God

moved these kings to do His will. They did not cease being slaves to foreign rulers in some way

until 1948. Until 1948, they were always subject to other rulers (unless we count the brief time they were somewhat

free under the rule of the Maccabees).

Conclusion

Nehemiah 9:1 tells us that the event of today’s lesson occurs on a particular day when the people gather to fast, put on

sackcloth, and sprinkle “dust on their heads.” These are ancient practices of grief and contrition.

We see fasting in this regard in 2 Samuel 1:12; Joel 2:12; etc. Donning sackcloth is connected with mourning in Genesis

37:34; 2 Samuel 3:31; etc. The sprinkling of dirt or ashes in such a context is seen in Jeremiah 6:26. Seeing all three together,

then, is a powerful indicator of the serious nature of the occasion (Esther 4:3; Daniel 9:3; Jonah 3:5, 6).

Conclusion

There is a paradox in the Christian life: the longer you walk with God, the godlier you become. And yet, the godlier you become, the more you are aware of the terrible depravity of

your own heart. It was not at the beginning of Paul’s Christian life, but toward

the end that he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (1 Tim.

1:15).

Conclusion

True repentance accepts responsibility for sin and does not blame God. As they prayed (9:33), “You are just in all that has

come upon us; for You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.”

The chapter ends on what may seem like a down note, with the mention of the great distress of the nation. But as one

theologian points out (p. 113), “The great distress which ends the prayer is a sign of life and of a vision that has not been

tamely given up.”

Lessons

Separation from sin must accompany the confessing and forsaking of sin (Neh. 9:2)

True worship focuses, at least in part, on the character and works of God (vs. 6-7)

God's past judgment of sin should serve as a present-day warning to us (vs. 9-10)

Lessons

It is God's mercy, not our merit that allows Him to forgive our sin (vs. 30-32)

True confession must proclaim God as just in disciplining us for our sin (vs. 33-34)

Spurning God's goodness always leads to His discipline and our heartache (vs. 35-36)

Benediction(Hebrews 11, Luke 12)

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

People of faith, God is not ashamed to be called your God. By God's grace we are forgiven. Let His people say amen.

Amen.

Blessing (Isaiah 1:16-19)

Cease to do evil; learn to do good. Seek justice; rescue the oppressed.

Defend the orphan; plead for the widow—and you shall eat of the good of the land.And always go in peace.