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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Summertime often includes travel for family reunions and gatherings of friends. Will that be your experience this summer? And in those gatherings, it’s only natural that people share memories of their shared pasts, right? Years ago, my extended family made every attempt to gather every three years from all over the country, and it was a very special time of celebrating our shared family roots. Several of those dear folks are now departed into eternity, but the pictures and great memories remain.
Join me again back in Jerusalem 2400 years ago as Nehemiah and Ezra are partnering together in leading the returned exiles both in the rebuild of the city of Jerusalem and in the celebration of their shared ancestral history. The story of the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jacob’s sons, is a long and winding story which God Himself has been writing for more than 4000 years, and yes today what you and I see on our TV’s each night, is the current chapter of the long story of Israel.
Yesterday we watched as Nehemiah described to us how the people in Jerusalem discovered a special part of their past which most of them knew nothing about! It was the Festival of “Sukkot” and they learned about “Sukkot” from Ezra’s reading of the scrolls of the Torah, both Deuteronomy and Leviticus. They were so impacted by what Ezra read that they jumped right in and experienced “Sukkot” by cutting down tree branches, then building and living in shelters for the weeklong festival!
Do you remember WHY? God had explained to Moses that this annual festival would remind each generation of how God had provided shelter, food and water for more than 1 million of their ancestors during their 40 years of wandering in the hot desert after God’s deliverance of them from Egyptian slavery.
I left you yesterday immersed in the great JOY of Sukkot, remember? There’s a little gap of a couple of weeks between the end of Nehemiah 8 and beginning of Nehemiah 9. I presume everyone was cleaning up after Sukkot, perhaps something like the big cleanup after Christmas for us, in our day.
Those Jerusalem folks had lots of branches to dispose of just like Christmas trees on street corners today. I’m not sure exactly what happened in those days but perhaps it was the experience of living outdoors in those hastily built shelters made of branches, or maybe it was the prolonged reading of the history of their ancestors in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, or maybe it was the clean-up, but the people found themselves filled with remorse as they reflected on their history.
The frequent moral drift of their ancestors away from God left them feeling like a dark cloud of shame had settled down on Jerusalem, like a great emotional depression for all of them. Now ponder that for a moment. As you and I are adding our chapters to the long story of our ancestral lines, are we contributing things that will be shameful for our descendants to remember, years from now, as part of their heritage?
So, what did the people in Jerusalem do as the dark cloud of shame settled on them? Nehemiah reports this: “On the 24th day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads…and they confessed the sins of their ancestors.” (Nehemiah 9:1,2) Have you ever found yourself having to explain to critics something shameful about your family history?
Nehemiah’s description shows us the depth of their shame and remorse. Sackcloth was a public symbol of profound humiliation and shame. Sackcloth was what lepers wore and sackcloth was used to collect animal dung and garbage off the streets. The act of splashing dust or ashes on their heads was the ultimate sign of hopelessness. Sitting on the ground in a public place, wearing sackcloth and splashing dirt on your head, would be declaring to all who see you that you feel as though you are dead, you have no reason to live, and no value to society.
So that was the scene in Jerusalem and Nehemiah records for us in Nehemiah 9 the prayers that were offered up on this very sad occasion. I urge you to listen to the prayer with the Audio Bible link attached below or read it for yourself carefully listening to each phrase. You’ll see this prayer is an amazingly accurate recounting of God’s direct involvement with planet earth and the human race, and particularly the Israelites, all the way FROM Genesis 1 creation TO that present time in the fall of 445bc.
May I point out several key phrases in this remarkable Nehemiah 9 prayer, and I urge you to remember we’ve already seen very significant prayers from Daniel in Daniel 9, and Ezra recorded in Ezra 9.
* Neh. 9:6 “You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens…the earth and all that is on it…” Of course that’s the truthful story of Genesis 1, isn’t it?
* Neh. 9:6 “You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship You.” That’s true, Almighty God is the giver of ALL life to every living thing. The ‘multitudes of heaven’ which worship God would include the millions of angels God created, and every human being who has trusted God and has preceded us in death.
* Neh. 9:7 “You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur and named him Abraham. You found his heart faithful to you and made a covenant with him…” Yes, Genesis 12, 15 & 17 give that remarkable story of God and Abraham’s covenant.
* Neh. 9:9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt…You divided the sea before them, so they passed through on dry ground…” Of course that’s the great Exodus story recorded in Exodus 12-14
* Neh. 9:13 “You came down on Mount Sinai, You spoke to them from heaven. You gave them the laws and regulations that are just and righteous…” Yes, of course, that’s the great story of Exodus 19,20 when God actually spoke, to those 1 million people, His great 10 Commandments.
* Neh. 9:15 “In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst, You brought them water from a rock…” That’s the miracle of daily Manna which fell all around them early every morning (Ex. 16) and fresh water that gushed out of the rock at Rephidim when Moses struck that rock, as God had instructed him. (Ex. 17)
On and on this remarkable prayer goes for 37 verses. It’s an amazing recounting of God’s faithfulness to His people Israel, in brief summary form. If you’ve been with us in this “Walking with Jesus” journey for the past couple of years, we’ve covered, in depth, every story mentioned in this prayer! So, as you read, I hope the Spirit of God refreshes your memory!
Note please how this prayer concludes: “We are in great distress. In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.” (Nehemiah 9:37,38)
Oh my! Do you see what’s happening here? The public reading of God’s Word has brought profound conviction to these people regarding the sins of their ancestors and the price they are paying for those sins of the past. They have taken the ultimate posture of public humiliation and shame and have recounted the story of God and Israel in prayer.
Now they have written a binding agreement, and their officials and leaders have sealed it. What is this binding agreement? That generation is declaring to God that they are drawing a line of demarcation and the future, at least in their generation, will be very different from their past. Tomorrow we’ll look at that binding agreement.
For today, is there anything you and I need to repent of in our family history, and do we need to draw a line of demarcation separating ourselves from the shameful past and charting a new, God honoring path into the future?
Ponder that with this worship song, and as the Spirit leads you talk with God about it, as those remorseful people did.
Today’s Scripture: Nehemiah 9.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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