Sadly, I’m a little late posting this today. Sadly, I say, because it might mean some readers will miss it. Sadly, I say, because as I was reading Neh. 9 this morning, I could hardly control my enthusiasm. What a wonderful prayer.
First, let’s remind ourselves of the
context. The 70 years Babylonian
captivity are over. Many have returned
to the land. They are under the rule of
the Medo-Persian kings. Nehemiah, an incredibly
righteous and capable leader, is governor of Judea. They have just finished celebrating the Feast
of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which is a joyful celebration, which also includes the
reading of the Book of the Law (perhaps the Torah but more likely Deuteronomy,
that part of the Torah that told Israel how to live “in” the land). The reading of the Book initially created a
sense of mourning because, as Paul would later make clear, the Law points out
sin. But the leadership first called
them to celebrate, which they did. But
then it was time to deal with their sin.
Neh. 9 is a prayer of confession that leads to Neh. 10, a fresh promise
of the people to do what is right. For a
few days I just want to revisit the prayer of confession. It is truly remarkable, in my view. It shows us how to make a true confession of
sin, and it is deep in it’s theology.
·
9:5-6: The beginning is an outstanding “blessing”
of God. The folks in our fellowship
should expect this to be part of our worship service this Sunday.
·
9:7: I find it interesting that they (the
worship is being led by the Levites; Ezra has been leading in the reading of
the Law, Neh. 8:1-8, so he may be the one who is praying this prayer that is
then repeated by the Levites so all can hear) use both names of the patriarch:
Abram (exalted father) and Abraham (father of a multitude). I confess, sometimes when I am speaking of an
event that involved “Abram” I still refer to him by the eventual and most common
name, “Abraham.” The beginning of both
names is “Ab” which comes from “Abba,” father.
He got the latter name (Gen. 17:5) after the years of silence, after
Abram had tried to help God fulfill the covenant promise by having the son
through Hagar rather than Sara (Sarah; she also got a name change). Just coincidentally, this prayer in Nehemiah
9 comes after much sin. God reaffirmed
the covenant with Abraham in Gen. 17, after his mistake; so now, the nation is
pleading for God’s mercy after their sin and rebellion.
·
9:8: God “found (Abram) faithful.” A statement like this might make us ask, was
the covenant God made with Abram/Abraham truly unconditional? Did God not find something useful in the
man? We need to understand this: the
answer is NO! The covenant was not
conditional, even as the New Covenant is not conditional. What God found was faith, and faith is the
only proper response to grace. And
faith, by definition, is the absence of works.
Abraham did not do anything.
Abram’s response to Gen. 12:1-3 (the initial call from Ur of the
Chaldees and promise of a land and people and Savior) was to go to that
land. In other words, he believed
God. In Gen. 15, God’s response to 15:6
(Abram believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness) was to
make the covenant official with Abram, while Abram was SLEEPING (read the rest
of Gen. 15). And if you try to argue
that, on Mt. Moriah, Abraham earned the covenant by his obedience, then you
need to study Rom. 4 and James 2 again.
It was by faith; and faith without works is dead. What was true of Abraham (a covenant of
grace) is true of believers today and the New Covenant is all of
grace. It is all God’s doing and none of
mine!
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