Nehemiah 9 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
Nehemiah 9 Short Summary:
In Nehemiah 9, the people of Judah gathered for a period of repentance and confession. They and their fathers had neglected the Law of God, and their hearts were broken over it. The Levites stood up and prompted the people to worship the Lord by reciting some of His great deeds and His mercy on the nation of Israel throughout their history.
Nehemiah 9 Summary
WHEN:
538-537 BC – Cyrus the Great of Persia frees the Jews from their Babylonian captivity.
516 BC – The rebuilding of the Temple is completed in Jerusalem.
457 BC – Ezra arrives in Jerusalem.
445-444 BC – Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem.
KEY CHARACTERS:
The Levites – In Nehemiah 9, they led the people of God in a period of worship and thanksgiving.
Jews – Descendants of the tribes of Israel. They made an oath to keep God’s commands after years of neglect.
WHERE:
Jerusalem – The capital of the Kingdom of Judah and the location of God’s Temple.
OUTLINE:
A SOBER ASSEMBLY OF CONFESSION (9:1-5):
On the 24th day of the 7th month, the people of Judah assembled for a period of morning and fasting because of their sins and their neglect of God’s law.
They spent a quarter of the day reading from the Book of the Law of God. They spent another quarter confessing their sins and worshipping.
Then the Levites stood up and prompted the people to worship the Lord by reciting some of His great deeds and His care for the nation of Israel throughout their history.
The history they recited is recorded in verses 6-37.
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS AND ISRAEL’S UNFAITHFULNESS (9:6-37):
God was worthy of their praise for creating the heavens and the earth.
He chose Abram and promised to give his descendants the land of Canaan to be their home.
God helped Israel escape Egyptian slavery by sending the 10 plagues and walking them through the Red Sea.
He led them through the wilderness, remaining faithful to Israel even when they turned their back on Him.
God gave His people His Law on Mount Sinai, even though He knew they would break it regularly, often, and generationally.
God’s people were stiff necked and blasphemous, but God’s was overflowing with grace.
God gave Israel victory over the evil inhabitants of Canaan, but after settling in their new home, Israel forgot God.
God disciplined them and they repented for a little while, but it wasn’t long before they cast God’s law behind their backs, killed His prophets and committed great blasphemies (9:26).
“Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spriit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you have them into the hand of the peoples of the lands” (9:30).
God let foreign nations punish Israel for their disrespect, nevertheless He didn’t give up on Israel or break His promises to them.
He even let Babylon take His people out of the Promised Land, but even after that, He had Cyrus give them permission to return a few decades later.
Nehemiah, Ezra, and all the people admitted the failure of their nation, which prompted them to worship because it highlighted God’s incredible patience.
While the Jews still weren’t totally free of all foreign influence (they were still subjected to the Persian Empire) their persistent existence was testament to God’s goodness.
A COVENANT IN WRITING (9:38):
The princes of the Jews, the Levites, the priests, and the governor signed a written promise to respect God and keep His commands.
The names of the signers are listed in the beginning of Nehemiah 10.
APPLICATION
Although we’ve addressed this issue in previous studies, I must again address the accusation that many make that the God of the Old Testament is cruel and devoid of grace.
If you ever hear this accusation, please ask that person, “Have you ever read the Old Testament?”
Its easy to proof-text one chapter of the Bible in which God punishes people and claim, “Look! Look how vicious God used to be!”
But when you read those chapters in the context of the larger Bible and in the history of Israel, you realize each one of them is separated by centuries of forgiveness, mercy, and undeserved patience.
In this chapter, out of the mouth of God’s own people, is a rejection of the concept of a cruel God.
Not even the people being punished by God believed Him to be cruel.
