#Bible Timeless Truths. Confession and Our Spiritual Formation Nehemiah 9-10

COMMITMENTS WE WOULD ASPIRE TO– Chapter 10

In the midst of all the unholiness around them, the Jews made commitments.

These commitments come from the confession in Chapter 9

For Your Home 

 “We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons. 10:30

• They decided to hold the families as sacred.

For Your Work/Relationships

When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts. 10:31

• Don’t be conformed to this world… Romans 12:1
• The established rules for dealing with their neighbors
• You must be a person of character in your job and in your relationships.

For Your Church

32 “We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel[b] each year for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings[c] to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.

34 “We—the priests, the Levites and the people—have cast lots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law.

35 “We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.

36 “As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.

37 “Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. 38 A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 39 The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept.

“We will not neglect the house of our God.” 10:32-39

• Tithing and serving are keys to this commitment.

BEGIN WITH CONFESSION - Chapter 9

• Your commitments are not based only on your resolve.
• However, they do arise from confession.

Confession begins with

Confessing Who God Is

5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God,who is from everlasting to everlasting.[a]”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[b] 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By dayyou led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them. 9:9-15

• Remind yourself who God is

The there’s more truth telling by

Confessing Who You Are

16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery.    9:16-17a

• Acknowledge what God has already knows about you

THE END RESULT OF TRUE CONFESSION IS RESTORATION.

Key Verse: 

In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly.  9:33

• God has been just and faithful while you did wrong.

 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

1 John 1:9

• Sanctification provides you with the ability not to sin.
• It does NOT make sin an impossibility.
• Holiness (Sanctified) people still need to confess when needed.

Thanks to Dr. Dan Copp for the primary teaching in this post.

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