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Nehemiah
Chapter Ten
Nehemiah 10
Chapter Contents
The covenant, Those who signed it. (1-31) Their
engagement to sacred rites. (32-39)
Commentary on Nehemiah 10:1-31
(Read Nehemiah 10:1-31)
Conversion is separating from the course and custom of
this world, devoting ourselves to the conduct directed by the word of God. When
we bind ourselves to do the commandments of God, it is to do all his
commandments, and to look to him as the Lord, and our Lord.
Commentary on Nehemiah 10:32-39
(Read Nehemiah 10:32-39)
Having covenanted against the sins of which they had been
guilty, they obliged themselves to observe the duties they had neglected. We
must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well. Let not any people expect
the blessing of God, unless they keep up public worship. It is likely to go
well with our houses, when care is taken that the work of God's house goes on
well. When every one helps, and every one gives, though but little, toward a
good work, the whole will come to be a large sum. We must do what we can in
works of piety and charity; and whatever state we are placed in, cheerfully
perform our duty to God, which will be the surest way to ease and liberty. As
the ordinances of God are the appointed means of support to our souls, the
believer will not grudge the expense; yet most people leave their souls to
starve.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on
Nehemiah》
Nehemiah 10
Verse 1
[1] Now
those that sealed were, Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and
Zidkijah,
Sealed —
Both in their own names, and in the name of all the rest. It may seem strange
that Ezra doth not appear among them. But that might be because he was
prevented, by some sickness, or other extraordinary impediment. It is true, we
meet with Ezra after this, at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, chap. 12:36, and therefore he was then freed from this
impediment, whatsoever it was.
Verse 29
[29] They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and
into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of
God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his
judgments and his statutes;
Their nobles —
The commonality agreed with the nobles in this good work, great men never look
so great, as when they encourage religion and are examples of it: and they
would by that, as much as any thing, make an interest in the most valuable of
their inferiors, who would cleave to them closer than they can imagine. Observe
their nobles are called their brethren; for in the things of God, rich and
poor, high and low meet together.
They cleave —
They ratified what the others had done in their names, declaring their assent
to it.
Verse 31
[31] And
if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to
sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and
that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.
People of the land —
The Heathens.
On the sabbath —
They that covenant to keep all the commandments of God, must particularly
covenant to keep the sabbath holy. For the profanation of this is a sure inlet
to all manner of profaneness.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Nehemiah》
10 Chapter 10
Verses 1-39
Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah.
Covenanting with God -
I. The parties
entering the covenant.
1. Nehemiah the governor. This is true greatness in the sight of God,
to be foremost in consecration to the service of religion, and to stand among
His people in trying times.
2. The priests. It is remarkable that the name of Eliashib, the
high-priest does not appear in this list. It is honourable to the rest of the
priests that notwithstanding this defection of their chief, so many of them set
their hands to this holy bond.
3. The Levites. We observe among them almost all the names of those
who took part in the previous solemnities of this memorable day. It is well,
when those who are eminent in devotion are also eminent for devotedness. It
sometimes happens that those who are gifted in prayer are not distinguished for
holy practice.
4. The chiefs of the nation. This fidelity to the cause of truth adds
a lustre to all earthly glory, and sets an ornament of grace on the noblest
brow.
5. The rest of the people. It is a blessed thing when whole families
thus unite together in the faith of Christ and the life of religion.
II. The engagements
of the covenant.
1. Sins to be renounced. It is vain to make loud profession of
spiritual experience, and of devotion to the Saviour, unless besetting sins are
abandoned and a new course of obedience begun.
2. Duties to be performed.
All vow to work for God, each in his own place, according to the
Divine will, at the appointed times, and unwearied in well-doing. Henry Martyn
wrote: “With
resignation and peace, I can look forward to a life of labour and seclusion
from earthly comforts, while Jesus stands near changing me into His holy image.
How happy and honoured am I in being suffered to be a missionary.” And Levi
Parsons testified:
“I can subscribe with my hand to be for ever the Lord’s, to be sent anywhere,
to do anything, to endure any hardship, live and die a missionary.”
III. The inferences
deducible from the covenant.
1. We here see the propriety of religious covenanting.
2. The obligation in covenanting established. When you devote
yourself to the Lord in covenant, to obey the precepts of His Word, your
essential obligation is not strengthened or altered; it is merely recognised by
you, and promised to be fulfilled.
3. The benefits from covenanting illustrated. (W. Ritchie.)
Covenant comfort
Christmas Evans, after being sorely tried, was led to enter afresh into
personal, covenant,, with God; and such was the joy in God which followed, that
he said of it, After forming this covenant I felt great calmness and peace. I
had the feelings of a poor man who has just come under the protection of the Royal
Family, and has obtained a pension for life, the dreadful tear of poverty and
want having left his house for ever. I felt the safety and shelter which the
little chickens feel under the wings of the hen.” (The Thinker.)
A national covenant
On February 25, 1688, a memorable scene was witnessed in the churchyard of
Greyfriars, Edinburgh. The National Covenant to maintain Presbyterianism, and
to resist contrary errors, having been numerously signed within the church, the
parchment was subsequently placed upon the flat tombstone, still extant, of
Boswell of Auchinleck, where many others, to show their determination to die
rather than yield, signed it with blood from their arms. History testifies that
numbers of them endured much suffering rather than violate their pledge. If
frail men will so keep their promise, much more must the Omnipotent (God honour
His covenant. (The Thinker.)
Now those that sealed were,
Nehemiah.
Covenanting with God -
I. The parties
entering the covenant.
1. Nehemiah the governor. This is true greatness in the sight of God,
to be foremost in consecration to the service of religion, and to stand among
His people in trying times.
2. The priests. It is remarkable that the name of Eliashib, the
high-priest does not appear in this list. It is honourable to the rest of the
priests that notwithstanding this defection of their chief, so many of them set
their hands to this holy bond.
3. The Levites. We observe among them almost all the names of those
who took part in the previous solemnities of this memorable day. It is well,
when those who are eminent in devotion are also eminent for devotedness. It
sometimes happens that those who are gifted in prayer are not distinguished for
holy practice.
4. The chiefs of the nation. This fidelity to the cause of truth adds
a lustre to all earthly glory, and sets an ornament of grace on the noblest
brow.
5. The rest of the people. It is a blessed thing when whole families
thus unite together in the faith of Christ and the life of religion.
II. The engagements
of the covenant.
1. Sins to be renounced. It is vain to make loud profession of
spiritual experience, and of devotion to the Saviour, unless besetting sins are
abandoned and a new course of obedience begun.
2. Duties to be performed.
All vow to work for God,
each in his own place, according to the Divine will, at the appointed times,
and unwearied in well-doing. Henry Martyn wrote: “With resignation and peace, I can look
forward to a life of labour and seclusion from earthly comforts, while Jesus
stands near changing me into His holy image. How happy and honoured am I in
being suffered to be a missionary.” And Levi Parsons testified: “I can subscribe with
my hand to be for ever the Lord’s, to be sent anywhere, to do anything, to
endure any hardship, live and die a missionary.”
III. The inferences
deducible from the covenant.
1. We here see the propriety of religious covenanting.
2. The obligation in covenanting established. When you devote
yourself to the Lord in covenant, to obey the precepts of His Word, your
essential obligation is not strengthened or altered; it is merely recognised by
you, and promised to be fulfilled.
3. The benefits from covenanting illustrated. (W. Ritchie.)
Covenant comfort
Christmas Evans, after
being sorely tried, was led to
enter afresh into personal, covenant,, with God; and such was the joy in God
which followed, that he said of it, After forming this covenant I felt great
calmness and peace. I had the feelings of a poor man who has just come under
the protection of the Royal Family, and has obtained a pension for life, the
dreadful tear of poverty and want having left his house for ever. I felt the
safety and shelter which the little chickens feel under the wings of the hen.”
(The Thinker.)
A national covenant
On February 25, 1688, a
memorable scene was witnessed in
the churchyard of Greyfriars, Edinburgh. The National Covenant to
maintain Presbyterianism, and to resist contrary errors, having been numerously
signed within the church, the parchment was subsequently placed upon the flat
tombstone, still extant, of Boswell of Auchinleck, where many others, to show
their determination to die rather than yield, signed it with blood from their
arms. History testifies that numbers of them endured much suffering rather than
violate their pledge. If frail men will so keep their promise, much more must
the Omnipotent (God honour His covenant. (The Thinker.)
Verses 28-30
And all they that had
separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God.
A genuine revival
1. The crucial test of any revival is the extent to which it actually
purifies and reforms the lives of those who come under its influence.
2. This is the kind of revival which ever and again we all need. For
we are constantly liable to fall below the level of our Christian privileges.
We are also apt to grow blind to out” own defects, and to under-estimate the
extent of our own shortcomings. We have need to bring our lives into the light
of God’s holy law, and into the light of the life of Christ, that our
consciences may be awakened to a truer and deeper penitence.
3. A repentance which is the fruit of A true revival of the religious
life naturally goes into the details of conduct. (T. Campbell Finlayson.)
And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the
land.
Marriage and purity
Wherever I find a purely
savage life, which means life eaten up by impure sin, there I also find no
capacity in the life to advance and grow. You have an instance in the case of
Africa, the life of which has not moved for a couple of thousand years, simply
because it is soaked with impurity. Turning to the earliest efforts of
civilisation, as recorded in the Bible, I find men making effort after effort,
getting a little way, and then each effort vanishing in a sink of impure sin.
Life ought to grow if natural, but if impurity is natural, it is natural to
stagnate, never to grow, to fall to pieces, and for civilisations to be swept
out by weakness and impotence. The history of our European civilisation is the
history of the gradual rise in the idea of marriage and purity. (Canon
Scott-Holland.)
Verse 31
And if the people of the
land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to all
The profit of
Sabbath-keeping
John Brand was an old
Cornish fisherman.
The fishing had not been good for some days, the water had been wild and
stormy; but at length, on the Sunday, the weather became fine, and the other
fishermen said, “We would keep Sunday--but--we have had so few fish lately; and
we are sorry to go out to-day--but--the weather is so good. It is a pity; we
would not go if we were not so poor.” “What!” said honest John, “are you going
to break God’s laws with your ifs and buts? Better be poor than be wicked. My
religion is not the kind that shifts with the wind. ‘Thou shalt remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy’--that is enough for me.” So he persuaded them, and
they took his advice, and spent the day in worshipping God. And it was well
they did so; for that night, just when the boats would have been coming back, a
terrible storm suddenly burst over the deep, and lasted two days. Any boat out
in that weather would certainly have been wrecked. But two days after the
beautiful weather returned, and more fish were taken then than had been caught
for weeks before. No; no one ever yet lost by obeying God. Be you like John
Brand; be thorough, honest, and God-fearing in and out; do not have a religion
like a weathercock that shifts with the wind, or one that can be broken with An
“if” or a “but.” (J. Reid Howatt.)
The Sabbath beneficial
In a prize essay on the
Sabbath written by a journeyman printer in Scotland, there appears the
following striking passage:
“Yoke-fellows, think how the abstraction of the Sabbath would hopelessly
enslave the working-classes with whom we are identified. Think of the labour
thus going on in one monotonous, and continuous, and eternal cycle--limbs for
ever on the rack, the fingers for ever plying, the eyeballs for ever straining,
the brow for ever sweating, the feet for ever plodding, the brain for ever
throbbing, the shoulders for ever drooping, the loins for ever aching, and the
restless mind for ever scheming! Think of the beauty it would efface, of the
merry-heartedness it would extinguish, of the giant strength it would tame, of
the resources of nature it would exhaust, of the aspirations it would crush, of
the sickness it would breed, of the projects it would wreck, of the groans it
would extort, of the lives it would immolate, of the cheerless graves it would
prematurely dig! See them toiling and moiling, sweating and fretting, grinding
and hewing, weaving and spinning, sowing and gathering, mowing and reaping,
raising mad building, digging mad planting, unloading and storing, striving and
struggling--in the garden and in the field, in the granary and in the barn, in
the factory and in the mill, in the warehouse and in the shop, on the mountain
and in the ditch, on the roadside and in the wood, in the city and in the
country, on the sea and on the shore, on the earth in days of brightness and of
gloom. What a sad picture would the world present if we had no Sabbath!”
Verses 32-39
Also we made ordinances
for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel.
Voluntary taxation
Not to enter upon the
thorny path of endowed or voluntary religion, nor to inquire whether tithes are
coeval with the first man, and binding upon the present age, let us maintain--
I. That the church
supposes an edifice. God may be worshipped in any house. Experience has taught
the convenience and value of a house of God. The edifice must be built and
maintained.
II. That a church
requires a minister. “No, man can rightly labour in the Word and doctrine
without diligent and habitual Biblical study; no man can conduct such study
without the renunciation of secular pursuits; no man can abandon such pursuits
without an adequate and guaranteed salary from the Church in which he teaches,
for which he labours.” The ministry must be sustained.
III. That a church
is a brotherhood. “The rich and poor meet together.” “The poor ye have always
with you.” In a Church sense, “if any provide not for his own house, he hath
denied the faith.”
IV. That a church
is a missionary organisation. It has duties both at home and abroad. The Word
of God must be translated, the masses evangelised, society leavened. A true
Church must of necessity be a generous Church. It gets to give (Homiletical
Commentary.)
Verse 35
And to bring the
first-fruits of our ground.
A fruit-service
We notice in this text--
I. Willinghood.
“And to bring.” It was no tax. Love is its own tax-levier, and it ever gathers
the richest, the ripest, and the best fruit. When a Church or a community is
filled with love you need have no fear for revenue.
II. Precedence
“First-fruits.” In all things Christ must have the “pre-eminence.” He must be
Alpha.
III. Universal
lordship. First-fruits of “all trees.” He is Lord of all. So it is with the
fruit of our souls. Jesus claims tribute from all provinces of our nature. He
is not satisfied with actions. He claims the captivity of our thoughts. He
wants not only the first-fruits of our emotions, of penitence, but also of our
gratitude, our adoration, our trust, and our love. Let us see that His flag is
waving over every province of our nature, and that we give to Him the
first-fruits of conscience and meditation, of imagination and memory, of ardent
love and submissive will.
IV. Annual offering. “Year by year.” We
should lose the consciousness of advancing time if it were not for our
birthdays. We should miss much of occasions for gratitude if it were not for
Iced-time and harvest, summer and winter. The living earth reminds us of the
living God, who supplies all we need. (W. M. Statham.)
Verse 37
And the tithes.
Tithes
Without inquiring into the
reason for which the number ten has been so frequently preferred as a number of
selection in the ones of tribute offerings, both sacred and secular, voluntary
and compulsory, we may remark that numerous instances of its use are found both
in profane and also in Biblical history, prior to, or independently of, the
appointment of the Levitical tithes under the law. In Biblical history the two
prominent instances are--
1. Abram presenting the tenth of his property, according to the
Syrian and Arabic versions of Hebrews 7:1-28., but as the passages themselves appear to show, of the spoils of
his victory, to Melchisedek (Genesis 14:20; Hebrews 7:2-6).
2. Jacob, after his vision at Luz, devoting a tenth of all his
property to God in case he should return home in safety (Genesis 28:22). These instances bear witness to the antiquity of tithes, in
some shape or other, previous to the Mosaic tithe system. But numerous
instances are to he found of the practice of heathen nations, Greeks, Ronians,
Carthaginians, Arabians, of applying tenths derived from property in general,
from spoil, from confiscated goods, or from commercial profits, to sacred, and
quasi-sacred, and also to fiscal purposes, viz., as consecrated to a deity,
presented as a reward to a successful general, set apart as a tribute to a
sovereign, or as a permanent source of revenue. (Smith’s Bible Dictionary.)
Giving as a means of
character culture
God carries on His cause
in the world by the aid of His people. He is constantly calling on us to give, now to
this cause and now to that. Why so? Surely He to whom the silver and gold
belong has no need of us to help forward His work. He could, if He would, do it
much more efficiently without us. But He is striving to educate us into
resemblance to Christ and meetness for heaven. If a father could place his
child where he would be habitually giving, giving, in the expression of a
benevolent sympathy and helpfulness, he would be putting him under the most
efficient of all means for the development in him of a truly Christian, or
Christlike, spirit. He would be conferring on him one of the richest possible
blessings. This is the blessing which our heavenly Father is trying to bestow
upon us, in surrounding us as He does with those who need our sympathy and
help. If we gratefully recognise our Father’s wise and loving design, and, so
far as we can, give our help with a truly Christian spirit, our contributions
will do more good to us who give than to those who receive them. Every such expression
of Christian love will leave an impress on our character which we shall carry
with us for ever. It will develop into augmented power and more absolute
supremacy within us that Christlike spirit without which we can never walk the
golden streets. We need, then, to cultivate the habit of giving as much as the
habit of praying.
Verse 39
And we will not forsake the house of our God.
Zeal for the sanctuary
Why should we say of “the habitation of God’s house,” “We will not
forsake it”?
1. God has clearly ordained public worship. He made man to be
social--social in virtue of his sorrows, joys, wants, affections, and
relationships. He also made man to be social in things spiritual. The isolation
of selfishness is sin. Union is cherished by communion, and communion
strengthened by public worship. Jesus honoured the temple. The faithful in
every age have desired to dwell in the house of the Lord.
2. The special manifestations of the Divine presence, vouch-salad in
the congregations of the saints, ought to endear to us such privileged scenes.
3. As the sanctuary has been the place of the Lord’s rest, so has it
been the scene where He has imparted the richest gifts to His worshippers.
4. The servant of God will love the courts of the Lord, and not
forsake them, because in them he tastes most of heaven below. You cannot form a
better conception of heaven than by fixing on the happiest Sabbath, and the
happiest hour of worship on the happiest Sabbath, you ever enjoyed in the
assembly of the saints. (Canon Stowell.)
Zeal for God’s house expressed in a holy resolution not to forsake
it
I. A resolution
well becoming Christians themselves. This resolution comprehends the following
particulars:
1. That we will never cast off the profession of our faith, nor make
a defection from the truth and ways of the gospel, for any cause, nor upon any
account whatsoever.
2. That we will not neglect the ordinances of Divine worship, nor be wanting
in our attendance on them whenever we are called, and have an opportunity of
appearing before God in His house.
3. That we will promote as far as in us lies the interests of
religion, and spread the kingdom of Christ in the world.
II. It is not only
lawful, but may be useful and expedient for Christians in societies to engage
themselves to God, and the duties they owe to him and one another.
III. Offer reasons
both for making this resolution and obliging ourselves to make it good.
1. Because it is God’s house.
2. Because our particular good is lodged in the public interest.
3. This is the noblest way of imitating the great God Himself, and
conforming to the example of our blessed Saviour.
4. This makes men real blessings to the world. Such men really are the
strength and security of a nation. For their sakes God sometimes preserves
others from those judgments which their crying sins would otherwise pull down
upon their guilty heads. Sodom had been preserved for the sake of ten righteous
men, could so many have been found in the place.
5. This will be our rejoicing and comfort another day. Application: Having made this
resolution, we must oblige ourselves to make it good. Because of the
inconstancy and deceitfulness of our hearts. Such engagements will help to fix
us more firmly in the interests of religion, and make us more successful in
resisting all temptations to apostasy. Hereby we are rendered more capable of
serving the interests of religion. A force when united becomes the stronger.
The joint concurrence of many gives a great advantage to a design, and a better
prospect of success. (Matthew Clarke.)
Attachment to God’s house
Consider--
I. The resolution
itself: “We will
not forsake,” etc. This resolution includes--
1. Constant and regular attendance.
2. A lively interest in its welfare and prosperity.
II. The grounds of
this resolution.
1. Our gracious union with God. All connected with God should be dear
and sacred to us--His Word, ordinances, people; therefore His house.
2. Our clear and imperative duty. Public worship is of His own
appointment.
3. Our public profession.
4. The special advantages we shall derive from it. Exaltation of
desires; soul elevation; enlargement of mind; soul enrichment with all
spiritual blessings in Christ. “A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand,”
etc. “They that wait upon the Lord,” etc.
5. The connection of the house of God with the celestial world. It is
“the gate of heaven.”
Application:
1. Where professors are indifferent to the welfare of God’s house, it
is an unfailing indication that the heart is not right with God.
2. Let the subject inspire the sincere friends of Christ to more
ardent zeal for the diffusion of the Divine glory.
3. How suited is God’s house to every description. The reckless here
are warned, the supine aroused, the inquirer directed, the mourner comforted,
the faithful established, etc. (J. Burns, D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》