Burunche’s Blog

Nehemiah 10:1 – 39 Signers of the Covenant

“Now those who sealed the document were: Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, and also Zedekiah, Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.

The Levites: Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel, and their associates: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, Ahijah, Hanan, Anan, Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

The Vows of the Covenant

“The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the people of the land to obey the Law of God—along with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand, hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD our Lord.

We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, and we will not take their daughters for our sons. When the people of the land bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on a Sabbath or holy day. Every seventh year we will let the fields lie fallow, and will cancel every debt.

We also place ourselves under the obligation to contribute a third of a shekel yearly for the service of the house of our God: for the showbread, for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings, for the Sabbath offerings, for the New Moons and appointed feasts, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the duties of the house of our God.

We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our families at the appointed times each year. They are to bring it to the house of our God to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.

We will also bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the house of the LORD year by year. And we will bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as it is written in the Law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God.

Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor. A priest of Aaron’s line is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of these tithes to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God. For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers stay. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.”

Nehemiah has drawn up a comprehensive covenant based on the Law of Moses and now the Jewish leaders, the priests, and the Levites are all committing themselves in writing to keeping this covenant. What are the provisions of this covenant?

1. No more intermarriage with non – Jews. Marriage with foreign women got King Solomon into trouble and it had been a problem for the Jews ever since. Even as this covenant was being written, Nehemiah was facing opposition from those who had married into Sanballat’s family.
2. Strict observance of the weekly Sabbaths and the seventh year Sabbath that included allowing the fields to lie fallow and cancellation of debts.
3. Details of contributions to support the priests, the Levites, and the work of the temple. These contributions were to include offerings of firstfruits of dough, grain offerings, fruit of any kind, new wine, and oil. The priests and Levites were to collect the ten per cent tithes from all the towns and bring those contributions into the temple. The people pledged themselves to support the house of God.

APPLICATION: Why was such a formal document drawn up and signed by all the leaders, both secular and religious? Nehemiah clearly saw that the areas covered by this covenant were precisely those practices previously neglected by the citizens of Israel and Judah. Repeatedly, God sent prophets to both nations, warning them that failure to repent and follow God’s Laws would result in death, destruction, capture, shameful slavery and exile. Repeatedly, the Judeans and Israelites just kept worshiping idols, ignoring God’s commands, and demonstrating gross ingratitude to the God who had delivered them so many times and who had blessed them abundantly. At this point, Nehemiah’s attitude towards future misbehavior by the Jews was simple: “NOT ON MY WATCH!”

Viewing from the vantage of history, it’s easy to criticize the Jews; however, we have little room to do so. Abortion, child slavery, abuse of human rights, grinding poverty in countries with huge resources – there is not a single country in the world that is not marred by one or more moral and spiritual failings. Many times, we feel helpless in the face of evil; however, we must remember that we serve Nehemiah’s God. The same God who moved king Cyrus to send Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple later moved Ezra and Nehemiah to lead the rebuilding. That same God is still at work today. The question for us is simple: will we shrink in the face of evil, or will we stand as Nehemiah did and say, “Not on MY watch!” and then work and pray to see God’s will done in our circumstances?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You, even when things are difficult and even when we would rather quit. Help us to stand for righteousness, knowing that You are supporting us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

This entry was posted on December 11, 2022 at 12:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.