Nehemiah

Nehemiah 10: A promise written and sealed

Begin in prayer

Before we read the promise the people sign, let us ask the LORD to teach us what we need most. Please ask Him to show our family that a promise is not enough, and that we need His sacrifice for sin.

One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple.

Psalm 27:4

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You gave sacrifices for sin, and help us to see Jesus whose one offering is enough. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

After the long prayer, the people make a sure covenant and write it down, and their leaders put their seals to it. Nehemiah the governor signs first, then the priests, the Levites and the chiefs of the people. The rest of the people join them, with their wives and children who understand. They enter a curse and an oath to walk in God's law given by Moses. They promise to keep the Sabbath and the seventh year, and not to marry the peoples of the land. They tax themselves a third of a shekel each year for God's house, including the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel. They end with a promise, “We will not forsake the house of our God.”

As you read Nehemiah 10, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

Only God's grace can keep His people, because their own promises to Him fail.

The long confession ends in a covenant, which is a solemn promise, and the people write it down. We do not need every name, but Nehemiah signs first, and all the people join him (verses 1 to 28). They promise by a curse and an oath to walk in the law given through Moses (verse 29). They will keep the Sabbath and the seventh year, and they will not marry the peoples of the land (verses 30 and 31). A yearly third of a shekel will pay for “the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel” (verses 32 and 33). Atonement means sin is covered so that the sinner is forgiven. The blood of animals did not remove sins, and Christ offered one sacrifice for sins that lasts forever (Hebrews 10 verses 4 and 12). The words “We will not forsake the house of our God” are the people’s promise, and they broke it later (Nehemiah 13 verse 11). Only God’s grace can keep His people, and Christ keeps all who come to Him (John 10 verse 28).

How does Nehemiah 10 show us that only God's grace can keep His people, because their own promises to Him fail?

The leaders sign first, and the people join them.

Nehemiah puts his seal first, then priests, Levites and chiefs (verses 1 to 27). The rest of the people join them, with wives and children who understand (verse 28). They bind themselves with a curse and an oath to walk in God's law (verse 29).

They promise to keep God's law about the Sabbath, the land and marriage.

They will keep the Sabbath day and the seventh year (verse 31). They will not give their daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for their sons (verse 30). God had warned that such marriages would lead His people to serve other gods (Deuteronomy 7 verses 3 and 4).

They give so that the sin offerings can go on.

Each person will give a third of a shekel every year (verse 32). It pays for the offerings, “the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel” among them (verse 33). The sacrifices pointed ahead to Christ, whose one offering for sins lasts forever (Hebrews 10 verses 11 to 14).

Memorise

We will not forsake the house of our God.

Nehemiah 10:39

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what will I do with the sin that my promises cannot take away?

The people signed a promise, “We will not forsake the house of our God.” Yet every year the sin offerings had to be made again, because a promise cannot remove sin.

There was a greater offering to come. Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins and sat down at God's right hand (Hebrews 10 verse 12). He died for His people, paying with His own blood, and He rose to life. Nothing more is needed to make a sinner right with God.

Do not rest on your promises. Come to Him. Turn from your sin, and put your trust in Jesus. Everyone who trusts Him is forgiven and washed from sin, and He will keep that person in His house.

Parent's note

Tell your children that only God's grace keeps His people, and that Jesus offered one sacrifice that lasts forever. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please explain that the promise about marriage was about peoples who served other gods, and never about a child’s own family.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that His grace keeps His people, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, and each one may ask God for a heart that loves His house.

Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions.

Psalm 65:3

Father, thank You for giving sacrifices for sin, and thank You for Jesus, whose one offering is enough. Our promises fail, and only Your grace can keep us, so please lead each of us to trust Him and to love Your house. Amen.