Broken Promises Nehemiah 9:1-6
Have you ever gone back on a promise? You vowed you would never do such and such….but then you went ahead and did it anyway. Or maybe someone made a promise to you and they broke it and that left you gutted, angry, hurt and distrusting. Broken promises are things that can affect people for not only a lifetime, but can set in course the decisions of generations and even effect the culture of a people group. But what about when we do it to God…how does He feel about it? You might think, well it’s God, He can handle it. Don’t be so sure.
The background story. In 536BC, the Persians had allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. They returned after being 70 years in Babylon. They came back and rebuilt, and by 516BC, they finished rebuilding the temple that had been destroyed. The city wall was not rebuilt. Nehemiah was the cup bearer to the King of Persia and he asked to go and repair the city wall. He did that. There were a number of challenges, but the wall eventually went up pretty quickly – 52 days. An amazing feat. This encouraged the people. There were several enemies, guys by the names of Tobiah and Sanballat. But the people were encouraged and things started to look up for the returned exiles. The temple was built, the wall was up, they were now protected. They settled 1 in 10 people back into the city of Jerusalem to give it a resident population, filled the city out and looked after the centre temple life and worship – musicians, priests, other Levites to maintain some law and order.
The people seemed genuine. They gathered, put on sackcloth and ashes, heard the word of God for 3 hours, then repented for 3 hours – have you ever done that? I haven’t. I would say they were quite genuine. (Verses 1-5)
So, what did they promise? Firstly, they acknowledged who God is (verses 5-6), then what God had done for them in the past (verses 7-15), what they had done wrong in the past (verses 16-17), but that God forgave them when they repented (verses 17-21). They acknowledged history (Gold calf, etc.), but God sustained them (manna, shoes and clothes didn’t wear out). They acknowledged God had been faithful to his word; got rid of the Canaanites out of the land. The Levites signed (Nehemiah 10:9-13), the civic leaders signed (verses 14-27) and the rest of the people agreed (verses 28,29).
Therefore, hear us Lord! We are still ruled by the Persians, we want to go on the right track (verses 32-37). We make a promise to you – a Covenant, (verse 38) “And because of all this, We make a sure covenant, and write it; Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it.”
What did they agree to? 1. Marriages to be kept pure – no foreigners – have to be Jewish. 2. Faithful doing business – Sabbath day holy (Nehemiah 10:31) 3. Faithfully supporting God’s house and work (Nehemiah 10:32-39) – Tithes, offerings, look after the priests, sacrifices – purity of worship. We will give!
What happened? People obeyed: started moving 1 in 10 people into Jerusalem, supported the city, the temple, the priesthood, obeyed the law: they blessed them (Nehemiah 11:2), sorted rosters and administration to carry it out. (Nehemiah 11:3-36)
Celebration – they dedicated the wall (Nehemiah 12) (Nehemiah 12:27ff) “Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps.” They purified themselves (verse 30), 2 Choirs led in praise (verses 31-43); right around the wall, through all the gates, marvellous celebration, consecrated set-apart priests and Levites (verses 44-47)
They read from God’s word and they separated from the foreigners (Nehemiah 13:3) “So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel. Hard, but they did it.
Time passed. 10 to 12 years went by (Nehemiah 13:4ff) “But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king, and I came to Jerusalem.” It doesn’t matter how we start, but how we finish.
Nehemiah got back; what did he find with all of those promises?
1. The temple was home to Tobiah the Arab – a guy who was an enemy of Nehemiah and the building of the wall. The priest Eliashib incredibly allowed him to move into the temple; Nehemiah threw Tobiah’s stuff out on the street. Because the priesthood was compromised, the people didn’t value their faith or obey the word of God. 2. Tithes and offerings were not brought into the temple, people as such did what they liked. 3. They traded on the Sabbath; it was like any other day. We sadly saw that many years ago with Sunday trading. Keeping the Sabbath holy did not happen, the festivals were no longer kept. 4. Married to people from nations and peoples who were their enemies - had children from those relationships and no longer spoke Hebrew. So, identity was misplaced in Israel. This, of course, was part of what the Assyrians did – Samaritan people. God was about to leave them as servants – to Greece, Rome.
Broken Promises. It all started with compromises with the word of God – they left off hearing and obeying God’s word; the rest simply followed.
What promises have you broken? You started out well; how you going now? You growing or going?
Reform by Nehemiah was rough. God’s discipline is never nice. If God loves you and you are not walking straight, He will straighten you out. (Nehemiah 13:23ff) “In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
Judgement begins with the house of God. Remember Eliashib, the Priest who allowed Tobiah to live in the temple? He was compromised relationally; He gave his son to the daughter of another enemy of the wall building project, Sanballat. Nehemiah said in Nehemiah 13:28 “And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite;
The Christian journey is one of faithfulness; and coming back from a state of rebellion when a covenant has been broken. Promises broken – it is very difficult because the heart is entangled relationally. If you are a Christian 1. Read you bible. If you know Christ 2. Financial giving – tithes and offerings is a privilege – why? because your heart is to extend the kingdom of God. 3. Worship corporately in the body – There is something tangible when God’s people gather together. Jesus promises to show up. 4. Significant Relationships - If you love Christ, honour the Lord in all your relationships. Why would you willingly marry someone who is not on the same page as you spiritually. They only know the language of the world and not of Christ. It is very hard to maintain your faith when you do that. Why compromise and put a love, an idol, before your love for Christ?
We hate it when others break promises to us, so why would we do it to the One who has saved our souls? Jesus is worth much more than that.