Nehemiah 9:12

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:12-15, “Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.[13] Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:[14] And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:[15] And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.” The Lord did a lot for the children of Israel, and He has done the same things for us through Jesus the Savior. God led them day and night. The world is a dangerous place. Any decision that you make can lead to disaster. We do not know the future, but God does. It is a tremendous advantage and benefit in life to be led by God. David said in Psalm 23:1-2, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He leadeth me…”

Verse thirteen says that God spoke with them “from heaven.” And it says that God gave to them “right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments.” Of course, this is speaking of the written Word of God. In the Old Testament time it was the law that was given through Moses. Now we have the rest of the written Word of God in the New Testament writings. It is important to notice here the source of the writings: God. The Bible comes from God, not man. God used man to write most of it, but the words come from God Himself. God is the great giver of gifts. He gave us the words that are “right” and “true” and “good.”

Notice that verse fourteen speaks of the “hand of Moses.” God used Moses to bring the Old Testament, and then God used Jesus in a different way to bring the New Testament.

God provided for their spiritual needs, and God also provided for their material needs. Miraculously, God gave them food from heaven (manna) and water from a rock. He also gave them a place to live. The Lord does the same for us. He takes care of us on this earth until He is done with us.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:16-20, “But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,[17] And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.[18] Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;[19] Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.[20] Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.” Verse sixteen and the first part of verse seventeen tell us what happened to the Israelites soon after they were delivered from Egypt. Here are the phrases to describe them: “dealt proudly,” “hardened their necks,” “hearkened not to thy commandments,” “refused to obey,” “neither were mindful,” a second time says “hardened their necks,” and “in their rebellion.” People have a free choice, and they often choose to go away from God. What is the hardest thing in the world: a heart that has decided to go away from God.

And yet as wicked and sinful as man can be, God always has more mercy than man has sin. Notice the things said about God in verses seventeen through twenty: “ready to pardon,” “gracious and merciful,” “slow to anger,” “of great kindness,” “forsookest them not,” “manifold mercies,” “to shew them light,” “Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them,” “withheldest not thy manna,” “gavest them water for their thirst.” What a contrast between man and God. This abundant grace and mercy is available because Jesus died for our sins on the cross of Calvary.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:21-26, “Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.[22] Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.[23] Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.[24] So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.[25] And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.[26] Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.” In these verses Nehemiah is recounting all that the Lord did for the children of Israel after He brought them out of Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land. God took care of them, He forgave them their sins, He blessed them, He provided their needs, He gave them victory over their enemies, He led them, He gave them great and wonderful success, and the list goes on. And yet after all of these things, verse twenty-six says, “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee.” It also says in verse twenty-six that they “cast thy law behind their backs.” In other words they stopped listening to the Word of God and they stopped obeying the Word of God. These things sound very similar to what has happened in America. Our country was blessed, our country was given victories, our country was led, our country was given great prosperity. But the Bible was taken out of the school system, and terrible things were taught in its place such as secularism, and humanism, and globalism. From the schools, the concept that Bible and church were not important spread throughout the land. People have rebelled against God. The Israelites went even one step further. It says that they “slew” God’s prophets. Is that the fate that awaits us also? May God have mercy upon us all.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:27-31, “Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.[28] But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;[29] And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.[30] Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.[31] Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.” This passage tells very clearly why a godly nation gets turned over to ungodly people and to ungodly leaders. The answer is very clear: it is because the godly people stop being godly and God allows the wicked ungodly people to win the struggle for power. It says in the first part of verse twenty-seven, “Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies…” Notice the word “Therefore.” That refers back to the previous verses that tell about the sins of the people. The solution to this terrible problem is also given in verse twenty-seven, “when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven.” God answers prayer. God answers the prayer of His people. Turn to the Lord Jesus, you sinners, and call upon His name. The reason that we can confidently turn to God like that is because He has “manifold mercies.” Once God decides to have mercy upon us, notice what He can do. He can raise up “saviours.” In other words, God can raise up and touch the hearts of just the right people to hold back the evil and to give victory in the land once again. God can do it because He is God. He will do it because He is merciful.

In the case of the Israelites, after the Lord heard their cry and gave them victory once again, they fell away once again and the terrible cycle started over. But God always has more mercy than man has sin. Therefore, there is always the opportunity to turn to Him no matter how many times you have failed.

Verse twenty-nine shows us something that is very important for every believer: the Word of God. We must have the right amount of the Word of God in our lives, and we must obey it. We must put it into practice. This is critical. Jesus said in Luke 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God.” It also says in James 1:22, “Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only.” Nehemiah said in verse twenty-nine that God wanted to “bring them again unto thy law.” Why wouldn’t they come back to the Word of God? First, it says in verse twenty-nine that “they dealt proudly.” They were proud. They thought they had all the answers. They thought they did not need the Word of God that much. And then when they did hear the Word, it says that they “hearkened not unto thy commandments.” The Word of God was not that important to them. That very thing has been happening all over our land for decades, and now we are reaping the results.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:32, “Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.” It is amazing the parallel of what happened to Israel to what is happening to America. How often has the world seen a country raised up by God with miracles in order to be used by God to proclaim His truth and to be an example to other nations? It has not happened very often, but once it does happen, there is a danger that in their prosperity they will forget God and forget His Word and fall into sin. And then if they do not repent of their sins, they will be destroyed. Repent and turn to Jesus: that will make a country great indeed. Sin and turn away from the Lord: that will destroy a country. Thank God that He can do anything. Because of His mercy that is in Christ, God can fix a nation that is ready to fall. Hopefully, He will do that for us.

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