NEHEMIAH LESSON 10


     We will begin this lesson in Nehemiah 9:20 "Thou gavest also thy
good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their
mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst."

     This was speaking of the nearly 3 million people being fed for
the 40 years with manna that fell from heaven. The water, spoken of
here, was the water that flowed from the Rock. This is, however, the
first and only mention of the Holy Spirit being their instructor, in
the Old Testament.

     Nehemiah 9:21 "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."

     There were so many miracles God had done for them in the
wilderness journey, that we tend to forget the miracle of their
clothes lasting 40 years. Not only did their feet not swell, but their
shoes did not wear out either. These were really great miracles within
themselves.

     Nehemiah 9:22 "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."

     We discussed in the previous lesson, how God took the land away
from the 7 nations that lived in the area of the promised land, and
gave it to the Israelites. The land was divided into 12 parts, and
each tribe received their part. Sihon was king of Heshbon. Og was the
Amorite king of Bashan. The giants came from this territory.

     Nehemiah 9:23 "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]."

     Approximately 75 people went into Egypt, and the nation of
Israel, approximately 3,000,000, came out of Egypt. This was a
tremendous increase. This near 3,000,000 people took the land of
promise and dwelled in it, as God had promised.

     Nehemiah 9:24 "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."

     When they went in and took the land, as God had commanded them to
do, God was with them and they won their battles. In most instances,
God had instructed them to kill the people of the lands they
conquered. They never did seem to quite rid the land of the Ammonites,
Moabites, and the other five tribes. The Philistines were a constant
thorn for them, as well.

     Nehemiah 9:25 "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."

     This truly was a land of milk and honey, as God had promised
them. The olive trees and the vineyards were already planted by the
people they overran. The children of Israel wanted for nothing. God
had kept his covenant with Abraham.

     Nehemiah 9:26 "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."

     To be blessed beyond any other nation of the world, there was
only one thing God asked of them. He asked them to keep His
commandments and be faithful to Him. They did not do even that. They
rebelled against God. They were disobedient at every turn. God sent
them prophets to warn them, and they killed their prophets. Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were all said {by historians} to have been
murdered. They angered the LORD by worshipping false gods, as well.

     Nehemiah 9:27 "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."

     It seemed to be a never- ending cycle. They would sin against God
and bring His wrath upon them. Many times, His wrath was carried out
by them losing a very important battle and losing many men. They would
repent, and God would forgive them. They seemed to never learn. God
sent judges, prophets, and priests to help them. God sent those like
Samson and David to defeat their enemies. It was all the same. As soon
as they were out of trouble, they returned to their false gods. The
judges, Othniel and Ehud, were spoken of as saviours. When each judge
was in control, God would give peace to Israel.

     Nehemiah 9:28 "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;"

     This is another way of saying the previous verse. It seemed not
to matter how great the help had been from God,. they still would turn
again to the false gods after their trouble was momentarily gone.
Notice, God forgave them because He was merciful, not because they
deserved to be forgiven.

     Nehemiah 9:29 "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."

     All of the wars they lost, and the famines that came, were to
drive them back to the LORD and the law. They were a proud rebellious
people, who felt they did not need the LORD. They did not keep the
law, and did not even try to know what God's law said. They wanted to
be like the world around them.

     Nehemiah 9:30 "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."

     God waited several hundred years for them to repent and turn to
Him with a pure heart. He sent prophets to warn them of their evil
deeds, and they took no heed. He waited about 260 years for the ten
tribes to repent and turn to Him, but they did not. They went into
captivity about 135 years before the tribe of Judah and Benjamin did.
The main difference I saw in this, was the ten tribes did not have any
kings who truly loved God and kept his commandments, and Judah had a
few kings who sought God. Eventually, even Judah got so far away from
God, that they were taken into Babylonian captivity.

     Nehemiah 9:31 "Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou
didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou [art] a
gracious and merciful God."

     God loved them so much, that He always saved a remnant to start
again. At the time this is being spoken, that remnant had come back to
Judah to begin, again. Notice, Gods mercy was what saved them.

     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."

     The kings of Assyria were the rod of God's anger. They were the
instrument God used to punish the people, and make them repent. This
was a reminder of the greatness of God. The people must never forget
the punishment that came upon them for their sins. God is merciful and
keeps His covenant. It is man who breaks the covenant.

     Nehemiah 9:33 "Howbeit thou [art] just in all that is brought
upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:"

     This was admitting that as bad as the punishment had been from
God on His people, they had brought it upon themselves by their sins.
God had done what was right. It was the wickedness of the people that
had brought on the terrible times.

     Nehemiah 9:34 "Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests,
nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and
thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them."

     The Israelites were the only people in the world who had been
given the law of God. All they had to do was live by that law. The ten
tribes of Israel had no kings who kept God's law. There were a few
like Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah of the tribes of Judah that did right
in God's sight. Even they were overwhelmed finally by the sins of the
people, and God punished Judah, too. Verse 34 is saying, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God.

     Nehemiah 9:35 "For they have not served thee in their kingdom,
and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and
fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their
wicked works."

     While Israel and Judah were free and were not subjects to a
foreign land, they did not serve God. They had everything, and threw
it away in disobedience.

     Nehemiah 9:36 "Behold, we [are] servants this day, and [for] the
land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and
the good thereof, behold, we [are] servants in it:"

     Even though the king of Persia had let them come back to their
homeland to live, they were not out from under his domination. They
still had to pay tribute to him. The children of Israel had never
really been completely free since then, until 1948. Off and on they
were in the land, but under domination of some other country.

     Nehemiah 9:37 "And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom
thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion
over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we [are]
in great distress."

     What God had intended to bless the children of Israel with, had
in turn, blessed the kings who they were subject to. The Persian king
was their master as they were speaking these words.

     Nehemiah 9:38 "And because of all this we make a sure [covenant],
and write [it]; and our princes, Levites, [and] priests, seal [unto
it]."

     This was re-establishing a covenant with their God. They did not
want these same problems to come upon them, again. All of the leaders
would sign this covenant, they had written down promising to seek God
and His ways from henceforth.




                           Nehemiah 10 Questions


1.  How many years did God provide manna for the Israelites?
2.  How did he quench their thirst?
3.  What is the good spirit in verse 1?
4.  What miracles, that happened on their journey, were mentioned in
    verse 21.
5.  God took the promised land away from _______nations, and gave it
    to Israel.
6.  Sihon was king of __________.
7.  Og was the ___________ king of Bashan
8.  Their children also _______________ thou as the stars of heaven.
9.  From the approximately 75 people who went into Egypt, ___________
    came out.
10. In most instances, God had instructed them to __________ the
    people of the lands they conquered.
11. The ____________ were a constant thorn for them, as well.
12. What was already growing in the land they took?
13. God had promised them a land of ________ and ________.
14. Nevertheless, they were _____________.
15. What was the one thing God asked from the Israelites?
16. What did God do to cause them to return to Him?
17. Who did God send to warn them of their sins?
18. When they turned to God and repented, what did God do?
19. Which of the judges had been spoken of as saviours?
20. All the wars they lost, and the famines they suffered, were to
    drive them back to ______ and the _______.
21. God waited several hundred years, before He did what to them?
22. Why was Judah's captivity over a hundred years after the ten
    tribes' captivity?
23. God loved them so much, He always saved a ___________.
24. God's ________ saved them.
25. The king's of Assyria were the _________ of God' anger.
26. Was God unfair with them?
27. Who were some of the good kings?
28. Who had let them come back to their homeland?
29. Were they truly free?
30. When did they become completely free?
31. What were they going to do, to show God their sincerity in keeping
    the covenant with Him?