Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath said will we do. Commitment to definitely & aggressively do what is right, that implies deep understanding on the Word of God, rooted and grounded in love.
KEY VERSE: Nehemiah 10:28-29, The rest of the people—priests, Levites, gatekeepers, musicians, temple servants and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand— all these now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord.
When Israel was first brought into covenant with God it was done by sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood (Exo. 24:1-8). But here it was done by the more natural and common way of sealing and subscribing the written articles of the covenant, which bound them to no more than was already their duty.
A. The wall is built and all the work is done. But the attention has shifted now to the building of people and these men and women have responded in a wonderful way. They have taken some steps that are very admirable.
1. Working through the Word of God. The Spirit of God that brings revival.
2. Working through the humble confession of sin. Thet day to afflict the soul. It was a day to lose the bands of wickedness & that is the fast that God has chosen. God's work in us often must come to a place of decision. Chapter 9 tells us that on the 24th day of the month, after the people had been studying Scripture daily they came together for a time of confession and repentance.
God's wants His people to make commitments. An important starting place. they must be biblical. The argument of v. 28 is very important. They separated themselves from the people of the land unto the law of God.
Nehemiah 10 - We found God's people making a signed covenant with the Lord. The details of the covenant recorded & some of the highlights include the fact that they were promising to follow the Scriptures. (v29) A promised to raise their children in a way that pleased the Lord. (especially the person they allowed their child to marry) They spoke about the way they were going to conduct business, especially with reference to not working on the Sabbath Day and then the majority of the covenant had to do with their promises to support the temple. both financially and with their labor. The chapter ends with the words. "Thus we will not neglect the house of the Lord"
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!