“They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes.” — Nehemiah 10:29

As an indication of their commitment to adhere to God’s instructions, in today’s text the Jewish people signed a written covenant with Him. Their purpose was to truly follow through on doing right, although some of the process would be painful to them. 

In the years since that time, others have committed to serve God. Lee, a man in our congregation, is an example of this. He testified that he knew he needed to ask God to come into his life and forgive him. When he was sixteen years old, at a Sunday morning service during camp meeting, he prayed and asked God to give him the same peace that he had heard others talk about. 

Lee said, “Just as clearly as an audible conversation with someone would have been, the Lord’s words came to me: ‘Lee, would you be willing to give up football to have this peace?’ Football was important to me. I loved it, and people said I was good at it. In my second year of high school, I was six feet two inches tall, weighed 235 pounds, and could run the forty-yard dash in nearly record time. And God wanted to know if I would give up football. I prayed, ‘Yes, Lord, I’ll give up football. I’ll give up everything to have this peace.’ As soon as I made that consecration, such a joy and peace came into my heart. 

“When we returned home, it was soon time for football practices, and phone calls started coming to ask why I wasn’t attending. When I told the coaches I’d given up football to serve the Lord, it became a very difficult time in our house.

“My father was a moral man and taught us many good lessons, but he was not godly. He enjoyed seeing the names of his boys on the sports page of the newspaper, and when he found out that I was no longer going to play football, he disowned me. For the next two years, he hardly spoke to me. He did not want anything to do with me because of the shame that he said I brought upon him.

“Meanwhile, the head football coach researched how many professional football players professed to be Christians and came up with a list of ninety-six. He asked me, ‘If these people are Christians and they play football, why can’t you?’ God gave me the wisdom to say, ‘It may be fine for them, but this is what God asked me to do!’ 

“The school athletic director showed me six letters of intent from major colleges for football scholarships. He could not comprehend that I was willing to give that up ‘to be religious.’ I replied, ‘It’s not about being religious. It’s about having this peace in my heart that God gave.’ Additionally, I told him my dad had taught me to be a man of my word—if a promise was made, it needed to be kept. God helped me to hold fast to the promise I’d made to Him.” 

In time, God restored Lee’s relationship with his father. Also, Lee said, “Nearly three decades after the fact, an old friend shared with me how much my decision to quit sports and serve the Lord had influenced him and some of our peers to be committed to God. While I never regretted the decision to obey God, it was so encouraging to know that it had a positive impact on others.” 

God wants each of us to make a commitment to serve Him. The people of Nehemiah’s time chose to do so, and Lee did as well. Will we make that commitment also, and then follow through?

BACKGROUND

The final verse of the preceding chapter introduces chapter 10. After confessing their rebellion and disobedience to God, the people of Judah signed and sealed a written covenant and recommitted themselves to Him. This chapter notes who signed and then gives a summary of priests, Levites, and others who pledged to support this reform, and lists provisions and obligations of the agreement.

Verses 1-27 of this chapter record names of the signers of the covenant. Since Nehemiah was the governor of Judah, he was the first person to sign. The word “Tirshatha” following his name was the Persian title for a governor or high-ranking civil official. Three groups of people are mentioned in the list of signers: the priests (verses 2-8), the Levites (verses 9-13), and the leaders of the people (verses 14-27). It is noteworthy that while eighty-four people sealed the covenant, the rest of the people “having knowledge, and having understanding,” also pledged to the covenant made with God (verse 28). The phrase “entered into a curse” in verse 29 means that those who made the covenant did so with the knowledge that they would receive punishment if they broke their pledge.

The chapter continues by listing six provisions of the agreement.
   • Verse 30: They would not allow their children to marry individuals from the pagan nations around them.
   • Verse 31: They would not make purchases on the Sabbath or on a holy day; in other words, they would keep the Sabbath.
   • Verse 31: They would not demand payment for debts on the seventh year; it would be observed as a Sabbath year.
   • Verses 32-33: They would commit to paying an annual assessment for support of the Temple.
   • Verse 34: They would participate in bringing wood to the Temple in order to ensure a perpetual flame would burn on the altar (see Leviticus 6:12-13).
   • Verses 35-38: They would bring their firstfruits to the Temple and a tithe of the ground to the Levites, who in turn would take “the tithe of the tithes” to the Temple storehouse. 

The final commitment made by the people is found in verse 39: they promised that “we will not forsake the house of our God.” This pledge meant not only that they would continue to participate in worship, but also that they would pledge to provide whatever was necessary for the Temple service.

AMPLIFIED OUTLINE

III. The revival of the people under Nehemiah
     C. The public renewal of the covenant (10:1-39)
          1. The signers of the covenant (10:1-27)
               a. The governor (10:1)
               b. The priests (10:2-8)
               c. The Levites (10:9-13)
               d. The leaders of the people (10:14-27)
          2. The obligations of the covenant (10:28-39)
               a. Obedience to the Law (10:28-31)
               b. Support of the Temple ritual (10:32-39)

A CLOSER LOOK

1. According to verse 29, what did the people of Judah commit to do?
2. Why do you think God did not want the Jewish people to intermarry with the other people of the land? (verse 30)
3. What are some ways that our commitment to serve God might be tested?

CONCLUSION

God is looking for His followers to make a full commitment to Him. Are we determined to serve Him no matter what the price?