Many years ago when I was working for a land development company in Albuquerque I often flew on our company plane. Occasionally I got to sit in the front of the plane in the right hand seat. I’ll never forget one of those occasions when we were flying into Dallas during the summer through some very heavy storms. Visibility was nearly zero so the pilot had to depend on his instruments to fly the plane. Because of the storm, we were constantly off course, either because of the strong winds or because the pilot was trying to avoid the heaviest part of the storms. But by looking at the instruments the pilot could tell exactly how far off course we were and he was able to constantly make course corrections so that we were eventually able to make it to our destination.
A pilot making course corrections is actually a very good picture of what genuine Biblical repentance looks like. For those of you who stayed with us for “Connections” last week, some of what I’m going to share this morning is a review. But this is so important that it won’t hurt any of us to go over some of this again. So although I don’t have time to cover the Biblical concept of repentance in the same amount of detail we did last Sunday in “Connections”, I do want to briefly touch on some of the most important aspects we discussed.
When John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter and Paul – all of whom were Jewish – spoke of repentance, their concept of repentance was in line with the Hebrew understanding of repentance that has its roots in the Old Testament. The primary Hebrew word used to describe the repentance of man in the Old Testament literally means “to turn back” or “to return”. So the Hebrew concept of repentance was that of a man returning to his original state when he had been created by God created His own image.
Therefore in the Hebrew mindset, repentance is much more than just being sorry. It is a change of mind in which we turn away from sin in order to turn back to God and His original design for our lives. And that always requires both a change in our thinking and a change in our conduct. It is what we might call a “spiritual course correction.”
Last week in Nehemiah 9, we saw how the people began that process of repentance. As they read God’s Word, they came to understand just how far off course they were as a people. They certainly hadn’t gotten there all at once. It had taken thousands of years to get to this point. This is a good reminder for us that it’s a lot easier for us to get off course, even far off course, than we might think.
Let’s go back to our illustration of flying. Being off course by only 1 degree doesn’t sound like a lot does it? But being off course by only that small amount results in missing the target landing spot by 92 feet for every mile flown or about one mile for every 60 miles flown. That means that without correction a flight from JFK airport in New York to LAX airport in Los Angeles that is only 1 degree off course would end up being over 40 miles off course. That might very well be the difference between landing on the runway and ending up in the Pacific Ocean.
That is what had happened spiritually to the Jews gathered in Jerusalem that day. As a people, they hadn’t started off very far off course, but over the years as their disobedience persisted and they failed to make the needed course corrections, they had gotten so far off course that now a major course correction was needed.
Once they became aware of that need for a course correction through the reading of God’s Word, the first step was to mourn over their sin and confess that sin to God. That was a necessary first step, but their repentance was far from complete at that point. It wasn’t enough to just turn away from their sin. They still needed to turn back to God. We saw the beginning of that second part of the process last week in the last verse of Nehemiah 9:
“Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.
(Nehemiah 9:38 ESV)
As we come to chapter 10, we find the details of that covenant. So go ahead and turn there in your Bibles so you can follow along as we examine that passage this morning.
“On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah…
(Nehemiah 10:1 ESV)
I’m not going to read the list of the names we find in the next 26 verses, but let me point out that this covenant was signed by the leaders on behalf of the entire community. It was signed first by Nehemiah and then by the priests, the Levites, and finally by the leaders of the various families living in Jerusalem.
Let’s pick up the account in verse 28:
“The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord and his rules and his statutes.
(Nehemiah 10:28-29 ESV)
Although the people of Nehemiah’s day had disobeyed God in some specific ways that may or not be the same ways we disobey Him today, the general idea that people of all cultures throughout history have gotten off course and need to make a course correction through the process of repentance is applicable to all people in all ages. So while there may be some benefit to us in examining the specific vows that the people make in this chapter, what is even more important for us is to use this passage to help us understand the process of repentance in more general terms so that we can apply it whenever and however we rebel against God.
Here in these two verses we find a great description of three essential elements in that process.
Genuine repentance requires me to be:
• devoted to God’s Word
• distinct from the world
• dependent on God’s work
So let’s talk about each of these three elements so we can understand how to apply them in our own lives and then we’ll spend a few minutes looking at how the people of Nehemiah’s day applied these elements as an illustration that will further or understanding.
Be devoted to God’s Word
The people had now been listening to God’s Word for a little over three weeks since they had first gathered to listen to Ezra read it publicly. And, as we saw last week, the people began to be convicted about the fact that they had strayed so far from God’s Law. So they fasted, and put on sackcloth and put dirt on their heads and then they prayed to God and confessed their sin. With those actions they began the process of repentance by recognizing that they needed to make a course correction which had to begin with turning away from the direction they had been going.
But in order to complete the process of repentance they actually had to complete that course correction and turn back to God. The first step in that process was to “enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law”. This was a serious commitment since the people undoubtedly had heard the law governing oaths and vows in Numbers 30:
If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
(Numbers 30:2 ESV)
The people were making a vow to live according to God’s Word and acknowledging that if they failed to live up to that vow they were subjecting themselves to the curses that God had warned about in His Law to those who would choose to disobey it.
And, as we’ll see in the last part of this chapter, in this vow the people made some very specific commitments to change their behavior in order to bring it into line with God’s Word. That is an extremely important lesson for us.
I’m reminded of a man had just put the finishing touches on a fresh concrete driveway. He went inside to enjoy a glass of lemonade when, to his horror, he saw his little neighbor boy playing in the fresh concrete. He went outside and yelled angrily at the boy. After he had fixed the concrete and come back inside, his wife said, “Why did you yell at him? I thought you loved little boys.” The man replied, “I love little boys in the abstract, but I don’t like them in the concrete.”
We can easily do that with the Bible can’t we? We say we love it in the abstract, but when it comes down to making concrete applications in our lives, that is often much more difficult. In fact, that is probably my biggest frustration as a pastor. Every week we examine a passage of Scripture and develop some practical principles from the Bible. And for the most part, I think most of you probably agree with those principles, at least in the abstract. At least it’s very rare that any of you ever come to me to tell me you disagree with those principles.
But where my disappointment and frustration comes in is that I rarely see anyone actually make a specific, concrete commitment to change his or her life as a result of what was learned. The fact that the people here made specific commitments and put them down in writing and signed their names seems to me to be an indication that we need to do a better job of responding to God’s Word with some specific, concrete commitments.
Let me illustrate. Let’s just suppose that one of the principles in a message had to do with being a better witness for Jesus. I don’t know any of us that would disagree with that in the abstract. But to really make a change in my life I need to come up with a more specific concrete way to actually put that truth into action. Perhaps it is something like, “I’m going to invite my neighbors to come with me to church on Easter and I’ll offer to pick them up and then take them to lunch afterward.” That is something I can measure, so I’m much more likely to actually do it. And if I write it down and perhaps even ask someone else to hold me accountable, I’m even more likely to follow through with that commitment.
Be distinct from the world
This is not the first time in Nehemiah that we have seen the Jews separate themselves from the foreigners in their midst. It was always God’s intent that His chosen people would live a life that was distinct from that of the people around them, not because they were in any way superior or had done something to merit God’s favor, but for their own good and so that they would be effective witnesses for God.
Distinctive does not mean isolated. God’s purpose was that the entire world was to be blessed through Israel and certainly there was no way that could happen if they isolated themselves from all those other nations. But at the same time His chosen people were to live a distinct lifestyle. Jesus confirms this idea when He prays for His disciples shortly before His crucifixion:
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
(John 17:14-18 ESV)
Obviously Jesus is our perfect example here. He left the glory of heaven to come to earth where He lived among sinful men, but He still lived a completely holy and sinless life that was an example to others and a witness to His Heavenly Father.
When we make a vow to be devoted to God’s Word we are automatically making a commitment to live in a way that is going to be distinct from the rest of the world around us.
Be dependent on God’s work
When we make a vow to be devoted to God’s Word and to be distinct from the world it also requires us to quit depending on ourselves and start depending on God. As we’ll see in the last part of the chapter, living according to God’s Word often makes absolutely no sense from the perspective of the world. It’s not logical refrain from conducting business every seventh day or from planting a crop every seven years. It makes no sense to give for the operation of the Temple when people were already struggling to make ends meet. But those are the kinds of actions that demonstrate in a tangible way that I really am trusting in God and not in myself.
Because we live in a culture that has increasingly turned away from God, turning back to Him and living according to His Word will often seem quite foolish from the perspective of that culture. And, in some cases, living according to the Bible is going to cause us to be ridiculed and even harmed for standing up for our faith.
When that occurs, and it eventually will if we’re committed to living according to God’s Word, the only way we will be able to persevere through those difficulties is to trust that God is sovereign and that He is actively at work in our lives. We have to trust that God has given us the instructions in the Bible because He loves us and He knows that way of life is ultimately what is best for us in spite of the fact that it might look like that right now.
Genuine repentance requires me to be:
• devoted to God’s Word
• distinct from the world
• dependent on God’s work
Let’s see how Nehemiah and his fellow Jews put these principles into practice in the last part of the chapter:
We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.
“We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law. We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the LORD; also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.”
(Nehemiah 10:30-39 ESV)
The first thing we see here is that everything they vowed to do was something they had learned of through the reading of God’s Law. These commitments were not just something they decided to do on their own.
• The observation of Sabbath day where the people were prohibited from doing business as normal and the Sabbath year where the people were not to plant or harvest their fields were both clearly spelled out in God’s Law.
• God’s Word is full of God’s commands not to intermarry with the surrounding nations.
• The concept of bringing the firstfruits, the very best that a person has, as an offering to God goes all the way back to Abel’s offering in Genesis 4 and the idea of setting aside the firstborn to God goes back to the institution of the Passover as a remembrance of how God had freed His people from slavery in Egypt.
• The commitment to provide the resources for the operation of the Temple and the sacrificial system was based on God’s instructions to His people as recorded in the Scriptures.
The next thing we see is that the people made a vow to be distinct from the surrounding people:
• They would no longer give their daughters in marriage to non-Israelites nor would they allow their sons to take wives from the surrounding nations.
• They would no longer do business with foreigners on the Sabbath or on other holy days.
• They would follow God’s commands to let their fields lie fallow every seven years and to cancel all debts of their fellow Israelites every seven years.
• They would give sacrificially so that the house of their God would not be neglected.
All of these actions would make them separate and distinct from the surrounding nations and would be a great testimony to their faith and the greatness of their God.
Finally, we see that they were willing to be dependent on God’s work in their lives. A lot of what they promised to do didn’t make a whole lot of sense from an earthly perspective:
• From very early on in the history of the Israelites, they had consistently intermarried as a means of enticing their neighbors to sign peace treaties or to avoid the attacks of their enemies. That practice had come to its zenith during the reign of Solomon, who had 700 wives and 300 concubines, almost all for political purposes.
So to refrain from taking on foreign wives carried with it the risk of dissolving some of the political alliances which Israel was relying upon for their safety. And that meant that the people would now have to rely upon God to protect them.
• At a minimum, not buying goods on the Sabbath was going to be an inconvenience for Nehemiah and his people. In some cases that was probably going to mean that they weren’t going to be able to obtain some goods that they might need just to subsist. So the people would have to trust God to provide what they needed.
But observing the Sabbath year was an even greater act of trust in God’s work in the lives of His people. In the agricultural culture of the day, not planting one’s fields for an entire year was taking a huge risk. What if they ran out of grain before the next year’s crop? Or what if there were not adequate rains the following year and their crop failed? Those were legitimate questions to ask, but ultimately the people decided that they would just trust in God’s work in their lives and count on Him to provide for their needs.
• The commitment to give generously and sacrificially to the operation of the Temple was also a risky proposition. You’ll remember from earlier in the book of Nehemiah that even though the walls had now been rebuilt, the houses of the people still lay in ruins, a good indication of severe poverty that these people faced. So to give to the operation of the Temple was truly an act that proved the people were dependent on God’s work in their lives.
We have learned this morning that:
Genuine repentance requires me to be:
• devoted to God’s Word
• distinct from the world
• dependent on God’s work
If there is one thing I’m sure of this morning, it is that all of us have gotten off course in one or more areas of our life. And the only way I know of to make sure that we don’t get so far off course that we crash land is to constantly and consistently engage in that kind of repentance. So let me close this morning with some suggestions of how you might take some practical, concrete steps to do that in your life:
Applying the message:
1. As you read the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any sin in your life that is exposed by His Word (john 16:8)
2. Confess those sins to God and ask for His forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
3. Determine what practical, concrete steps you can take to return to God and be obedient to His Word.
• Write them down
• Ask a godly person to hold you accountable
• Pray and ask God to help you carry out those steps (Philippians 2:12-13)
4. Trust that God is working in your life even when things don’t make sense (Isaiah 55:8-9)
If we’ll do those things on a regular basis, then we can make sure that we bring our lives to a safe landing exactly where God intends for us to be.
