By The Observance Of Which A Person Shall Live
16 “But they and our ancestors acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments; 17 they refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them; but they stiffened their necks and determined to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them. 18 Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud that led them in the way did not leave them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night that gave them light on the way by which they should go. 20 You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. 22 And you gave them kingdoms and peoples, and allotted to them every corner, so they took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land that you had told their ancestors to enter and possess. 24 So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they pleased. 25 And they captured fortress cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses filled with all sorts of goods, hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards, and fruit trees in abundance; so they ate, and were filled and became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
26 Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27 Therefore you gave them into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer. Then in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hands of their enemies. 28 But after they had rest, they again did evil before you, and you abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you rescued them according to your mercies. 29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, by the observance of which a person shall live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years you were patient with them, and warned them by your spirit through your prophets; yet they would not listen. Therefore you handed them over to the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.”
~Nehemiah 9:16-31
I’m reading through the Bible in a year. When I came to this section of Nehemiah where Ezra speaks about Israel’s past, it struck me (as I am sure it has many others) that sin in our individual lives is so much like this corporate/historic example of Israel’s turning away and toward God (and away and toward, etc.). Our ancestors in the faith disobeyed, rebelled, worshipped false gods, turned their backs on His law, etc. Meanwhile, God was gracious, ready to forgive, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. God did give them over into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer and had dominion over them. However, when God’s people humbled themselves, cried out to Him, turned from their ways, and turned back to God’s laws, then He was gracious and merciful. How often does sin, addiction, unforgiveness, putting people/things above God, and so on, bring about our being turned over to our enemy and our being held under dominion? Why do Christians allow even small things to distract us and keep us in slavery—and, we knowingly and daily turn away? Yet, when we humbly turn toward God and follow His laws/ways, He is always there to graciously and mercifully lift us up. He is so worthy of our love and devotion. He has shown us the way to live. I pray that I will continue to do a better job, with God’s help, of staying completely in His will and fully live. – Kevin
26 Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27 Therefore you gave them into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer. Then in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hands of their enemies. 28 But after they had rest, they again did evil before you, and you abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you rescued them according to your mercies. 29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, by the observance of which a person shall live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years you were patient with them, and warned them by your spirit through your prophets; yet they would not listen. Therefore you handed them over to the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.”
~Nehemiah 9:16-31
I’m reading through the Bible in a year. When I came to this section of Nehemiah where Ezra speaks about Israel’s past, it struck me (as I am sure it has many others) that sin in our individual lives is so much like this corporate/historic example of Israel’s turning away and toward God (and away and toward, etc.). Our ancestors in the faith disobeyed, rebelled, worshipped false gods, turned their backs on His law, etc. Meanwhile, God was gracious, ready to forgive, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. God did give them over into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer and had dominion over them. However, when God’s people humbled themselves, cried out to Him, turned from their ways, and turned back to God’s laws, then He was gracious and merciful. How often does sin, addiction, unforgiveness, putting people/things above God, and so on, bring about our being turned over to our enemy and our being held under dominion? Why do Christians allow even small things to distract us and keep us in slavery—and, we knowingly and daily turn away? Yet, when we humbly turn toward God and follow His laws/ways, He is always there to graciously and mercifully lift us up. He is so worthy of our love and devotion. He has shown us the way to live. I pray that I will continue to do a better job, with God’s help, of staying completely in His will and fully live. – Kevin
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