Nehemiah 9: “What Genuine Revival Produces”
By
1. TIMELINE:
These graphs depict the timeline of the Old Testament, and note that the book of Nehemiah is written about a period of history after the Babylonian captivity and beginning in 445 BC.
Graph of Persian kings & Jewish companies sent out by them to Judea:
1.1. In our last study, we looked at chapter 8 of the book of Nehemiah.
1.1.1. We have seen in our study that in 445 BC that Nehemiah, a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I, heard that the people in Jerusalem were in great distress and reproach, and the city wall was still broken down and its gates burned. This caused him to mourn, pray, and fast for four months that God might move the king’s heart and allow him to go and to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall. Finally, the Lord prepared the king’s heart for a conversation with Nehemiah, and when the king noticed that Nehemiah’s countenance was sad, he asked Nehemiah why he was sad in heart. The king then heard Nehemiah’s request and allowed him to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city’s wall. The king gave Nehemiah all that he requested to successfully complete the job: official papers to give to the governors along the way, official paperwork to get all of the wood for building the gates, and an armed escort to assure a safe trip.
1.2. In our last study, we looked at chapter 8 of the book.
1.2.1. We saw that the book of Nehemiah is broken into two sections:
1.2.1.1.The first section, chapters 1-6, deals with the rebuilding of the wall, and Nehemiah is the primary character.
1.2.1.2.The second section, chapters 7-13, deals with the rebuilding of the people of God, and Ezra is the primary character.
1.2.2. We saw that Nehemiah realized after getting the wall built that this was just the beginning of the things that the Lord wanted to do in Judea and with His people. What good would a wall be to keep foreigners out of the city if within the city the people’s hearts were no closer to the Lord than the pagans and they were not fulfilling their calling before the Lord? The Judeans needed to have a revival of religion now, and this is what happened.
1.2.3. We saw that the book of Nehemiah includes the very first revival of religion among God’s people. That this revival occurred before the ‘Water Gate’ should not surprise us for this was a revival bringing people back to the word of God, and in Ephesians chapter 5 the apostle Paul referred to the word of God as water (“the washing of water by the Word”).
1.2.4. We saw that for a while in the book, Nehemiah wisely steps into the background as Ezra takes the stage and reads the law of God to the Judeans after they spontaneously gather to the center of the city.
1.2.5. After completing the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, we saw that all of the people of Judea spontaneously began gathering to the center of the city to hear Ezra read to them from the book of the law. We saw that this result was the fruit of the teaching of God’s Word that Ezra had been doing in Jerusalem the previous 12 years. God’s word had not returned void (just as we are promised), but rather had produced a profound effect upon the people.
1.2.6. The people stood to hear the reading of the law, and Ezra read from the morning until midday. Then, the priests went among the people and gave the sense of the words of the law to them. In other words, the people were told what the Word meant to them and how to practically apply the Word in their lives.
1.2.7. The affect on the people of this read and explaining of the Word to the people was that they were weeping and grieving over their sins. They were eventually told though that this was not the time to weep and mourn, but rather the joy of the Lord should be their strength. So, the people finally quit weeping and grieving and went back to their homes.
1.2.8. On the second day, the priests realized that being the beginning of the seventh month that it was the time that according to the law they were supposed to celebrate the Feast of Booths at this time, so they told the people to go and gather twigs and branches and build temporary shelters for them to live in for the week, and so they observed the feast. The heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests and the Levites came together every day during the seven days of that feast and Ezra read the law to them.
1.3. In our study today, we are going to look at chapter 9 of the book.
1.3.1. We will see that on the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month that the sons of Israel again assemble before Ezra and fast, confess their sins, and then put away the foreign wives that they had taken to themselves. Then, they hear the law read to them. Revival is still breaking out in Israel.
1.3.2. This being the first instance of true revival of religion for God’s people in the scriptures, this story is meant to indicate the kind of things that should accompany every revival.
1.3.3. We are going to talk today about what genuine revival of religion consists of, specifically that it brings conviction of sin that is the result of an emphasis on the preaching and teaching on the word of God.
1.3.3.1.Revival is a work of God in which the people of God turn away from their sins and living independent upon God, and turn to God to live with, for, and through Him. Martin Lloyd-Jones has written the following, “A revival is not the church deciding to do something and doing it. It is something done to the church, something that happens to the church . . . Men can produce evangelistic campaigns, but they cannot and never have produced revival . . . God, and God alone does it . . . Not only can men not produce a revival, they cannot even explain it . . . If you can explain what is happening in a church, apart from this sovereign act of God, it is not revival.” Revival is not evangelism and the winning of souls, revival is the radical recommitment of God’s people to align themselves with God and His will and plans for them.
1.3.3.2.Conviction of sin is ALWAYS a fruit of genuine revival.
1.3.3.2.1.In the previous chapter, when Ezra read all of the law to all Judea gathered before him, and then the priests heard it explained and applied to their lives, they began to weep and mourn. They were finally told to have the joy of the Lord as their strength and stop weeping. They quit for a while, but the weeping and mourning over sin begins again here in chapter 9, the priests weren’t able to squelch what God was doing.
1.3.3.2.2.Charles Finney has written the following in “Lectures On Revival Of Religion”: "A revival always includes conviction of sin on the part of the church. Back-slidden professors cannot wake up and begin right away in the service of God without deep searchings of heart. The fountains of sin need to be broken up. In a true Revival, Christians are always brought under such conviction; they see their sins in such a light that often they find it impossible to maintain a hope of their acceptance with God. It does not always go to that extent, but there are always, in a genuine Revival, deep convictions of sin, and often cases of abandoning all hope."
1.3.3.2.3.Brian Edwards wrote the following: “It was Robert Murray McCheyne who, so greatly used by God in Dundee in 1839, had prayed from his heart, ‘Lord, make me as holy as a saved sinner can be.’ The evidence of his sincerity in this prayer is seen in the fact that people would be moved to tears just by seeing him in the pulpit or walking down the corridor of the church.”
1.3.3.2.4.J. Edwin Orr in The Role of Prayer in Spiritual Awakening wrote the following about the Welsh Revival that began in 1904: “It was the social impact that was astounding. For example, judges were presented with white gloves, not a case to try; no robberies, no burglaries, no rapes, no murders, and no embezzlements, nothing. District councils held emergency meetings to discuss what to do with the police now that they were unemployed. In one place, the sergeant of the police was sent for, and asked: “What do you do with your time?” He replied, “Before the revival, we had two main jobs, to prevent crime and to control crowds, as at football games. Since the revival started, there is practically no crime, so we just go with the crowds.” [He] asked: “What does that mean?” The sergeant replied: “You know where the crowds are. They are packing out the churches.” “But how does that affect the police?” He was told: “We have seventeen police in our station, but we have three quartets; and if any church wants a quartet to sing, they simply call the police station.” As the revival swept Wales, drunkenness was cut in half. There was a wave of bankruptcies, but nearly all taverns. There was even a slowdown in the mines. You say, “How could a religious revival cause a strike?” It did not cause a strike, just a slow down, for so many Welsh coal miners were converted and stopped using bad language that horses that dragged the trucks in the mines could not understand what was being said to them, hence transportation slowed down for a while until they learned the language of Canaan.” ...That revival also affected sexual moral standards. I had discovered through the figures given by British government experts that, in Radnorshire and Merionethshire, the actual illegitimate birth rate had dropped 44% within a year of the beginning of the revival.”
1.3.3.2.5.During the great awakening when revival swept into towns in America the bars closed up and people wept over their sin. Those bars usually turned into churches and were never opened as bars again.
1.3.3.2.6.Revivals have always worked this way. However, in those counterfeit revivals of modern times there has been no conviction of sin. People have not put away their vices, and mourned and wept over their sin. Bars have not closed, sins have not been forsaken, etc.
1.3.3.2.7.The real revivals have always involved the preaching and teaching of God’s word, including the law of God. And just as happened with Ezra in the book of Nehemiah, the teaching and preaching of God’s word brings conviction of sin, and a turning away from sin.
1.3.3.3.Revivals have always occurred as the result of an extended period of prayer of God’s people, prayer for God to be lifted up and glorified. J. Edwin Orr writes in “The Role of Prayer in Spiritual Awakening,” the following about prayer:
1.3.3.3.1.Jonathan Edwards: “Several members of Jonathan Edwards’ church had spent the whole night in prayer before he preached his memorable sermon, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.’ The Holy Ghost was so mightily poured out, and God so manifest in holiness and majesty during the preaching of that sermon, that the elders threw their arms around the pillars of the church and cried, ‘Lord, save us, we are slipping down to hell!’”
1.3.3.3.2.DavidBrainerd: “God enabled me to so agonize in prayer that I was quite wet with perspiration, though in the shade and the cool wind. My soul was drawn out very much from the world, for multitudes of souls.” …“Near the middle of the afternoon God enabled me to wrestle ardently in intercession for my friends. But just at night the Lord visited me marvelously in prayer. I think my soul never was in such an agony before. I felt no restraint; for the treasures of Divine grace were opened to me. I wrestled for my friends, for the ingathering of souls, for multitudes of poor souls, and for many that I thought were the children of God, personally in many different places. I was in such an agony from sun, half an hour high, till near dark, that I was all over wet with sweat.” …“I withdrew for prayer, hoping for strength from above. In prayer I was exceedingly enlarged and my soul was as much drawn out as I ever remember it to have been in my life. I was in such anguish, and pleaded with so much earnestness and importunity, that when I rose from my knees I felt extremely weak and overcome. I could scarcely walk straight; my joints were loosed; the sweat ran down my face and body; and nature seemed as if it would dissolve.”—David Brainerd.
1.3.3.3.3.“Most people have heard of the Welsh Revival, which started in 1904. It began as a movement of prayer. I knew Evan Roberts personally (of course, I met him thirty years later), a man devoted to God. Seth Joshua, the Presbyterian evangelist, had come to the Newcastle Emiyn College where Evan Roberts was studying for the ministry. Evan Roberts, then 26, had been a coal miner. The students were so moved that they asked if they could attend his next campaign nearby, so they cancelled classes to go to Blaenanerch, where Seth Joshua prayed publicly “O God, bend us.” And Evan Roberts went forward, where he prayed with great agony, “O God, bend me.””
1.3.3.4.Praying and seeking God as has been done by men in the midst of revival has caused many to experience the presence of God in an incredible way, evidently similarly to what happened here with Ezra in this revival of the people of God. Brian Edwards, in “Revival” writes the following about this:
1.3.3.4.1.David Brainerd meets with God, 12 July 1739—“David Brainerd makes the following entry in his diary, dated 12 July 1739: ‘As I was walking in a dark, thick grove, unspeakable glory seemed to open to the view and apprehension of my soul. I do not mean any external brightness, for I saw no such thing, nor do I intend any imagination of any body of light somewhere in the third heaven or anything of that nature, but it was a new inward apprehension or view that I had of God, such as I never had before, nor anything which had the lest semblance of it. I stood still, wondered and admired! I knew that I never had seen before anything comparable to it for excellency and beauty, it was widely different from all the conceptions that ever I had of God or things Divine, I had no particular apprehension of any one Person in the Trinity, either the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost, but it appeared to be Divine Glory. My soul rejoiced with joy unspeakable to see such a God, such a glorious Divine Being, and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied that He should be God over all for ever and ever, My soul was so captivated and delighted with the excellency, loveliness, greatness, and other perfections of God, that I was even swallowed up in Him.”
1.3.3.4.2.Jonathan Edwards describes an experience of God's presence he enjoyed in 1737 when he rode to a wood—“I have sometimes had a sense of the excellent fullness of Christ, and his meekness and suitableness as a Savior; whereby he has appeared to me, far above all, the chief of ten thousands. His blood and atonement have appeared sweet, and his righteousness sweet; which was always accompanied with ardency of spirit; and inward strugglings and breathings, and groanings that cannot be uttered, to be emptied of myself, and swallowed up in Christ. Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception - which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust, and to be full of Christ alone; to love him with a holy and pure love; to trust in him; to live upon him; to serve and follow him; and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity. I have several other times had views very much of the same nature, and which have had the same effects.”
1.3.3.4.3.Howel Harris impressed with the immense love of God in Christ 18 June 1735—“Howel Harris, who was so powerfully used in the Awakening across Wales, described how, on 18 June 1735, he met with God. It was so real that he referred to it often throughout his life: ‘I felt suddenly my heart melting within me like wax before the fire with love to God my Saviour; and also felt not only love, peace, etc. but longing to be dissolved, and to be with Christ; then was a cry in my inmost soul, which I was totally unacquainted with before, Abba Father! Abba Father! I could not help calling God my Father, I knew that I was his child, and that He loved me, and heard me. My soul being filled and satiated, crying, “‘Tis enough, l am satisfied. Give me strength, and I will follow thee through fire and water.” I could say I was happy indeed! There was in me a well of water, springing up to everlasting life, Jn. 4:14. The love of God was shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost, Rom. 5:5.”
1.3.4. This chapter primarily is a very long prayer to the Lord, and we will see that it is the longest prayer recorded in the Bible.
1.3.5. This prayer when originally given lasted 1/4th of a day, or 3 hours. Therefore, just as with most of the other prayers in the Bible, this is the condensed gist of the prayer that is recorded for us.
1.3.6. The prayer is prayed by several of the Israelite priests.
1.3.7. This incredible prayer is very encouraging to our faith as it recounts over and over, from the beginning of God’s calling of Abraham until the time of the exile of the southern kingdom of Judea, God revealing His faithfulness to the Israelites followed by the Israelites stubbornness and rebellion against the Lord. Yet, they state that the Lord has never forsaken them in spite of their rebellion and stubbornness.
2. VS 9:1-2 - “1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.” – On the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them, and they again separated themselves from their foreign wives just as they had done ten years earlier under Ezra.
2.1. The children of Israel had been stricken by God through the reading and meditating upon His word, and now we see another spontaneous event occur. The sons of Israel came together to fast, pray, and confess their sins.
2.2. In Isaiah 58:6, Isaiah declares that true fasting is for the purpose of “loosening the bonds of iniquity.” The sons of Israel were already convicted of their sins, and now they come together again and fast and seek the Lord, and He reveals that they have sin in their lives that must be repented of, they must put away foreign wives that they have taken for themselves.
2.3. Dressing in sackcloth and putting dirt upon themselves they confessed not only their own sins but also the ‘iniquities of their fathers.’ Owning the sins of your people or nation and confessing them is consistently seen in scripture by those who prayer prayers of intercession.
2.4. The people had not learned the first time under Ezra (ten plus years earlier) that the Lord did not want them to intermarry with the women of the pagan nations around them. As painful as that initial separation from pagan wives and also the children born to them had been, the sons of Israel repeated their sin. Now, they were again putting away their foreign wives from them. Incredibly, in chapter 13 we find that the Israelites have again taken some foreign wives to themselves.
3. VS 9:3-4 - “3 While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.” – The priests read from the book of the law for a fourth of the day and then they confessed their sins and worshipped the Lord for another fourth of the day
3.1. For three hours the sons of Israel ‘stood in their place’ out of respect for God and His Word, as the law of God was read to them.
3.2. Then, for another three hours they ‘confessed’ their sins in genuine sorrow and resolve to change, and also ‘worshipped the Lord.’
3.3. God was supernaturally doing a work in bringing an entire nation at once into perfect harmony with Himself. This must have been an incredible event.
4. VS 9:5-6 - “5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise! 6 “You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.” – Prayer Part #1: Praise to God for who He is and what He has done
4.1. Whenever we come to the Lord in prayer, we need to come acknowledging His greatness, beauty, and power, and we need to praise Him before we request of Him.
4.2. The Levitical priests declare that the Lord ‘alone’ is God, and it is He that has ‘made the heavens with their host.’ They continue and declare more of His creations, ‘The earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them.’ They state that the Lord ‘gave life to all of them.’
4.3. The priests praise God for the fact that all of the mighty ‘heavenly host bows down before’ the Lord.
5. VS 9:7-8 - “7 “You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham. 8 “You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite— To give it to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous.” – Prayer Part #2: Recalling the call of Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees
5.1. Note that in calling Abraham and then keeping the promises made to Abraham after Abraham believed God and packed up and moved out of Ur of the Chaldees to the land He was being called to, the priests declare: ‘You have fulfilled Your promise, for You are righteous.’
6. VS 9:9-12 - “9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea. 10 “Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that they acted arrogantly toward them, And made a name for Yourself as it is this day. 11 “You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And their pursuers You hurled into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters. 12 “And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go.” – Prayer Part #3: Remembering God bringing them out of slavery in Egypt
6.1. The incredible miracles and wonders of the plagues on the Egyptians performed by the Lord in delivering the children of Israel from Egypt and slavery are recalled.
6.2. Likewise, the incredible miracles of parting the Red Sea so that ‘they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground’ and yet the Egyptian army that pursued them were ‘hurled into the depths like a stone into raging waters.’
6.3. Finally, the manner in which the Lord led the children of Israel by day with ‘a pillar of cloud’ and by night with ‘pillar of fire’ to light their path for them is recalled.
7. VS 9:13-15 - “13 “Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. 14 “So You made known to them Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses. 15 “You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore to give them.” – Prayer Part #4: Remembering God giving them the law upon Mt. Sinai as well as bread to eat and water to drink during their wilderness wanderings
7.1. The Lord is remembered for having come down from heaven to Mt. Sinai and then in thundering and with earthquakes He ‘spoke with them from heaven.’
7.2. The Lord is remembered also for the ‘just ordinances and true laws,’ for giving them ‘good statutes and commandments.’ The Psalmist wrote the following about God’s law: Psalm 19:7-10, “7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”
7.3. The incredible miracles of daily providing manna for bread and water for thirst for a group of at least a million and a half Israelites is recalled.
7.4. Finally, the Lord is remembered for telling the Israelites to ‘enter in to possess the land’ that the Lord had sworn to them.
8. VS 9:16-21 - “16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments. 17 “They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them. 18 “Even when they made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, ‘This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies, 19 You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. 20 “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst. 21 “Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.” – Prayer Part #5: Remembering their fathers acting arrogantly and disobediently from Mt. Sinai and receiving the law all of the way through the 40 years of chastisement in the wilderness, yet in spite of this the Lord did not forsake them but rather revealed that He is a God of forgiveness, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness
8.1. It is recalled the response of stubbornness and rebellion the Israelites which the Israelites responded to the Lord, after He had done all of the great and mighty things He had done for them.
8.2. The Israelites refused to listen to God’s commandments, did not remember the Lord’s deeds, in stubbornness appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
8.3. In spite of all of their rebellion and stubbornness, the Lord did not forsake His people. Instead He revealed that He is a ‘God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.’
8.4. Plus, the Lord gave His ‘good Spirit to instruct them,’ and in spite of their rebellion He gave them manna which He ‘did not withhold from their mouth’ and ‘water for their thirst.’
8.5. It is recalled that the Israelite’s ‘clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell’ their in the dessert.
9. VS 9:22-25 - “22 “You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And allotted them to them as a boundary. They took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan. 23 “You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 “So their sons entered and possessed the land. And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, To do with them as they desired. 25 “They captured fortified cities and a fertile land. They took possession of houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and grew fat, And reveled in Your great goodness.” – Prayer Part #6: From the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, as well as Joshua, it is recalled the doubt, grumbling, rebelling, and idolatry of Israel, yet the Lord brought them into the Promised Land and prospered them, giving them kingdoms and peoples and a boundary
9.1. ‘Kingdoms and peoples’ were given to the Israelites when they went up in battle against them.
9.2. The children of Israel took possession of ‘the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon and the land of Og the king of Bashan’ as we read about during their wilderness wanderings in Numbers 21:21-35, “21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s highway until we have passed through your border.” 23 But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. So Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was Jazer. 25 Israel took all these cities and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore those who use proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon! Let it be built! So let the city of Sihon be established. 28 “For a fire went forth from Heshbon, A flame from the town of Sihon; It devoured Ar of Moab, The dominant heights of the Arnon. 29 “Woe to you, O Moab! You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, And his daughters into captivity, To an Amorite king, Sihon. 30 “But we have cast them down, Heshbon is ruined as far as Dibon, Then we have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.” 31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out with all his people, for battle at Edrei. 34 But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So they killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no remnant left him; and they possessed his land.”
9.3. They then recalled what God had given them under Joshua when the land of Canaan was captured by them: ‘They captured fortified cities and a fertile land. They took possession of houses full of every good thing, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and grew fat, And reveled in Your great goodness.’
10. VS 9:26-29 - “26 “But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets who had admonished them So that they might return to You, And they committed great blasphemies. 27 “Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to You in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors. 28 “But as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You; Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them. When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven, And many times You rescued them according to Your compassion, 29 And admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By which if a man observes them he shall live. And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.” – Prayer Part #7: From the book of Joshua and Judges, remembering that the people cyclically became disobedient and rebellious against the Lord and His law, killing the prophets sent to them, and the Lord delivered them into the hands of their oppressors
11. VS 26:30-31 - “30 “However, You bore with them for many years, And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are a gracious and compassionate God.” – Prayer Part #8: From the book of Judges, remembering the seven cycles of falling away from the Lord and being oppressed by another nation, then repenting and turning back to the Lord and Him raising up a judge to deliver from their oppressor
12. VS 26:32-37 - “32 “Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness, Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. 33 “However, You are just in all that has come upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly. 34 “For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them. 35 “But they, in their own kingdom, With Your great goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You set before them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds. 36 “Behold, we are slaves today, And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves in it. 37 “Its abundant produce is for the kings Whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress.” - Prayer Part #9: From the Kings and Chronicles, remembering the story of the northern kingdom being taken captive by Persia and also the southern kingdom being taken captive by Babylon
12.1. The children of Israel ask God for mercy and to remember their hardships: ‘not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You.’
12.2. The prayer is summed up with them saying that the Lord has been ‘just’ and have ‘dealt faithfully’ with them in all that has happened to them, and they state: ‘You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.’
12.3. The Israelites confess their failure in more detail: ‘our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.’
12.4. The Israelites acknowledge the fact that they ‘are slaves today’ because of the kings that the Lord had set over them ‘because of our sins.’
12.5. The Israelites state in prayer that the Persians rule ever their bodies and even over their cattle as they please, and, they ‘are in great distress.’ It is their sins that has brought all of their difficulties upon them.
13. VS 26:38 - “38 “Now because of all this We are making an agreement in writing; And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.”” – The Judeans make an agreement in writing to serve and follow the Lord obediently
14. CONCLUSIONS:
14.1. Are you willing to align your life to God and His word?
14.2. Are you willing to pray with great burden, and labor in prayer, for the lost to be saved?
14.3. Are you willing to let God “bend” you, like Evan Roberts did before the Welsh revival, and thus make you the person He wants you to be so that you can be used greatly by Him?
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