THE ISRAELITES MADE A BINDING AGREEMENT
chapter 9
1. On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.
2. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.
3. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God.
4. Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the LORD their God.
5. And the Levites - Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah - said: "Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting." "Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
6. You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
7. "You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.
8. You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
9. "You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.
10. You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day.
11. You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.
12. By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
13. "You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good.
14. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses.
15. In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
16. "But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands.
17. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them,
18. even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ’This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
19. "Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.
20. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.
21. For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
22. "You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan.
23. You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess.
24. Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased.
25. They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.
26. "But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.
27. So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28. "But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
29. "You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ’The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.
30. For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
31. But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32. "Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes - the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.
33. In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly.
34. Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep.
35. Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
36. "But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces.
37. Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
38. "In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it."
chapter 10
1. Those who sealed it were: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hakaliah. Zedekiah,
2. Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
3. Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,
4. Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluk,
5. Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
6. Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
7. Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
8. Maaziah, Bilgai and Shemaiah. These were the priests.
9. The Levites: Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,
10. and their associates: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
11. Mika, Rehob, Hashabiah,
12. Zakkur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
13. Hodiah, Bani and Beninu.
14. The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
15. Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
16. Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
17. Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
18. Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
19. Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
20. Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
21. Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
22. Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
23. Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
24. Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
25. Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
26. Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
27. Malluk, Harim and Baanah.
28. "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 -
29. 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 our Lord.
30. "We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons.
31. "When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.
32. "We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God:
33. for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.
34. "We - the priests, the Levites and the people - have cast lots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.
35. "We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the LORD each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.
36. "As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.
37. "Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work.
38. A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury.
39. The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept. "We will not neglect the house of our God."
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New York UBF Bible Study Materials. Copyright © 2026 New York UBF. All Rights Reserved.
Nehemiah 9:1-10:392025 Study of the Book of Nehemiah #8
THE ISRAELITES MADE A BINDING AGREEMENT
Nehemiah 9:1-10:39
Key Verse 9:38
- What might have led the Israelites to gather together on the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month (9:1-2)? What significant actions did they take together on that day (3)? How do you think the Levites contributed to this assembly of repentance (4-5)
- Who is the God whom the Israelites praise (6)? In what ways did God fulfill His promise to Abraham (7-8)? How did God demonstrate His power to the Israelites who were suffering in Egypt (9-12)?
- How did God show compassion to the Israelites despite their disobedience and rebellion in the wilderness (13-21)? In what ways do the Israelites’ sins contrast with God’s forgiveness throughout their history (22-35)? How did the Israelites respond before God after recognizing their sins (36-38)?
- Who sealed the binding agreement (10:1-29)? What commitments did they make to God (30-39)? How does the faith of the Israelites, who repented and sealed the binding agreement, inspire you to bear the fruits of repentance?
Attachment
2025 Nehemiah March 16th, 2025
SPIRITUAL REVIVAL
Nehemiah 9:1-10:39
Key Verse 9:3
They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.
In last week’s message, I quoted Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones and shared with you the definition of revival. He said that revival is “experiencing the glory of God by way of a visitation or an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that manifests the power and authority of God through the preaching of the biblical message.” Are you expecting and waiting for this kind of revival to happen to you, your family, and your church?
A recent contemporary revival that you might have heard about is the Asbury Revival. On February 8th, 2023, there was a 50-minute chapel service at Asbury University located in Wilmore, Kentucky. It was a regular mandatory chapel that students had to attend. The chapel was not different from usual. The sermon was ordinary, and the praise and prayer were also typical. However, after it ended, several students stayed behind in the chapel hall and began to pray. Other students joined them, starting to pray together. Soon after, even more students gathered in the chapel hall. Eventually, the chapel was filled with students praying and worshiping. The chapel that was supposed to last only 50 minutes continued for 16 days. During that time, around 50,000 people from all across the United States and abroad came to Asbury University to experience the spiritual revival brought about by the visitation of the Holy Spirit. The Asbury Revival was a revival in which Generation Z experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit and were transformed. Young people from Gen Z experienced a deep brokenness before God with a sincere spirit of humility. They longed to encounter God with an insatiable hunger for Him and experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit. Do you want your spirit to be revived through the visitation and presence of the Holy Spirit?
Today’s passage is about the spiritual revival that took place among the Israelites after rebuilding the walls. Last week, we learned that they listened to the Law of the Lord, repented of their sins, and celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. During the seven days of the Feast, they experienced great joy as they listened to God’s word daily and obeyed the law. Then they went one step further and experienced a spiritual revival of communal repentance and restoration.
Look at 9:1. “On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.” That day was the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month. They had already celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days, from sunset on the 15th to sunset on the 22nd of the seventh month. So, two days after finishing the Feast of Tabernacles, on the 24th day of the month, the Israelites gathered again. The passage doesn’t say exactly where they gathered, but it was probably at the square in front of the Water Gate, where they had assembled previously during the Feast of Trumpets. How did they present themselves before God? “Fasting, and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.” This shows that they came with sorrow and mourning over their sins, demonstrating an attitude of repentance. Verse 2 says, “They confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.” So they gathered together to confess and repent of their own sins as well as those of their ancestors.
Let’s read verse 3. “They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.” A quarter of the day can mean either 6 hours, which is a quarter of 24 hours, or 3 hours, which is a quarter of the 12 daylight hours. Whether it’s 6 hours or 3 hours, either way, it’s quite a long time for us. Even if we understand a quarter of the day as 3 hours, it means they spent the first 3 hours reading the Book of the Law and the next 3 hours confessing their sins and worshiping God. For 6 hours, they wholeheartedly devoted themselves to reading God’s word, confessing their sins, and worshiping God. Try to imagine this scene. Imagine tens of thousands of people gathered together, reading God’s word, repenting, and worshiping God. This was an act of communal repentance. It was a work of restoration through the repentance of the Israelite community. It was a spiritual revival through which the Israelites came spiritually alive. How could such a spiritual revival take place?
It doesn’t seem like a spiritual leader such as Nehemiah or Ezra asked the people to gather for repentance. Instead, it appears that the Israelites gathered on their own, one by one. After spending a long time without God’s word, they heard the Law from Ezra, realized their sins, and sincerely repented before God. They gained great strength from the joy of the Lord. Then, in obedience to the Law, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. At that time their joy was great. They could not forget that joyful moment of encountering God. They became filled with a spiritual desire to know God more deeply. So immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles ended, they again sought God by gathering at the square in front of the Water Gate. No one had organized this event. They voluntarily gathered, seeking God, one by one, two by two. How amazing this scene is! Those who are spiritually awakened by God’s Spirit eagerly seek spiritual things and pursue God. Those who experience God’s work of restoration become even more filled with a spiritual desire to know God and seek Him more earnestly. The Holy Spirit moves their hearts and guides them into deeper encounters with God.
What did they do when they gathered together? Led by the Levites, they praised God and confessed and repented of their sins as well as the sins of their ancestors. Look at verse 5b. “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.” Verses 6 to 37 clearly show God’s patience, compassion, and forgiveness, along with the Israelites’ disobedience and rebellion.
Look at verse 6. “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” First, they confessed and praised God as the Creator and the only Lord. Then they confessed God’s faithfulness. God chose Abraham, the ancestor of the Israelites, and faithfully fulfilled His promises to him. When the Israelites were suffering in Egypt, God rescued them. Through Moses, God performed signs and wonders and divided the Red Sea for them to pass through. Even during their 40-year wilderness journey, God protected them and provided everything they needed. During the hot days, God gave them shade with a pillar of cloud, and on cold nights, God kept them warm with a pillar of fire. God gave them the holy Ten Commandments and the Law, teaching them how to serve Him. He provided manna as daily bread, and when they were thirsty, He supplied water from a rock. God was always faithful to the Israelites.
But the Israelites became arrogant and rebellious against God. They became stiff-necked and did not obey God’s commands. They refused to listen to God and failed to remember God’s miracles. They worshiped idols and rebelled against God. Even after entering the Promised Land, they turned their backs on God’s law (26). They repeatedly became arrogant and disobeyed God’s commands, and sinned against Him.
On the other hand, God continually remained patient, gracious, and compassionate toward the Israelites. Even when they became arrogant and stiff-necked, God forgave them. He was always a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Despite their disobedience and rebellion, God did not abandon them. He continually provided manna, and He never took away the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. God blessed them to take possession of the Promised Land. When they became arrogant in the Promised Land, God delivered them into the hands of their enemies. Yet, when they cried out in their suffering, He repeatedly rescued them. God used other nations to discipline them and lead them back to Himself.
In response, the Israelites realized their sins and repented. In fact, their repeated sins despite God’s patience, compassion, and forgiveness made their reality truly miserable. They cried out to God in repentance, saying, “But see, we are slaves today” (36). This was their realization of their miserable reality and a sorrowful repentance for the consequences of their sins.
Recognizing and humbly accepting the miserable reality caused by our sins is the first step of our repentance. What about our current spiritual condition? Are you currently living as slaves to sin? Living as a slave to sin means that we are not living according to God’s will, but instead, following the desires of sin. It means living a selfish life, chasing after our own glory instead of God’s glory. It means failing to love God and our neighbors, living in hatred and hurting others. Let’s carefully examine our current spiritual condition. If we recognize that we are currently living as slaves to sin, now is the time to repent. Now is the opportunity to repent before Jesus, receive His forgiveness, and return to God. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” I pray that now we may come before Jesus, repent, receive forgiveness, and be saved. I pray that we can come to Jesus right now and be revived.
Look at verse 38. “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites, and our priests are affixing their seals to it.” The Israelites sincerely repented, and as a fruit in keeping with their repentance, they made a binding agreement before God. This means that they made a serious decision before God. Verses 10:1-29 show that along with the priests, Levites, and leaders, the women, sons, and daughters also joined together to make this binding agreement. In other words, all the people entered into this binding agreement. First, they promised to keep their faith pure by not intermarrying with foreigners. Second, they promised to keep the Sabbath. Above all, they promised not to neglect the house of God by bringing their offerings. In this way, spiritual revival is accompanied by repentance and spiritual commitments.
I sincerely desire this kind of spiritual revival to happen in our community. I dream of our church being a place where people who earnestly seek God come to worship and praise Him with all their hearts. I dream of our worship hall being filled with people who hunger for God’s word, desire to follow Jesus, and walk by the Holy Spirit. I dream of weary and suffering souls coming here one by one into the presence of God, repenting of their sins, receiving the forgiveness of Jesus, and being spiritually revived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I know spiritual revival does not come from my desire or effort. Revival does not occur through human effort or organized mobilization. Revival takes place when people confess and repent of their sins as the Holy Spirit moves their hearts. Revival can happen through a small group of people or a small church without us even noticing it. It happens through people who are moved by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit uses spiritually awakened people. The Holy Spirit uses people who have a sincere desire for God’s word, people who humbly seek God, and people who love God and long for His presence.
Therefore, the way I can participate in the revival of the Holy Spirit is to create an environment where the Holy Spirit can work. How could we participate in the spiritual revival of the Holy Spirit?
First, we must earnestly desire spiritual revival. Why do we need revival? Isn’t it enough just to live our Christian life as usual? To answer this question, we must reflect carefully on the purpose of our lives. Those who don’t believe in God say our lives have no special meaning. They say that life has no particular purpose or meaning. But we believe that God created us with a special purpose. The purpose of our lives is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. How great is this purpose! Yet we are weak and sinful. How could we glorify God and enjoy Him forever?
For this to happen, our sleeping spirits must wake up. Our dying spirits must be revived. Through the visitation and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we must experience God’s glory. Through the revival of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome Satan’s temptations and live victorious lives that glorify God. When revival happens, those who once lived selfish lives, pursuing their own glory, will begin living for God’s glory. Those previously troubled by negative thoughts and sadness will live lives filled with power and joy from God. We urgently need spiritual revival, so we must earnestly desire it.
Second, we must eagerly await spiritual revival by longing for God’s Word, praying, and worshiping. As we’ve already learned, revival happens through reading, listening, and obeying God’s word. God brings revival as we seek Him in prayer. God sends revival as we worship Him.
I pray that God may have mercy on our community and grant us spiritual revival. I pray that each of us may come to God with a thirsty heart, confess and repent of our sins, receive forgiveness, and experience revival. Amen.