The People's Covenant
A Covenant or contract is an agreement that is set in place so that both parties understand their role, their responsibility and the part they play in this agreement. It is the mutual understanding that "I'm going to hold up my end of the deal."
Nehemiah Chapter 10 is a pivotal moment in the story of Israel's restoration. It highlights the people's renewed covenant with God after the reading of the Law in Chapter 8 and the national confession in Chapter 9. This chapter focuses on commitment, responsibility, and spiritual reform.
The Agreement of the People – Chapter 9:38 (AMP)
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 people decided to make a covenant and comeback to the Lord their God
Signers of the Document
¹ Now these were the names on the sealed document: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah. And Zedekiah, ² Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, ³ Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, ⁴ Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, ⁵ Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, ⁶ Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, ⁷ Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, ⁸ Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah—these were the priests. ⁹ And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel, ¹⁰ and their brothers: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹ Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹² Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³ Hodiah, Bani, 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 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.
Obligations of the Document
²⁸ Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding— ²⁹ are joining with their fellow Israelites, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law, which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and statutes:
When the Israelites decided with their minds, to turn their hearts back to God they realized they needed to:
- They separated themselves (from wrong influences).
- They surrounded themselves with fellow Israelites
- They rededicated themselves to do the following:
Obey the commands: Direct instructions require obedience.
Obey the regulations: Specific instructions, often related to worship, conduct, or ritual purity, designed to govern community life.
Obey the decrees: Sovereign decisions or declarations from God, often related to His eternal purposes
Psalm 1:1-3 (AMP)
¹ Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example], Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers).
² But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night.
³ And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season; Its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity].
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (AMP)
¹ "Now it shall be, if you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all of His commandments which I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. ² All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the Lord your God. ³ "You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field. ⁴ "The offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your animals, the offspring of your herd and the young of your flock will be blessed. ⁵ "Your basket and your kneading bowl will be blessed. ⁶ "You will be blessed when you come in and you will be blessed when you go out. ⁷ "The Lord will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way, but flee before you seven ways. ⁸ The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your storehouses and in all that you undertake, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. ⁹ The Lord will establish you as a people holy [and set apart] to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk [that is, live your life each and every day] in His ways. ¹⁰ So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you. ¹¹ The Lord will give you great prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. ¹² The Lord will open for you His good treasure house, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. ¹³ The Lord will make you the head (leader) and not the tail (follower); and you will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen and pay attention to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, to observe them carefully. ¹⁴ Do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or to the left, to follow and serve other gods.
Joshua 1:8 (AMP)
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful.
³⁰ and that we will not give our daughters [as wives] to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.
If God's chosen people were going to witness for him in a pagan world, they needed united, God-fearing families. They also needed to avoid any enticements to worship the idols of the people who lived around them. This was why God prohibited marriage between Israelites and the pagan inhabitants of the land (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). But Israelites and pagans often intermarried anyway, and the results were disastrous for the families and for the nation. Time after time, marrying foreigners led God's people into idolatry (1 Kings 11:1-11). Whenever the nation turned its back on God, it also lost its prosperity and influence for good.
³¹ As for the peoples of the land who bring merchandise 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 give up raising crops during the seventh year [leaving the land uncultivated], and forgive every debt.
The promise to forgo trade inside the city on the Sabbath was an application of the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15). The people recognized that the lure of money would conflict with the need for a day of rest, keeping the Sabbath holy. By deciding to honor God first, the Israelites would be refusing to make money their god. Our culture often makes us choose between convenience and profit on the one hand and putting God first on the other. Look at your work and worship habits: Is God really first in your life?
Canceling all debts every seventh year was a part of the law (see Exodus 23:10-11 and Deuteronomy 15:1-2). The people were promising to obey God's law and keep the covenant.
³² Also we pledge ourselves to contribute yearly one third of a shekel for the service [expenses] of the house of our God:
The Temple had been rebuilt under Ezra's leadership about 70 years earlier (Ezra 6:14-15), so the Temple tax, offerings, and festivals had been restored.
³³ for the showbread; for the continual grain offerings and the continual burnt offerings; [for the offerings on] the Sabbaths, the New Moons, the [feasts at] appointed times; for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the work of the house of our God.
³⁴ We have also cast lots—the priests, the Levites, and the people—for [contributing] the supply of wood, to bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers' households, at set times annually, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law;
³⁵ and [we obligate ourselves] to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the Lord annually,
This practice was instituted at the time of the exodus from Egypt (see the note on Exodus 13:12-14). The people needed to relearn the importance of dedicating the first part of their yield to God. Nehemiah was simply reinstating this practice from the early days of the nation (Exodus 13:1-2; Numbers 3:40-51). Although this principle was not carried over explicitly to New Testament times, the concept of giving God the first portion of our time, treasure, and talent still remains. Do you give God your first and best, or merely what is left over?
1 Corinthians 16:2 (AMP)
Instructions and Greetings
¹ Now concerning the money collected for [the relief of] the saints [in Jerusalem], you are to do the same as I directed the churches of Galatia to do. ² On the first day of every week each one of you is to put something aside, in proportion to his prosperity, and save it so that no collections [will need to] be made when I come.
³⁶ as well as the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and flocks, to bring to the house of our God, for the priests who minister in the house of our God. ³⁷ We will bring the first [and best] of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the [olive] oil to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who receive the tithes in all the rural towns. ³⁸ The priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when they receive tithes, and they shall bring one-tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. ³⁹ For the Israelites and the sons of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the chambers; the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers, and the singers are there. In this manner, we will not neglect the house of our God.
The wall was completed, and the covenant (agreement) God had made with his people in the days of Moses was restored (Deuteronomy 8). Israel's covenant with God has principles that are important for each of us today. Your relationship with God must go far beyond church attendance and regular devotions. It should affect your other relationships (Nehemiah 10:30), how you use your time (10:31), and what you do with your material resources (10:32-39). When you choose to follow God, you are promising to serve him in these ways. The Israelites had fallen away from their original commitment. We must keep our promise to God at all times—times of adversity and times of prosperity.
According to God's law, the people were to give a tenth of their produce to the Temple for the support of the Levites (those who cared for the Temple and the religious observances). A tenth of what the Levites received or produced went to the priests for their support. The principle at work was to ensure the support of the house of God and his workers. We must not overlook our responsibility to God's workers today.