Nehemiah 9

CHAPTERS 9 AND 10THEME: Prayer and revivalYou will recall that while studying the Book of Ezra I mentioned that several books contain a great ninth chapter. Ezra chapter 9, Nehemiah chapter 9, and Daniel chapter 9all have to do with the subject of revival. Now let us be clear about what is meant by the word revival. It is a word that is greatly misunderstood. It means “to recover life and vigor.” It also means “to return to consciousness.” It refers to that which has life which ebbs away, sometimes even to death, where there is no vitality, and then it revives. Paul speaks about the resurrection of Christ in Rom_14:9. He says that Christ revived. “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” This is a good use of the term revival. Obviously our use of the word revival is confined to believers. It refers to believers in a poor spiritual state who were brought back to vitality and power. Revival is used that way in this chapter. However, I am sure that many of you have discovered that this term has been broadened in its meaning to refer to people coming to Christ. Actually one is dependent upon the other. You can never have a period of soul-winning unless God’s people are revived. In this chapter we will see a period of revival which followed the reading of the Word of God. This reading probably went on for quite a periodhow long I do not know. Ezra the scribe read from the pulpit by the water gate, and the people wept and mourned. Having never heard it before, they were bound to show emotion at the reading of God’s Word. It had a tremendous effect upon the people at the time, and it led them to do certain things. They recognized how far short they had fallen from the standard God had set for them.

We also saw in the Book of Ezra that it had an effect on Ezra himself. We need to recognize that there cannot be any revival apart from the Word of God. As I have mentioned, Dwight L. Moody thought the next revival that would come after his day would be a revival of God’s Word. I wish our contemporary evangelists would pay more attention to teaching the Bible rather than to methods, sentiment, emotional appeals, and the “bigness” which is not necessarily a token of revival. Notice what God did for these people.

Nehemiah 9:1

They confessed their sinstheir own and the sins of their fathers.

Nehemiah 9:3

The Word of God revealed to them their sinfulness. Fasting, sackcloth, and ashes demonstrated their sincerity. Confession and worship followed. In this day the younger generation is very critical of my generation, and rightly so. If they are returning to God’s Word, they will lose their critical attitude and start confessing how much we have failed; but they will first confess their own sins. You and I are in no position to confess anything until we confess our own sins. If you don’t feel that you have any sins to confess, my friend, you need to come to the Word of God. The children of Israel read the Law for one-fourth of the day; then they did something about what they had readthey confessed their sins. You cannot bring God down to your level. Many people try to do that. Neither can you reach that state of perfection that will raise you to God’s level.

If you say that you have, then you deceive yourself. I didn’t say that; the Bible says it: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn_1:8-9). If you read the Word of God, you will see that you are a sinner. When you recognize that fact, you will want to confess your sins. Confession means to agree with God’s Word instead of offering excuses or attempting to rationalize our actions. Confession is calling what we are doing or thinking exactly what it is: sin. When we do that we have confessed our sins, and God is faithful and just to forgive us. You will recall that in the Upper Room Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. That is what He is doing today at God’s right hand in heaven. He cleanses us.

You cannot walk down our streets today without your mind getting dirty, or your eyes getting dirty, or your ears getting dirty. Perhaps even your feet and hands get dirty. So we go to God in confession. After the Feast of the Passover, Jesus rose from supper and began to wash the feet of His disciples. “Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me” (Joh_13:8). There are many people attempting to serve God today who are not walking in the light of God’s Word. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1Jn_1:6-7).

It is not how you walk, but where you walk that is important. When you walk in the light of the Word of God, you will see that you fall short of His glory. When you see that, you will come to Him in confession. If you don’t, He says to you, “If I wash you not, you have no part with Me.” That is, you will have no fellowship with Him. Therefore, the children of Israel spent one-fourth of the day reading the Bible and spent another fourth of the day confessing their sins. After teaching the Epistle to the Romans, I received about a dozen letters from folk who confessed that they had been talking against me; and one person said that he had hated me at one time. These people did not need to confess their sins to me, although I do believe that if you have wronged someone, you should talk to them and get the matter straightened out. The point is that the Word of God had an effect on the lives of these people. If it has an effect on you, it will cause you to go to God in confession. This is the road to revival; there is no other road. Now I believe that after the confession of sin was made (and I think it was private confession), these people straightened out the wrong they had done. On the day of Pentecost Peter did not bring in revival by getting up and confessing how he had denied the Lord Jesus. Dr. Luke and Paul both tell us that our Lord appeared to Simon Peter privately. It was a private matter that had to be taken care of by those involved. You don’t take a bath in public; at least I hope you don’t.

And we are not to confess in public either. It should be a private affair. Simon Peter confessed privately, and I am sure he got things straightened out. Public confession is just a wave of hysteria; it is not revival. It certainly has not brought revival in our day. We need to recognize that we cannot disassociate ourselves from others.

Notice that Nehemiah says that when they stood up they confessed and they said, “We have sinned.” It is important to see that it was that kind of confession. Revival begins as an individual affair. There are those who have thought that Charles Finney was on the fringe of fanaticism. I used to think that too, but, after reading what he has said, I have changed my mind. He said that a revival is not a miracle, but the conditions for revival must be met. You can draw a circle, get inside that circle, and say, “Lord, begin a revival in this circle,” and that is where it will have to be. After all, Elijah was a one-man revival. And there have been other men who have met these conditions for revival. These folk met the conditions for revival, and great blessing came.

Nehemiah 9:4

This type of confession will not lead to some public demonstration where the individual gets up, calls attention to himself, and tells everyone what a sinner he is, which makes him very important in the eyes of folk, I have discovered. After hearing the Word of God, they made their confession; then they praised and exalted God. This is what we need to do. How we need to exalt God in our services and praise Him! A pastor was telling me that their midweek service got pretty boring, saying the same prayers every week; so one Wednesday he decided that, instead of making the same old requests, they would praise God! He said, “It almost brought revival.” When we begin to praise and exalt the high and holy name of God, it will bring revival.

Nehemiah 9:6

Have you ever stood on the seashore and watched those great waves pound against the rocks? Has it caused you to worship God? Have you had this experience as you stood in a forest? I have walked in the northern woods of Canadaoh, how thrilling it was! The vaulted ceiling of those tall trees was my temple, and I worshiped God. He is the Creator. He made all of those trees. He made the universe.

Nehemiah 9:7

The Israelites praised God because of the way He had led their fathers in the past. They glorified God concerning Abraham and how He preserved him in the land of Canaan. They praised God for the way He brought their nation out of the land of Egypt, led them by miracles through the wilderness, and protested and preserved them. Have you ever thanked God that you live in this country? My grandfather on my father’s side lived in Northern Ireland. He was Scottish and an Orangeman, but he lived in Northern Ireland. The people were fighting, so he moved to this country. I thank God for my grandfather, and I thank God that he came to this land. I don’t want to live in Northern Ireland. I don’t care how people feel about the old sod over there; I am thankful I am an American. And Nehemiah’s people were glad they were Israelites. They recognize that not only was God their Creator, He was their Redeemer. They are thanking God for the redemption that came to them when He led their people out of Egypt. These are two things for which you and I are to thank God. He is the Creator; this is His universe. We thank Him for it. Also we ought to thank Him that He saved us; He redeemed us. By the way, have you told Him that you love Him? My, we need to do that! Don’t wait until Sunday morning when you are in church to sing the doxology. Right where you are now you can praise God from whom all blessings flow. He is the Creator; He has given me everything that is material and physical. I thank Him for it. Also He has saved me, a sinner! How I thank Him for that. How wonderful He is.

Nehemiah 9:34

Look how God blessed the nation of Israel. Yet the kings, princes, priests, and fathers of the nation did not obey God’s commandments. God has also blessed the United States. Our forefathers who founded this country certainly believed that the Bible was the Word of God, and they founded our nation on morality. We have much for which to thank God. But they sinned, and we continue to sin. How long will God’s patience continue?

Nehemiah 9:36

The Israelites recognized that the judgment of God was upon them. Will the judgment of God come upon our nation? I don’t think we can escape it, my friend.

Nehemiah 9:37

The terms of the covenant will be seen in the next chapter. And each leader of the nation was asked to put his personal seal on this covenant. The people had resolved to obey God’s Word. What kind of covenant have you made with God? I have heard people say that they will not sign any pledgenot even to give a certain amount of moneybecause they might not be able to fulfill it. May I say to you, if you buy a house, or anything on which you are to make payments, they are certainly going to make you sign on the dotted line. I don’t know why people can sign up for everything else in life, but they are afraid to sign up with God. My friend, if you mean it, sign up with Him. Oh, how many folk have failed Him, but He is gracious. If we mean business with Him, He means business with us. In chapter 10 we read that the Israelites are making a covenant with God. They are signing on the dotted line. Have you ever made a covenant with Him? Have you ever promised the Lord anything? A covenant is a serious matter, but I believe the Lord likes to know that we really mean business with Him. In this chapter we find that Nehemiah, the governor, and twenty-two priests are listed first. They sign the covenant. Individual Levites sign the names of their families on the covenant. Also, forty-four chiefs of the people are listed.