Thoughts on Nehemiah 1

In the context of Bible study, it is not often that full, coherent opinions on the section can be given. Thus, today, I offer these thoughts.

In terms of the story of redemptive history weaving through the Bible, Nehemiah is a critical moment. A brief review of the covenants in the Bible will be helpful at this point. In addition, in terms of the countdown prophesies of Daniel, Nehemiah is the moment in the historical narrative where things get set up for the coming of Jesus.

The Covenants of the Old Testament begin with the creation covenant, which is not specifically articulated. At the point of creation, Adam is capable of fulfilling a covenant of law, the understood covenant that exists between creator and creature. After the fall, man was no longer able to keep the law; further proof being offered by the flood. This is why Genesis 15, or the whole section from 12-18 concerning Abraham, is so important. In the manner of Suzerainty treaties, God passes through the animal pieces in Abraham’s dream, making a promise to Abraham. The burden of obedience God places on Himself. This point is absolutely huge and is completely unlike what follows. Next, after a series of events land the Israelites in Egypt, Moses receives the Law.

A brief aside concerning the law, there are three types of law given in the Torah. The Mosaic Law is the moral law. There are other portions of law contained in Exodus as well, both civic law and ceremonial law. What has to be remembered is that Israel is a theocracy. As such, it is appropriate that the law at that moment of redemptive history contains all three types of law. This becomes very important in the New Testament.

The Mosaic Covenant is famously violated before Moses can even get down from the mountain to present it. It can be argued, validly, that Israel had lost their inheritance at that moment. But God was merciful and allowed Israel to, eventually, inherit the land promise of the Mosaic Covenant. Skipping forward to 2 Chronicles 36, we see clear and obvious evidence that God has seen enough. Jerusalem is burned to the ground and Israel is scattered. This is known as the Diaspora. At the end of 2 Chronicles 36 is the edict of Cyrus. This is an important event that is the reference point for three related books, Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel.

The Diaspora is the exact punishment that God outlines for Israel for breaking the Mosaic Covenant. Notice in Exodus 24 that the Covenant is sealed by the sprinkling of blood on the Israelites. The words of Exodus from 18-30 are all in this format: do this and you shall live; do it not and you shall die. Do this and you get the land and your nation; do it not and you lose it all. The sprinkling of blood on the Israelites signifies that the burden of obedience falls to them. They have clearly broken the Covenant, yet again, by the end of 2 Chronicles; and this time, God has run out of patience.

Throughout the historical narratives leading up to the reign of Solomon, there are covenant renewal ceremonies. The reason for this is obvious: Israel keeps breaking the covenant. As federal representatives of the nation of Israel, the theocracy that is in covenant with God, the leaders reaffirm the Mosaic Covenant as each new ruler begins his reign. Two things should strike you at this point. Israel has been unfaithful and God has been exceedingly patient and merciful. This covenant should not need to be renewed, but since man can’t keep the Law after the fall, Israel keeps scrambling to renew the covenant. When God says enough, Israel is destroyed. This is the end of the Mosaic covenant once and for all.

This is also the end of the types of law unique to the theocracy of Israel, civil and ceremonial law.  Only the moral law remains.  Israel never quite figures this out.  When Jesus says that he has not come to cancel the law, He is referring to the moral law.  This is a huge point, but it is made clear throughout the New Testament, particularly in Galatians.

Notice that the ritual established by Ezra is merely a shadow of the old Temple ritual. Why is this? Have all of the priests been wiped out and no lineage remains of the old ways? By whose edict did Israel return to the land and rebuild the Temple? The edict came from Cyrus, not from God. This new Israel is not a theocracy in covenant relationship with the God of Moses. Of note, the same can be said about Israel circa 1948 A.D. This new Israel of Ezra and Nehemiah is out of Covenant. They are there by the grace of a human king, not by the Grace of God.

Finally, we come to Nehemiah 1. Look at his prayer again in this Covenant context. In the first sentence, Nehemiah is calling upon the Covenant of God with Moses. What is amazingly poignant is at the same time missing the boat. Why would Nehemiah appeal to Moses? He appeals to Moses because he does not understand Abraham. The Mosaic Covenant is broken, but the Abrahamic Covenant remains intact. His appeal was to something that was lost, not to something older and still in force. The fact that the Mosaic Covenant is broken is not lost on Nehemiah. He prays for all of Israel. He tries to repent for the sins of a nation, for the sins of a people. He tries to pray Israel back into covenant relationship with God, not realizing that there is still an older covenant intact.

One other question is this:  Is Nehemiah a person who can be a federal head of Israel?  The reason genealogies are important in the Old Testament is that we need to know that various people are in the royal line and can therefore make binding Covenants with God.  We will come back to this in Chapter 8.

One final word about the last line of Chapter 1: Now I was cupbearer to the King. This is an interesting symbol dropped down at the end of the chapter. Obviously, this was not written with a chapter break at this point, but we receive it this way now. Clearly this is an important issue. A couple of weeks ago, during Holy Week, we discussed the Cup of Wrath and the Cup of the New Covenant. I will refer you again to this excellent article by Brent McGuire. And now, we see another place where a cup appears in a prominent position in a narrative. If Israel follows the path of trying to return to Moses, which cup will this represent?

The Law is given to convict us of sin. Israel has not yet learned, and they are not listening to their own prophets.

--Troll--