Nehemiah 9:16-21

5. God blesses Israel even during her rebellion in the Wilderness.

TEXT, Nehemiah 9:16-21

16

But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;

They became stubborn and would not listen to Thy commandments.

17

And they refused to listen,

And did not remember Thy wondrous deeds which
Thou hadst performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But Thou art a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness;
And Thou didst 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. Thou, in Thy great compassion,

Didst 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

And Thou didst give Thy good Spirit to instruct them,

Thy manna Thou didst not withhold from their mouth,
And Thou didst give them water for their thirst.

21

Indeed, forty years Thou didst provide for them in the wilderness and they were not in want,

Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.

COMMENT

Twice in these verses the pattern of Israel's rebellion and God's graciousness are repeated.

In Nehemiah 9:16-17 their stubbornness and short memory caused them to appoint a leader to replace Moses, God's man, in order to lead them back to Egypt. Numbers 14:4 records their threat to do this; the information given here, that they had actually appointed someone is a supplement to it. Their arrogance made them guilty of the same sin as the Egyptians. Yet God's graciousness and forgiveness prevented His forsaking them.

Then again in Nehemiah 9:18-21 they rebelled but God was compassionate.

Nehemiah 9:18 portrays the epitome of the rebelliousness. Not only did they make a forbidden idol and worship it, but they credited it instead of God for their deliverance from Egypt! That is incomprehensible.

Nehemiah 9:19-21 list God's favors to them despite their sins; His presence vouched for by the pillar and the cloud, guiding and lighting their way; His Spirit of instruction; the manna and the water; protection from wear for their clothing and their feet.

WORD STUDIES

NAME (Nehemiah 9:5, Shem): basically it means a sign, monument, or memorial of a person, thing, or event. This word is translated memorial in Isaiah 55:13. But the emphasis is on the person or event of which it is only the sign. To do something in someone's name is to act by his authority (Exodus 5:23). To know someone by name suggests acquaintance with him personally (Exodus 33:12). To make oneself a name indicates fame and renown (2 Samuel 7:9); conversely, to have no name is to be a nobody (Job 30:8); a good name signified a good reputation or character (Proverbs 22:1); the destruction of one's name meant that his person and the memory of him would be no more (Deuteronomy 9:14).

God's name, then, is His person, His authority, the knowledge of Him, His fame or glory, His character, the memory of all that He has done.

WORSHIP (Nehemiah 9:3); BOW DOWN (Nehemiah 9:6): these are the same word. It contains three ideas; (1) sink down, bow down, fall prostrate, do honor or reverence to someone whether to an equal or to a superior; (2) hence, to worship or adore; (3) therefore, to do homage or yield allegiance to someone.

Worship is incomplete without commitment.