Nehemiah 9:12

_THOU ART THE LORD THE GOD, WHO DIDST CHOOSE ABRAM, AND BROUGHTEST HIM FORTH OUT OF UR OF THE CHALDEES, AND GAVEST HIM THE NAME OF ABRAHAM;_ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THESE VERSES....

4-38 The summary of their prayers we have here upon record. Much more, no doubt, was said. Whatever ability we have to do any thing in the way of duty, we are to serve and glorify God according to the utmost of it. When confessing our sins, it is good to notice the mercies of God, that we may be the more humbled and ashamed. The dealings of the Lord showed his goodness and long-suffering, and the hardness of their hearts. The testimony of the prophets was the testimony of the Spirit in the prophets, and it was the Spirit of Christ in them. They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and what they said is to be received accordingly. The result was, wonder at the Lord's mercies, and the feeling that sin had brought them to their present state, from which nothing but unmerited love could rescue them. And is not their conduct a specimen of human nature? Let us study the history of our...

Verse Nehemiah 9:12. _BY A CLOUDY PILLAR_] See the notes on the parallel passages, both here and in the other verses....

EXPOSITION SOLEMN FAST KEPT, WITH CONFESSION OF SINS; AND VOLUNTARY COVENANT WITH GOD ENTERED INTO BY THE PEOPLE, AND SEALED TO BY THE PRINCES, PRIESTS, AND LEVITES (Nehemiah 9:1.). When the law was first read to them on the opening day of the seventh month, the people had shown strong feelings of compunction, an earnest desire to return to God by the thorny way of repentance. In checking this feeling on that particular day, Ezra and Nehemia

CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The public humiliation and confession (Nehemiah 9:1)_ 2. The great confession and prayer (Nehemiah 9:6) Nehemiah 9:1. Two days after the feast of tabernacles had been concluded this humiliation and confession of sin took place. The assembled congregation fasted, with sackcloth and earth upon them. Separation was next. Evil confessed must mean evil put away. They separated themselves from all strangers, and after their confession they worshipped the Lord. Here again is the right order of a spiritual revival. Reading, hearing and believing the Word always comes first; humiliation, self-judgment, confession and true worship follow....

THE FAST AND A NATIONAL CONFESSION. All that took place, as described in this section, was the result of the reading of the Law. The command to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles having been observed, there followed a spontaneous outburst of self-condemnation on the part of the people, who were conscience-stricken on account of having hitherto neglected to observe the Law; they had clearly been desirous of expressing their sorrow before (see Nehemiah 8:9), but it would have been inappropriate during the feast. Fasting and prayerful confession were fitly followed (see next section) by a solemn act of resolution of amendment. Nehemiah 9:1. the twenty and fourth day: the second day after the celebration of the feast, _i.e._ in the seventh month (see...

LEDDEST THEM. leddest them gently. CLOUDY PILLAR. Compare Exodus 13:21....

The Wilderness 12. _in the day by a cloudy pillar_ R.V. IN A PILLAR OF CLOUD BY DAY. _in the night by a pillar of fire_ R.V. IN A PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT. See for these words Exodus 13:21-22; Numbers 14:14. And compare the poetical description in very similar words of Psalms 78:14; Psalms 105:39....

4. God's hand is seen in the Exodus. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 9:9-15 9 Thou didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And didst hear their cry by the Red Sea. 10 Then Thou didst perform signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For Thou didst know that they acted arrogantly toward them, And didst make a name for Thyself as it is this day. 11 And Thou didst divide the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And their pursuers Thou didst hurl into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters. 12 And with a pillar of cloud Thou didst lead them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go. 13 Then Thou didst come down on Mount Sinai, And didst

THE RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT 4. Stairs] lit. 'ascent': probably the pulpit of wood mentioned in Nehemiah 8:4. BANI.. BANI] One of the two names is probably an error for 'Binnui': cp. Nehemiah 12:8....