-Nehemiah-

"…After certain days obtained I, Nehemiah, leave of the king: And I came to Jerusalem…. In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys…which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. There lived men of Tyre also there, which brought fish, and all manner of supplies, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

"Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, 'what evil thing is this that you do, and desecrate the sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by desecrating the sabbath.'

"And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

"So the merchants and sellers of all kind of supplies lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them, and said unto them, why lodge you about the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.

"From that time on came they no more on the sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. (Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your mercy)

"And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were gone everyone to his field. Then contended I with the rulers, and said, why is the house of God forsaken? Then brought all Judah the tithe…unto the treasuries.

"In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: And I contended with them, and cursed them…and made them swear by God, saying, you shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? …Among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin.

"Shall we then listen unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying foreign wives? Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the duties of the priests and the Levites, everyone in his business."

"And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy…so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people…. …And when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.

"Now all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spoke unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.

"And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read in it…from the morning until midday…and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

"And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen,’ with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law…they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

"And Nehemiah, which is the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, ‘this day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep.’ For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, ‘Go your way, eat rich foods, and drink…sweet drink, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be you grieved; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.’

"And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great joy, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

"And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made shelters, and sat under them: for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. Also day-by-day, from the first day unto the last day, Nehemiah read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly….

Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sack clothes, and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they…read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.

Then the Levites…said, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever…." …And all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God… joined to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, ‘to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes…."

"O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk you of all his wondrous works. Glory you in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.

"Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; O you seed of Abraham his servant, you children of Jacob his chosen. He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.

"He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, ‘Unto you will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance’: When they were but a few men in number; yes, very few, and strangers in it.

"When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong: yes, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, ‘Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm.’

"Furthermore he called for a famine upon the land: he broke the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.

"The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made Joseph lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

"Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtly with his servants. He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.

"They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came various sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines also and their fig trees; and broke the trees of their coasts. He spoke, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, and did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.

"He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. He brought them out also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.

"He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. And he brought out his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people; that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise you the LORD.

"Praise you the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can show forth all his praise?

"Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that does righteousness at all times.

"Remember me, O LORD, with the favor that you bear unto your people: O visit me with your salvation; That I may see the good of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.

"We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not your wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of your mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

"He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

"They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul….

"They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory into the likeness of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their savior, which had done great things in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea.

"Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the gap, to turn away his anger, lest he should destroy them.

"Yes, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and listened not unto the voice of the LORD. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.

"They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague broke in upon them.

"They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

"They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

"Therefore was the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, so that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.

"Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

"Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, and relented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

"Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto your holy name, and to triumph in your praise.
"Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, ‘Amen. Praise you the LORD.’"

-Malachi-

The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi…, "Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go out, and grow up as calves of the stall.

"Remember…the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

Now begins 400 years of prophetic and biographic silence. A silence which stretches from the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem and the religious reforms of the returned exiles, to the ministry of John the Baptist and the birth of Christ. During these 400 years the religion of the Jews in Palestine became characterized by strong adherence to the laws and traditions of their faith. This adherence was accompanied by a fierce desire for independence from foreign ruler-ship. By the time Jesus was born the Jews’ view of the promised Messiah had changed from that of a coming spiritual savior, to that of a coming political deliverer.

REFERENCES

Nehemiah 7:b-2a, 2c, 2b; Nehemiah 13:6b-7a, 15-22; Nehemiah 13:10-12, 25-27, 30; Nehemiah 12:27, 43; Nehemiah 13:1; Nehemiah 7:73b; Nehemiah 8:1-3, 6-10, 12, 17-18; Nehemiah 9:1-5; Nehemiah 10:28b-29; Psalm 105:1-45; Psalm 106:1-15, 19-48. Malachi 1:1a; Malachi 4:2,4-6.

CHAPTER 60