Why God perseveres with us (Neh 9:16-25)
Neh 9:16-25
When I taught Old Testament, my students often started out with grave reservations about this part of the Bible. God seemed harsh and unrelenting to them, even vindictive. Yet, by the end of their studies, their perspective often shifted. One student shared that he had come to realise that God in the Old Testament was as gracious and compassionate as Jesus Himself! No surprise, of course, given that the Father and Son are one, united in purpose and perspective (John 5:19; 10:29-30), but a novel idea to many in the church, too. The truth is, God’s just anger only makes sense in the light of the overarching story and this is where the testimony of the exiles paints a different picture to what we are used to thinking.
God’s grace and Israel’s response
We have already seen how the Creator of all chose Abraham and promised him land and peoplehood (Neh 9:6-8). He heard His people’s cry, rescued them from oppression, and gave them guidance and provision both in the material and spiritual sense (Neh 9:9-15). All this undeserved grace would surely result in overflowing gratitude, but like rebellious teenagers, the Israelites have no appreciation of the love poured on them. Rather, they effectively brush aside his ‘miraculous deeds’ (the Hebrew word is associated with God’s saving acts in the exodus) by not recalling them to mind (Neh 9:17). Instead, they act arrogantly (the Hebrew means presumptuously, insolently), which implies a disregard for God and are no different from pagans like Pharaoh, who is characterised by the same phrase (Neh 9:10, 16). They are stubborn (literally ‘stiff-necked’, like an ox that refuses to take on a yoke), emphasised twice, and dismiss what God says by refusing to listen to Him, again mentioned twice (vv.16-17).[1]
Two incidents of disobedience are recalled here. One is the worship of the golden calf (shortly after Israel received the Ten Commandments; Exod 32:1-4; Neh 9:18). It was as if the bride had cheated on her husband on honeymoon. The other episode is the people’s response to the spies’ report of the land they are to conquer (Num 14:1-4; Neh 9:17),[2] an event that stands in a long line of similar ones demonstrating Israel’s ingratitude, lack of faith and grumbling. The dynamics of how God is treated by Israel are similar to what we might encounter with certain family members, friends or colleagues. We bend over backwards to be kind and help them, only to be stabbed in the back and hurt by their comments and behaviour. It is easier to forgive and forget when an act is a one-off offence, much harder when it is an ongoing attitude.
God’s continued kindness
It would be entirely justified if God had washed His hands of Israel and abandoned them. Instead, what follows is an affirmation of His character as forgiving, compassionate, patient, and full of committed/loyal love (NASB ‘lovingkindness’), who did not forsake His people (Neh 9:17, 19). Far from being vindictive, He continues to provide what they need (Neh 9:19-21). Instead of the law sandwiched between physical guidance and care for them (as in Neh 9:12-15) it is God’s good Spirit that is mentioned. This highlights that God did not give His Word as a dead letter but provided the means for understanding and instruction through His Spirit. The rest of the section recounts how the descendants of those who refused to go into the land did conquer and settle in it with God’s help (Neh 9:22-25).
What God intends
If we were in God’s place, how many of us would persevere with people like that? To turn the question around, how often do we disappoint God when we forget what He had already done for us, when we excuse our sin, minimise it as a fault or error, or even fail to see it entirely? God’s faithful love saved us at terrible cost to Himself on the cross and it continues to sustain us, but that is no cause for complacency. The Israelites who did not believe could not enter the land, symbolic of the fact that without choosing to live God’s way we cannot find rest and a flourishing life; we can only vegetate in the wilderness. God’s grace calls us to respond with wholehearted commitment to Him so that we might have an abundant life.
[1] It is worth remembering that God did not impose His law on the people. They were part of the covenant that Israel entered willingly (Exod 24:3).
[2] The Hebrew of Neh 9:17 reads that ‘they gave a head to return to their slavery’, which either means that they appointed a leader or that they decided to return. The latter is perhaps preferable given that the people did not get as far as actually appointing a leader in Numbers.
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