Uniform Lesson Study for August 11

1. Nehemiah 9:2, 6-10, 30-
36
Confession Before God

2. Call to Worship (Psalm
50)
The mighty One summons us from sunrise to sunset.
Out of perfect beauty God shines.
God calls to heaven and earth,
"Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant
with me."
The heavens declare the righteousness of God, the judge
of people and nations.
Let us not forget God, but with thanksgiving as our
sacrifice, let us be a people of justice.
We worship the God of our salvation.

3. Prayer (Psalm 50, Luke
12)
Gracious God, thank you for seeking us out, for gathering us
before you, for not keeping silent in the face of our need.
Thank you for calling us into account and for challenging us with
strong words to be a people of covenant and justice.
Thank you for assuring us that we need not be afraid for it is
your good pleasure to give us your kingdom.
In courage and hope, we come before you to hear your Word
and prepare our hearts for the unexpected hour of your coming.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

4. Context
Today’s lesson comes immediately after last week’s
text (Nehemiah 8:2, 3, 13-18).
Following the observance of the Feast of
Tabernacles, the people had a single day off. Then
their feasting turned to fasting.

5. Context
James B. Coffman points out,
“A very important revelation of this chapter is that it
was the Levites, and not the priests, who led Israel in
this penitential prayer of confession and praise to God
. . . . There is not a word in this chapter that even
hints of any priestly participation in this great
repentance, confession and prayer.”

6. Confessing Sin
Nehemiah 9:2
The people of Israel voluntarily renounced their
connection both with the heathen people and their
customs. By confessing not only their sins, but those of
their forefathers as well, they identified themselves with
the past generations who had moved away from God’s
will.
Later they said even more about their sins (Nehemiah
9:33-37) as well as those of their ancestors (vv. 16-39).
Confession and repentance are prerequisites for God to
forgive sin.

7. Acknowledging God
Nehemiah 9:6, 7
When they stood in their places, they were
apparently at the same location where they had stood
to hear the law read a few days earlier (8:5). This
reading of the Law went on for “a quarter of the day”
(v. 3), followed by another quarter of the day spent in
confession and worship.
Their prayer began with the affirmation, “You alone
are the Lord,” echoing the basic belief of the Hebrews
(Deuteronomy 6:4).

8. Recalling Redemption
Nehemiah 9:9, 10
Even while the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt, God
was still watching over them. He heard their cry at the
Red Sea. In the years that followed, the Lord’s power was
clearly evident as he not only brought them out of Egypt
and through the Red Sea on dry ground, but even took
them to their new homeland (Exodus 14:31).
Bible students have counted some 40 Hebrew words used
to speak of “miracles” and they appear about 500 times
in the Old Testament. Out of these some 250 refer to the
miracle of the exodus.

9. Recalling Redemption
The verses that follow (Nehemiah 9:11-29) are not included
in this study.
They contain additional words of praise to God, specifying
how and when the Lord intervened to provide for and
protect his people. Through all of this, they admitted, “Our
ancestors . . . did not obey your commands” (v. 16). When
the Lord allowed them to be conquered by their pagan
neighbors, it was for the purpose of correcting them.

10. Admitting Truth
Nehemiah 9:30-36
The people’s confession of sin is summarized. They offer no
excuse. On the other hand, they do affirm that God’s mercy
and patience have gone far beyond what anyone might
expect or imagine. Over and over the Lord had sent prophets
to encourage the people to obey God. Yet they paid no
attention, so you gave them into the hands of the
neighboring peoples. Even then God did not abandon them.

11. Admitting Truth
James E. Smith notes, “After this summary of the relationship
of God and his people, the Levites made the only petition in
this long prayer (v. 32). They asked that God note all the
hardship which Israel had experienced from the days of the
kings of Assyria unto that very moment.”

12. Admitting Truth
It is significant to see the link between the confession of sin
and the reading of Scripture (v. 3).
This illustrates the power of God’s Word to reprove and
correct (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). Confessing sin is important for a
nation (2 Chronicles 7:14) just as it is for an individual (Psalm
51:1-4).
The remnant has returned from Babylonian exile to their
promised homeland. Now they want to be sure the slate is
wiped clean.

13. Nehemiah 9:1
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of
Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with
earth on their heads.

14. Nehemiah 9:1
The people of God continued to study the law of God as Ezra
read and taught them from the Book of Moses. Ezra’s reading
led them to obedience and rejoicing when they learned
about their sins of omission from ignorance; such as, the
failure to build booths during the festival of booths.
Their sins of commission, based on their open rebellion
against the law of God by some or ignorance of the law by
others led them to repent with deep demonstrated sorrow.

15. Nehemiah 9:1
Confession of sin is to gain purification (1 John 1:9-10)
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we
claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and
his word has no place in our lives.

16. Nehemiah 9:2
Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all
foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the
iniquities of their ancestors.

17. Nehemiah 9:2
The Book of Ruth provides a good example of how a Moabite
woman came to faith in the true God when she made the true
God her God and God’s people her people.
The Israelites were forbidden by the law of God from marrying
“foreigners;” that is, those who remained foreign by not making
God their God and God’s people there people when they married
an Israelite. When an Israelite married an unrepentant
foreigner, they married someone who had committed themselves
to worshiping idols and practicing paganism, and this had a
dramatic and harmful effect on their families.

18. Nehemiah 9:2
Hindrances that should be thrown off (Hebrews 12:1)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the
sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance
the race marked out for us.

19. Nehemiah 9:3
They stood up in their place and read from the book of the
law of the LORD their God for a fourth part of the day, and
for another fourth they made confession and worshiped the
LORD their God.

20. Nehemiah 9:3
The Israelites (those who had returned from exile with their
families and those who had remained in the land because
they had not been carried off into exile in 587 BC with their
families) continued to read from the law of the Lord even
though the law condemned their practice of sin. T
hey did not turn away from God or refuse to obey God when
they learned the law of God. They confessed their sins and
continued to worship the true God as they learned more of
the truth of God and God’s law.

21. Nehemiah 9:6
And Ezra said: "You are the LORD, you alone; you have made
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth
and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of
them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you.

22. Nehemiah 9:6
When Ezra prayed to God and worshiped God before the
people, he prayed aloud, which helped the people learn how to
pray. He prayed according to what they had learned about God
from God’s words and works in the law of God, the Book of
Moses.
The beginning of his prayer recounted truths they had studied
from the early chapters of Genesis in the Book of Moses.
God is the only God because He is the creator (Mal 2:10) Have
we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we
profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one
another?

23. Nehemiah 9:7
You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought
him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name
Abraham;

24. Nehemiah 9:7
Ezra declared in prayer the truth about God being the
Creator of all, and the truth about God being the Creator of
the Israelites, the people of God, beginning with Abraham.
Notice that Ezra accurately described the name change of
Abram to Abraham and that God called Abram from Ur of the
Chaldeans, according to the Book of Genesis that they had
been reading.

25. Nehemiah 9:8
…and you found his heart faithful before you, and made with
him a covenant to give to his descendants the land of the
Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the
Jebusite, and the Girgashite; and you have fulfilled your
promise, for you are righteous.

26. Nehemiah 9:8
Ezra had set his heart to study, to obey, and to teach the law
of God. He acknowledged in his prayer that Abraham had
been faithful and obedient also.
Abraham had been faithful. God had been and continued to
be righteous; therefore, God kept His covenant and promise
to Abraham regarding His commitment to give the Promised
Land to Abraham and his descendants.

27. Nehemiah 9:9
"And you saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt and
heard their cry at the Red Sea.”

28. Nehemiah 9:9
Ezra’s prayer in the Bible teaches us to sometimes pray in
ways that describe our beliefs in God as the God over history
and the God who has spoken in history and the God who
keeps His promises in the Bible.
At this point in his prayer, Ezra proclaimed what he had read
and taught from the Book of Exodus in the Law of Moses, the
Book of the Law of God.

29. Nehemiah 9:10
You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his
servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that
they acted insolently against our ancestors. You made a
name for yourself, which remains to this day.

30. Nehemiah 9:10
Ezra prayed and worshiped God for His acts in the history of
his ancestors according to the writings of Moses. Because
God acts in righteousness, He heard the cries of His people
and He also heard the insolent words of Pharaoh against the
true God, Moses, and His people.
In judgment, God showed He was above all gods and all
nature and all people, and Ezra and God’s people praised God
for His great acts in their history.

31. Nehemiah 9:29
And you warned them in order to turn them back to your
law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your
commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, by the
observance of which a person shall live. They turned a
stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not
obey.

32. Nehemiah 9:29
In spite of all God had done for them, and in spite of who God is,
and in spite of His law, the Israelites had remained a stubborn
and rebellious people. “Presumptuous sins” are those God’s
people commit because they unrighteously think that because
they are God’s people God will not hold them accountable, or
responsible, or punish them, because they are special to God and
are better than other people.
They thought God would ignore their sinful behavior because
they were His children. This verse includes the period covered by
the Book of Judges, the Books of the Kings, and the Books of the
Prophets prior to 587 BC.

33. Nehemiah 9:30
Many years you were patient with them, and warned them
by your spirit through your prophets; yet they would not
listen. Therefore you handed them over to the peoples of the
lands.

34. Nehemiah 9:30
In his worship of God, Ezra reasonably remembered the
wonderful, holy, pure, and loving moral attributes of God
that moved the God to be patient with His children while
continuing to warn them of the consequences of their
continued disobedience and rebellion, but they would not
listen; therefore, their neighbors defeated them in battle as
their judges and kings ruled over them.
God’s Spirit told the prophets what to say when they gave
God’s warnings.

35. Nehemiah 9:31
Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end
of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful
God.

36. Nehemiah 9:31
Ezra continued to emphasize the moral character of God.
God’s love moved God to be gracious and merciful. God’s
love moved God to not destroy His people completely, but
continue to work with them to lead them to repentance.
God did not abandon or walk away from His people, because
God is gracious and merciful, but He did need to justly punish
them to correct their behavior.

37. Nehemiah 9:31
God is patient because He does not want anyone to perish (2
Peter 3:9) 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as
some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance.

38. Nehemiah 9:32
"Now therefore, our God--the great and mighty and
awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love--do not
treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our
kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our
ancestors, and all your people, since the time of the kings of
Assyria until today.

39. Nehemiah 9:32
In addition to praising God for His holy moral character, Ezra
praised God by telling God in his prayer before the people that
God is great, mighty, and awesome.
God did not permit their neighbors to afflict them because He
was powerless to prevent it! God is so powerful that He sent
mighty pagan kings and mighty armies to punish His people and
lead to them to repent. God’s moral attributes are displayed
when His steadfast love motivates Him to keep His covenants and
promises.
Only after much praise did Ezra begin to intercede and pray for
God to help His sinful children, who did not deserve His help as
Ezra rightly confessed in his prayer.

40. Nehemiah 9:33-34
You have been just in all that has come upon us, for you have
dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly; our kings, our
officials, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your
law or heeded the commandments and the warnings that
you gave them.

41. Nehemiah 9:33-34
As part of his prayer of intercession, when Ezra described the
suffering of God’s people, he was very quick to say that God
acted justly and they deserved His punishment (or discipline).
Ezra described again the moral character of God: God acts
faithfully. God’s people had acted the opposite of faithfully.
Unfaithfulness is wickedness.

42. Nehemiah 9:33-34
From top to bottom, the community of God’s people had
acted wickedly. In some cases the political and religious
leaders had led all the people to join in their wickedness in
spite of the prophets warning.
For example, King Solomon led the way in immorality when
he took pagan foreign wives. No one that Ezra knew of had
obeyed God or heeded God’s repeated warnings.

43. Nehemiah 9:35-36
Even in their own kingdom, and in the great goodness you
bestowed on them, and in the large and rich land that you
set before them, they did not serve you and did not turn
from their wicked works. Here we are, slaves to this day--
slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its
fruit and its good gifts.

44. Nehemiah 9:35-36
God has great goodness as our holy God. He expressed His
goodness by giving His people a kingdom with kings such as
King David. God gave them a land flowing with milk and
honey.
In spite of all God’s moral goodness and His good example of
how good and reasonable and intelligent people should
behave, Ezra confessed that God’s people had not served
God (a sin of omission) and God’s people had not turned
from their wicked works (sins of commission).

45. Nehemiah 9:35-36
Ezra confessed that the Israelites (or Jews) were still slaves to
the kings of Persia and could only return to their land, rebuild
their temple, and rebuild their city’s walls, with the
permission of the pagan kings who ruled over them as God
moved these kings to do His will.
They did not cease being slaves to foreign rulers in some way
until 1948. Until 1948, they were always subject to other
rulers (unless we count the brief time they were somewhat
free under the rule of the Maccabees).

46. Conclusion
Nehemiah 9:1 tells us that the event of today’s lesson occurs on a
particular day when the people gather to fast, put on
sackcloth, and sprinkle “dust on their heads.” These are ancient
practices of grief and contrition.
We see fasting in this regard in 2 Samuel 1:12; Joel 2:12; etc.
Donning sackcloth is connected with mourning in Genesis 37:34;
2 Samuel 3:31; etc. The sprinkling of dirt or ashes in such a
context is seen in Jeremiah 6:26. Seeing all three
together, then, is a powerful indicator of the serious nature of the
occasion (Esther 4:3; Daniel 9:3; Jonah 3:5, 6).

47. Conclusion
There is a paradox in the Christian life: the longer you walk
with God, the godlier you become. And yet, the godlier you
become, the more you are aware of the terrible depravity of
your own heart.
It was not at the beginning of Paul’s Christian life, but toward
the end that he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (1 Tim.
1:15).

48. Conclusion
True repentance accepts responsibility for sin and does not
blame God. As they prayed (9:33), “You are just in all that has
come upon us; for You have dealt faithfully, but we have
acted wickedly.”
The chapter ends on what may seem like a down note, with
the mention of the great distress of the nation. But as one
theologian points out (p. 113), “The great distress which
ends the prayer is a sign of life and of a vision that has not
been tamely given up.”

49. Lessons
Separation from sin must accompany the confessing and
forsaking of sin (Neh. 9:2)
True worship focuses, at least in part, on the character and
works of God (vs. 6-7)
God's past judgment of sin should serve as a present-day
warning to us (vs. 9-10)

50. Lessons
It is God's mercy, not our merit that allows Him to forgive our
sin (vs. 30-32)
True confession must proclaim God as just in disciplining us
for our sin (vs. 33-34)
Spurning God's goodness always leads to His discipline and
our heartache (vs. 35-36)

51. Benediction(Hebrews 11, Luke
12)
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.
People of faith, God is not ashamed to be called your God.
By God's grace we are forgiven. Let His people say amen.
Amen.

52. Blessing (Isaiah 1:16-19)
Cease to do evil; learn to do good. Seek justice; rescue the
oppressed.
Defend the orphan; plead for the widow—and you shall eat
of the good of the land.
And always go in peace.