RENEWING our COVENANT & COMMITMENT with GOD
May 20
Bible Reading: Nehemiah Chapters 10-13
RENEWING our COVENANT & COMMITMENT with GOD
"We make a sure covenant, and write it; our leaders, our Levites, and
our priests seal it" (Neh 9:38). "Now
the rest of the people--the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers,
the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of
the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters,
everyone who had knowledge and understanding-- these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a
curse and 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
ordinances and His statutes." (Neh 10:28-29)
The
privilege of leading the nation of Israel in covenant renewal fell to the
Levites who are listed in Neh 9:5 with a
notable omission of Nehemiah. After exhorting the crowd to stand and praise
the Lord, they addressed Him in prayer, recognizing His incomparability and
glory. The prayer itself follows, at least in a general way, the pattern of
covenant texts found elsewhere in the Old Testament and in the ancient Near
East as well. After this lengthy prayer devoted primarily to the dismal history
of Israel’s past failures contrasted with the unlimited patience and grace of
God, the secular and religious leaders led by Nehemiah whose names appear in
Neh 10:1–27 affixed their signatures to the covenant text, the provisions of
which follow in Neh 10:28–39.
In what
appears to be a univocal response, all segments of the community pledged
themselves to keep all the terms of the Law that God had revealed to Moses long
before (Neh 10:28–29). Addressing an issue that Ezra had already dealt with,
they promised never again to intermarry with the heathen (Neh 10:30; Ezra
9:1–10:44). Besides this, they vowed to honor the Sabbath, to pay the required
temple taxes, to offer the first fruits of their labor, and to care for the
needs of the Levites (Neh. 10:31–39).
During our spiritual life journey,
there are times when we veer away from the race that is set for us (Heb 12:1). At these times, more importantly, we need to renew our covenant with
God. Just like a married couple renews their marriage vows and reaffirms
their commitment to each other, we also need to pause at times and renew our
commitment to follow God and be faithful to our heavenly calling. God remembers
His covenant with us all the time, as it says in Psalms 105:8-11: He remembers His covenant forever, the word
which He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with
Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to
Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of
Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance”.
God is ever mindful of His covenant with us: "He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant" (Psalms 111:5). From our end, let us renew our commitment and covenant with Him today!
