Year 8, Day 56: Nehemiah 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In Nehemiah 9, we read a retelling of the history of the Hebrew people.  Naturally, it is a bit abbreviated.  Here are the highlights.  God is a loving God.  He called Abraham to be the father of His people.  They went to Egypt and became slaves.  God brought them out and they were faithful until life got easy.  They rebelled.  As a result of their rebellion, they are now slaves in their own land.

The point of the story is quite plain.  God is a loving God.  God cares for His people.  God bathes them in His compassion.  God leads His people forth in His blessing.

God’s people, however are less than receptive.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that we don’t want to be loved by God.  We do!  We want to be in a relationship with Him.  We want to know His blessings.

However, that’s not all we want.  When life gets easy, we want more luxury.  When we aren’t challenged, we become less than satisfied with God’s provision.  We want more.  We stray from Him.  We find ourselves walking away from God because our life is so comfortable we have the time and desire to live other than according to His ways.

For me, that’s a really important teaching.  It fits what we hear in God’s Word.  Who are some of God’s most faithful followers?  Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt.  Moses, born to slaves in Egypt.  Joshua, leader of a people without a home.  David, repeatedly sought to be slain by King Saul.  Even in the New Testament, the disciples and the early church was persecuted as it grew.  Paul was rejected nearly everywhere He went.  Some of the most faithful were those who were rejected and oppressed.

For the record, look at the time of rebellion.  Joseph’s brothers had every luxury of the time when the sold him into slavery.  The Hebrew people rebelled and did what was right in their own eyes each time a Judge brought peace to the land.  The Hebrew kings helped the Hebrew people slide into rebellion as they lived under the umbrella of Solomon’s greatness.  The religious leaders of Jesus’ day missed seeing Jesus as the Messiah because they were too interested in their own position of power, wealth, and status in their day.

We don’t necessarily want to seek hard times.  Yet, we should appreciate what hard times can teach us when they do come.  Moments of difficulty help to remind us just how important God and His provision can be.

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