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Joy of Forgiveness and Healing
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The people still further showed their determination to return to
the Lord by pledging to stop desecrating the Sabbath. In an effort to
save the people from yielding to temptation, Nehemiah bound them
by a solemn promise not to transgress the Sabbath by buying from
the heathen traders, hoping that this would put an end to the Sabbath
commerce.
They also made provision to support the public worship of God.
In addition to the tithe, the congregation pledged to contribute a
stated sum each year for the service of the sanctuary. “We made
ordinances,” Nehemiah writes, “to bring the firstfruits of our ground
and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house
of the Lord.”
Israel had returned to God with deep sorrow for backsliding.
Now they must show faith in His promises. God had accepted their
repentance. They were now to rejoice in the assurance that their sins
were forgiven and that they were restored to divine favor.
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Nehemiah’s efforts had met with success. As long as the people
were obedient to God’s word, the Lord would fulfill His promise by
pouring rich blessings on them.
For those who are convicted of sin and weighed down with
a sense of unworthiness, this story contains lessons of faith and
encouragement. The Bible faithfully presents Israel’s apostasy, but
it also shows the deep repentance, the earnest devotion and sacrifice,
that marked their return to the Lord.
When sinners yield to the Holy Spirit, they see themselves as
transgressors. But they are not to allow themselves to despair, for
their pardon has already been secured. It is God’s glory to encircle
repentant human beings in the arms of His love, to bind up their
wounds, to cleanse them, and to clothe them with salvation.
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