“But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.”
Nehemiah 9:28
Last time we saw the experiential consequences to blasphemy: the narrow squeeze of the Israelites’ enemies ruling over them. But as they assembled together, God provided deliverers, avengers who rescued God’s people from the nations’ oppression. Today we see how long it lasted.
“But after rest (nuach – to rest, abandon, calm, cast down, deposit, forsake, lay down, let alone, permit, put down, rid, cease, be quiet, settle down) they again (shub) did (asah) evil (ra – adversity, affliction, distress, displeasure, heavy, hurtful, wickedness, wretchedness) before You (paneh – your face).”
After a time of calm, the cessation of battle and enemy oppression, they turned back again to wickedness and hurtful displeasure before Your face.
It all just sounds so familiar, yes? God sends a deliverer after we collectively cry out for mercy. Things calm down, the battle slows, our enemies are subdued, and frankly, we’ve put down our guard. That’s when we pick back up our heavy evil. Heavy because wickedness is not a light yoke and heavy because it burdens our own and our Deliverer’s hearts.
“Therefore you left them (azab – loose from one’s self, refuse, relinquish, fail, leave destitute) in the hand (yad) of their enemies (oyeb – foe, adversary, hating; from ayab – to be hostile to, to hate [as one of an opposite tribe or party])…”
Therefore You loosed them from Your protective grasp into the hand of those who were hostile to them/opposite tribe or party.
Well. Speaking of familiar scenarios. That root word for enemy means to hate another like humans tend to do with those from a different tribe or party. When we feel as if someone represents the opposite of everything we stand for, our hostility is typically very near the surface.
Often we have good reasons for being against others’ stances on subjects or past decisions their party has made. Let’s not confuse this with healthy disagreement, speaking truth to power, and making sure humans are being treated like image bearers.
This is hatred, and it is of the devil. We have to actively be on guard that it does not rule over us. The good news is I see so many people handling well the nuances of faithful disagreement without hatred – in real life, of course, but also on social media world where things tend to get dicey.
Perhaps we should heed the warning of the next section:
“…so they had dominion (radah – reign, bear, tread down, subjugate, specifically to crumble off) over them…”
Those hostile to them subjugated and tread them down as if to crumble them.
Won’t our hostility do it? Does not our picking back up wickedness invite in hatred that treads ourselves and others down like a smashed cookie under a thick work boot? Crumbling our self-control, our tenderness in the Spirit, and our unity as humans – but especially those under the blood of Jesus.
“And yet when they returned (shub – turn back) and cried out (zaaq again – call out, cry out, call together, appeal, to shriek, to proclaim in assembly) to you again…”
And yet. Such precious words. Once again, our Israelites turned back, shub again. But this time they weren’t turning to accomplish evil like the first use of this word in today’s verse. But they are again turning back, as an assembled group, to appeal, shriek, proclaim to Him.
And don’t you, as a human being, just think, “Well this time it won’t go well. If it were me, I’d say too late. Forget it. This has happened too many times.”
I’m so glad the holiness of God means He is altogether Other. Not some better version of us, but perfectly divine. He is so good at being God.
“You (attah – you yourself) heard (shama again) from heaven, and according to your mercies (racham – compassion, deep mercy, tender love, pity, womb – as cherishing a fetus) you delivered them (natsal – strip, plunder, snatch away, deliver self, rescue, take away, defend, escape, pluck) many (rab – many, much, great, exceeding, full) times (eth – period, season, circumstance, appointed time).”
“You Yourself heard again with an intent to cause action.” It wasn’t too many times for Him to listen to His rebellious children. They hadn’t exceeded the limits of His mercy. He wasn’t suddenly unwilling to act on their behalf.
“And according to Your exceeding compassion (that same word for cherishing a fetus from last time), You plucked them out, snatched them away from their enemies.”
No human avengers given this time. This verse describes Him simply snatching His children away from the dominion of those hostile to them. The same dominion He loosed them into due to their rebellion.
He let go and allowed the consequences to come. But He was right there to snatch them back again. To pluck them out of hell fire when they but turned and called. And how often?
“An exceeding number of times.”
As much as it annoys us, He is the embodiment of forgiving 70 x 7. He is not codependent or spineless, allowing Himself or His mercy to be trampled upon. But in perfectly divine fatherly love, He walks with His children until we are free. Do you not love there is Someone Who will never give up on us?
So, friends, let’s apply this to ourselves. Those of us who believe in Jesus are called to display this sort of love. The kind which refuses to pick back up our wickedness or hostility. And because we are not God, often our love and relationships with unsafe people include boundaries and limits. But the forgiveness in our hearts – the hurt and resentment and legitimate anger – can be handed to Him over and over. An exceeding number of times until we are free.
And as a corporate Body, we can choose to assemble together and proclaim the ways we have not represented Him accurately to a watching world. We can have healthy disagreement with discernment and honest sharing without hostility.
And as we come together in agreement on areas we know require communal repentance, we can trust our wise and compassionate God to snatch us away from the dominion of the enemy.