“But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
Nehemiah 9:36-37
Last time we saw the Levites’ prayer continue to praise Yahweh for remaining righteous in spite of their lack of following the Law of Love. Today we see more in depth the ways the Israelites are in distress.
“But see (hinneh – lo and behold!) we (anachnu – we ourselves) today are servants/slaves (ebed – servant, bondage) in the land you gave our ancestors (fathers)…”
See! We ourselves today are in bondage in the land you gave our ancestors.
Sometimes this taking chapters of the Bible line by line can be misleading. For example, this statement of, “Lo! Behold!” is there as a result of everything written (said) before it. The last sentence in the previous verse is, “Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.”
So, lo and behold, here we are in bondage again.
There’s just something about generational sin, huh? The reference to “in their kingdom” is from the time of the united tribes of Israel under King Saul, King David, and King Solomon. This was not the time of the current, praying, returned exiles. However, they found themselves in bondage based on decades-previous sin.
While each generation has the choice of whom they will serve, there is something to be said for an entire period of Jews having no idea they were to be celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, for example. And that would be a failure on each previous generation for not paying attention to God’s commands to His people and passing them along.
I realize this topic gets personal, mostly because if we are honest, we in this generation wonder the ways we’re missing the mark for those coming after us. We hesitate to finger point and cast blame on those before us because we’re aware of our shortcomings now.
The good news for all of us is it simply takes confession and cooperation to move forward into the light. No finger pointing necessary, simply pointing to the Cross and the only One Who ever got it perfect.
Now that we can breathe, in what ways do we see Jesus’ Body anemic in our day? Without throwing stones – but with perfectly clear eyes with which to move forward – what are some ways we can say, “Lo and behold! We are still in bondage”?
This takes courage, but fortunately He is instilling such a characteristic into us these days. Everything about walking with Him publicly seems to take a dose of courage, and many are willing to die to themselves and put on the full armor necessary.
“…so they could eat (akal – devour, feast, enjoy, eat freely) its fruit (peri – produce, results, reward; from parah – be fruitful and multiply from Genesis 1:22) and bounty (tub – good, best things)…”
[We are servants in the land, the land You gave] so they could freely eat and enjoy its produce, best things.
I personally love when prayers in the Word remind God of what He has said or done or promised. It’s a good strategy actually. We remind ourselves of what He can do and said He would do. And we remind Him just for good measure. “God, You promised this land so we could receive Your best things. That is not what is going on. Please tell us You see.”
I can learn a lot from this, honestly. I think we all can. “Jesus, You have promised that You would build Your Church and the gates of hell would not prevail (future, indicative, active verb meaning not get the upper hand, not have strength) against the Church as it advances in our day. And yet right now, in many areas, behold! we are in bondage.”
Refreshing, yes? And not only that, but we could remind Him [ourselves], “And You have promised it is for freedom that Jesus set us free. You said if we remained in Him we would bear much fruit – to enjoy as the best things Your Spirit in us gives. But instead..”
“Here we are servants (ebed again) in it (al – hovering over)….”
Bondage hovers over us.
“Because of our sins (chatta’ah – offense, sometimes habitual sinfulness and its penalty; from chata – to miss, go wrong, bear the blame, loss) its abundant (rabah – abundant, multiply, become much, be in authority, excel, exceedingly great, heap, increase) yields (tebuah – product, revenue, crops, grain, income) to the kings you have set (nathan) over us (al)…”
Because of our sins, how we miss the mark, bear the blame the exceedingly great crops, income have gone to the kings you put over us.
For any of us who were uncomfortable discussing sins of previous generations, we can relax; the rest of the verse focuses on the returned exiles’ current sins. This simple confession of how they miss the mark in obeying God, how – no matter what others had done previously – they themselves were to blame for their current situation: that the yields of the land went not to the people, but the kings who ruled over them.
Remember, our exiles may have returned to Jerusalem, but their land still belonged to the King of Persia. Nehemiah himself was only there by permission of the king. And the exiles who worked the land owed exorbitant taxes to the Persian empire, which had previously led to interest-gaining injustice among the Jewish people.
“They were not, like their fathers, free tenants of the land which God gave them…they were still [subject] to the kings of Persia…[Israel’s] children [were] slaves…” (source)
After confessing they had not done the work to become bondservants to Yahweh, the Levites point out in prayer they are instead slaves to those whose rule is unjust. And not only does the land belong to these rulers, but also:
“…over our bodies (gviyah) they have dominion (mashal – rule, reign, dominion, gain control, have charge, authority, master, wielded, bear, cause to) and our cattle (behemah – beast, animal) as they please (ratson – goodwill, desire, delighted, willed, acceptable)…”
And these kings have had control/authority/been master over our bodies, our cattle as seemed acceptable to their will and delight.
This is not good. When people are not allowed autonomy over their God-given physical bodies, evil is in charge. Whether slavery, physical or sexual abuse, or cruel displacing of groups of people, wickedness is at the helm when bodies are not given freedom. That is why the final sentence in our verses today makes so much sense:
“We are in great (gadol – exceedingly great, mighty) distress (tsarah – straights, adversity, affliction, anguish, tightness, trouble, female rival; feminine of tsar – narrow, tight, close, enemy, flint, foe)…”
We are in exceedingly mighty anguish.
God knows. He sees. But the Levites lead the returned exiles in prayer to a loving God, reminding Him of their great distress. They have owned their failures, they are repenting of unjust practices among themselves. They are seeking to obey what they understand of Torah. And now they plead for mercy.
What a good idea. May we communally, as believers in Jesus, follow suit.