For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. For forty yearsThis phrase highlights the duration of the Israelites' journey through the wilderness. The number forty in the Bible often symbolizes a period of testing, trial, or probation. In Hebrew, the word for forty is "אַרְבָּעִים" (arba'im), which is used frequently in the Old Testament to denote significant periods of time, such as the forty days and nights of rain during the flood ( Genesis 7:12) or the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai ( Exodus 24:18). The forty years in the wilderness were a time of testing and preparation for the Israelites, shaping them into a people ready to enter the Promised Land. You sustained them
The Hebrew root for "sustained" is "כּוּן" (kun), which means to establish, support, or provide. This word emphasizes God's active role in providing for the Israelites' needs. It reflects His faithfulness and provision, ensuring that His people were cared for despite their circumstances. This divine sustenance is a testament to God's unwavering commitment to His covenant with Israel, demonstrating His grace and mercy even when they were undeserving. in the wilderness
The wilderness, or "מִדְבָּר" (midbar) in Hebrew, represents a place of desolation and barrenness. It is often seen as a place of testing and reliance on God. The wilderness journey was not just a physical journey but a spiritual one, where the Israelites learned to depend on God for their daily needs. This setting underscores the miraculous nature of God's provision, as He provided for them in a place where resources were scarce. so that they lacked nothing
This phrase underscores the completeness of God's provision. The Hebrew word for "lacked" is "חָסֵר" (chaser), meaning to be without or in need. Despite the harsh conditions of the wilderness, God ensured that the Israelites had everything they needed. This reflects the promise found in Psalm 23:1, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." It is a reminder of God's sufficiency and His ability to meet all our needs according to His riches in glory. Their clothes did not wear out
The durability of the Israelites' clothing is a tangible sign of God's miraculous provision. In Deuteronomy 8:4, Moses reminds the people, "Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years." The Hebrew word for "wear out" is "בָּלָה" (balah), meaning to decay or become old. This miracle signifies God's attention to even the smallest details of their lives, ensuring their well-being and comfort throughout their journey. and their feet did not swell
The phrase "their feet did not swell" highlights God's protection over the physical health of the Israelites. The Hebrew word for "swell" is "בָּצֵק" (batzek), which can imply becoming bloated or inflamed. This protection from physical ailments further illustrates God's comprehensive care for His people. It serves as a metaphor for spiritual health and vitality, showing that when we walk in obedience and trust in God, He sustains us both physically and spiritually. Persons / Places / Events 1. NehemiahA Jewish leader who played a crucial role in the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls and the spiritual renewal of the people. He is the central figure in the book of Nehemiah. 2. IsraelitesThe people of God who were delivered from slavery in Egypt and wandered in the wilderness for forty years due to their disobedience and lack of faith. 3. WildernessThe desert region where the Israelites wandered for forty years. It symbolizes both a place of testing and divine provision. 4. God's ProvisionThe miraculous sustenance provided by God to the Israelites during their wilderness journey, including manna, quail, and water from the rock. 5. The CovenantThe agreement between God and the Israelites, which included promises of blessing for obedience and consequences for disobedience. Teaching Points God's Faithfulness in ProvisionGod is faithful to provide for His people, even in the most challenging circumstances. Just as He provided for the Israelites in the wilderness, He will meet our needs today. Trust in God's SustenanceThe Israelites' experience teaches us to trust in God's provision and timing. We are called to rely on Him rather than our own understanding or resources. The Importance of GratitudeRecognizing God's provision should lead us to a heart of gratitude. We should regularly thank God for His faithfulness and care in our lives. Spiritual Lessons from the WildernessThe wilderness experience was a time of testing and growth for the Israelites. Similarly, our own "wilderness" experiences can be opportunities for spiritual development and deeper reliance on God. The Unchanging Nature of GodGod's character and promises remain constant. The same God who provided for the Israelites is with us today, offering His guidance and provision. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Nehemiah 9:21 reflect God's character and His relationship with His people? 2. In what ways can we see God's provision in our own lives, similar to how He provided for the Israelites in the wilderness? 3. How can the Israelites' experience in the wilderness teach us about trusting God during difficult times? 4. What are some practical ways we can cultivate gratitude for God's provision in our daily lives? 5. How do the themes of provision and faithfulness in Nehemiah 9:21 connect with Jesus' teachings in the New Testament? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 8:4This verse also speaks of the Israelites' clothes not wearing out and their feet not swelling during the forty years in the wilderness, emphasizing God's provision and care. Exodus 16Details the provision of manna and quail, illustrating God's daily sustenance for His people. Psalm 78A recounting of Israel's history, including their time in the wilderness, highlighting God's faithfulness despite the people's rebellion. Matthew 6:31-33Jesus teaches about God's provision, encouraging believers to seek first the kingdom of God and trust in His provision for their needs. People Abram, Amorites, Bani, Bunni, Canaanites, Chenani, Egyptians, Ezra, Girgashite, Girgashites, Hashabniah, Hittites, Hodiah, Hodijah, Israelites, Jebusites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Levites, Og, Perizzites, Pethahiah, Pharaoh, Shebaniah, Sherebiah, SihonPlaces Assyria, Bashan, Egypt, Gate of Ephraim, Heshbon, Mount Sinai, Red Sea, UrTopics Clothes, Clothing, Desert, Didn't, Forty, Garments, Grew, Grow, Hast, Indeed, Lacked, Nothing, Nourished, Provided, Support, Sustain, Sustained, Swell, Swelled, Swollen, Tired, Truly, Waste, Waxed, Wear, Wilderness, Worn, Yea, YesDictionary of Bible Themes Nehemiah 9:21 1654 numbers, 11-99
5145 clothing Nehemiah 9:16-29 5170 neck Nehemiah 9:16-31 6223 rebellion, of Israel Nehemiah 9:19-21 4230 desert Library The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength. Neh 9:10
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John Newton—Olney HymnsQuestions About the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath.
AND PROOF, THAT THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'The Son of man is lord also of the Sabbath day.' London: Printed for Nath, Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1685. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. All our inquiries into divine commands are required to be made personally, solemnly, prayerful. To 'prove all things,' and 'hold fast' and obey 'that which is good,' is a precept, equally binding upon the clown, as it is upon the philosopher. Satisfied from our observations …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Ten Reasons Demonstrating the Commandment of the Sabbath to be Moral.
1. Because all the reasons of this commandment are moral and perpetual; and God has bound us to the obedience of this commandment with more forcible reasons than to any of the rest--First, because he foresaw that irreligious men would either more carelessly neglect, or more boldly break this commandment than any other; secondly, because that in the practice of this commandment the keeping of all the other consists; which makes God so often complain that all his worship is neglected or overthrown, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The "Fraternity" of Pharisees
To realise the state of religious society at the time of our Lord, the fact that the Pharisees were a regular "order," and that there were many such "fraternities," in great measure the outcome of the original Pharisees, must always be kept in view. For the New Testament simply transports us among contemporary scenes and actors, taking the then existent state of things, so to speak, for granted. But the fact referred to explains many seemingly strange circumstances, and casts fresh light upon all. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Fragrant Spices from the Mountains of Myrrh. "Thou Art all Fair, My Love; There is no Spot in Thee. " --Song of Solomon iv. 7.
FRAGRANT SPICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MYRRH. HOW marvellous are these words! "Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee." The glorious Bridegroom is charmed with His spouse, and sings soft canticles of admiration. When the bride extols her Lord there is no wonder, for He deserves it well, and in Him there is room for praise without possibility of flattery. But does He who is wiser than Solomon condescend to praise this sunburnt Shulamite? Tis even so, for these are His own words, and were …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come The Personality of the Holy Spirit.
Before one can correctly understand the work of the Holy Spirit, he must first of all know the Spirit Himself. A frequent source of error and fanaticism about the work of the Holy Spirit is the attempt to study and understand His work without first of all coming to know Him as a Person. It is of the highest importance from the standpoint of worship that we decide whether the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, worthy to receive our adoration, our faith, our love, and our entire surrender to Himself, …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He Associates with Malchus
[Sidenote: 1095.] 1. Our Malachy, born in Ireland,[134] of a barbarous people, was brought up there, and there received his education. But from the barbarism of his birth he contracted no taint, any more than the fishes of the sea from their native salt. But how delightful to reflect, that uncultured barbarism should have produced for us so worthy[135] a fellow-citizen with the saints and member of the household of God.[136] He who brings honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock[137] …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Preface to the Commandments
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God,' &c. Exod 20: 1, 2. What is the preface to the Ten Commandments? The preface to the Ten Commandments is, I am the Lord thy God.' The preface to the preface is, God spake all these words, saying,' &c. This is like the sounding of a trumpet before a solemn proclamation. Other parts of the Bible are said to be uttered by the mouth of the holy prophets (Luke 1: 70), but here God spake in his own person. How are we to understand that, God spake, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Of Immediate Revelation.
Of Immediate Revelation. [29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity Influences that Gave Rise to the Priestly Laws and Histories
[Sidenote: Influences in the exile that produced written ceremonial laws] The Babylonian exile gave a great opportunity and incentive to the further development of written law. While the temple stood, the ceremonial rites and customs received constant illustration, and were transmitted directly from father to son in the priestly families. Hence, there was little need of writing them down. But when most of the priests were carried captive to Babylonia, as in 597 B.C., and ten years later the temple …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament The Holy War,
MADE BY SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, FOR THE REGAINING OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD; OR, THE LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL. THE AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' 'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10. London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry; and Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Bunyan's account of the Holy War is indeed an extraordinary book, manifesting a degree of genius, research, and spiritual …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Ezra-Nehemiah
Some of the most complicated problems in Hebrew history as well as in the literary criticism of the Old Testament gather about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Apart from these books, all that we know of the origin and early history of Judaism is inferential. They are our only historical sources for that period; and if in them we have, as we seem to have, authentic memoirs, fragmentary though they be, written by the two men who, more than any other, gave permanent shape and direction to Judaism, then …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Nehemiah 9:21 NIVNehemiah 9:21 NLTNehemiah 9:21 ESVNehemiah 9:21 NASBNehemiah 9:21 KJV
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