But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God. Yet in Your great compassionThe Hebrew word for "compassion" here is "רַחֲמִים" (rachamim), which conveys a deep, tender love and mercy. This word is often used to describe the love a parent has for a child, emphasizing God's nurturing and protective nature. Historically, this compassion is evident throughout Israel's history, as God repeatedly forgives and restores His people despite their rebellion. This phrase highlights the divine attribute of mercy, which is central to God's character and His dealings with humanity. You did not consume them
The term "consume" in Hebrew is "כָּלָה" (kalah), meaning to bring to an end or to destroy completely. Despite Israel's repeated disobedience, God refrains from annihilating them. This restraint is a testament to His patience and long-suffering nature. In the broader scriptural context, this reflects the covenantal promise God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ensuring the survival and continuation of their descendants. or forsake them
"Forsake" translates from the Hebrew "עָזַב" (azab), meaning to leave or abandon. This assurance of God's presence is a recurring theme in the Bible, where God promises never to leave nor forsake His people (Deuteronomy 31:6). Historically, even during the Babylonian exile, God remained with the Israelites, guiding and eventually restoring them to their land. This phrase underscores the faithfulness of God, who remains committed to His people despite their failures. for You are a gracious and compassionate God
The word "gracious" comes from the Hebrew "חַנּוּן" (chanun), which implies favor and kindness that is undeserved. Coupled with "compassionate" (rachum), it paints a picture of a God who is not only merciful but also actively seeks to bless and restore. This duality of grace and compassion is foundational to the Christian understanding of God's nature, as seen in the New Testament through the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Historically, this understanding of God provided hope and encouragement to the Israelites, assuring them of His unchanging love and commitment. 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 Jewish people after the Babylonian exile. 2. IsraelitesThe people of God who had returned from exile and were confessing their sins and the sins of their ancestors in this chapter. 3. JerusalemThe city where the events of Nehemiah take place, significant as the center of Jewish worship and identity. 4. Babylonian ExileThe period when the Israelites were taken captive to Babylon, a consequence of their disobedience to God. 5. EzraA priest and scribe who, along with Nehemiah, led the people in spiritual renewal and the public reading of the Law. Teaching Points God's Unfailing CompassionDespite Israel's repeated disobedience, God’s compassion remains steadfast. This teaches us that God's love and mercy are not dependent on our actions but on His character. The Nature of GodUnderstanding God as gracious and compassionate should lead us to trust in His goodness and faithfulness, even when we fall short. Repentance and RestorationThe Israelites' confession and acknowledgment of God's mercy serve as a model for us to seek repentance and restoration in our relationship with God. God's Faithfulness to His PromisesGod's refusal to forsake His people demonstrates His commitment to His covenant promises, encouraging us to rely on His faithfulness. Living in GratitudeRecognizing God's grace and compassion should inspire us to live lives of gratitude and obedience, reflecting His love to others. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Nehemiah 9:31 reflect the character of God as described in other parts of the Bible? 2. In what ways can we see God's compassion and grace in our own lives, similar to how He dealt with the Israelites? 3. How does understanding God's nature as gracious and compassionate affect our approach to repentance and forgiveness? 4. What are some practical ways we can demonstrate gratitude for God's unfailing compassion in our daily lives? 5. How can the account of the Israelites' confession and God's response in Nehemiah 9 inspire us to trust in God's promises today? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 34:6-7This passage describes God as compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness, which echoes the attributes of God mentioned in Nehemiah 9:31. Psalm 103:8-10The psalmist praises God for His mercy and grace, similar to the acknowledgment of God's compassion in Nehemiah. Lamentations 3:22-23These verses highlight God's unfailing compassion and mercy, which are new every morning, reinforcing the theme of God's enduring grace. Jonah 4:2Jonah acknowledges God's gracious and compassionate nature, paralleling the confession in Nehemiah. Romans 11:1-2Paul speaks of God's faithfulness to Israel, affirming that God has not rejected His people, which aligns with the message of Nehemiah 9:31. 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 Abandon, Abundant, Compassion, Compassionate, Completely, Consume, Consumption, Forsake, Forsaken, Full, Grace, Gracious, Hast, Manifold, Mercies, Merciful, Mercy, Nevertheless, Sake, UtterlyDictionary of Bible Themes Nehemiah 9:31 1060 God, greatness of
1205 God, titles of
5036 mind, of God
5770 abandonment
6025 sin, and God's character
8203 character
8306 mercifulness Nehemiah 9:16-31 6223 rebellion, of Israel Nehemiah 9:26-31 8705 apostasy, in OT Nehemiah 9:29-31 8764 forgetting God Nehemiah 9:30-31 1095 God, patience of
4925 delay, divine
6687 mercy, God's
8459 perseverance 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 9:31 NIVNehemiah 9:31 NLTNehemiah 9:31 ESVNehemiah 9:31 NASBNehemiah 9:31 KJV
Nehemiah 9:31 Commentaries
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