Promises
Day 307, Saturday, June 14
Neh. 9:38 – 12:26
Nehemiah, along with other government officials, Levites and leaders of the people put into writing an agreement to follow the law.
Then the rest of the people took an oath to do the same: “The rest of the people—priests, Levites, gatekeepers, musicians, temple servants and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand—all these now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.”
The oath was a fairly comprehensive summary of the rules and laws laid down in the book of the law, including honoring the Sabbath and canceling debts on the seventh year, as well as making offerings and observing the ritual festivals.
Coming right after the rebuilding of the temple and the restoration of the city wall and gates it is not surprising that the oath also included a promise to pay the required taxes and tithes to support the temple and to “not neglect the house of our God.”

Saturday meditation

Proverbs 30:18-19
There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman.

Prayer focus
God, may we too bind ourselves to follow the law and to not neglect our care for your house, the church.

-Rev. Mark Fleming