Nehemiah 10:1 - Meaning and Application

When Israel was first brought into covenant with God, it was done with sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood (Exodus 24). Here, it was done in a more ordinary way, by signing and sealing a written covenant. This covenant did not add anything new to what they already owed God. It simply bound them more firmly to do what was already their duty.

The first point is the names of the public leaders who signed for the whole congregation. It would have been endless for every person to sign separately, so the representatives and heads of the people gave their names. If these leading men kept the covenant, their example would help move the rest of the people to do the same.

Nehemiah, the governor, signed first to show eagerness and to set the pace for others (Nehemiah 10:1). Those who are above others in rank and power should lead the way in God’s service. Next came twenty-two priests, though it is surprising that Ezra, the scribe, is not named among them. He had taken an active part in the solemn gathering earlier in that same month (Ezra 8:2), so he was likely not absent, but had already done his part as a teacher and now let others do theirs.

After the priests came seventeen Levites, including most or all of those who had been the mouth of the congregation in prayer (Ezra 9:4-5). This showed that they were personally moved by what they had prayed, and that they would not place on others burdens they were unwilling to bear themselves. Those who lead in prayer should also lead in every other good work.

After the Levites came forty-four of the chief people, who signed for themselves and for those under their influence, promising to keep God’s commandments. Their names are recorded here for honor, because they worked to renew and preserve religion in their land. The memory of such people will be blessed. Most of them are names already found in earlier lists of heads of families, such as Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zatthu, Bani, Azgad, Bebai, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hashum, Bezai, Hariph, Anathoth, and others. Those who have influence should use it for God.

The rest of the people, along with the other priests and Levites, joined in and approved what their leaders had done. Their wives and children joined too, because they had all sinned and all needed reform. Everyone who had knowledge and understanding was to enter into covenant with God. As soon as young people are able to tell right from wrong and act wisely, they should make it their own act to join themselves to the Lord.

The proselytes, that is, converts from other nations, also joined in, all those who had separated themselves from the peoples around them, from their gods, and from their worship, to follow God’s law. This shows what true conversion is: turning away from the customs of the world and giving ourselves to the direction of God’s word. And just as there is one law, there is one covenant and one baptism for the stranger and for the native-born.

The people’s agreement is described as clinging to their brothers, all of them together (Nehemiah 10:29). Here the common people agreed with their leaders in a good work. Great men never look greater than when they encourage true religion and live by it themselves. By doing so, they often keep a stronger hold on the people than they could by anything else. If the nobles honestly support religion, they may find that the people cling to them more closely than they expected. Their nobles are called their brothers, because in the things of God, rich and poor, high and low, meet on the same level.

They also entered into a curse and an oath. The nobles confirmed the covenant with their hands and seals, while the people confirmed it with a curse and an oath. They solemnly called on God to judge their sincerity and to punish them if they acted falsely. Every oath carries a kind of curse against the one who breaks it, and so it becomes a strong bond. False and lying words will fall back heavily on our own heads.

The main point of the covenant was simple: they would walk in God’s law and keep all his commandments (Nehemiah 10:29). This was no new burden, only “this necessary thing,” which they were already bound to by duty, gratitude, and self-interest. David had made the same pledge when he swore to keep God’s righteous judgments (Psalm 119:106). Our own covenant may not make this duty any more binding than before, but it makes it more clear and serious, so we should not think it unnecessary to bind ourselves in this way. And when we promise to keep God’s commandments, we bind ourselves to keep all of them, looking to him as our Lord.

Some of the covenant’s particular promises fit the dangers they faced at that time. First, they promised not to intermarry with the heathen, that is, the surrounding nations who did not worship God (Nehemiah 10:30). Many of them had failed in this very matter before (Ezra 9:1). When we make covenant with God, we should especially guard against the sins that have most often tripped us up and harmed us. Those who mean to keep God’s commandments must also say to evil-doers, “Depart” (Psalm 119:115).

They also promised not to hold markets on the Sabbath day, or on any other day that God had set apart from work. They would not sell goods themselves for profit on that day, and they would not encourage the heathen to sell by buying from them, even food, under the excuse of need. Instead, they would prepare what their families needed the day before (Nehemiah 10:31). Anyone who covenants to keep all God’s commandments must especially covenant to keep the Sabbath well, because breaking it opens the door to other forms of godlessness. The Sabbath is a market day for our souls, but not for our bodies.

They also promised not to press their debtors harshly, but to keep the seventh year as a year of release, according to the law (Nehemiah 10:31). They had failed in this before (chapter 5), and now they promised to correct it. This was the kind of fasting God approves, to break every heavy burden and let the oppressed go free (Isaiah 58:6). At the close of the Day of Atonement, the jubilee trumpet sounded. Because they had neglected the seventh year rest for the land, God had made the land enjoy its sabbaths for seventy years (Leviticus 26:35). So they now bound themselves to obey that law.

Those are truly stubborn children who will not correct the very fault for which they have been specially disciplined.