Nehemiah 9:26

Nehemiah 9:26 says, Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.  Even after hearing God’s word read and being reminded of all He had done for them in the past, they heard how the people of Israel in rebelled against God.  They ignored His law and killed His prophets.  These were God’s chosen people, but they didn’t accept Him as God.  Jesus Christ died so that we can all be a part of God’s people, but we are not forced to be.  Many people still refuse to put their faith in Jesus Christ and enter into a covenant relationship with God.  Just as He gave the people then the choice, so does He give everyone the choice today. 

Verse twenty-seven adds, Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.  The word of God recorded how God removed His protection from them and allowed them to be defeated by their enemies.  They then called out to Him and He gave them saviors they are told.  We as Christians should never turn our back on God, but if we do, we may find that He has removed His protective hand from us.  Of course, He has already sent the only true Savior that there ever has been, and that is Jesus Christ.  Those saviors then were just temporary saviors, delivering them from physical bondage, but even then, the only real eternal Savior was Jesus Christ. 

Verse twenty-eight continues, But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;  The people gathered there were reminded how the people of Israel of old had once again turned away from God after He once again delivered them from bondage after they again cried out to Him.  We don’t need to fall into that same cycle of obedience and disobedience, but if we do fall away from God’s will, He awaits to hear from us and forgive us.  It is up to us to repent and ask for forgiveness though, since He will never force us to do so. 

Verse twenty-nine states, And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.  As stated earlier, the people of Israel ran in cycles of faith which led to peace followed a time of rebellion when they were defeated by the world.  When this happened, if they sincerely called out to God, He would again deliver them.  For us today, God has delivered us from the power of sin forever if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, but He will still allow us to give in to the power of sin.  If we do, even though all our sins are forgiven, we need to acknowledge that we have done wrong and ask for God to restore us to a right relationship with Him. 

Verse thirty adds, Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.  God sent prophets to call the people to repentance when they rebelled against Him, but they would not heed the prophets.  God has sent the only Deliverer that there ever was or will be, and that is Jesus Christ, Who calls us to put our faith in Him and be restored to a right relationship with God.  Yet, the majority of people in the world refuse to hear and heed God’s word. 

Verse thirty-one continues, Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.  For the sake of God’s great mercy, He did not completely destroy the people of Israel or allow them to be completely destroyed by another nation.  If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we will never be spiritually destroyed, but we may find ourselves back in bondage to sin if we stop living by faith. This is all by the mercy of God.