PROMISES ARE MADE TO BE HONORED

NEHEMIAH 10: 28-32Bishop Genesis T. Udang

• Neh 9:38 "Because of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our descendants of Levi, and our priests hereby set their seals upon it."

• Neh 10:28 The rest of the people, the priests, the descendants of Levi, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple Servants, and everyone who had separated themselves from the peoples of the surrounding lands for the Law of God—their wives, their sons, their daughters, and all who had knowledge and understanding—

• Neh 10:29 joined with their relatives and their leaders. They entered into an oath—enforced by a curse—to walk in God's Law that was given through God's servant Moses, and to be careful to obey all of commands of the LORD, our Lord, as well as his regulations and statutes.

• Neh 10:30 We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons.

• Neh 10:31 As for the people of the land who bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. We will forego planting crops, and we will cancel debts during every seventh year.

• Numbers 30:2: “When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said

• Ecclesiastes 5:4 says, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.”

PROMISES MADE BY THE PEOPLE TO THEIR GOD

• A PROMISE TO OBEY THE WORDS OF GOD

A PROMISE TO OBEY THE WORDS OF GOD

• Neh 10:29 joined with their relatives and their leaders. They entered into an oath—enforced by a curse—to walk in God's Law that was given through God's servant Moses, and to be careful to obey all of commands of the LORD, our Lord, as well as his regulations and statutes.

PROMISES MADE BY THE PEOPLE TO THEIR GOD

• A PROMISE TO OBEY THE WORDS OF GOD

• A PROMISE TO SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD

A PROMISE TO SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD

• Neh 10:30 We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons.

• Jos 23:13 know for certain that the LORD your God will not continue to drive out these nations ahead of you. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap for you, a whip to your backs, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

• Nehemiah 13:26 “Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by His God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.”

• 2 Corinthians 6:14“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

PROMISES MADE BY THE PEOPLE TO THEIR GOD

• A PROMISE TO OBEY THE WORDS OF GOD

• A PROMISE TO SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD

• A PROMISE TO HONOR AND WORSHIP GOD

A PROMISE TO HONOR AND WORSHIP GOD

• Nehemiah 10:31: “When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.”

• First of all, this day was set aside to honor God.• Secondly, it was a day of rest

which is a vital ingredient in effective living• Thirdly, the Sabbath was a day

to declare truth.

• Matthew 6:33: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

PROMISES MADE BY THE PEOPLE TO THEIR GOD

• A PROMISE TO OBEY THE WORDS OF GOD

• A PROMISE TO SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD

• A PROMISE TO HONOR AND WORSHIP GOD

• A PROMISE TO SUPPORT THE WORKS OF GOD.

A PROMISE TO SUPPORT THE WORKS OF GOD

• Neh 10:32 We also obligated ourselves to contribute annually a third of a shekel for services relating to the Temple of our God:

• It was responsible giving.• It was obedient giving.• It was systematic giving. • It was proportionate giving.• It was prescribed giving.

• Matthew 6:21: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Let’s determine to be like the believers in Nehemiah 10:39: “We will not neglect the house of our God.”