God Intentions Are Never Good Enough

1 On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

28 “The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29 join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. 30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law. 35 We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; 36 also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; 37 and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. 38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.” – Nehemiah 10:1-39 ESV

For 70 years, God set the people of Judah aside and forced them to live as exiles in the land of Babylon. He warned them about the consequences of their disobedience, and this was the fulfillment of the warning they received when He first gave them His Law. Centuries earlier, Moses had shared the blessings and curses that accompanied God’s commands. If the people willingly obeyed God’s holy code of conduct, they would experience His abundant blessings. But disobedience would prove costly.

“…if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” – Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV

“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” – Deuteronomy 28:25 ESV

“The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away.” – Deuteronomy 28:36-37 ESV

“The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.” – Deuteronomy 28:49-5-7 ESV

When the returned exiles stood for six hours listening to Ezra recite the Mosaic Law, they recognized that God had kept His word. Every warning had become a reality. The threats were no longer faint possibilities; they were history. Everything had happened just as God said it would. God had fulfilled His warning of punishment but had also kept His promise of restoration. The 70 years had passed and God allowed a remnant of His people to return to the land of Judah. These descendants of the original exiles had made their way to Jerusalem and, against all odds, rebuilt the Temple and restored the city’s walls. They had re-established the Levitical priesthood, reinstituted the sacrificial system, and reacquainted themselves with the Mosaic Law. Now it was time to commit.

A covenant was drawn up and written down. This document was then ratified and signed by Nehemiah and other prominent leaders. These men affixed their names to the document on behalf of the people of Judah, committing the entire community to live according to God’s commands. This official signing ceremony was followed by a corporate oath of commitment.

They swore a curse on themselves if they failed to obey the Law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the LORD our Lord. – Nehemiah 10:29 NLT

The curse they swore reflects their understanding of Deuteronomy 28:15-68). They understood that nothing about the Law had changed. During their time in captivity, God had not revised the Law or lessened the intensity of the curses. Obedience would still result in blessings and disobedience would bring about curses. By swearing an oath, they acknowledged their understanding of the covenant’s conditions. They were willing to accept the consequences.

Their oath contained the following verbal commitments:

1. They agreed to maintain the purity of their community by refusing to give their sons and daughters in marriage to outsiders.

2. They agreed to honor the sabbath day by keeping it holy.

3. They agreed to restore the observance of the sabbatical year.

4. They agreed to fund the care and maintenance of God’s house by paying the Temple tax.

5. They agreed to give their firstborn and firstfruits to God.

6. They agreed to supply the needs of the Levitical priests.

7. They agreed to never neglect the Temple of God.

It’s impossible to know whether the people understood the gravity of the oath they were swearing. The mention of the curses reveals that they understood the consequences but it is difficult to believe that they fully grasped the weight of their commitment. Perhaps they assumed they had no choice. The Law had been read and explained and its requirements were non-negotiable. It wasn’t a list of options from which to choose. They couldn’t opt out or self-select the laws they wanted to obey. It was all or nothing.

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.” – Deuteronomy 30:15-16 ESV

Their ancestors had also made an oath to keep God’s law.

Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” – Exodus 24:3 NLT

But they failed miserably. From the moment they entered the land of Canaan to the day God cast them out, they had lived in disobedience to His laws. Jeremiah prophesied that Judah would be held captive for 70 years because of their disobedience to God's laws, including the Sabbath-rest ordinance.

“When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest.” – Leviticus 25:2-5 NLT

From the time of Israel’s first king to the Babylonian captivity, 490 years passed. During that time, the people of Israel failed to observe a single sabbatical year and their 70-year captivity was God’s way of allowing the land to “rest” in their absence. God had warned the Israelites that all His laws must be obeyed.

“You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 18:4 ESV

Failure to obey would result in their forceful rejection, a sudden and violent act that God compares to vomiting.

“…do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now.” – Leviticus 18:28 NLT

Nehemiah and the people knew that if God had done it once, He could do it again. So, they swore an oath to keep His commands. They meant well. But their well-intentioned efforts were doomed to fall short. The apostle Paul later wrote “no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:20 NLT).

As a former Pharisee, Paul was an expert in the Mosaic Law. He had been a faithful law-keeper. But upon coming to faith in Christ, he realized the futility of trying to gain a right standing with God through obedience to the law. He wrote the following insight to the believers in Galatia:

But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.” – Galatians 3:10-12 NLT

Moses had told the people of Israel, “Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice” (Deuteronomy 27:26 BSB). But Paul revealed the good news that the curse has been lifted by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. – Galatians 3:13 NLT

The law can't save, it can only convict. Obedience to the law can’t justify, it can only condemn. So, while the people of Judah sincerely meant to fulfill their oath, they would never be able to pull it off. God required complete obedience. There could be no grey areas. To disobey one law was to disobey them all (James 2:10). 

God knew the people of Judah would never keep their oath. He was well aware of their shortcomings and the law’s impossible standards. But in His grace and mercy, God has promised a future day when He will do for His chosen people what they could never have done for themselves.

“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” – Jeremiah 31:31-33 NLT

The people of Judah ratified a covenant and swore an oath. But without God’s help, they would never be able to keep their commitment. No one can earn a right standing with God through human effort. No one can live up to His holy standards in their own strength. That’s why He sent His Son to take on human flesh and do what no other man had ever done: Live a sinless life that reflected full obedience to the law of God. It was His sinlessness that made Him the perfect sacrifice. He became the unblemished Lamb of God who paid for the sins of the world (John 1:29).

The people of Judah meant well, but God knew the truth.

“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.” – Isaiah 29:13 NLT

They didn’t just need the law, they needed a lawkeeper. They needed the Messiah, the Savior who would come to make righteousness and holiness available through the offering of His sinless life as a substitute for their own.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Separated to God

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

5 “All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.

6 “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body. 7 Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

9 “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day 12 and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

13 “And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.

21 “This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.” – Numbers 6:1-21 ESV

God had set apart Aaron and his sons to serve as priests. The male members of the tribe of Levi had been set apart to serve as assistants to the priests and as caretakers of the tabernacle. But in Numbers 6, we read of God’s provision for individual volunteerism. Any member of the faith community could choose to offer themselves in service to God by taking what was called the Nazirite Vow.

The Hebrew word nāzîr simply means “consecrated or devoted one.” These individuals took an oath of fealty to God, setting themselves apart as His servants. This period of consecrated service was usually for a specific length of time but, in some cases, it could last a lifetime. This commitment was not to be entered into lightly because they were “setting themselves apart to the Lord in a special way” (Numbers 6:2 NLT). God took their vow seriously and expected them to keep their oath at all costs.

To emphasize the gravity of taking the Nazirite vow, God attached strict requirements that were intended to discourage the uncommitted. To dedicate oneself to God was a serious matter and it required sober introspection. While a certain amount of prestige could come from making the commitment to dedicate yourself to the service of God, it was not about improving one’s social standing. Taking the vow was easy. Fulfilling it was another matter altogether. So God outlined the cost of commitment associated with becoming a Nazirite. He wanted everyone to carefully consider whether they were willing to accept the severe standards that came with the vow.

God prescribed clear requirements for anyone wishing to dedicate themselves to His service. This consecration came with outward commitments that were designed to differentiate a Nazirite from the rest of the faith community. Not only were they set apart as God’s servants, but they were also to stand out from the crowd. First of all, they were prohibited from drinking wine.

“…they must give up wine and other alcoholic drinks. They must not use vinegar made from wine or from other alcoholic drinks, they must not drink fresh grape juice, and they must not eat grapes or raisins.” – Numbers 6:3 NLT

In a society where wine was a staple at every meal and a ubiquitous part of daily life, this would have proven to be a difficult concession to make. This requirement of abstinence was not because God considered the consumption of wine to be sinful, but because there was always the risk of drunkenness. The Scriptures are filled with stories of individuals who allowed alcohol to blur their decision-making and cause them to violate God’s will. The book of Genesis describes how Noah “drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent” (Genesis 9:21 NLT). God considered Noah to be “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Genesis 6:9 ESV), but this godly man allowed alcohol to dull his senses and that decision had serious and long-lasting consequences (Genesis 9:18-25).

The apostle Peter referred to Lot as “a righteous man” (2 Peter 2:7), yet the book of Genesis describes how Lot’s daughters got him drunk with wine and then proceeded to have sex with him.

“There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can’t get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to have children. Come, let’s get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.” – Genesis 19:31-32 NLT

The end result of these two incestuous encounters was the birth of two sons who would later become the fathers of the Moabites and Ammonites, two nations that would become the sworn enemies of Israel.

The fruit of the vine was intended to be a sign of God’s blessing but, like all of God’s blessings, it could be abused and misused. So, the Nazirites were strictly prohibited from consuming alcohol for as long as they remained in service to God.

Secondly, all Nazirites were prohibited from cutting their hair.

“They must never cut their hair throughout the time of their vow, for they are holy and set apart to the Lord. Until the time of their vow has been fulfilled, they must let their hair grow long.” – Numbers 6:5 NLT

The length of their hair was intended to act as a sign or symbol of their set-apart status. There is no explanation given for this particular prohibition. Both men and women were required to allow their hair to grow for as long as they remained in service to God. Perhaps it was intended as a demonstration of their willingness to place their personal preferences on hold while they were in God’s service. Any concern they had for their outward appearance was to take a back seat to their commitment to God’s will. It’s interesting to note that Samson, one of the judges of Israel and a Nazirite, had come to the conclusion that his long hair was the source of his superhuman strength.

“A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” – Judges 16:17 ESV

Samson’s long hair had been intended to serve as a sign of his commitment to God, not a source of his strength. He had been set apart for God’s service but lived his life according to his own selfish standards. He was driven by his passions and given to living a life of excess. And when Samson’s hair was cut by Delilah, he lost his strength, not because he had lost his hair but because he had been abandoned by God.

…he didn’t realize the Lord had left him. So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison. – Judges 16:20-21 NLT

Samson lost his strength because he had long ago abandoned his commitment to God. He had repeatedly violated his vow to God and his shaved head was a sign that God no longer considered Samson to be set apart for His service. As the text clearly states, “the hair on their head is the symbol of their separation to God” (Numbers 6:7 NLT).

The third requirement had to do with defilement from personal contact with the dead. As a servant of God, the Nazirite was expected to remain ceremonially pure. Any physical contact with a human corpse would result in immediate defilement and require purification. What is interesting to note is how God highlights the role of the hair in the defilement process.

“If someone falls dead beside them, the hair they have dedicated will be defiled. They must wait for seven days and then shave their heads. Then they will be cleansed from their defilement.” – Numbers 6:9 NLT

The longer length of the hair would present a problem if someone came in close proximity to a dead body. While they might refrain from touching the corpse with their hands, their hair could easily come into contact with the diseased, rendering the Nazirite ceremonially unclean. The only remedy was to shave their heads and then offer a sacrifice at the tabernacle. Once purified, he or she was free to complete their vow to God. The whole point was that God expected each Nazirite to maintain their holiness as long as they were in His service.

“All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.” – Numbers 6:8 ESV

When each individual had completed the terms of their vow, there was a ceremony conducted that officially released them from their commitment to God. It was called “the law of the Nazirite” and required each individual to shave their head and then burn the hair on the brazen altar as part of a sacrifice to God. This elaborate ritual brought the Nazirite’s service commitment to a close and allowed them to return to their former life.

But as long as the Nazirite’s vow was in place, they were expected to keep their commitment to God without fail.

“And they must be careful to do whatever they vowed when they set themselves apart as Nazirites.” – Numbers 6:21 NLT

While the Nazirite vow no longer exists or applies, there is a similar calling issued to every child of God today. The apostle Paul outlines this non-negotiable commitment in his letter to the believers in Rome and it still calls God’s people to maintain their commitment to moral purity and holiness – at all times and at all costs.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. – Romans 12:1-2 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.