Black olives on fingers and up noses, check. Butter fights, check. Squirt cousin Mark with mom’s perfume, check. Twilight Zone marathon, check. Stick brother Chris with the little kids, check. Wait, what’s that sound? Uh oh, I hear the Voice, and it’s getting louder, closer. Prattling on about porridge and Donald, Queen Victoria, and all manner of boring insignificance. Oh no, here she comes. Right for the kids’ Thanksgiving Day card table. Rats!

I’m pretty sure you’re in Heaven, grandma, I just hope you’re busy and don’t read this; and sincere apologies to any real Uncle Harolds, living or dead….

Like most American families of an earlier time, we gathered each year to celebrate Thanksgiving and other holidays to see people we seldom saw at other times. Holidays are good for that.

Most holidays are a time to remember one thing or another. How often would we otherwise remind ourselves of our country’s founding? Or a man’s fight to win freedom and change attitudes based on the color of their skin? We need these reminders. We are, as humans, impulsive, and quick to forget the hard lessons we learned. Blood bought. If we do not, we must re-learn them, and that always is expensive.

Some lessons are painful. Did I say some? Most are. Our nation was divided over the question of whether one man could own another. Over whether we would be governed by a far away tyranny, over victory in securing liberty in Europe and Japan.

And not just remember the lessons, but passing the lesson along to our kids, so they could learn without the loss of treasure, freedom, and blood.

Ezra and Nehemiah understood this. So does God. They knew, and He knows, how important these remembrances are. They keep us from straying, of seeing ourselves as we really are, and honoring the valiant for their sacrifice, especially the most valiant, King Jesus, who set the captives, us, free from our sin.

Memorials impel us to action to keep us from falling into a trap of an enemy, be it a foreign invader, a war inside our own national borders, or the snare of sin.

The Jews needed a memorial to help them come back to God. Ezra read that reminder, the Bible, to them. And it has been said, over and over, “Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” We do too. Just ask yourself: Would you rather fight in a far away country protect our freedom, or put up with Uncle Harold’s shaggy dog stories for a few hours over pumpkin pie and a reading about the first Thanksgiving?

Summary / Thoughts

Nehemiah 9:1-4	Fasting, sackcloth and dirt. These were used as signs of mourning throughout the Jews and also other nations round about them. The sackcloth was often black goat’s hair, and often worn close to the skin. Compare sack cloth with the robes of righteousness of Gen 3:21, Job 29:14, Romans 13:14, Rev 19:8 for insight to righteousness robed.   They separated partially during the time of Ezra, but needed to re-iterate this act, complete it. (Ezra 10:1-17)The church meetin’ was 3 hours of Bible, and 3 of worship and confession.
Nehemiah 9:5-8	After the worship was a call to praise. Worship is bowing low and humbling one self before God; acknowledging who we are compared to who God is. Praise is rejoicing for what He has done. Worship undoes us, we empty ourselves of ourselves. Here He is praised for His creation, its goodness, and the Abrahamic Covenant.   Giving the covenant – Recall this Covenant is an agreement between Abram and God, but only God bound Himself to requirements, not Abram. See Gen 12:1 ff
Nehemiah 9:9-15	Coming out of Egypt – God glorified Himself and was true to His Word about keeping the Abrahamic Covenant. His fame spread down through out the ages (Joshua 2;8-11) not to mention the others they met in the desert,  records the testimony of Rahab about the fear the locals had concerning the God of the Hebrews. through the Bible.   Giving the Law or  “Getting to know You.” – Throughout this time, the people had lost the personal picture of Yahweh Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob enjoyed. Thus, it was necessary to form a relationship with an entire people group, and establish order and a path to fellowship. This was accomplished through the giving of the Law.   Until the New Covenant, this is how God chose to reveal Himself.

Nehemiah 9:16-25	Stiff neck syndrome – Now the reasoning for memorials becomes apparent. But aren’t we just as knuckle-headed as they?   We have completely forgotten the good measure and favor granted us by God Almighty, who once honored and blessed us in days past, until we began our turn away from him in the late 1950’s and later.We need a return like what God brought in Nehemiah’s day.   The kindness and mercy of Yahweh compared to choke artist Israel
Nehemiah 9:26-31	“I can’t hear I can’t hear you, Killing the prophets ended that very uncomfortable never popular message of repentance.   Israel time out pt 1 – God had said that He would bless or curse the Jews based on an agreement He spoke through Moses in Deu 28:1-ft.   Sometimes called a suzerainty, it consisted of a preamble, an historical background, provisions, rewards and punishments, and so on. The people here are recalling how they had not measured up to the covenant, and had suffered the consequences.Sometimes, not following through on such a just and healthy agreement makes the one who has to administer correction the big meanie. The difficult but vital act that party must insist on is following up on consequences. God certainly did, pout of love. If He had not, and not righteously corrected His covenant people, they would have grown into even worse, spoilt, uncaring, and wicked people who thought that either God didn’t follow up on His promises, or was unable, or did not care.   If you love someone, this boundary setting is vital.
Nehemiah 9:32-38	Owning Their Sin – The people acknowledged that they had reaped what the sowed. That they were in a wretched place, and called on God.

Memory Verse – “You are just in all that has come upon us;
For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly. Nehemiah 9:33 

Application – Remember what God has done for you and rescued you from.