Episode 172: The Path Back to God We'd Rather Skip (Neh. 9)

Sin isn’t something we like to sit in for very long.

But if you follow Jesus… it matters more than we often admit.

So let me ask you—
 When was the last time your sin actually bothered you?

In Nehemiah 9, we encounter a moment that stops us in our tracks. The people don’t rush past their sin. They don’t minimize it or explain it away. Instead, they slow down long enough to truly see it—through the lens of who God is.

And that changes everything.

As God’s Word is read, they are reminded of His faithfulness, His mercy, His justice… and in contrast, they see their own patterns more clearly. What follows is one of the most powerful pictures of repentance in Scripture—marked by humility, confession, and a renewed commitment to God.

In this episode, we explore:

•  Why repentance begins with seeing God rightly 
•  What it looks like to truly acknowledge our sin 
•  How God’s mercy meets us—even in our repeated failures 

Because this isn’t just their story… it’s ours too.

And when we finally see both who God is and who we are—
 repentance stops feeling heavy… and starts becoming holy.

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Transcript

Question That Stops You

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What if we've been rushing past something that could actually draw us closer to God? Hi friends, I'm Betsy, and this is Moments to Ponder. If you sometimes struggle to understand the Bible and how it connects to everyday life, you're in the right place. This podcast is designed to help you integrate God's Word so you can walk in the freedom of Christ as Scripture transforms how you live. We're in the book of Nehemiah. And in chapter 9, it speaks of God's faithfulness, mercy, and justice. And in contrast, the Israelites see their own patterns clearly. What follows is one of the most powerful pictures of repentance in Scripture. It's marked by humility, confession, and a renewed commitment to God. In this episode, we'll explore why everything starts to change when we actually see God for who He is, what it really looks like to slow down and be honest about our sin, and how God keeps meeting us with mercy, even when we repeat the same struggles over and over. Welcome. This is episode 172. I can remember my son coming to me one day with that look of sadness on his face. If you're a parent, you know the one. It's the I've done something wrong and now I have to tell you about it, face. I had no idea what had happened, but I could see that it was affecting him. So we sat down together and I asked him what happened. And when I did, the tears started to come. As he shared, I realized how much this was just his hurt because he knew he was disappointing me and his dad by what he had done. Now, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a huge deal, but in his heart he knew he had done something. He had broke a family rule, and it was breaking his heart. He came to me to confess, right? To get it off his chest, seeking forgiveness, which of course I gave, along with some consequences and an assurance of how much we love him. But the relief was evident. He sniffed and he gave me a big hug. Because my son knows how much I love him, he didn't doubt that love. Instead, because of that love, he knew he would find forgiveness. And when he confessed, he felt the relief that it was dealt with and joy in knowing that our relationship was clear as we went forward. As we enter Nehemiah 9, the Israelites in Jerusalem have had an intense month. They finished the wall, they honored the Feast of Trumpets, observed the Day of Atonement, and celebrated the feast, the festival of shelters. And each time they've heard God's word and worshiped, but they have to get something off their chest. Grab your Bible. We are in Nehemiah 9, and let's see what happens next. Verse 1. On October 31, so we're still in October, the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors. They remained standing in place for three hours while the book of the law of the Lord, their God, was read aloud to them. Then, for three more hours, they confess their sins and worship the Lord their God. It's been a full three weeks since their first learning and hearing of the law. And now we find the people standing for three hours as they listen to the book of the law of God read again. Now you might be thinking they've heard this already, and you're right, but keep in mind that they didn't have their own Bibles. So hearing it read aloud was the only way that they connected to God's word. So once or twice probably wasn't enough. And as they've listened to this accounting of their history through the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, they are convicted of their own sin. Their posture of grief and mourning tells us that the people have come to realize that they need to return to a right relationship with God. Much like my son approached me, realizing that he needed to have this posture of grief as he approached me, wanting to return to a right relationship with me. Now, in studying these chapters, I've been thinking a lot about the grief of the Jews in this moment as they faced their sin. So I've asked some questions to a few of my friends. One was, have we allowed our desire to show love to others lessen our view of sin? Another one is, why has the church in general stopped preaching about sin? I know we want to show love and grace, but I feel like in the effort of loving others and having grace, we've come to downplay our own sin. As if in not seeing their sin in order to show them love, we don't need to see our own. Yes, God does have grace for us, but I feel like so many churches have stopped speaking about sin in an effort to keep people comfortable to stay in their churches. It's it's like it's been watered down with, oh, I know it's not great, but it's fine. Have we just gotten really good at managing sin instead of grieving it? I feel like we explain it, excuse it, or rename it, or just rush past it. And that made me wonder when was the last time my sin actually bothered me? Now, to be clear, I'm not talking about other people's sin bothering us. That is on their world with Jesus. When was the last time your sin bothered you? Because if sin doesn't bother us, I think it says something about how we see God. As the Israelites begin to take a good look at who God is, their sin bothers them so much that they react. The first five books of the Bible, God's Law, it tells a story of God. The people have heard of creation and the saving of their people through Joseph, the slavery in Egypt and the wonder of Moses, and then the commands of Leviticus. In all of this, they have to face who God really is. And it changes them because in this they also see who they are. So they fast and put dust on their heads, and they dress in itchy burlap, and they mourn how they have sinned against God. They spent three hours listening and then three hours in confession and worship. They're showing us what it looks like to slow down and be honest about our sin. They don't rush past it. They acknowledge it and they sit in it and they allow the grief of knowing what they have done and the gratitude of who God is to take up space in their hearts. They don't take it for granted. They repent, confess, and worship. I don't think we like to dwell on our guilt or deal with the uncomfortable work of confession. I mean, who who does? So often I think we pray quickly for forgiveness, knowing God will give it, and then we move forward. Yet God takes sin very seriously. In Genesis, we learn that when sin entered the world, so did death. In fact, even in the New Testament, in Romans 6.23, we're reminded that the payment for sin is death. I've mentioned the Day of Atonement a few times in the past few episodes and even today. And when we understand the process of this day, it helps us get an idea of how serious God is about sin. God put in place a ceremony that was needed to deal with the sin of his people because sin ruins things, right? Yet he couldn't just remove sin because it was inside every human. So that would mean removing all humanity. So God created a way to bring his people back to him, clearing the way through sacrifice. Now, although animal sacrifice does seem weird to us today, it was a natural element of worship in those days. It was the only way for sin to be removed, right? Something had to die. And God allowed the animal to be the atoning life payment for sin. Atonement means to cover someone's death. The animal's death paid the sin debt because blood is life. And it was in the shedding of this blood, the giving of a life, that the sin debt was paid, thus making things right between God and Israel and purifying them. We find the details for the Day of Atonement ceremony in Leviticus 16. It tells us that the priest was to take two male goats and present them before the Lord. Then the priest would cast sacred lots to determine which one was going to be the offering and which one would carry the sins of the people. So one offered his life through sacrifice, and the priest laid his hands on the other one called the scapegoat. As the priest laid his both hands on this goat, he would confess the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of all the people. And in this way, he transferred the people's sins onto the goat. And then the goat carried the sin into the wilderness, thus removing the sin from them. So through sacrifice and confession, the people were purified. Now in Nehemiah 9, the people have already celebrated or observed the Day of Atonement. So they have sent a goat out and they have sacrificed. But it seems as if they're realizing the depth of their need for this atonement, that they are grieving how much they have let God down and sinned against him. Romans 6 23 does say that the wages of sin is death, but the rest of that verse says, But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Today we live in the wonder of Jesus, the one who gave his life in final atonement for our sin. He covered it through his sacrifice, and he opened a way for us to come directly to God. So no need for a scapegoat. God isn't seeking to make us feel shame or fear in this. And that is because of the wonder of God's atonement through Jesus. He cleanses all of us from our sin, which makes us more like him, holy and set apart. The Israelites didn't have Jesus, but they did have God's forgiveness. What if repentance isn't about shame, but about holiness? In our next verses, we see how the Levites now turn the hearts of the people toward God. Verse 4. The Levites, Jeshua, Banai, Cadamel, Shemiah, Buni, Sherubiah, Boni, and Canai, stood on the stairway of the Israelites, of the Levites, sorry, and cried out to the Lord their God with loud voices. Then the leaders of the Levites, Jeshua, Cademel, Bani, Heshabon, Shereh, Hodiah, Shaboniah, and Patthiah, called out to the people, Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting. Then they pray. So we see the Levites calling out to the people, stand up and praise God. What follows is the longest prayer in the Bible as a response to the mourning and grief over their sin. But don't worry, even though it's the longest prayer, it is only six minutes long for us to say. And in it, the Levites summarize all the people have heard and they focus on how God has been at work all along, reminding the people who God is. This prayer is actually a history of Israel and God's story throughout it. So as we enter into it, I encourage you to take the prayer to heart and hear whatever God might have for you in these words. Verse 5. May your glorious name be praised. May it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the skies and the heavens and all the stars, you made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve them all, and the angels of heaven worship you. You are the Lord God who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and renamed him Abraham. When he had proved himself faithful, you made a covenant with him to give him and his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Garishites. You have done what you promised, for you are always true to your word. You saw the misery of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cries from beside the Red Sea. You displayed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, his officials, and all his people, for you knew how arrogantly they were treating our ancestors. You have a glorious reputation that has never been forgotten. You divided the sea for your people so they could walk through on dry land, and then you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea. They sank like stones beneath the mighty waters. You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night so that they could find their way. You came down at Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and instructions that were just, and decrees and commands that were good. You instructed them concerning your holy Sabbath, and you commanded them through Moses your servant, to obey all your commands, decrees, and instructions. You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty. You commanded them to go and take possession of the land you had sworn to give them, but our ancestors were proud and stubborn, and they paid no attention to your commands. They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them. Even when they made an idol shape like a calf and said, This is your God who brought you out of Egypt, they committed terrible blasphemies. But in your great mercy, you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of clouds still led them forward by day, and the pillar of fires showed them the way through the night. You sent your good spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. Then you helped our ancestor conquer kingdoms and nations, and you placed your people in every corner of the land. They took over the land of King Shion of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan. You made their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and brought them into the land you promised to their ancestors. They went in and took possession of the land. You subdued whole nations before them. Even the Canaanites who inhabited the land were powerless. Your people could deal with these nations and their kings as they pleased. Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings. But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies. So you handed them over to their enemies who made them suffer. But in their time of trouble, they cried out to you, and you heard them from heaven. In your great mercy, you sent them liberators who rescued them from their enemies. But as soon as they were at peace, your people again committed evil in your sight, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people turned and cried out to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times. You warned them to return to your law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed their commands. They did not follow your regulations by which people will find life if they will only obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen. In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your spirit who warned them through the prophets, but they still wouldn't listen. So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them. But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are. And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered seem insignificant to you. Great trouble has come upon us and upon our kings and leaders and priests and prophets and ancestors, all of your people, from the days when the kings of Assyria first triumphed over us until now. Every time you punished us, you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved. Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey your law or listen to the warnings in your commands and laws. Even while they had their own kingdom, they did not serve you, though you showered your goodness on them. You gave them a large, fertile land, but they refused to turn from their wickedness. So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment. We are slaves here in this good land. The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sin. They have power over us and our livestock. We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery. The history of the Israelites. Did you notice all the descriptors of God? God the Creator, God of Abraham, promise keeper, deliverer, miracle worker, provider, good, merciful, gracious, slow to anger and abundant in kindness, full of unfailing love, sustainer, patient, forgiving, and just. God can Continually met them with mercy, even though they repeated the same struggle over and over and over again. And when faced with the Almighty God, the people of Jerusalem see themselves clearly unworthy, prideful, and stubborn, disobedient, forgetful, turning their back on his laws, and they acknowledge God's powerful mercy in it, especially in verse 31 and 33, where they said, Every time you punished us, you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserve. But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are. They're in deep trouble. They are slaves in a land that was once their own, and it's because of sin. And they know it. They're no different than their ancestors, failing God, breaking his laws, filled with pride, and they they want to be different. And in this acknowledgement, as they grief their sin, they do something powerful that leads to transformation. We continue in chapter 9. The people responded, in view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our Levite leaders, the Levites and priests. Israel had to come to this place. Remembering who God is and who they are, they make a covenant, a solemn promise or an oath, to change their ways and follow the laws of God as a people, and they're gonna sign it. They are repenting and surrendering to God's plan for them, to live as he calls them to live, in obedience to his laws. No, although this story is from long ago, I can see so much of myself, and maybe you can too. I mean, Israel forgot, and then they would rebel and wander from God, which hardened their hearts, and we do too, right? I mean, it's easy to forget who God actually is. And this happens especially when we fade away from scripture and the story gets distorted. And honestly, this can lead us to minimize our sin and just live with it. But the Israelites showed us how to grieve it, they named it, they owned it, and it changed them. We tend to excuse or justify or even rush past it today. But sin hasn't disappeared. We've just gotten pretty comfortable with it. And if sin doesn't grieve us, how are we looking at God? They stood for hours. They confessed deeply, they sat in it, but we like the quick fix. We want forgiveness without having to do the hard part of formation. But God uses repentance to transform us. And when we read a story like this, especially since it's in the Old Testament, I think we can forget that this is also our story. It's our pattern. Their cycle of sin and repentance, and sin and repentance is our cycle. But thankfully, so is God's mercy. We're his children, adopted into his family. We'll face trials that teach us and grow us. How we choose to respond to God, in obedience or not, will determine the outcome of our lives. Dear one, the question is not, do I sin? We all know the answer. The question is, have I slowed down long enough to actually see it in light of who God is? Because when we do, the repentance stops feeling heavy and it starts becoming holy. He makes us holy through his atonement, creating in us a new heart. And when we stop long enough to see it, we allow ourselves to relish the wonder of what God has done. So, before you move on with your day today, let me ask you one more time. When was the last time your sin actually bothered you? Not in a way that leads to shame, but in a way that brings you back to God. Because that's the invitation here, not to sit in guilt, but to slow down long enough to see clearly who God is and what he has done and who we are. And when we look at ourselves and the things that we do in pride, brokenness, anger, and hurt, and we bring those to God, repentance won't feel like pressure. It's it's an invitation, a pathway back to a clear relationship. It's what he desires for us all. If this episode has stirred something in you, I encourage you to not ignore it, not to feel guilt or shame, but to feel open, to sit with the Lord, let him search your heart and respond so that you may also feel the joy and wonder of a clear relationship with him. I am so glad you are here today. I'll meet you right back here next time. Amen. If this episode stirred you today, I'd encourage you to share it with a friend who might also give you a person to talk about it with, but also someone who can rest in the wonder of who God is. Thank you for joining me.