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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 2 of 5
Nehemiah 10:28-39
The men whose names are given at the beginning of the chapter are the ones who have placed their seal at the bottom of the LORD’s covenant. We know that God also has His seal: the Holy Spirit. He is set upon each redeemed person, the sign of ownership by which God recognises him and declares, so to speak: "Here is someone who belongs to me" (Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30). "He is mine" (cf. Exodus 13:2; Isaiah 43:1). Can He recognise in this way every reader of these lines?
But while their own seals cannot supply Nehemiah’s companions with the power to carry out what they have agreed to observe, the Holy Spirit is by contrast not just the seal but also the power by which the Christian acts in accordance with the will of God (Ephesians 3:16).
The entire nation has associated itself wholeheartedly with its leaders. The knowledge of the law which they have gained so recently does not remain theoretical for them. It leads them in turn to purification, respect for the sabbath and the forgiveness of debt every seventh year. Then it leads them to the service of the house and the observation of the instructions regarding the firstfruits and the tithes. "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them", said the Lord Jesus (John 13:17).
