If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.
10 September. Nehemiah chapter 9-11
Chapter 9 consists mainly of a recital of the “history of salvation” up to this time – the promise to Abraham, the Exodus and subsequent rebellions and corresponding repentance. Chapter 10 is a covenant of the leaders of the people to follow the Law previously given. And chapter 11 consists of the individuals and groups of men who were to live in the reconstructed city of Jerusalem. But I am going to concentrate on one verse from the start of this reading:
“Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.” (Nehemiah 9:2).
This verse sounds worrying at a time when Britain is going through a national crisis about immigration. “Separating oneself from all foreigners” reads as at best a nationalist sentiment, at worst a policy of xenophobia and racism. Even allowing for the commandment to avoid intermarriage (and therefore prevent the dilution of Jewish teaching) there should be no need to “separate oneself” from those who are different. The Christian understanding of God’s love for humanity is that it is without borders, and all that matters is faith in God and a desire to live in peace with other people. So how does this statement belong in the Bible?
The nation of Israel was rebuilding itself in and around Jerusalem after several generations, during which gentiles had occupied the holy city. They felt a need to assert their historic rights to live there. The newly rediscovered Law was also something fragile, that could be easily forgotten if it was not preserved and reinforced until it had once again been established in people’s hearts.
So this verse seems to be appropriate for the time of its setting. But that does not mean it is appropriate in 21st century Britain, where practising Christians (or Jews) are as likely to have come from other parts of the world as to have been born here; and where ‘mixed’ marriages can be very successful.