Nehemiah 10:28-39--The Obligations of the Covenant

Nehemiah 10:28-39
English Standard Version

The Obligations of the Covenant
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.”

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The people read the Law of Moses and swore to obey it fully, agreeing to all the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience contained within it.  The leaders, the Levites and the priests have affixed their signatures to a public declaration that they will teach the Law to the people and will lead by example.  Now the people are going to agree to some specific changes they want to immediately make to come into compliance with the Law:
1) They agree to put away all foreign wives they have taken for themselves and their sons, and they agree to not give their daughters in marriage to foreign men.
2) They agree not to do the regular business of buying, selling, or trading on the Sabbath Day.
3) They will celebrate the Sabbath Year by not planting crops in their fields and not collecting on any debt that is owed them for that year.  It is a time of "rest" to trust in what the LORD has provided in excess over the previous six years.
4) They vowed to pay an annual tax of one-third of a shekel of silver would be paid by each man for the purpose of helping cover any of the costs associated with the work of the Temple in given of the tithes and offerings, celebrating the feasts and festivals, worshiping the LORD, and making atonement for the people.
5) The priests and Levites have agreed to work by rotation that was selected through a process of casting lots to determine who would work to provide the wood for keeping the fire burning on the LORD's altar so that sacrifices and burnt offerings could continually be offered.
6) The people promised to give their firstfruits (the first of their harvest and flocks every year, and the best of their harvest and flocks every year) to the LORD.
7) The people agreed to bring the firstborn of their sons to the priests to be redeemed, and to redeem the firstborn of their herds and flocks by the price of redemption set by the priest or to offer that first animal to open its mother's womb as an offering to the LORD (the animal must be a "clean" animal to be offered as a sacrifice in this way, otherwise the neck of the firstborn was to be broken to kill it without the shedding of blood).
8) They agree to bring the first part of their dough, all contributions, fruit of every tree, wine and oil to be stored up in the house of God for the priests during the required feasts.  They also agree to take such tithes and offerings to the cities in which the Levites live so that they can store them up in the storehouses there to take care of the Levites and so that the Levites might distribute the food and money to the poor and needy among them.  A tithe of these tithes should be brought by the Levites to the Temple and collected by the High Priest to help take care of the sons of Aaron who are serving as priests in the Temple.  In this way, the Levites, the priests, singers, musicians, doorkeepers, and all the others who gave their life in service to the work of the LORD would be cared for.  This was also God's plan to take care of all who had need among the people.

These were the obligations that the people agreed to when they heard the Law and the things to which they wanted to be accountable before God to their governors, the Levites and the priests.  This was also part of the public record so they could be held accountable by all those around them who knew of this covenant they made.  They agreed that the Temple was important and they would do what was necessary to pay for its continued upkeep and to do what was necessary to protect it (this is why they focused on rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem before even focusing on rebuilding their own homes or any of the towns, villages and cities--for it was in the place that the LORD's Presence would reside with the Ark of the Covenant and atonement would be made for His people.