Kidner: holiness and gloom go ill together . . . To be altogether joyful was the prospect held before the guests of God (Dt. 16:15), and words that went most naturally with were not only and but “holiness” “justice righteousness” “glory”, and “beauty”, “strength” “joy.” Swindoll: The people began to weep because they knew they were guilty. They thought back over the years they had lived with no spiritual guidance. They also recalled the sins of their forefathers that had caused them to fall into captivity. The depth of their guilt brought weeping. (And a good sign, by the way. At times, guilt that’s is an excellent motivation. Not all guilt is wrong. Sometimes God uses guilt to bring people out of sin and into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.) In this moment of guilt, Nehemiah stood and said, stop that. God is forgiving. on. This is a “Now Let’s move holy day. This is a day not to cry but to celebrate.” Famous Tom Cruise line: want the truth? You handle the “You can’t truth!” We need to make sure that we move quickly from conviction of sin to a heavy dose of the grace of God and the sufficiency of His power and His resources
Kidner: holiness and gloom go ill together . . . To be altogether joyful was the prospect held before the guests of God (Dt. 16:15), and words that went most naturally with “holiness” were not only “justice and righteousness” but “glory”, “beauty”, “strength” and “joy.” Swindoll: The people began to weep because they knew they were guilty. They thought back over the years they had lived with no spiritual guidance. They also recalled the sins of their forefathers that had caused them to fall into captivity. The depth of their guilt brought weeping. (And that’s a good sign, by the way. At times, guilt is an excellent motivation. Not all guilt is wrong. Sometimes God uses guilt to bring people out of sin and into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.) In this moment of guilt, Nehemiah stood and said, “Now stop that. God is forgiving. Let’s move on. This is a holy day. This is a day not to cry but to celebrate.” Famous Tom Cruise line: “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” We need to make sure that we move quickly from conviction of sin to a heavy dose of the grace of God and the sufficiency of His power and His resources
6562.Nehemiah-Commentary_2D00_Paul-Apple.docx