Most of us only know a little about the covenants mentioned in the Bible. We are struck by how serious they are when we read about them. We often make promises to one another and break them without thinking. In the Old Testament, it didn’t quite work this way. If someone broke a covenant, they would essentially write a death wish for themselves. After all, to seal the covenant, they would slice animals in half and walk between the pieces—acknowledging the same would happen to them if they didn’t uphold their end of the deal.
Unfortunately, Israel had a history of breaking these covenants with God, although God always upheld his end of the deal. God’s mercy abounded, but eventually, there were consequences for breaking his trust. At last, the inhabitants of Israel (especially those who lived in the kingdom of Judah) found themselves taken captive by the Babylonians. It wasn’t until the Persians took over that they allowed the Israelites to return to their homeland 70 years later. When they returned, they rebuilt a wall surrounding the city and did various other things to resettle the area. Most importantly, they signed a new covenant with God, promising to obey his law. If they disobeyed, they’d reap the consequences. The document included the name of a person we will focus on today: Azaniah.
Who Was Azaniah in the Bible?
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about Azaniah. He only gets a very brief mention in a verse in Nehemiah 10. But it’s an important passage for understanding a covenant and why it matters.
Here’s what we can know from the verses.
- He’s a Levite: For those who don’t know what this means, Israel split into 12 tribes at its founding, all based on the sons of Jacob (and two sons of Joseph, Jacob’s son). The Levites came from the family of Aaron, Moses’ brother. They all carried out the religious duties and tasks for God’s people.
- He’s the father of someone who signed the covenant: His son Jeshua is the first to be mentioned of the Levites who signed the covenant in Nehemiah 10.
- His name means God listens: Or “God is listening.” We can imagine that after 70 years of captivity, some of the Israelites wondered if their prayers had fallen on deaf ears. Azaniah’s name provides hope that God will relent and have mercy.
Unfortunately, we have no idea if he made it to the signing of the document. Many Israelites didn’t see the end of the Babylonian captivity. I often think of the prophet Daniel, who was taken in the first wave and, although he made it to a late age, never found his way back home.
But we can at least know that his son carries on his legacy and signs his name on behalf of the family. Although there are 84 signatures on the document, it’s implied that it speaks on behalf of Israel. That all of Israel would obey God and expect blessings. But if they didn’t obey, they could expect more years of pain and captivity.
What Do We Know about the Covenant in Nehemiah 10?
The best way to know what’s included in Nehemiah 10 is to look back for a moment. Nehemiah 9 focuses a great deal on the sins that Israel committed, which landed them in the dire circumstances we see in the books of Jeremiah and Daniel.
The ninth chapter focuses on learning from the past and vowing not to repeat the same behaviors and attitudes in the future. Unfortunately, as we can see from Jesus's time, the nation didn’t stick with this during the 400 years of silence it endured after the wall was rebuilt.
With that said, if we were focusing on Nehemiah 10, we would see that many people signed, including Azaniah’s son.
- Nehemiah (the governor): Nehemiah acted as a leader on behalf of the people. By this time, they’d gotten rid of kings. They endured far too difficult a history with corrupt rulers. His role isn’t spelled out, but we can imagine it looked similar to that of the Judges.
- The Priests (the religious people): This list includes Azaniah’s name in reference to his son and a handful of other names.
- The leaders: In addition to Nehemiah, several other leaders are listed. We can imagine Israel was divided into provinces to ensure a good division of leadership.
- Stamped by the approval of, although no names are listed: gatekeepers, musicians, temple servants, and others give the stamp of approval.
In other words, a group of people with different jobs and callings all banded together with a resolution to obey God’s law.
It would take more than one article to include everything we see in this covenant, but we see several promises, such as:
- Bringing God the first fruits of their labor: Throughout its history, Israel neglected to bring God the best of the land. Think back to the origin of this in Cain.
- Not neglecting the house of God: The temple had fallen into disrepair and ruin throughout its history, as the Israelites obeyed and worshipped other gods.
- Preserving the Sabbath: Many people tried to work on the designated day of rest in Israel’s history. In the Old Covenant, this carried with it the death penalty.
You get the general idea. The Israelites had vowed to bring back the Word of God and practice it. This was one of the biggest revivals that happened during biblical times.
What Can We Learn from Azaniah and the Covenant?
Unfortunately, Azaniah himself leads very few contextual clues to this personhood in Scripture. For all we know, maybe he didn’t return to Israel post-captivity. He may have spent the remainder of his days in Babylon or Persia. Or even if he had made it back, he probably was too old to carry out the temple duties (although we do see older priests like Zechariah in the New Testament, so he’d have to be extremely past the age of someone like him).
But we do see that his son made it back to Israel. And his son thought it important to include his name on a document for God’s covenant. So here are three things we can take away from Azaniah, his son, and the covenant.
- God takes promises seriously: Jesus tells us not to swear by anything if we have no intention of carrying something out. And although our promises don’t carry the same heavy weight that we see in the Old Testament, we should still take them seriously. So let our yes be yes, and our no be no.
- Revival isn’t a new thing: We may often think of the Great Awakening or the Billy Graham Crusades as a relatively new phenomenon, but in reality, revivals have been happening for a long time. We all go astray sometimes. We lose heart. We forget why we worship God in the first place and can find ourselves veering off the path. Don’t fret. Nehemiah saw the need for a revival in Israel. In the same way, you can have a renewed spirit in Christ. Repent, as Israel had, and ask God to direct your steps to sanctify your life.
- It takes the whole body: Notice how religious people, workers, and political leaders banded together to make this vow. And although their names are not included, all of Israel leaned into this promise and covenant. If we want to see revival in our churches and communities, we must band together and value those of all callings and dispositions.
Renewal cannot happen if we continue to shun certain body parts or ignore others.
Photo Credit:©GettyImages/LeniDesigns
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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