Nehemiah 9:30
But as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You; Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them. When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven, and many times You rescued them according to Your compassion, and admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, by which if a man observes them he shall live. And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen. However, You bore with them for many years, and admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
God instructed Israel by His Spirit, and yet they
would not turn back. He “bore with them for many
years,” which coincidentally is the same word used
at John 6:44 for “draw.” Calvinists insist that the
drawing is irresistible, but clearly they are wrong.
This is a great example of Prevenient Grace, since:
1) The Holy Spirit is operating upon the unregenerate
heart, pleading with them, hearing their cry and
forgiving them as often as they called upon Him.
2) It was resistible.
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “At Nehemiah 9:30, in the LXX, helkuo is used of God drawing Israel to repentance by His Spirit, and it shows that the Spirit’s drawing was resisted. This was the Spirit’s action upon them for the divine purpose of turning them back to the Lord, and the key is that the word translated ‘bore’ is actually the word used in John 6 for ‘draw’. Yes, that’s right, the same Greek word that Calvinists insist must refer to an irresistible drawing, is used in the LXX, which the early church generally used for its Bible, to refer to God drawing Israel to repentance by His Spirit, but that was resisted. This should really be translated in the English of both the Hebrew and Greek, ‘But you drew them’. (Young’s literal does use ‘draw’.)”
