With the feast days accomplished, the people assembled with fasting, clothed in sackcloth and with earth upon them (Neh. 9:1). Three things characterized this gathering: humiliation, separation, and confession. There are two sides to obedience to God’s Word: the one we have just seen — rendering unto God those things which are His — but unless we let it become “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12), then we have not submitted to it at all.
All was done in a state of humility before God. “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God” (James 4:6-7). The word “humility” is often bandied about but without any reality. It is easy to dress in sackcloth and ashes and play the part, and perhaps there were those in this large crowd that did so. However, real humility begins on the inside — it must begin with submission to God. One that speaks of being humble and yet shows a self-centered and independent attitude knows nothing of humility.
Their confession was accompanied by action: they separated from all strangers (Neh. 9:2). Israel was holy in God’s sight; they were a sanctified people. The mingling of that holy seed with the people of the lands had been a grief to Ezra some years earlier (Ezra 9:2), and the passing of time had not lessened the need to remain a separated people. Confession alone might have indicated a touched conscience, but without action, it would have been empty words.