Nehemiah 9:28
But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;
The verse belongs to a prayer of confession made after the reading of the law, in which the people recounted the Lord's works for Israel and their own sins in turning from Him. In that prayer they acknowledged their sins and sought pardon for themselves and their people. They acknowledged that God's dealings with them were just, and they pledged to obey His law. The history of repentance and return surrounding the verse followed the reading of the law.
The confession recalled in the verse includes God coming down on Mount Sinai to give right judgments, true laws, good statutes and commandments. It includes His making known the holy Sabbath, giving bread from heaven and water from the rock, and leading by the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. It includes His sustaining Israel for forty years without lack, giving kingdoms and multiplying children as the stars of heaven. It includes His then bearing long with disobedience and rebellion, testifying by the Spirit in the prophets to bring them again to the law.
After possessing the land and receiving rest and relief, Israel repeatedly did evil again before God. They lived to please themselves and not to please God and do His will, being disobedient and rebellious. They cast His law behind their backs, refused His warnings, and slew the prophets.
Their evildoings were the cause of their calamities, and their sins separated them from God. As just punishment He left them in the hand of their enemies and permitted heathen nations to control them. So their enemies had dominion over them and ruled and vexed them.
Yet when they returned and cried to Him, He heard them from heaven and many times delivered them according to His mercies. He gave saviors in time of trouble, graciously and mercifully not utterly consuming them or forsaking them. Their history thus showed both God's goodness and their ingratitude, proving God just in all that came upon them and gracious and merciful in deliverance.
Had they heeded the word of the Lord and respected His warnings, they would have been saved from the sorrows and disasters that came upon them. The history of repentance and return surrounding the verse was the response John expected his own message to produce. The representation given in the verse is to be presented to the people as occasion requires to stand boldly in defense of the truth. That truth will otherwise be perverted into strong representations of evil unless there is decided reformation among those in positions of influence.
The same pattern applies to Seventh-day Adventists, who received great favor and truth but failed to honor God as they should. Yet God did not wholly forsake them, and heaven stood ready to support their work. Had they done His will the final message would have gone forth in glory and the righteous dead would have been raised to be with Christ.