Nehemiah 9:29
And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
The verse belongs to the rehearsal in Nehemiah 9 of what God had done for His people and of their sins in turning from Him. That rehearsal recounts their history from Sinai through rebellion, mercy, and captivity in Nehemiah 9:13-38. It stands in the setting of the people being instructed in God's law, where the law had to be explained so they could understand it. Conviction of sin came through the reading of the book of the law in Nehemiah 8.
The verse means that God testified against Israel and repeatedly warned them to bring them back to His law. Yet they dealt proudly, refused to listen to His commandments, sinned against His judgments in which a person who obeys shall live, turned away, and stubbornly refused to hear. Their turning from God's law separated them from God, and because He would not join with their sins He permitted heathen nations to rule over them. They rebelled against His plain requirements and resisted His efforts to bring them back to His law, and their rebellious wills made the work of His servants more difficult.
The verse is connected with a history in which the people were punished for their sins, acknowledged that God's dealings with them were just, and pledged to obey His commandments. It is associated with the people hearing the law and returning to the Lord in deep repentance, the kind of response John's message was expected to produce. The history in the verse is to be presented to the people as occasion requires to stand boldly in defense of the truth and to press for decided reformation among those in positions of influence, lest truth be perverted more and more into strong representations of evil. That history applies to Seventh-day Adventists in that though God has shown them great favor and given them precious truths, they have failed to value those gifts and give Him the glory due His name. Yet God has not wholly forsaken them but heaven has stood ready to support their work of sharing the medical message and the ministry of the Word throughout the world.