Nehemiah 8:1-18

Turn to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah chapter 8.

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

I bless my heart to hear everybody singing in that way.

! If that's all that God had for me this morning, I would be content.

And I hope and pray He has much more for us.

Nehemiah chapter 8.

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

We're going to read the chapter together, beginning in verse 1.

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the water gate.

And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel.

So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women,

and all who could understand what they heard.

And on the first day of the seven month.

And he read from it facing the square before the water gate from early morning until midday,

in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand.

And the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

And Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose.

And beside him stood, we'll say six men to his right without reading all those names,

and seven men to his left.

Verse 5.

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people.

And as he opened it, all the people stood.

And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

And all the people answered, Amen, Amen.

Lifting up their hands.

And they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

Also, thirteen other men that were Levites helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their places.

This is verse 8 now.

They read from the book from the law of God clearly, and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading.

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people,

said to all the people,

This day is holy to the Lord your God.

Do not mourn or weep.

For all the people wept as they heard the words of the law.

Then he said to them,

Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine,

and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready.

For this day is holy to our Lord.

And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

So the Levites calmed all the people, saying,

Be quiet, for this day is holy.

Do not be grieved.

And all the people went their way to eat and drink,

and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing,

because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

On the second day, the heads of fathers' houses of all the people,

with the priests and the Levites,

came together to Ezra the scribe,

in order to study the words of the law.

And they found it written in the law,

that the Lord had commanded by Moses,

that the people of Israel should dwell in booths,

or tabernacles, during the feast of the seven months.

And that they should proclaim it,

and publish it in all their towns, and in Jerusalem.

Go out to the hills, and bring branches of olive,

wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees,

to make booths, as it is written.

So the people went out, and brought them,

and made booths for themselves, each on his roof.

And in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God,

and in the square at the water gate,

and in the square at the gate of Ephraim.

And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity,

made booths, and lived in the booths.

For from the days of Jeshua, the son of Nun,

to that day the people of Israel had not done so.

And there was very great rejoicing.

And day by day, from the first to the last day,

he read from the book of God.

They kept the feast seven days,

and on the eighth day, there was a solemn assembly,

according to the rule.

Let's pray together.

Father God, we praise you again for Christ,

and we thank you that he was the word of God,

a physical manifestation,

a thing that we could tangibly touch,

and see of who you are.

And we thank you also that your word is the same.

The very words, that it was both written by men,

but inspired by you.

So we could say,

who wrote the book of Nehemiah?

Probably Ezra.

With a bit of Nehemiah's input.

But we could also say,

who wrote the book of Nehemiah?

God wrote the book of Nehemiah.

So I pray, Father, this day that by your spirit,

you will speak to us from your word.

That we will approach it with expectation,

in trembling,

because we get to meet with our God.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

So to catch some of you up,

which by the way, it's very good to see.

Many of your faces I haven't seen in a while.

It's always hard sometimes to preach,

and catch people's faces I haven't seen in a long time,

because I really want to stop and go,

oh hey!

I'm going to try not to do that this morning.

But to catch you up,

the book of Nehemiah, where we've been,

we've seen that God has brought news to Nehemiah,

who was wintering in Susa,

as cupbearer to the king,

Artaxerxes, the king of Persia.

And he brings news of the state of God's people.

And God's people are in a bit of a shambles

back in Jerusalem.

The wall has yet to be rebuilt.

They've been back from exile now for some 90 years.

And they're still in a poor state.

And the issue for Nehemiah is not that the city is not rebuilt,

but that the condition of the people

are not in good repair.

And in this day, the way that God was glorified,

the way that people saw who God was,

was by how his people were doing.

The same is true today of the church.

This is the way people gaze upon the glory of God,

see the redemptive work of Christ,

is in the state of his people.

Not in the building of cities and grand walls to protect ourselves,

not in massive amounts of trade,

but we have a new set of standards,

a new way by which we live.

And that's this holy calling that we've been called to.

To be holy and to bring about holiness in the life of others.

So, Nehemiah's heart is moved by this report.

God moves in him and grieves him

and moves him to prayer in chapter 1.

We see Nehemiah sovereignly placed in this unique position

as cupbearer to the king.

Certainly, to be able to bring influence,

to be a trusted friend of the king

as the one who tasted his wine.

We've seen him request of the king,

and the king, for no good apparent reason

other than God's work in his heart,

gave permission to Nehemiah

to go back and rebuild the wall,

which was to go against an edict

that he had issued some years earlier

to stop the building of the wall.

Not only that, but King Artaxerxes gives a blank check.

He gives him his own credit

to go and get the materials he needs

for the building of the wall.

It's recorded here in Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 8.

Nehemiah 1:8

Nehemiah's words,

For the good hand of God was upon me.

We see this work, this sovereign work.

So, Nehemiah's now returned.

He's surveyed the wall.

He's rallied the Israelites to rebuild.

They've rebuilt the wall.

52 days this work was completed.

And yet the work to be done in Israel

has yet to really begin in its entirety.

And here we see the beginning of that.

The bringing about of revival amongst the people.

Now, let's say to you,

we see it recorded here in chapter 8.

Kind of what seems to be the official beginning of that.

And many commentators would say

that we had a physical work taking place

up until this point.

And now here is when the spiritual work begins.

But I say to you that spiritual work

has been going on already.

We see that God has been working

and moving amongst the people.

The fact that they even rose up to build

was a mighty work of God.

The evidences of what God was doing in their heart

is in the building.

And now we see it ramp up

to a whole new level.

This revival that comes about.

But before we move on,

we have a bit of a problem.

I think a problem of definition.

definition.

Because when I say the word revival,

lots of different things may spring up in your mind.

I hope to show you over the next few weeks

what ought to be springing up in your mind

when we see this.

The word revival or to revive

appears throughout the scriptures.

It is used on occasion to speak of those

who have been sick or even dead

and were brought back to life.

But more often it is used to speak

of the bringing about

of a new burning,

a new desire for God

in the hearts of men.

We see revivals happen throughout the scriptures

no less than ten times

in corporate ways.

This being one of them.

Revival in the scriptures

has affected whole nations.

People groups.

We see that to be true

throughout history today,

throughout the history of the church.

our own country experienced a revival

known as the Great Awakening

led by men like George Whitefield

and Jonathan Edwards.

This is the revival

that we are talking about.

A couple of quick quotes for me.

One from Andrew Murray says,

A true revival

means nothing less than a revolution.

Casting out the spirit of worldliness,

making God's love triumph

in the heart.

J.I. Packer said,

Revival is God's quickening visitation

of His people,

touching their hearts

and deepening His work of grace

in their lives.

This is something we should long for.

Revival is when God comes close to earth

and God's people respond appropriately.

Now that's not to say

when we're not in a time of revival

that God's not at work,

that God isn't working amongst His church.

But it seems,

if we look at history,

that God visits in special ways

at particular times the church.

And I think,

this is just Nathan's opinion,

but I think that the American church

is poised for a revival right now.

As we see it on the continual decline,

both in number and in fervency,

I believe it's time

for a new close swinging of God

to bring about repentance

and a return to Him.

In fact,

for the past four or five years,

it's been one of my major prayers

to pray that revival would come

and that God would use our church

to help catalyze such a thing.

So this is what we mean by revival.

A revival is not something

that can be put on a calendar.

All of this sounds good,

and some of you

with the wrong understanding of revival

might say,

well good,

get the church calendar out.

We can make a sign.

That is not revival.

I went to a conference

and the little introduction

to the pamphlet of the conference

stated that we were about to have

a good old-fashioned Holy Spirit revival.

Great.

I'm glad you have the power

to bring such a thing about.

But we don't.

We have no ability of our own

to bring about revival.

Revival is the sovereign work

of the Spirit of God.

So hear that.

Revival is the sovereign work

of the Spirit of God.

However,

I want to show you four evidences

of God-sent revival.

I want to show you four things

from chapter 8,

chapter 9,

and chapter 10

in the coming weeks

that are evidences

of God-sent revival.

And certainly,

if this is what the people of God do

when God comes close,

visits them in a special way,

ignites their hearts,

ought we also endeavor

to live in this way?

We should, right?

We should want to do these things.

Let me give you all four of them

and then we're going to address

the first two today.

If revival is God-sent,

God's people will be praying.

That's number one.

If revival is God-sent,

God's people will reestablish

the Word of God

as the ultimate authority

in their lives.

Number three,

if revival is God-sent,

God's people will recognize

their defiance of God

and view His chastisement

as just.

And number four,

if revival is God-sent,

God's people will turn

from their defiance

to obedience.

These are things

that we are all commanded

to press into anyway, right?

But hear me carefully, right?

This is not a set of presuppositions

that if we do these things,

then revival will come.

These are just the evidences

of the God-sent revival.

So let's look at the first two together.

Just kind of a precursor, number one.

If revival is God-sent,

God's people will be praying.

We see evidence here

of Nehemiah's prayers.

I'll tell you, in fact,

when I set out to preach

through the book of Nehemiah,

I thought it was very timely

for our church

in a kind of a growing

transitioning stage

to talk about the work

and the effort

that needed to go into things.

I honestly,

as many times as I had read

through Nehemiah,

we had done a study together,

the men did,

a couple of years ago

through the book of Nehemiah,

I never saw

how prevalent prayer was

throughout the book.

That God starts

by moving Nehemiah to pray

on behalf of his people.

So we have Nehemiah's prayers.

I believe there are

ten recorded prayers

in the fourteen chapters.

Nehemiah's prayers,

chapter one,

verse five through eleven,

chapter two,

verse four,

chapter six,

verse nine,

and again in verse fourteen.

We see the Israelites' prayers,

chapter four,

verse nine,

and then here in our text,

chapter eight,

verse six,

we see a prayer led by Ezra,

and I have to tell you honestly

as I studied all this

the past couple of weeks,

I wish we had more details.

I wish I had a record

of the prayer that is prayed.

It simply just says,

and Ezra,

bless the Lord,

the great God.

And here's the response

of the people

as they joined in.

And all the people answered.

Thirty to fifty thousand people,

scholars say,

were the Israelites' numbers

at this time.

And all the people answered,

Amen,

Amen,

or let it be,

so may it be.

And they say it twice

to give emphasis

to that type of thing.

And so here even

at the very beginning,

when the book of the law

is open to be read,

it begins in prayer.

Jesus prayed.

Well,

I'll take an example from him,

shouldn't we?

Just look at one example

of Jesus' prayer.

Luke 6,

12.

In these days,

he being Jesus,

went out to the mountain

to pray.

And all night,

he continued in prayer

to God.

When was the last time

you devoted yourself

to prayer in that way?

Paul instructed

the Philippian church

to pray.

Philippians chapter 4,

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

last half of 5 and 6,

The Lord is at hand.

Do not be anxious

about anything,

but in everything,

by prayer and supplication,

with thanksgiving,

let your requests

be made known

to God.

We do not have

because we do not ask.

A.T. Pearson,

a wonderful pastor

and biographer,

wrote my favorite biography

of George Mueller,

which my father handed to me

at an early age.

He said,

From the day of Pentecost,

there has not been

one great spiritual waking

in any land

which has not begun

in a union

of prayer.

He also wrote,

Wherever the church

is aroused

and the world's wickedness

arrested,

somebody has been praying.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

said,

Whether we like it or not,

asking is the rule

of the kingdom.

If you may have everything

by asking in His name,

and nothing without asking,

I beg you to see

how absolutely vital

prayer is.

Jonathan Edwards,

one of the great pastors

of the Great Awakening,

who was a man

who wasn't very entertaining

in his delivery.

We talked a bit about that

last week,

and I may address it

more today.

His preaching

was steeped

in prayer.

Content-driven

and steeped

in prayer.

In fact,

often he stood

at the very back

of their meeting places

and read very dryly

a manuscript.

But it was said

that people would cling

to the pillars

and the backs

of the pews

in the church

in fear

that the floor

would open up

and they'd be swallowed

into hell

because of the great

high view

they had of God's

holiness.

He wrote,

Matthew Henry,

the great commentator,

said,

when God intends

great mercy

for his people,

the first thing

he does

is set them

a praying.

You probably can

remember that one,

I hope.

When God intends

great mercy

for his people,

the first thing

he does

is set them

a praying.

Prayer is vital

for our Christian living.

Certainly,

if we want to see

revival come

on this land.

So if revival

is God sent,

God's people

will be

praying.

If revival

is God sent,

God's people

will reestablish

the word of God

as the ultimate

authority

in their lives.

Beloved,

we neglect

the very

word

of God

to us.

We have

it in abundance.

And maybe the fact

that we have it

in abundance

is one of our

problems.

that we have

so many

different versions

of it.

So many

different study

Bibles.

So many

different bindings

even on our

Bibles themselves.

You may have

your favorite

that you carry

around,

but you probably

have a shelf

of them

at home.

In places

in the world

where the Bible

is scarce,

where the word

of God

there aren't

copies that

exist,

I am told

that people

are desperate

to hear it.

We'll walk

for days.

We'll ride

bicycles.

will sit

for hours

and hours

and hours

to hear the

preaching of it.

We'll weep

and rejoice

that they get

to hear

words from

the Almighty

God.

And yet

many of us

struggle to

sit and open

it once a day

and read

from it

for 15

minutes.

We neglect

this precious

gift

that was given

to us.

Paul wrote

in 1 Thessalonians

2.13

And we also

thank God

constantly for this.

that when you

received the

word of God

which you

heard from

us,

you accepted

it,

not as the

word of men,

but as what

it really

is,

the word

of God,

which is at

work in you,

believers.

Paul's

thanksgiving

was overflowing

in his writing

that they

accepted that

this was in

fact the

word of God.

Hebrews 4.12

I hope you're

familiar with,

says,

for the word

of God

is living

and active.

It's sharper

than any

two-edged

sword,

piercing to

the division

of soul

and of spirit,

of joints

and of marrow,

and discerning

the thoughts

and intentions

of the heart.

The word

of God

is the

spirit's

instrument.

It is the

tool that

he uses

to bring

correction

and direction

in our

lives.

The spirit

of God

begins working

in the hearts

of men

by first

drawing

his sword

from its

scabbard.

That is

the word

of God.

It is the

supreme rule

and authority

for our

lives.

Many people

give lip

service

to the

sufficiency

and efficacy

of the

Bible,

but yet

do not

read it.

In their

very actions

they deny

what they

say with

their lips.

Many

people,

as they

look for

direction

in this

world,

will take

small bits

of biblical

wisdom

and add

to it

a bit

of pop

psychology

to arrive

at their

decisions.

Some will

take small

bits of

biblical

instruction

and add

to it

some

business

methodology.

Some will

take small

bits of

biblical

guidance

and add

to it

the opinions

of a

friend.

Beloved,

the Bible

is to be

the guide

and rule

of our

lives.

We need

to re-establish

it as the

ultimate

authority.

Proverbs

8,

32-34,

the Lord

speaks here

and says,

And now,

O sons,

listen to

me.

Blessed are

those who

keep my

ways.

Hear

instruction

and be

wise,

and do

not

neglect

it.

Blessed

is the

one who

listens

to me,

watching

daily at

my gates,

waiting

beside my

doors.

In Luke

11,

28,

Jesus

says,

Blessed

are those

who hear

the word

of God

and keep

it.

God's

God's

people

will

recognize

this.

They

will

treat

the

word

of

God

as

the

ultimate

authority.

And there

will be

no

revival

amongst

people

who do

not

love

and read

and hear

and proclaim

the words

of the

living

God.

We see

that to

be the

case.

This

work

that's

happening

by the

Spirit

is moving

in the

Israelites,

this

mass

number

of

people

to

reestablish

it

in

this

way.

And I

want to

show you

from the

text

today

four

observations

in this

regard.

Firstly,

take a

look at

their

eagerness.

Take a

look at

their

eagerness

to see

from the

word

of God.

The law

we're told

here,

the books

of Moses,

Genesis,

Exodus,

Leviticus,

Numbers,

Deuteronomy.

That's what's

being read

at this

time.

Notice

at the

beginning

of chapter

8,

all of

the

alls,

I've

got them

underlined

here.

Verse

1,

all the

people

gathered.

Verse

2,

both men

and women

and all

who could

understand,

which I

take to

mean

children,

he's adding

this detail

for us,

that even

the children

were there,

those who

could hear

what was

being said

and understand,

and I

would take

that a

step further

to say,

if all

the people

were there,

he doesn't

make a caveat

for nursery

workers.

So it probably

means that the

infants were

there as well

because all

the people

were there

being able

to hear the

instruction.

They weren't

stuck off

in some

room or

a building

someplace else

at a different

gate in the

city,

but they were

all gathered

together so

that all

could hear

the instruction.

Look at

verse 3,

all the

people

were

attentive,

eager to

hear what

God may

say.

Verse 5,

all the

people,

for he

was above

all the

people.

The prayer,

all the

people

answered.

It goes

on in

this way.

The people

of God

were eager

to hear

the words

of God.

Note 2

in verse

1,

that it's

not that

Nehemiah

and Ezra

got together

and made

a plan

to have

a big

rally.

They wanted

a conference

to take

place,

so they

put together

this massive

conference

that they

built the

stage that

he was

going to

stand upon

so that

everybody

could hear

the reading

of the

law.

But the

people

did it.

Verse 1,

and they

told Ezra

the scribe

to bring

the book

of the

law of

Moses

the Lord

had

commanded

Israel.

They told

him to

bring it.

They said

we have

this event

that's going

to happen

at the

water gate

and we

want you

to come

and bring

the copy

of God's

word that

you have

and read

it to

us.

They built

a platform.

There was

some planning

that went

into this

thing.

It wasn't

a spontaneous

gathering

of all

the people

of Israel.

Word had

gone out.

There had

been a

seeking,

a gathering.

Can you

just imagine

from Ezra's

perspective

what a

wonderful

thing

this would

have been?

Because

remember

that Ezra

has been

back in

the land

now for

14 years

faithfully

carrying out

the duty

of a priest.

He had

been teaching

the word

of God

for 14

years.

This is an

encouragement

to me.

I'm going

to continue

to plot

on and

teach the

word of

God to

people in

the hopes

that something

like this

happens one

day.

What an

amazing thing.

He receives

an invitation.

Please come

read the

word of the

law to us.

All of us.

We're all

going to be

there.

We built

you a big

stage that

you can

stand way

up on

because we

want everybody

to hear

the words

of God.

We know

you've been

plotting on

and teaching

these things

and pushing

forward.

And in

fact,

that they

even knew

that they

ought to

gather

was a

work of

Ezra.

Notice that

it was a

very particular

day.

We get the

record here.

It's not

just for our

dating,

but it's the

first day

of the

seventh month.

And the

Israelites

knew,

I would argue,

because of

Ezra's teaching

to them,

that there

was a

prescribed

feast that

was to

happen on

this day.

It's called

the Feast

of Trumpets,

or if you

prefer in

Hebrew,

Rosh Hashanah.

You guys

heard that

term before,

I'm sure.

The Feast

of Trumpets.

And it

was a

day that

the Israelites

were meant

to rejoice.

They were

supposed to

play trumpets

all over

Israel.

It was

meant to

be going

on.

It was

supposed to

be a

big thing

because

nine days

later was

the Day

of Atonement.

The day

when the

high priest

would take

sacrifice

into the

Holy of

Holies

and make

sacrifice

for the

people of

Israel.

this

symbol,

this action

that took

place,

which told

us of

the coming

great

sacrifice.

That is,

Jesus Christ,

the Lamb of

God,

the one that

could fully

and finally

take away

the sins

of his

people.

This was

the day

that they

were coming

together

to celebrate,

built a

stage for it,

and said,

come and

read the

Word of

God to

us.

Notice

in verse

three,

the time

frame that

this happened

in.

First,

that it

happened

from early

morning.

We start

meeting at

1030,

and sometimes

that is a

real struggle.

They had

the whole

family up

and ready

to go.

We don't

know exactly

what early

morning means,

but we do

know that

this event

took place

from early

morning until

midday,

which meant

literally noon.

So five

to seven

hours this

took place.

I try

really hard

to keep

these

sermons

at 45

minutes

for you

guys.

We may

need to

devote

ourselves

in a

higher

degree

to

God's

Word.

We may

be a

little bit

numb to

it,

and not

desire it,

and not

be eager

enough to

come and

hear its

teaching.

And then

notice in

verse 13

that this

didn't end

here.

It wasn't

just this

day,

just this

five to

seven hours,

but on

the second

day,

something else

happens.

And this

time,

all the

heads of

the father's

houses,

they come

together,

and they

said,

I'm postulating

to Ezra,

we can't keep

getting everybody

together every

single day.

It's just not

going to work.

There's no way

that you can

read in this

way all of

these days.

So we're

going to come

together and

let you crash

course us on

the law,

and we'll

take it back

to our

houses.

So notice

that there

in verse

13,

and we

see that

they discover

some things

along the

way.

There was

a great

eagerness

amongst the

people to

hear and

to learn,

to love,

to proclaim

the word

of God.

Notice

secondly,

their reverence.

Verse

five,

Nehemiah

ascends the

stage,

he opens

up the

book that

he has

with him,

and all

the people

stood.

That's the

record.

As he

opened it,

all the

people

stood.

Now,

I'm not

suggesting that

that's something

that we

ought to do,

that we

have to

stand for

the reading

of God's

word.

Many people

do practice

it in this

way.

Many

denominations,

that is a

normative

thing.

When the

word of

God is

read,

everybody

stands.

It's the

practice

done that

way.

What I

care about

is the

heart of

what's

going on

when the

word of

God

is being

read.

I don't

really expect

you to

tune in to

every single

thing that

I say.

The words

that come

out of my

mouth are

the words

of Nathan.

My hope

is,

and my

great desire

throughout the

week is

that I'm

simply

explaining to

you the

same way

men did

here,

the words

of God.

But how

many of you

just zone

out when

the word

of God

is being

read?

I labor

to read

well in

the hopes

that you'll

hear the

things that

are happening

in the

word of

God.

How many

of you do

other

activities

during a

sermon?

Fill in

all the

little

O's

in the

text.

You see

somebody's

Bible

that's

like that?

Some

people doodle,

it helps

them listen.

My wife's

one of

those.

You ever

see my

wife doodling?

She's paying

attention.

That's a

good thing.

How many

of you

get

extremely

distracted

and you

have no

reverence

for the

very

words

of God?

Notice

that the

reverence

goes beyond

just the

standing

and the

listening.

We don't

know if

they stood

up for

this entire

period of

time.

I would

guess not.

That would

be a

challenging

thing to

do.

However,

what's

probably

happening

here,

and again,

I wish

I had

all the

details,

but you

notice that

he had

six men

on his

left and

six on

his right.

I can't

imagine what

it's like

to try to

read to

a group

of 30,000

to 50,000

people.

What kind

of energy

it must

take to

read out

loud with

no PA

system and

simply just

trying to

project yourself

as best you

can over a

group like

that.

I'm sure

that it was

exhausting.

I love

my Sunday

afternoon naps.

I am tired

after I get

up and do

this.

I want to

go rest.

And here

they are for

an entire

morning doing

this.

And so I

think what's

happening,

my best

guess,

is that they're

taking turns

doing this.

That there's a

process by which

the word of

God is being

read.

And Ezra is not

the only one

reading, but he

steps aside and

somebody else

reads.

And in fact,

you saw that

there were 13

other Levites.

And we see that

they have this

process they go

about that they

read from the

book, from the

law of God

clearly, and they

gave the sense

that the people

understood the

reading.

That's verse

8.

And so what's

more than likely

happening is there's

a process happening

that one of these

men on the stage

gets up, reads

from the word of

God, takes a

break.

So maybe everybody

stood, heard from

the reading,

everybody sat down,

and then these 13

Levites would go

amongst the

people and help

them more clearly

understand.

Just expound

upon.

That's what

preaching really

should be.

That's the issue

at hand when we

talk about what is

expositional

preaching.

It's simply that,

just telling people

what the word of

God says, right?

Not piecing it

together to

reinforce what we

want to say, but

simply looking at a

text and saying,

this is what the

word of God has to

say for you.

This is what we're

supposed to be doing

with the word of

God.

This is what God

means with what God

said, and that's the

process that's taking

place here.

But notice that beyond

the standing, right,

however that was, if

they stood the whole

time or stood and

sat, whatever may

have happened, they

worship in other ways

as well.

And it would seem

that it would have

been foreign to

them and probably

foreign to anybody

who's experiencing

revival that they

would hold back

anything from God.

And I am guilty

amongst you of this.

Right?

When I am moved

inside, I tend to

keep my arms down.

Right?

We're a pretty boring

group of people.

And I don't mean that

as an offense to you

at all.

Right?

It may be just

perfectly fine that

we're that way.

But notice the people

here, they lifted up

their hands, they bowed

their heads, and they

worshiped with their

faces to the ground.

Right?

Which was a position

that gave reverence to,

that communicates that

we are not worthy to be

in the presence of the

Holy God.

They gave all of

themselves in their

reverence to the Word

of God being read.

Notice also their

responsiveness.

So their eagerness,

their reverence, and

their responsiveness.

Notice.

Look now further on,

down to verse 9.

The second part there

says,

For all the people

wept as they heard

the words of the law.

All the people

wept.

It wasn't a little

group, first couple

of rows, that really

were being affected

by this.

You know, the

50,000th man in the

very back wasn't

twiddling his thumbs

waiting to get a meal.

Right?

All the people were

being affected by this

reading of the Word.

And as Ezra and

possibly other men

read, they were

seeing and beholding

the holiness of God.

And they were seeing

how very, very, very

short they fell of

this objective.

They're seeing their

own condition.

The way that they

had offended God.

As the Word of God

was being read, an

ever-widening chasm

was opening up.

As if they're standing

or you're still on a

bank that's giving

way and it starts to

crumble and you take a

couple steps back and

it just keeps crumbling,

it just kept crumbling

and crumbling and

crumbling.

The expanse between

them and God got

bigger and bigger and

bigger and they

wept.

They responded to the

Word of God.

They saw it as a

communication.

God was speaking to

them and they

responded.

There should be an

appropriate response to

the teaching of the

Word.

Now notice what's said

to them.

What the instruction

that's given to them

as they're weeping,

right?

There's this weeping and

mourning going on and

Nehemiah the governor,

Ezra the priest and

scribe, and the Levites

who taught said to the

people, and we see it in

three different places,

chapter 9, excuse me,

verse 9, verse 10, and

verse 11.

This day is holy to the

Lord your God.

Do not mourn or weep.

Verse 10, go your way,

eat the fat and drink

sweet wine and send

portions to anyone who

has nothing for this day

is holy to our Lord.

And do not be grieved for

the joy of the Lord is

your strength.

Verse 11, be quiet for

the day is holy.

Do not be grieved.

The day is holy.

The day is set apart.

Don't grieve.

The day is holy.

The day is set apart.

Don't grieve.

It was probably a great

surprise to Ezra, to

Nehemiah, to the

Levites that when they

came together on a day,

remember the day of

trumpets, a day that was

supposed to be a day of

great joy, right?

That's why it was set

apart.

It was prescribed by God

to be a day of rejoicing

and celebration.

Why?

Because the day of

atonement was close at

hand.

So as they heard the law

being read to them, and

as that ever widening

expanse was open to them,

what they're saying to

them is, don't be sad.

Let the joy of the Lord be

your strength.

The fact that in Him we

have the redemption of

our souls.

Yes, the chasm is wide,

but it has been closed by

the goodness of our God.

That's what they're saying

to them, right?

This is a day set aside for

joy.

Now, that's not to say that

they're writing off

repentance, right?

They're not saying

contrition is not important.

We're actually going to see

in chapter 9 a great deal of

repentance over their sin.

But this day was not for

that.

This was a day to