Nehemiah 8:3-12

3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4 So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place. 8 So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading. 9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, 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 nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them.

The second truth that we see that should be evident in our lives is:

2. LISTENING TO TRUTH –Vs 3-12

How do we know that they listened, because they lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” and then “bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Listening resulted in both loathing and loving, loathing sin and loving the Savior. The Word caused them first to:

A. Weeping

Why does the Word cause us to weep, because scripture shows us our sin and sin should bring sorrow. Romans 7:7 says: “it was the law that showed me my sin.” Do you sorrow over sin? Are you calloused or contrite, reckless or repentant? After 70 years of not hearing God’s Word, they once again listened to the Word and wept. How long has it been since you heard the word and wept? You don’t know how blessed you are to own a Bible, or to be able to sit in the church and hear it spoken. We don’t know how blessed we are to be free to worship God, until we lose that freedom! Second the Word caused them to:

B. Worship

The congregation’s first response was one of conviction. The natural reaction to the Bible is guilt because scripture shows us the holiness of God and the horror and ugliness of our hearts. But while weeping is necessary and important, it’s not the final message God has for us. Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Assisted by the Levites, Nehemiah convinced the people to stop crying and start celebrating. The Word of God brings conviction that leads to repentance, and repentance leads to rejoicing. The same Word that wounds also heals, you see reverence and rejoicing go together. Weep should give way to worship, it is as wrong to mourn when God has forgiven us, as it is to rejoice when sin has conquered us. It’s not enough just to read the Word and receive the Word, we must also rejoice in the Word. We rejoice because scripture shows us the solution to our sin problem. We have joy because Jesus died on the cross for our sin. But its not just about soaking in the truth its also about sharing the truth. In verse 10 Nehemiah calls them to share what they have with others. This is significant in light of what we learned in chapter 5 when the rich were taking advantage of the poor. When we experience God through His Word, we won’t just worship we will witness and invite others to experience the same joy. Joy is magnified when it’s shared. Are you hording and hiding holiness or sharing God’s message of salvation?

3. LEARNED THE TRUTH – Vs 7-8

In verses 7-8, the Levites join Ezra in helping to instruct the people, clearly explaining the meaning of what was being read and helping the people understand each passage. Preaching involves proclaiming the truth in a practical way so that it can be put into practice. The Levites showed them how to flesh out God’s truth in their own lives. We need both the public proclamation of the Word in a large assembly as well as the face-to-face interaction in small groups. As we look at Ezra we discover some important lessons about those who are called to teach. Ezra 7:10 reveals the kind of man Ezra was, “Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.” He was committed to personal study of the Word, practical application of the Word as he applied the bible to his own life, in other words he practiced what he preached, and then taught others. This verse is a personal challenge to me because I want to do the same. I’m committed to study and personal application so that I can teach the Word accurately and with integrity. If we are not careful we will start to make it more about speaker than the scripture, who the speaker is behind the pulpit is not as important as the Word of God that is proclaimed from the pulpit. Because only the Word of God can being the Joy of the Lord. I don’t need your ideas, and you don’t need mine, what we need is to hear from God. That’s the purpose of a pulpit, and if that purpose is not fulfilled, then the pulpit is nothing more than a soapbox. Remember the power is not in the pulpit, or the preacher it’s in the bible, they stood not because of a man on a wooden platform but because of the Word. Pulpits are made of wood and will rot, preachers are made of flesh and will rot, but the Word of God is eternal. Don’t stand for a pulpit, or a person stand for Scripture. What about you, are you listening to and learning from the truth of God’s Word?

Nehemiah 8:1-2

“Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month.” 

 As we continue in our series “Building in the Battle” in the book of Nehemiah, we are going to skip over chapter 7 and come back to it at the end of our study. It’s here in chapter 8 that we see a major shift from construction to consecration. The first 6 chapters deal with the rebuilding of the wall while the second half deals with the restoration and worship of the people. It is here in chapter 8 that we come to the building block of the Bible. Where we see a people who not only want the Word but want to walk out the Word. They not only long for the Word, they listen to the Word, learn the Word and live out the Word. Church it’s not just about the walls it’s about our worship. The work on the walls had been completed and it would have been easy to sit back and slack off, but it was never about the walls it was about worship. As Christians we have an incredible opportunity to use our worship to impact the world with the Word of God. As the people hear the Word of God, they go from sitting to standing. Then, they raised their hands, shouted out their agreement by saying “Amen” and then bowed down and worshipped by putting their faces to the ground. The anticipation of hearing the Word of God caused them to jump up but listening to the Word of God caused them to kneel down. Today some of us are sitting when we should be standing, some of us are standing when we should be submitting. Church it’s time for us to stop sitting and start standing on scripture so that we can submitting to truth. As Nehemiah introduces us to the building block of the BIBLE see 4 truths that should be evident in our lives, first a:

1. LONGING FOR TRUTH Vs 1-2

Strong walls begin with the Word. It’s here that we see people who are thirsty for truth, they assembled with a unified purpose, to hear God’s Word. What is the longing of your heart, are your wants based on the Word or the world, these people wanted the Word. Some of us are no longer hungering after holiness, your deepest desire is not Jesus it’s the junk. As a result instead of longing for truth we are lusting after trash. Instead of filling our life with the Word we are filling it with the World, trading truth for trash. How much did you feast on God this week and how much on garbage? How many of us spent more time this week pursuing social media than we did the Son of God? You know why we are living famished lives instead of full ones, because our food is no longer the Father its Facebook. We no longer have a longing for the Father because we are feasting on junk, look you can’t fill your life with filth and expect to be fruitful. Verse 3 tells us that Ezra started reading at dawn and read until lunch. The people listened to the Word of God for over six hours and we know from verse 18 that this continued for a week as they “listened attentively.” As a pastor I am so thankful that the majority of my sheep are hungry to hear God’s Word. A while back a guy who was just passing through on vacation came to one of our services and after said to me after, I saw all the people during worship and thought huh just another feel good church based on fluff but then you got up and preached the Word and there was an alter call and people came in droves, how can that be? Because people are thirsty for truth. The problem is preachers have convinced themselves that people are not hungry for holiness, so they have substituted scripture for stories, they have become story tellers instead of truth sharers. Ezra’s shared the Word for six-hour, which begs the question, how much of our time do we devote to truth? We wouldn’t have a problem wasting 6 hours of our lives on a Netflix binge, but when was the last time you went on a bible binge?  Are you content to snack on scripture, feeding on the world and trying to supplement with the Word? The true source of our Spiritual Strength is found in scripture.  Israel found it again, after having lost it for 70 years in the Babylonian Captivity. Their strength lay buried beneath 70 years of oppression and captivity and there were many who had never heard the Word. That Source could only be found in the place where they had left it, buried in the past, under a heap of destruction, covered by the dust and debris of lost battles, and forgotten under the rubble of a destroyed life. They had to get back to where that source was and begin to dig it out, dust it off and discover its power to bring Joy once again. Like them we also have to come back to the Bible. If your bible is buried as a result of neglect get it out dust it off and dive in. Not only did they assemble with a unified purpose but notice where they assembled, the Water Gate. The water gate is a picture of the Word of God and its effect in our life. Ephesians 5:26 states ‘… having washed her by the water of the word.’ Psalm 119:9 says: “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word” it is only through God’s Word that we can be clean. It was the Word of God that washed their hearts. Are you washing your life with Word or wallowing in the world? There are so many Christians today who are living in doubt, fear and unbelief because they have forsaken the source of their Strength, the Word of God, and embraced the wisdom of the world. They’ve allowed their well to run dry, and there is no more spiritual water daily washing over their souls. They’ve allowed Satan to dry up the source of their strength and they have ignored their spiritually dead and dry condition for so long that they’ve forgotten what it truly feels like to have the Joy of the Lord. The result is that we start trusting in our walls instead of the Word. The Bible will either keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible. Today as we celebrate independence and freedom lets not forget that the Word doesn’t just set us free it keeps us free. Are you saturating yourself with Scripture?