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Bring out the Book Nehemiah 7:1-8:18 INTRODUCTION Bring Out The Book Nehemiah 7:1-8:18 INTRODUCTION “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” Those are the words of David in Psalm 85:6. And those are the words that I hope are on our lips by the time we conclude our study this morning. It is not uncommon for believers to at times drift into periods of weakness and indifference. For there to be stretches where there is little passion for the things of God, and little concern for how we might live for the glory of God. There are times when when we would best describe our spiritual life as dry, stagnate, and lifeless. And yet, the believer is not ok with this. The heart inevitably speaks, “Will you not revive us again? My guess is that some of your are in that very spot. The things of God do not interest you much like they used to. Bible reading is a chore that never gets done. Serving in the body is a burden. Old habits are becoming regular again. And your interest in the truth has wained. And what you need more than anything else is a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit. You need a revival. Now when I say the word “revival,” for some, that word conjures up images of big tent meetings with a preacher who can raise their voice a lot more than I can. Scheduled meetings where special services are held for a week, maybe two. People going door to door, handing out tracts. And that’s all well and good. But in Nehemiah 8 we see a revival of a different kind. There’s no tent. There’s no fiery evangelist. Instead, there’s a recovery of - and return to - the Word of God. Up until this point, the focus in Nehemiah has been on the re-building of the walls. But now, the story takes a decisive shift and it’s no longer about physical restoration, but spiritual restoration. The first six chapters are about the building of walls, and now the rest of Nehemiah is about the building of people. And what happens in chapter 8 is unique. It had been two hundred years since something like this had taken place. The last time would have been during the reign of King Josiah and the scribe Shaphan found the Book of the Law. Keep in mind that al these people who had returned to Jerusalem had been spent the entirety of their lives in captivity. They’ve lived with Babylonians, without a real awareness of what it means to be the people of God. Life for them was not the same as it had been for their ancestors. They knew they belonged to God but they were literally starving because what was missing was the Word of God. And so, as J.I. Packer so aptly says regarding this chapter, “God broke in.” READ NEHEMIAH 8:1-18… There is no revival apart from the Word of God. I’d say that is fairly evident from what we just read. Wouldn’t you? Should we desire to experience a genuine revival - either personally or corporately, it will not happen apart from the Word. And it all begins with a hunger to understand the Word… 1. Understand the Word (8:1-8) Now before we get too far, let me just say that we’re just sliding past chapter 7. And it’s not that chapter 7 is somehow inferior or less divine than the rest of Nehemiah. But if you’re glancing at it, let’s be honest, it reads a bit like the Jerusalem phone book. There’s a whole lot of names and numbers, and we don’t have the slightest idea who these people are. But let me point out just a couple of things from chapter 7, that help us understand what is going on in chapter 8. First, as we see in 7:1, the walls were finished as well as the doors. And Nehemiah appoints gatekeepers, singers, and Levites. Which is necessary in order for the city to renew its worship. You had to have people who could keep the area secure, you had to have people who could carry a tune, and you had to have the Levitical priests to lead them in worship. Second, Nehemiah is led by the Lord in 7:5 to assemble the people by genealogy. In other words, now that the city is rebuilt, he’s bringing back the Jews who live outside the walls of Jerusalem and making sure that they belong there. And so verses 6 through 73 are virtually identical to the list of people in Ezra 2. These are the people who have retuned from exile. Think of it as a checklist for a grand total of 50,000 people. Third, the second half of verse 73 sets us up for chapter 8 by stating, “And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.” The seventh month is important because it is a festival month which includes the feast of trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and more. And it’s against that backdrop that the spiritual renewal takes place. It’s during this time that God visits his people in a special way. And this visitation is revealed in a hunger for the Word. You’ll notice that the “all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate.” There’s an emphasis, perhaps you caught it when we read the passage, on the word “people.” Thirteen times it occurs in the first 12 verses. An in nine of those instances it is “all of the people.” So what you have is all of the people - about 50,000 of them - gathering together and making a request that Ezra bring out the Book of the Law. “They told him Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD has commanded Israel.” Understanding the Word begins when we have a hunger for the Word. They asked Ezra to bring out the Book. Ezra wasn’t going door to door to recruit people. He did’t have a sign up sheet in the lobby. And when 50,000 make a request, it’s hard to ignore it. Can you imagine, 50,000 people chanting “bring out the book! We want the book!?” My guess is that the whole town shut down because verse 3 says Ezra read from early morning until midday. That’s about 5 hours and 15 minutes longer than what I preach on a typical Sunday. Makes our sermons look like a brief devotion! And Ezra is the kind of guy you want teaching. Listen to what is written about him in Ezra 7:10, “Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” And that in a nutshell is the job description of everyone who would teach the Bible. Revival does not spring forth from sensational conference speakers, intriguing stories, etc. It is built upon a foundation, whereby God’s people hold the Word in high regard. And because of that, they expect their leaders to study it, do it, and teach it. Martin Luther, the great reformer, famously said this, “I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word: otherwise I did nothing…The Word did it all.” And so for six hours they stood in the heat - in the Middle East I might add - listening intently. Why? Because they’re hungry. Because they’re consumed with the Word. One of the signs that a person has been truly born again is a hunger for the Word of God. The Spirit of god creates a desire for the Word of God. I had a Hebrew teacher in seminary ask us one morning who in the room skipped breakfast. I didn’t raise my hand because I never skip breakfast. But some other people did, and the teacher went on to ask if they felt guilty. No one did. Then the teacher asked if they felt hungry. And so shouldn’t it be, that when there is no regular Bible intake, it feels as if we have skipped a meal? Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. But I also imagine the reason why they listened so intently for six hours had something to do with the fact they believed it was really the Word of God. Because it’s quite easy for us to acknowledge that these words are from God, and yet live as if the Bible is not living and active (Heb 4:12). And we find ourselves in that place where we don’t desire the Word like we should, or if we need reminding of its power - go to Psalm 119. There you have the longest chapter in the Bible. And verse after verse reminding us about the infinite value of the Word: • “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from your law” (18) • “Your testimonies are my delight, they are my counselors” (24) • “The law of your mouth is like thousands of gold and silver pieces” (72) • “Oh how I love your law, it is my meditation all the day” (97) • “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant because I long for your commands” (130-131) • “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words” (147) Now look again at verses 2 and 3: [2] So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month.
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