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Ezra Reads The Lesson 126 Ezra Reads The Law Nehemiah 8:1-9:5 MEMORY VERSE NEHEMIAH 9:5 “S tand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever! Blessed be Your glorious nam e, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!” WHAT YOU WILL NEED: A small mirror. A couple of large bed sheets and as an option, several sheets of green or brown construction paper for leaves and branches. Enough copies of the Mini-Scrolls template to give one scripture strip to each child in your class, one straw for each child and tape. ATTENTION GETTER! Looking In a Mirror Have your class sit down in a circle. Ask the children to remember when they woke up this morning and looked into a mirror, what did they see? Did anything need to be changed from what they saw? What did they do about what they saw in the mirror (maybe mom or dad helped)? What do mirrors help us to see? Before class, set a small mirror in a Bible. Pass the Bible around from child to child and open it to the place where the mirror is. Tell each of them not to shout out what they see. When everyone has had an opportunity to see it, then ask the class as a whole what they saw (a mirror). Read James 1:22-25 and ask them how is the Word of God like a mirror. What kinds of things do we see? What can we do about those things we see in our lives that need changing? LESSON TIME! In previous lessons, we have introduced Nehemiah and Ezra. We have recently been learning about Nehemiah and Ezra. Nehemiah came to Jerusalem almost 100 years after the decree went out from King Cyrus that the Jewish people could go back to their homeland and rebuild. Ezra and Nehemiah were good leaders. Ezra had already been in Jerusalem for a long time before Nehemiah got there. Together, because of their desire to serve the Lord, they they were able to lead the people back to worship. When they arrived, not much had been rebuilt, and there were not any walls or gates. Nehemiah came to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Many people were working against Nehemiah, but the Lord was with His people as they persevered. Finally, the wall was rebuilt. The Lord had used Nehemiah and now the people were filled with joy. In today’s lesson, Nehemiah and the people are celebrating the completion of the city wall. During this time of celebration, Ezra reads God’s Word. What a great day for the people to recommit themselves to the Lord. Finally, they were able to celebrate their religious feasts in the temple. They had spent 70 years in captivity, but God was so faithful. We will learn about the power of God’s Word and how God's word should have an important place in our lives. N OTE: Have the children stand during this reading, it will illustrate verse 5! N EHEM I AH 8:1-8 N o w al l t h e p e o p l e gat h e r e d t o ge t h e r as o n e m an i n t h e o p e n s qu ar e t h at w as i n f r o n t o f t h e Wat e r G at e ; an d t h e y t o l d Ez r a t h e s c r i be t o br i n g t h e B o o k o f t h e L aw o f M o s e s , w h i c h t h e L OR D h ad c o m m an d e d I s r ae l . S o Ez r a t h e p r i e s t br o u gh t t h e L aw be f o r e t h e as s e m bl y o f m e n an d w o m e n an d al l w h o c o u l d h e ar w i t h u n d e r s t an d i n g o n t h e f i r s t d ay o f t h e s e v e n t h m o n t h . T h e n h e r e ad f r o m i t i n t h e o p e n s qu ar e t h at w as i n f r o n t o f t h e Wat e r G at e f r o m m o r n i n g u n t i l m i d d ay , be f o r e t h e m e n an d w o m e n an d t h o s e w h o c o u l d u n d e r s t an d ; an d t h e e ar s o f al l t h e p e o p l e w e r e at t e n t i v e t o t h e B o o k o f t h e L aw . S o Ez r a t h e s c r i be s t o o d o n a p l at f o r m o f w o o d w h i c h t h e y h ad m ad e f o r t h e p u r p o s e ; an d be s i d e h i m , at h i s r i gh t h an d , s t o o d M at t i t h i ah , S h e m a, An ai ah , U r i j ah , Hi l k i ah , an d M aas e i ah ; an d at h i s l e f t h an d Pe d ai ah , M i s h ae l , M al c h i j ah , Has h u m , Has h bad an a, Z e c h ar i ah , an d M e s h u l l am . An d Ez r a o p e n e d t h e bo o k i n t h e s i gh t o f al l t h e p e o p l e , f o r h e w as s t an d i n g abo v e al l t h e p e o p l e ; an d w h e n h e o p e n e d i t , al l t h e p e o p l e s t o o d u p . An d Ez r a bl e s s e d t h e L OR D , t h e gr e at G o d . T h e n al l t h e p e o p l e an s w e r e d , " Am e n , Am e n !" w h i l e l i f t i n g u p t h e i r h an d s . An d t h e y bo w e d t h e i r h e ad s an d w o r s h i p e d t h e L OR D w i t h t h e i r f ac e s t o t h e gr o u n d . Al s o J e s h u a, B an i , S h e r e bi ah , J am i n , Ak k u b, S h abbe t h ai , Ho d i j ah , M aas e i ah , Ke l i t a, Az ar i ah , J o z abad , Han an , Pe l ai ah , an d t h e L e v i t e s , h e l p e d t h e p e o p l e t o u n d e r s t an d t h e L aw ; an d t h e p e o p l e s t o o d i n t h e i r p l ac e . S o t h e y r e ad d i s t i n c t l y f r o m t h e bo o k , i n t h e L aw o f G o d ; an d t h e y gav e t h e s e n s e , an d h e l p e d t h e m t o u n d e r s t an d t h e r e ad i n g. The Israelites were settling back into their towns and all around the new wall of Jerusalem. When the seventh month came around, called Tishi, they knew from the book of the law that it was a day for a sacred assembly.
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