Nehemiah 11 Grace Emmanuel Church 01/14/17 ______

Nehemiah 7:1 After the wall was finished and I had set up the doors in the gates, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.

This is our eleventh week. I had somebody remind me this week that it has taken me longer to preach about all this, than it did for Nehemiah and co… to rebuild the walls! They got done in just 52 days… It’s been 71 days since you started preaching about it… ______

73 So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple servants, and some of the common people settled near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to their own towns throughout Israel. In October, when the Israelites had settled in their towns… (Strangely that’s the end of chap 7…)

Nehemiah 8:1 all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had given for Israel to obey.

The water gate is straight across from this nook…outside it was Gihon Spring. Whoever did this artwork (not a drone) left a patch of undeveloped land inside the water gate running up toward the temple. This is probably the most accurate of any models or drawing I have found…. Because Nehemiah 8 says all the people gathered at the square inside the gate.

1 We know that Zerubbabel brought back 50,000 when he came to rebuild this temple. We studied on WED eve that Ezra the scribe, 13 years earlier, had brought back 5000 men, women, and children. Nehemiah himself had brought a good sized crew when he came to rebuild the walls. We have to assume more people were migrating on their own 1000 miles across the hostile desert… (much like our covered wagons heading west here in the US). and we read that many pagans surrounding Jerusalem were becoming believers. So… we are now packing perhaps 70- 80,000 people in this square inside the Water Gate.

Well Chess, they probably didn’t all come… Read the text: In October, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate.

______Why in the world are they there….like thousands of salmon swimming upstream? It’s still two full weeks until the time for the Feast of the Tabernacles…which we have no record they had gotten around to celebrating yet anyway, since their return from exile.

So what causes 75,000 people to converge on their newly walled town and squeeze, piled on top each other… inside the Water Gate?

1b They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had given for Israel to obey. Notice it doesn’t say…Ezra called all them to Jerusalem, it says they all came to Jerusalem and demanded that Ezra get out the Bible and read to them. Remember these people weren’t like us…they didn’t have copies of the Bible at home. There were no printing presses yet. Some of these people, who had been there 70 years since the temple was built, had lived their whole lives without personally seeing or touching a copy of the Bible. Clear up until 500 years ago, before the invention of the printing presses… nobody, except the super rich, had their own copy of the Bible. It was not unusual in Europe for there to be one copy of the Bible per town and that would be chained to the church pulpit. So in this case… it’s not hard to imagine that Ezra had the only full scroll of Scripture in Jerusalem.

Ezra had copies…because he was a scribe….that’s what he did…made copies of the Bible. (Every Hebrew letter has a numerical equivalent. Every word, every verse, every book, is counted to the numerical center.)

We need to note also that some of the prophets we have been quoting over the last 10 weeks, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel…those writing were just starting to surface. Ezra probably had copies of Ezekiel’s prophesies that people in Jerusalem had never ever heard of in their whole lives

2 ______Whatever sparked the thirst in the people…it was a huge raging thirst. Bring out the Word of God…we want to hear it!

I wished there was some way we could fast track all of you into what we studied here about Ezra this last WED eve.

Ezra 7:6 This Ezra was a scribe who was well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given to the people of Israel. He came up to Jerusalem from Babylon, and the king gave him everything he asked for, because the gracious hand of the LORD his God was on him.

King Artaxerxes the same king who would send Nehemiah to rebuild the walls 13 year later sends Ezra to Jerusalem… literally (now remember this is a pagan King) He sends Ezra to “go over there and teach them the word of your God. It’s a stunning passage in the Bible. We spent a half hour going over Artaxerxes letter to Ezra.

Ezra 7:12 … to Ezra the priest, the teacher of the law of the God of heaven. … 14 I and my council of seven hereby instruct you to conduct an inquiry into the situation… in Jerusalem, based on your God’s law, which is in your hand. 15 We also commission you to take with you silver and gold, which we are freely presenting as an offering to the God of Israel who lives in Jerusalem… (24 tons of silver, 7,500 pounds of silver articles, 7,500 pounds of gold, Why?)

But you can bet your boots that the scrolls of God’s word were a thousand times more valuable than all the silver and gold. ______That was 13 ½ years earlier, Nehemiah has now come and the walls have been rebuilt, and the people are looking forward… wondering what life now has in store for them.

Somehow this raging thirst begins to build inside of them to truly know the God who had so miraculously delivered them from Persia, given them such favor from the pagan kings themselves… that their treasuries were full… along with the promise that “anything else they needed could be taken right out of the royal treasury.” God had given them back the Holy City, Jerusalem, into which they all knew that the Messiah would one day be born!

Listen to their fervor: Ezra tell us more about this God who has so clearly and obviously poured his blessing into our lives! And they didn’t want Ezra to just get up and preach…they wanted him to read directly from God’s word…. They were so hungry to truly know God and they knew he had inspired his divine message directly to them

3 ______This is not a new phenomenon. Back in 2 Chronicles 34:14 the priest Hilkiah had accidental stumbled across a copy of God’s word. That’s how far removed they were from God back leading up to the exile. Josiah the king had ordered the Scrolls to be read in public… and just the simple reading of God’s Word… threw all of Israel into a spiritual revival… (for a while.)

The same thing happened during the Reformation. The Church had almost entirely neglected God’s Word. Priests were the only one’s who had access and they were largely out of tune. John Wycliffe and William Tyndale works feverishly to get the Bible translated into modern English. Martin Luther worked to get it into common German. That infusion of God’s word brought the Reformation.

The same thing is true about the Puritan revival in England and America. We can make fun of Puritans but they were primarily a Bible movement. To the Puritan the Bible was the most valuable possession in all their lives… Reverence for God meant reverence for Scripture! Serving God meant obeying the Bible. They get a rap sometimes for being a bit legalistic… but they are the reason we have a country today. This country was built on the reverence for God’s word that came directly from them.

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If you want Spiritual Renewal, it will come through God’s Word! Period!

Pastor, I get my spiritual renewal through preaching. The only way my words, or anybody else’s words, will have any eternal impact on your life is as, and if, they are connected directly to the Word of God!

Pastor I get my spiritual renewal from songs on Christian radio. The only way any song will have any eternal spiritual impact on your life is if it is directly connected to the Word of God!

I am appalled sometime to listen to Christian radio and hear song after song filled with personal pronouns: I feel; I think; I want: I need. What does God want? What does his Word instruct for your eternal future.

4 ______In Psalm 119 the Word of God is mentioned 9 times, as the source for personal revival.

Guess who very probably, almost certainly in my mind, wrote Psalm 119? Some say David… but David always titled his Psalms and this is definitely not his style. This was somebody else… and one good option rises to the top of most heaps. Ezra!

This whole Psalm is written as an acrostic. The first eight verses start with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The next eight lines the next… <<<< See this…. (176 verses; 22 letter x 8)

That took enormous effort from a very smart person who really, really loved God’s Word

Can’t you just see this guy, Ezra, standing in front of the people that day. I can see him firing up the crowd each morning…because this whole Bible reading thing is going to go on for several days. Can’t you just see him starting each day’s devotions with 176 verses of what is a prayer to God of reverence for his Word. ______So on the first day of the seventh month… like their New Years Day…it was the perfect time for them to get right with God… to make a fresh start! It was not far from the Day of Atonement.

Like an impatient crowd at a concert they were perhaps saying: We want Ezra, We want Ezra, bring out the Law, teach us God’s Word!

2 So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand. 3 He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law.

4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform that had been made for the occasion… 5 Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet.

blessed) the LORD, the great - בָּרַ ך) Then Ezra praised 6 God, and all the people chanted, “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. (barak – greatly blessed)

5 ______There’s a lot more coming… but that part alone is amazing:

When Ezra opens the first scroll (and presumably starts to read) everybody comes to their feet. If you’ve ever gone to a car race it is as predictable as the sun rising, when that line of cars comes around turn one, every single person rises to their feet.

This was that kind of thing on steroids. Ezra praised, answered, responded, testified to the Lord… (Not sure what he was doing yet but we are sure of the people’s response.)

Trustworthy, Faithful, Reliable, Firmly Established, Completely Believable

…..as they lifted their hands.

______It’s not easy, in the English, to get the time line here. Ezra has already dived into the deep end of the pond. He is bellowing out the Word of God… while tens of thousands are standing… and listening (for six hours by the way) , with their hands in the air, shouting Amen, Amen, (That’s completely believable, God is reliable, and Faithful, and Trustworthy!)

Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

Why do, perhaps, 75,000 people, packed in like sardines, suddenly go from standing with their hands in the air… to falling on their face in humility before God?

7 The Levites ….then instructed the people in the Law while everyone remained in their places. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage.

These people are intensely focused! Most of us listen to sermons or the reading of Scripture with half our mind thinking about other things. It’s all about what really matters to us. (Some of you are thinking about things other than what I am saying right now.) If I were an attorney and I were reading a will in which all of you were going to receive and inheritance… I could be reading in the worst monotone and nobody here would be missing a word!

6 ______What drove the people? First they are driven to their feet, then their hands are driven into the air… Now they are all driven to their knees! Why are they on their knees…did they just get so tired of standing they all sag to the groud? No…the Bible tells us that something was going on inside all of them:

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this!

The people are not just on their faces…they are on their faces crying, mourning…what are they mourning about?

As the Word of God echoes across the square, the conviction of God buries deep in their hearts. That is something the “Holy” Bible does…It’s holiness exposes our unholiness. God actually designed it to be that way. When we look at our lives in the mirror of God’s truth…we see reflected out our sinfulness. But God never wounds us to hurt us…only to heal us.

Well…God was tutoring his “long exiled, desperately searching for Him” Old Testament children, as well! As they were crying out to God…the Levites were moving around applying the truth that Ezra had just read to their souls. Thousands of people repenting before God as the Word of God bites deep into their hearts.

1) Spiritual Renewal Comes through God’s Word 2) Spiritual Renewal comes through Repentance

Please hear me…there is absolutely no pathway to spiritual renewal and revival apart from these two doorways. Let me just be downright mean here for a little bit.

If you are one of the millions of Christians in America who just have little or no appetite for the Bible…. But you have unlimited appetite for other things… If I walk by the plate of meat and vegetables and fruit in favor of the pastries and deserts… I will develop a raging appetite for things with no nutritional value. If I focus completely on healthy fueling foods…the lure of whipped cream gets fainter and fainter.

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The exact same principle applies to eternal appetites as well. If I dine regularly on the Word of God I soon get to where you can’t wait to do it again.

Of the 323 million people who now make up the US… 70.6 of them claim to be Christian. That’s 238 million.

According to Pew and Barna ; only 1/3 of Christians poll that they read their Bible at least one time per week. That’s 78 million.

Imagine what these exiles would say to today’s Americans if they could somehow grasp that we all have written Bibles, plus Bibles on our phones and I-Pads…but we just don’t have much of an appetite.

1) Spiritual Renewal Comes through God’s Word 2) Spiritual Renewal comes through Repentance ______Well the reviving former exiles are repenting! And the Levites are scurrying around helping them apply the truth they are learning to their heart. This goes for a long time!

At some point (not the first hour or even the third hour) this next verse kick in:

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the LORD your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

10 And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” ______Nehemiah wasn’t saying: Enough of this moping around…

1) The Word of God brings conviction 2) Conviction brings repentance 3) Repentance brings God’s joy 4) Joy is designed to be shared with others

In fact Nehemiah was specific… start your “new day” of spiritual renewal by joyous feasting but let one of your first actions be to find someone who has nothing and give some of your blessing away. Show them that; “The joy of the Lord is your Strength!

8 12 So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them.

______Can’t you imagine Nehemiah and Ezra and the rest of the city’s leaders getting together at the end of the day and saying: Wow, that was amazing! We expected to have to chase these former idol worshippers down trying to convince them to follow God’s Word … Who would have ever imagined the people, en mass, to come to us and asking us for a revival, through the spoken Word of God.

I wonder if this will really stick. Maybe this was just a flash in the pan and they will forget it all by tomorrow morning and slide back into their old ways…

The sun rises the next morning: There is an early morning breakfast meeting where the family leaders meet once again with Ezra, his fellow priests, and the Levites who has guided the people, into God’s truth, the day before. We even know exactly where they were reading in the Bible.

13 On October 9 the family leaders of all the people, together with the priests and Levites, met with Ezra the scribe to go over the Law in greater detail. 14 As they studied the Law, they discovered that the LORD had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in shelters during the festival to be held that month. (Here is exactly where they were reading…)

Leviticus 23:33 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord

15 He (Moses) had said that a proclamation should be made throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, telling the people to go to the hills to get branches from olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees. They were to use these branches to make shelters in which they would live during the festival, as prescribed in the Law.

We should do that… “It’s not even the 15th day of the month yet”…So what let’s do it anyway. What better way to cement in people’s minds that we are serious about following God’s law to the letter than by leading out families, for the first time in their lives, to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles!

9 Since the feast was designed to show our ancestors how God protected Israel during those years in the wilderness… after we had escaped the oppression of Egypt. Why not do it again, now, to show the people that God will continue to preserve us as we set up our brand new lives here after returning from the Babylonian exile?

16 So the people went out and cut branches and used them to build shelters on the roofs of their houses, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of God’s Temple, or in the squares just inside the Water Gate and the Ephraim Gate. 17 So everyone who had returned from captivity lived in these shelters during the festival, and they were all filled with great joy! The Israelites had not celebrated like this since the days of Joshua son of Nun.

Imagine what Sanballat and Geshem were thinking right about then, when Israel against all odds had completed a wall giving them protection from their enemies…and now they are all on the roofs of their houses and huddled all around the wall living in ridiculous lean to huts… ______

18 Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God on each of the seven days of the festival. (And the people yelled…)

Trustworthy, Faithful, Reliable, Firmly Established, Completely Believable

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Nehemiah 8:1 On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads…. 3 They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the LORD their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the LORD their God. (That’s Revival!)

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