November 27, 2023

God's Word brings clarity.

Nehemiah 8

Anabella Martinez
Monday's Devo

November 27, 2023

Monday's Devo

November 27, 2023

Monday's Devo

November 27, 2023

Monday's Devo

November 27, 2023

Big Idea

Start with prayer.

Key Verse | Nehemiah 8:8

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

Nehemiah 8

Ezra Reads the Law

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. 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. 3 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. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 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. 6 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 worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, 1 8:7 Vulgate; Hebrew and the Levites helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, 2 8:8 Or with interpretation, or paragraph by paragraph and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

9 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. 10 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.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 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.

Feast of Booths Celebrated

13 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. 14 And they found it written in the Law that the LORD had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths 3 8:14 Or temporary shelters during the feast of the seventh month, 15 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.” 16 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. 17 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. 18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

Footnotes

[1] 8:7 Vulgate; Hebrew and the Levites
[2] 8:8 Or with interpretation, or paragraph by paragraph
[3] 8:14 Or temporary shelters

S2:231 Nehemiah 8

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | Nehemiah 8

Put yourself in the crowd of Israelites. Your community has told Ezra to read from the Book of the Law (the first five books of the Bible). The entire community comes, including the women, children, and elderly. This is not a Sunday sermon on one chapter or a couple of verses; this is at least six hours of reading. We don't know what passages were read, but given how long Ezra read, we can confidently assume that he read entire stories.

You are back in Israel—in the town of Jerusalem. You just helped build the wall despite threats of violence. You are exhausted, but you come to this reading and hear stories of Exodus, when God brought His people out of slavery. You hear stories of God leading His people through the wilderness when He provided daily manna for His people and, in those 40 years, did not allow their clothes to wither. You hear the law given to the people through Moses and realize that you have broken law after law. You feel regret, and you start to cry. Others around you begin to cry. Ezra notices and tells everyone that this is a holy day, and while there is a place for grieving, today is a day to find strength in the joy of the Lord. You are sent home to eat mother's good cookin' and invite the rest of the neighborhood who can't afford nice meat or wine. 

Over dinner, you rejoice greatly as you talk about how the Lord once again delivered you even though you had broken many laws. You choose with your family and friends to recommit yourself to the Lord.

May this be us today, friends. May we read God's Word together and individually. May we be convicted of our sin and weep. May we celebrate with other believers. May we find joy in the deliverance of our lives through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. May we, through hearing and knowing God's Word, be spurred on to commit daily to following God.

This month's memory verse

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Discussion Questions

1. Do you believe it is important to read/hear God's Word regularly? Why or why not?

2. When was the last time you audibly heard God's Word read aloud outside of a Sunday morning? (Consider listening to the Bible through an app, reading it together as a community group, or simply reading it aloud to yourself.)

3. If you are being honest with yourself, do you find deep-rooted joy in God and your relationship with Him?

4. What are ways you can enjoy God with other believers? (Examples: delicious meals together, walking outside with others, sharing stories around a fire pit, or serving others together)

5. The Israelites' joy led them to become more obedient to God. How can your joy in the Lord move you to action in your personal life?

 

 

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HS

Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, Anabella! Thank you for a great devo on one of my favorite chapters in all Scripture. Love this from your devo - “Over dinner, you rejoice greatly as you talk about how the Lord once again delivered you even though you had broken many laws. You choose with your family and friends to recommit yourself to the Lord.” Q1. As noted below, I have read and processed The Journey messages for several years. It has been a life changing process. Q2. I love the ESV app. I listen to the upcoming day’s passage on it all the time when driving or walking. Q3. In discipleship groups I learned that the call is for my life is to seek an ever deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus. Q4. All the above plus regular discussions about individual studies people are doing. Q5. There is a really long answer to this question and one that is more readable. -The latter answer is that Scripture gives me the answer to the Three Big Questions- -Who is God? -Who am I? -Why am I here? The joy that the Spirit gives me in knowing these answers move me to a clear mission and calling.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

Flashback- spring 1980. I am in my last few weeks of college. My family is in disarray. My mom is very sick, my dad is stressed out and checked out, and my sisters are off the rails. I know “real life” is just around the corner and I’m not looking forward to it after four years of fun and games. To top it off, the girl I was dating just let me know she was going back to her high school boyfriend. That Sunday I decided to go to church. I was at the latest “end-of-the-road” moment in my young life. It was an Episcopal “high church” service with what usually was a cerebral sermon that never meant much to a practical life. However, for whatever reason, this sermon was different. The subject was the Sermon on the Mount. Specifically, Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Except the young priest didn’t say it that way. I can still hear his voice saying this- “Blessed are those who know they need God”. It was almost as if he were begging and pleading for the people to take in this truth. His phrasing and voice tone hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. I had never heard this verse rendered that way. That moment was big U-turn for me. The verse as delivered woke me up. But mainly just because I was desperate and depressed. I was reachable and teachable. A few weeks later I got back home to Atlanta and begin to work at my summer job. My mom’s condition deteriorated and the whole family dynamic got worse and worse. I started going to church again. Nothing really impactful happened right away but I could tell that I was headed in a new direction. That fall, after another crash and burn dating experience, I came to a point of surrender. A few weeks later Amy and I were linked up on a blind date at my old college. Now something was really changing. After our blind date, I went back home and back to grad school in a state of disequilibrium and dystopia. Going one step at a time was all I could muster. A few weekends later I was with some local friends and one of them told me about an exciting young preacher who really knew the Bible and preached it well. That was a Saturday night. I was at that church the next morning. I knew right away that this was the next step for me. As it turned out, this was the answer to the sermon I had heard back the spring. I had come to understand how desperately I needed God. I had tried my own way for years and had only gotten more failure and disappointment. I jumped into everything that the church was doing and my heart was on fire for the Word of God. It is this series of events that come to mind when I read Nehemiah 8. I see some parallels with me and with them. They “knew” God but not well. Very few of them were familiar with His word. After the work of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah they are ready for what God had next. Their weeping and crying were something I could tie into. As noted in prior verses the memory of the old temple was fresh in the minds of the older Israelites. Notice the difference in these images of the Temple Mount under Solomon and then under Nehemiah after it’s rebuilt. Solomon https://images.app.goo.gl/8uGv22dQBuGasnca7 Nehemiah https://www.ritmeyer.com/2014/11/15/the-temple-mount-during-the-times-of-ezra-and-nehemiah/ What I see is an immense sadness and the deep conviction of the Holy Spirit at work in these older Israelites in 400 BC and in me in that fall of 1980.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

What we know about recovery and discipleship is that it’s most effective when the person has clearly seen that there is no way out of the ditch they’re in - except to surrender. These two verses jumped out at me- “8:8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” “8:10 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.” “…the joy of the LORD is your strength.” That is the big verse. And a key life verse for me. ———————————————————————————— Since January 2015 I have done a daily deep dive into His Word each day The Journey was published. It truly has brought me to the joy of the LORD. It has been as if there was a hunger and thirst that had built up in me and was only satisfied in Bible study, prayer, verse, memory etc. Prior to that I was like the Israelites in the Kings period. I thought the world would satisfy my hunger and slake my thirst. Only after decades of failure did I realize I was chasing the wind. In reflection this week, I zoomed out and thought about the mindset of the people as they worked on the altar, temple, and wall. I think about a work tool in one hand and a sword in the other. Imagine that today. You have a saw, hammer, nail gun, or whatever in one hand and AR-15 in a sling on your back. As far as I know, there is no modern time in the US where this type of situation was present. But the threats, criticism, and persecution are increasing for sure. I hope it never comes to that. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— From the ESV SB and TC’s notes- NEH 8:9–12 The People Are to Be Joyful. Though sorrow for sin was a positive response, joy at renewed relationship with God was the teaching’s ultimate purpose. Neh. 8:9 Nehemiah and Ezra together decide that this holy day (Lev. 23:24) should be one of joy, though the reading has led many to sense the need to repent of their sins. Neh. 8:10 the joy of the LORD is your strength. As the people rejoiced in God and delighted in his presence, he would show himself strong to help them and defend them. “Joy” was a keynote because God had saved Israel, in both the remote and the recent past, and this story of salvation would have been told again in the reading of the Book of the Law. Neh. 8:12 eat ... drink ... send portions. These are important themes of worship in Deuteronomy, where worship was associated with God’s rich gifts and the privilege of sharing them (Deut. 12:12; 14:23, 26, 27–29). "The reading of Scripture (Neh 8) and the act of prayer (Neh 9) followed by community commitment (Neh 10) is a model for worshiping communities." “This was another instance in Israel's history of a covenant renewal accompanying a spiritual awakening (cf. Exodus 34; Joshua 24; 2 Kings 22—23; Ezra 10:12-14; et al.).” ——————————————————————————— From TC "'The primary task of the church and of the Christian minister is the preaching of the Word of God,' said Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. 'The decadent periods and eras in the history of the church have always been those periods when preaching had declined' (Preaching and Preachers, pp. 19, 24)."[156] "Today, the nutritional value of what is passed off as biblical teaching is often nothing more than gruel. Flippant preparation of God's Word is causing many to slowly starve on the pabulum of watery philosophies and thin, tasteless principles. For the full nutritional value of God's Word to be enjoyed, it must be served up accurately, clearly, and seasoned with practicality."[157] This joy, as they thought about Yahweh, would strengthen, protect, and sustain them—like a fortress. I consider verse 10 the key verse of the book, because it reveals how the returnees were able to rebuild the wall. The theme of joy runs throughout this book. It was the people's joy in the LORD that enabled them to accomplish such a remarkable restoration of the wall and fidelity to the covenant. "Holy joy will be oil to the wheels of our obedience."[159] "It is as wrong to mourn when God has forgiven us as it is to rejoice when sin has conquered us."[160] "Let it be stressed, however, that it is joy in God. What we witness here is not the tacking on of vacuous festivity to an act of worship which is itself kept drab. The rejoicing is worship. What must be cultivated is a rejoicing together in the goodness of God."[161]
MS

Michael Sisson

Re: Neh 8:2 Neh 8:2 (NASB) Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, >>>on the first day of the seventh month.<<< Rosh HaShanah, beginning of Israel’s civil calendar. Re: Neh 8:5 Neh 8:5 (NASB) 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.<<< The people demonstrated reverence for the public reading of G-d’s Word.
KH

Kathy Hempel Cox

Great devo! Thank you. May today be the day
GJ

Greg Jones

A few years prior to this the people of Bethel had come to the priest with a question about fasting. Zechariah 7 a distinction is made between the ritual of worshipping and the results of carrying out the law. “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” Zechariah 7:3 Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? Zechariah 7:5 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” Zechariah 7:9-10 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 during the feast of the seventh month. Nehemiah 8:13-14 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord. Leviticus 23:41-44 Zechariah 7 it’s important for the people to remember that in their past days that they hadn’t rendered true judgements, showed kindness and mercy to one another, and had oppressed the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, and the poor Zechariah 7:8-14. Leviticus 23 it’s important to remember that the Israelites lived in booths when they came out of Egypt. Nehemiah 8 it’s important to be obedient to the rule. 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 day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule. Nehemiah 8:17-18 It’s like God’s people had a light bulb moment. Since entering into the land we’ve never obediently celebrated the festival of booths the right way. And that’s the reason we keep going off the rails. John 7:53, 8:1-11. is the account of adultery being judged by religious leaders and Jesus. The reason Jesus is in town, Feast of Booths, John 7:1-10. Only time this festival is mentioned in the NT. On a national level if you picture the woman caught in adultery as representing Israel you get a picture of the new covenant that Jeremiah proclaimed. Jeremiah 31:31-34. Great dive. Thank you Anabella
MS

Michael Scaman

The day was holy. The people grieved for their very real sins to the point of weeping. They were told to move past that to joy, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
SB

Sue Bohlin

Loved your devo, Anabella! Thank you! As one who identifies as "God's Party Girl," I love this story that intrinsically links worship with JOY. And celebrating. And PARTYING! "The joy of the Lord is your strength" is one of the most wonderful verses in the whole Bible, and it provides SUCH a different perspective on a relationship with the living God compared to dead religion!
JC

Jason Cromwell

If I didn't enjoy spending time in God's Word I definitely wouldn't be spending time in a Bible Study from a Church that's not my own five hours from my present house. I'm a leader myself and very rare that I can be fed myself outside of personal Bible Study. I find myself teaching most of the time and am usually busy with one Ministry or another during the Preaching. So "Join the Journey" has been a blessing in that aspect in that for the first time since I was a brand new dipped Christian I get to just be a student of the Word with fellow believers. I'm at the point that Jesus and my relationship with Him is all I have. All my friends are married with kids and I'm the last one unattached. The things of the world hold no draw for me so I'm like Peter "Where would I go Lord?"
AL

Amy Lowther

1. Yes. It helps you remember that God is a priority. It also helps you understand God and increase your value of Him. 2. I heard a fellow greeter read from the Bible as we prepared to go out and greet. I have also heard a sermon on the radio. 3. I find joy in how God helps me approach life. I find my relationship with God takes work, but it is interesting and valuable. 4. I can enjoy God with other believers while serving for the church or while volunteering for local businesses/organizations. 5. It can help me be a better person in general and a better friend for friends.