Nehemiah 8: 1 – 18
Feed the sheep
8 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. 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. 13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law. 14 And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.” 16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. 17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. 18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.
Many of you are familiar with the Gospel of John chapter 21 where our Lord Jesus Christ asks Peter if he loves Him. I have heard many preachers focus on the interaction of Peter and our Lord on the two words of Philia (friendship) and Agape (God inspired). Yet with all these good points one thing which I see as important as we know that He Is our Good Shepherd is His response of ‘feed My sheep’.
Let us look at our Precious Holy Spirit’s words, “15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
The three commands of our Holy Master and King Jesus Christ although translated the same way, are subtly different. The first time our Lord Jesus says it, the Greek word literally says to ‘pasture (tend) the lambs (verse 15). The greed word for ‘pasture’ is in the present tense, denoting a continual action of tending, feeding and caring for animals. Believers are referred to as sheep throughout Scripture. “For He Is our God and we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice”
The Lord Jesus Is both our Good Shepherd as John 10 verse 11 says, “11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” And He Is the One Who protects His flock. No one can get by Him because He Is the Door which is pointed out to us in verse 9 of the same chapter, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
By describing His people as lambs, He Is emphasizing their nature as immature and vulnerable and in need of tending and care.
The second response to Peter from our Lord Jesus in verse 16 our Great God Yeshua Is emphasizing the tending of the sheep in a supervisory capacity, not only feeding but ruling over them. This expresses the full scope of pastoral oversight, both in Peter’s future and in all those who would follow him in pastoral ministry. Peter teaches us this important fact in his first letter chapter 5 verse 2, “2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly”
The final time or third response (verse 17) the literal instruction to shepherds are to tend, care for, and provide spiritual food for God’s people, from the youngest lambs to the full grown shep, in continual action to nourish and care for their souls, bringing them into the fullness of spiritual maturity. The totality of the task set before Peter, and all shepherds, is made clear by Jesus’ three fold command and the words He chooses.
What is this food with which shepherds are to feed the flock of God? It can be no other than the Word of God. Peter declares in chapter 2 verse 2 of his first letter that Christians are to desire the pure spiritual milk of the Word so that by it we can mature in our salvation, “2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby”
As early as the book of Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3, we see the Lord describing His Word as food for His people who live not by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from His mouth,3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
The importance of the Word of God as food for our souls cannot be over emphasized.
Clearly, the job of the shepherds of God’s people are to provide them with the pure milk of the Word of God so they can move on to the meat and solid food of the spiritually mature as we learn in the book of Hebrews chapter 5, “12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Pastoral ministry should be primarily one of pastors feeding their people the Word of God. Only then can pastors declare, as Peter did, their love for the Lord Jesus.
Today we are going to see the impact and revival the reading of God’s Word can do with His people.
The people having gathered for the Feast of trumpets on the new moon day, the Law was read to them by Ezra and his companions from day break to midday, probably with breaks as the Levites provided explanations. And its impact was so great that the people wept. It was a Day of Atonement in miniature. This was then followed by feasting as they ate before YHWH.
7.73 … ‘And when the seventh month was come, the children of Israel were in their cities.’
These were the closing words of the list which Nehemiah had utilized on chapter 7, but it is here being used (as in Ezra 3.1) as a suitable introduction to what follows. Once again ‘the seventh month’, the Festal month, had come. It would begin, as always on the new moon day, the first day of the month, which was the Feast of Trumpets (Rams’ Horns), and it would continue on the tenth day with the Day of Atonement, and this would then lead on to the Feast of Tabernacles from the fifteenth day of the month to the twenty first day of the month, being concluded by the great day of the Feast on the twenty second day (‘the eighth day of the Feast’). During this period large numbers of offerings and sacrifices would be offered (Numbers 29).
8 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.
In 7.73 they were ‘in their cities’. F now they would have travelled to Jerusalem prior to the first day of the seventh month in order to be present for the Feast of Trumpets. and having now arrived they gathered themselves together ‘as one man’ (Ezra 3.1). This would appear to have been a traditional way of describing the gathering together of the people. Where they gathered was clearly in Jerusalem. Here we are given more exact detail. They gathered in the broad place that was before the Water Gate. This may well have been outside the walls built by Nehemiah, as the Water Gate may have been in the old wall which had been destroyed but the area was clearly large enough to enable all the people, male and female, young and old, to gather. That the meeting had been planned meticulously comes out in that the platform from which Ezra would read was already built. The gathering of all the people on the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the seventh month, indicates the speed at which preparations had gone forward, for the building of the wall had only ceased on the twenty fifth day of the previous month (6.15).
Having gathered the people called on Ezra the Scribe (an official title indicating his authoritative position as Teacher of the Law appointed by Artaxerxes, (Ezra 7.11-12) to bring ‘the scrolls containing the Law of Moses which YHWH had commanded to Israel’. The description is clearly of scrolls containing an ancient message passed down throughout their history and they were clearly seen as ‘the Word of God’. This was a pre-empting of what would usually happen every seven years on the fifteenth day of the month and indicates the eagerness of the people to hear the word of God. A new Spirit was at work among the people.
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.
This was on the first day of the seventh month, when the trumpets would be blown (Leviticus 23.24-25; Numbers 29.1-6) heralding the month of penitence and celebration. Now the loudest trumpet of all was to be blown, the proclamation of the Law of God. It was unusual for this to take place on this day so early in the month, but the people had come together and were eager for it.
It is significant that it was Ezra, and not the High Priest, who was responsible for the carrying out of God’s commandment. This demonstrates his unique position as being the appointee of the Persian government. All in Judah acknowledged that.
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.
Ezra read from the Law of God in the chosen place, from early morning to midday, for about six or seven hours.
It is perhaps significant for the future that the attention is not on the splendor of Ezra (as it had been on the splendor of Solomon), or on the appearance of ‘the glory’ (Exodus 34.29), but on the words of the Torah seen as the word of God which had been ‘commanded’ to Israel (verse 1). The word had replaced the glory. It was to be both authoritative and divine in origin.
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.
Ezra, now as ‘Ezra the Scribe’ was a representative of God, as the fulfiller of the command in Deuteronomy. This platform was in comparison to the brazen platform erected by Solomon at the dedication of the first Temple (2 Chronicles 6.13). With him were thirteen named people. Together with Ezra they made up fourteen, seven and seven, an intensification of the number of divine perfection and completeness.
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.
It would have been a most impressive scene. First Ezra came onto the platform before the hushed crowd with the scrolls of the Law in his hands, (with some scrolls possibly carried by his companions). And then, as they watched in awe, he, being well above the people on the platform, opened up one of the scrolls in front of them. At this point all the people stood on their feet and waited for him to read. This reminds us that at some stage it had become the practice to listen to the Law being read while standing. This was a mark of respect at receiving a word from God (Judges 3.20; Job 29.8; Ezekiel 2.1).
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.
Ezra ‘blessed the great God’. The title ‘the great God’ (ha-elohim ha-gedol). It is, of course, underlining the greatness of the God Whose covenant was being proclaimed, and who had delivered them from their captivity in Babylon.
All the people answered, ‘Amen, amen’ (so let it be), expressing their heartfelt agreement with Ezra’s worship.
‘With the lifting up of their hands, and they bowed their heads, and worshipped YHWH with their faces to the ground.’ The lifting up of the hand was a kind of appeal and supplication to God (Exodus 17.11-12; Ezra 9.5), while their bowing of their heads so that their faces were to the ground, was an expression of obedience and humility.
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.
Then as the Law was being read out, possibly with suitable pauses, thirteen specially appointed Levites, who had presumably been stationed among the people, gave the people guidance, and helped them to understand the Law. This was a traditional function of the Levites (Deuteronomy 33.10; 2 Chronicles 17.7-9; 35.3). But it may have included translation into Aramaic. Note the continual emphasis on ‘understanding’ (verses 2, 3, 7, 8). Understanding what was read was conceived to be of vital importance. Meanwhile the people remained standing in their places. The fact that the Levites were standing among the people would enable questions to be asked and answered.
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.
This verse summarises what has gone before. They ( those on the platform) read in the written record, in the Law of God, distinctly (or ‘paragraph by paragraph’), whilst they, (the Levite instructors), gave the sense so that they (the people) understood the reading. It was a summing up of the whole procedure.
It is apparent that there was a revival atmosphere at the gathering. God was present among them and His Holy Spirit was moving on men’s hearts through His chosen one in the same way as at the Exodus (Isaiah 63.11). In consequence God’s commands went deep into their hearts and they wept as they realised how far they had come short. But their leaders then called on them not to weep. Rather they were to rejoice, because it was YHWH’s holy day, a day when God was at work among them. And as a result they moved from weeping to rejoicing, figuratively feasting at God’s holy table, as the elders had at the Exodus (Exodus 24.9-11).
It is significant that here within this day on this occasion the whole of the festivities of the seventh month are encapsulated. First the proclamation of God’s truth takes place, like the blowing of a trumpet (8.1-8), then there is responsive weeping as on the Day of Atonement (8.9), and finally there is feasting as on the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles (8.10-12).
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.
The weeping of the people, as God’s Holy Spirit brought home to them His words, demonstrated the genuineness of their feelings. This was no formal hearing of the Law, or formal weeping in accordance with tradition. It was a genuine repentance for sin. The thought of how Jerusalem had been restored and was once more ‘whole’ had brought a new impetus to the Law (Torah - ‘instruction’), and it now came home to them with new meaning. It also brought home a new meaning to the seventh month. There was seen to be good reason for blowing the rams’ horns, and for heeding the words of God.
The weeping of the people was such that it moved those who were responsible for them to respond, in order to deal with their anguish. And this their leaders and teachers naturally did. Up to this point the governor Nehemiah had remained in the background as what was happening had come under the jurisdiction of Ezra’s appointment by Artaxerxes (Ezra 7.13-14, 25-26), but now, when the people wept and were distraught, it became the governor’s responsibility and he came to the fore. From our knowledge of his personal godliness we are not surprised at his intervention. He would naturally feel responsibility for them. And along with his efforts were those of Ezra, as both Priest and Scribe, and of the teaching Levites. This is one of the rare places where Nehemiah and Ezra are mentioned side by side.
First it is pointed out that Nehemiah and Ezra are only seen as acting together in only two places, here in 8.9, and in 12.36 (taken with verse 31). We must remember, however, that the tendency in the Book is only to mention those directly responsible for something. This lessens the impact of that fact. For while Ezra does indeed have only a small part to play in the Book of Nehemiah, it is understandable why that is so. It is because the Book deals with concerns outside the jurisdiction of Ezra. He was not High Priest, but an appointee of the Persian king charged with the maintenance, explanation and enforcement of the Law of God on all Jewish people (Ezra 7.14, 25).
Furthermore, however closely allied to religious matters the first few chapters may be, they are not dealing with the interpretation and application of the Law, but with a political initiative which is very much dependent on Nehemiah’s personal relationship with the king. And there the High Priest and the priests are very much involved as we have seen. Even in chapter 5 there was no dispute about the what the Law said. What Nehemiah was requesting went beyond the Law, even though observing its spirit. He was acting as a statesman with a background knowledge of the Law. No one disagreed about what the Law said.
It was only when the Law was to be read and expounded that Ezra’s jurisdiction applied. And we note that here in chapter 8 it was Ezra, and not the High Priest, who was called on for the purpose. Had he not been the appointee of the king of Persia with specific authority on such matters this would have been an insult to the High Priest. But it is that very fact that explains why, apart from in this chapter, he is elsewhere in the Book only certainly mentioned once. He is not, for example, mentioned in respect of the building of the wall. That was a practical, not a ‘legal’ matter. But that may also well have been because he was engaged in fulfilling what was his prime responsibility as established by the king, of promulgating the Law among all Jews in Beyond the River (assuming that he was still active in that process which is what this chapter suggests), and besides, he had no group of workmen on whom he could call. Nor was he probably a signatory to the covenant (see chapter 10), even though he may have had a hand in drawing it up. Again, that would be because it was signed by heads of families, whilst he was not necessarily head of his family. It will, however, be noted that as the king’s appointed representative he was called on to participate in the dedication of the walls.
In the same way we note that Nehemiah does not have a prominent part to play in chapter 8. And the reason for that was that this did fall within Ezra’s jurisdiction. He was the government authorised expounder of the Law. That is why Nehemiah only comes in when the people are visibly upset. He feels then that he is justified in intervening. He was directly subject to Ezra as a religious matter to do with the meaning 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.”
While this could be seen as only spoken by Nehemiah (note the interest expressed in the needs of the poor), or Ezra, the verb should more probably be translated ‘they’ as indicating the composite group of Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites, the singular being the result of the usage in the previous verse.
It does, of course, summaries a number of instructions that were given. First that they should be positive and celebrate the feast with joy, eating of the best (not the fat potions which belonged to YHWH, but the fatter portions which were the best of what remained) and drinking of the best (the meaning of the word for ‘sweet’ is uncertain), out of the offerings that they had brought, while meanwhile ensuring provision for those who had been in no position to bring offerings (Deuteronomy 12.12). And this was because the day was ‘holy to YHWH’, separated off as His, and thus to be a time of rejoicing as signifying the solidity of God’s covenant with them. Nor were they to be grieved. Their repentance had been right, but now the sin offering had been offered in accordance with the Law’s requirements, and therefore their sins as a nation had been forgiven (Numbers 29.5). Thus, their strength now lay in ‘the joy of YHWH’, the rejoicing that He aroused in them through their coming to him on the basis of His covenant which would make them strong and protect them from His judgment.
11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”
Nehemiah and Ezra would have spoken to the people, or possibly through their leaders. It was the Levites who went among the people (as they had when Ezra read the Law) and gave more personal teaching. They too called on the people to cease their weeping because the day was holy to YHWH and therefore to be rejoiced in. It was not a day in which to be grieving, but a day for joy.
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.
In consequence of the ministrations of Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites the people responded, putting aside their weeping in order to eat and drink, and rejoice before YHWH. And they ensured that portions of food and drink were supplied to those who had none, as had been required. But it was not done heedlessly or carelessly. It was done because they understood the word that had been declared to them. They recognized that weeping was no longer in order because they had received forgiveness and were now securely enjoying His covenant protection. In the words of the Psalmist, ‘For his anger is but a moment. In his favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30.5).
There is a lesson for us all here in that we too should know times of weeping when we sin and displease God. But we must then be ready to accept His forgiveness and not continue in mourning over sin. Rather we should rejoice in the forgiveness that is ours through Him, and go forward in the joy of the Lord. While weeping has its place, the Christian life should on the whole be one of continual joy, even when circumstances are hard.
The majority of the people again gathered, on the day after the Feast, in order to hear more of the Torah and what Ezra had to say concerning it. This was in fulfilment of the role assigned to him by the king of Persia. In consequence of this they found in Leviticus 23.40, 42 the requirement for all Israel to live in booths over the Feast of Tabernacles.
13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law.
The second day was the day following the Feast of Trumpets (Rams’ Horns). On that day the leaders of tribes, sub-tribes, clans and wider families gathered together with the priests and Levites to hear a further reading of the Torah and to give attention to Ezra’s expounding of it. They may well have been aroused by the previous day’s experience to recognize their need to have a greater understanding so as to guide their people. Their unanimous response indicates Ezra’s special and unique position. Even the High Priest would presumably be present.
14 And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
These words are not specifically citing the Law but drawing out from it its meaning. The important point learned by them was that they were to dwell in booths made of tree branches in commemoration of the time in the wilderness after Israel had been redeemed from Egypt. “You shall dwell in booths seven days -- that your generation may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 23.42-43). The idea of proclamation is found in Leviticus 23.4, whilst the feast was to observe ‘in the place which YHWH your God shall choose (Deuteronomy 16.15-16). They were to ‘publish and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem’.
‘Go forth to the mount’, in other words, to the place which YHWH has chosen (Deuteronomy 16-15-16). Thus they were to gather to Jerusalem to build their booths. So, Ezra has expanded on the ideas in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 in order to give specific and detailed instructions concerning the building of the booths at Jerusalem.
The passage now jumps from the second day to the fifteenth day of the month, when the people having gathered their branches, assembled once more in Jerusalem for the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles. There they erected booths to dwell in over the period of the Feast. The emphasis in the whole passage is on the reading out of and response to the Law followed by the building of booths in Jerusalem, commemorative of the Exodus, for the proper observance of the seven-day Feast in fulfilment of that Law.
16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim.
Because of what their leaders had learned from the Law (the Torah), as the fifteenth day approached the people gathered branches and assembled in Jerusalem, where they made themselves booths. Those who had houses built the booths on the roofs of their houses, and in the courts of the bigger houses, while others built theirs in the courts of the house of God, and in the broad place by the Water Gate where they had previously assembled on the first day (verse 1), and in the broad place by the Gate of Ephraim. Thus, Jerusalem was filled with booths, as they re-enacted the Exodus experience. They felt that they had taken part in a new Exodus.
17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.
So ‘those who had come out of the captivity’ dwelt in booths, just as those who had come out of captivity in Egypt had previously done. They made booths and dwelt in booths in commemoration of the Exodus, just as in Joshua’s day the people had done the same. The phrase about those who had come out of captivity is used deliberately. They were thereby celebrating a new deliverance.
18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.
As well as sleeping in booths the people also listened to the Law (Torah) of Moses being read out to them day by day. On each day of the seven-day feast Ezra read out to them sections of the book of the Law of God. And they observed the Feast in accordance with the requirements laid out in that Law (Leviticus 23.33-36; Deuteronomy 31.10-13). Then on the eighth day there was a ‘solemn gathering and observance’, just as the Law required. This requirement for the eighth day is found in Leviticus 23.33, 39; Numbers 29.35-38. The word translated ‘solemn assembly’ is a comparatively rare one. It refers to the whole day as a day of ‘holding back’ and includes the thought of rest from servile work. Thus, the people gathered, restraining both themselves and their servants from work, so as to celebrate the Day.
This day of complete rest, following immediately on a daily reading of the Law, and enforcing a period of meditation, had its inevitable consequence. The people had restrained their sorrow over sin (verse 9), which had initially been brought about by the reading of the Law, in order to observe the Feast with gladness. But meanwhile that sense of guilt had been increasing due to the hearing of the Law. After the thrill and buoyancy of the Feast came the inevitable emotional collapse. Now they gave full rein to their sense of guilt. And this caused them to remain in Jerusalem beyond the finalising of the Feast. Day by day throughout the Feast they had received more and more revelations out of the Law as it was read and interpreted daily. In consequence their feelings of guilt with regard to their failure to observe it fully would have been impressed on them more and more day by day. And this would no doubt having been exacerbated by the reading of the curses pronounced in Deuteronomy 27-28, which would presumably have been read on the last of the seven days of the Feast. It thus led to a renewed mourning over their sins and their failure to observe the covenant. And this was something which would now lead on to the proposal and acceptance of a renewed covenant (chapter 10).
