Intro: In the book of Nehemiah in chapters 1-7 we have become acquainted with many individuals.
However, in Nehemiah chapter 8 God steps in the picture. That is what takes place in Nehemiah chapter 8…
• This has nothing to do with Nehemiah working;
• This has nothing to do with Ezra working.
• This has nothing to do with the Levites working.
This has everything to do with God working!!!
The people have worked hard and sacrificed much to rebuild the walls and the temple in Jerusalem. God knows the sacrifices they have made and now God is sending a revival among them and God is pouring out His Spirit upon His people.
• It's been ninety years since Zerubbabel first led the captives from Babylon back to Jerusalem.
• It's been seventy years since the completion of the second temple.
• It's been thirteen years since the return of Ezra and his ministry.
There have been some bright spots in this period from Zerubbabel until the completion of the temple.
But now what God is doing is truly supernatural.
In Nehemiah 8 that great man of God Ezra appears in the book of Nehemiah. We have some questions for Ezra, such as:
• Ezra where have you been for the past thirteen years?
• For that matter, where has he been for the last seven chapters of the book of Nehemiah?
There's been no mention of him. Nehemiah left Babylon six months ago. Nehemiah has been back for four, perhaps five, months. The temple has long since been completed. Now the wall is now complete and we hear about Ezra the priest.
Look at Nehemiah 7:1 Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed. I am sure that some said to Ezra the priest, “Yea, the hard work of the wall is now complete and now Ezra shows up”
But I can assure you that Ezra was not goofing off during that time, the reason he had not showed up he had a different job than Nehemiah.
Nehemiah is a choleric. He's more of a doer. He's a builder and he is a politician...he's a governor.
Ezra is a completely different character.
• Ezra is a scribe.
• Ezra is a priest.
• Ezra is a Bible teacher and preacher and proclaimer of the word of God.
And it seems to me deeply significant what's about to occur, because there's going to be a passing on of the torch now.
The fact is, we will not hear any more of Nehemiah. (Oh, there are four mentions of his name in the rest of these chapters, but they’re in the third person and every single one of them merely refers to the fact that he was governor at the time.)
But his involvement, and his personal involvement…and even the chapters that close don't come from his personal records.
As we've seen the earlier chapters seem to have come from his own personal memoirs. But when we get chapter eight Nehemiah, Nehemiah slides out of the picture.
Actually what's happening is God raises up one and pushes back another. He brings one under the limelight for a season and pushes another back.
He does that with Haggai, the prophet. The entire ministry of Haggai takes place in the space of four months. He seems to come from nowhere and then he seems to disappear again.
From this passage tonight I want to show you three things…all of them begins with the letter “E”. The first is...
I. Ezra.
Again, as it has already been stated Ezra for the first time he's appeared in the book of Nehemiah. We want to ask all sorts of questions, such as, “What has he been doing for the past thirteen years?”
The wall and the temple has been built and now Ezra the priest shows up.
Notice what happens when he shows up in Nehemiah 8:1 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Notice two things:
(1) And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate;
It is a wonderful thing when “ALL the people will gather as ONE MAN…” But they had a request for Ezra…
(2) “…And they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
This is the moving of God. They wanted Ezra to share with them the scriptures.
Illus: This would be like on a Sunday morning we have a church full of people and when the church service is over, instead of people rushing to their cars to head for the restaruants they would say, “Preacher, can you continue to preach God’s Word, we are more hungry for the Word of God than we are for physical food.”
Revival does not start when a preacher from another town come to preach, it starts when people are hungry for the Word of God.
Churches all across this nation sit in the pews wondering why God no longer send revival in their churches.
I can answer that, it is because in many churches there is no hunger for the Word of God.
• Some churches have done away with Sunday Schools where once the Word of God was taught.
• Some churches have done away with their Sunday night services where the Word of God was once preached.
• Some churches have done away with their mid-week service because there is not enough people who will come out to hear the Word of God preached.
Illus: You have heard the old saying, “You can take a horse to the trough but you can not make him drink!”
Listen, you do not have to ask people why they do not attend a Bible-teaching, Bible-preaching church…I CAN TELL YOU WHY!!! They have no hunger for the Word of God. They are:
• Hungry for entertainment
• Hungry for the pleasures of this world
But they are not hungry for the Word of God.
I John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
They have no love for God or God’s Word according to the scriptures.
Illus: They are like a man that has set before him a very neutrious plate full of food but he takes his hands and push it away.
But these people that we are reading about in Nehemiah 8 they are hungry for the Word of God.
Look at Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The people obviously knew who Ezra was. He probably had already gained a level of notoriety among the people, so that when they gather at this place — the Water Gate in Jerusalem — it is the people's request that Ezra be brought to read the Book of the Law of Moses to them.
This meeting may look spontaneous as you look at the transition from the closing verse of chapter 7 into the first verse of chapter 8, but there's no doubt been some planning here.
Let me show you why there had to be some planning for this big occasion…
(1)There had to be some planning there because they gather in a place that would accomodate a lot of people.
Nehemiah 8:1 it says they “…And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate…”
To accommodate the large crowd that would be there, they had to make some plans. Such as:
(1)They recognize the new temple would not accommodate all the thousands that would be coming so they met at the WATERGATE.
WHY DID THEY MEET AT THE WATER GATE?
It was very significant that the people gathered at The Water Gate because it was a place where running streams of water would enter the city underground and go into the Temple of God where the priests would wash. The Water Gate was the portion of the city where fresh, living waters entered for people to drink.
But there is another reason we say there had to be some planning.
(2)There had to be a pulpit built.
Notice, a pulpit that would hold fourteen people. Look at Nehemiah 8:7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.
You see, construction was necessary for the building of the temple and the wall but the people of God needed more than that. Nehemiah understood that what they really needed was the Scriptures. They needed the Bible.
It's more difficult than you might imagine. They didn't have the King James Bible sitting in their laps. The Bible was in scrolls, and scrolls were hard to come by and only the priests had these scrolls.
• The scrolls were written in the Hebrew language and these people aren't speaking Hebrew anymore.
• Much of the book of Ezra is in fact written in Aramaic and not Hebrew.
Even Jesus, it is believed, spoke Aramaic. So you've got a translation issue.
Nehemiah the great builder that he was gathered the people together on the first day of the seventh month, the month of Tishri, and they’re to meet there at the WATERGATE.
But when Nehemiah did his job as a builder and as a politicians he steps aside and allows Ezra to come on the scene.
That says something about Nehemiah. You might have expected Nehemiah to be a man who could do anything. A man of many talents he must step backwards now in order that Ezra in the providence of God might step forward.
In the book of Nehemiah he steps aside to allow Ezra the priest to do what God has called him to do.
We have looked at Ezra the priest but now we want to look at the congregation…
II. Enthusiasm.
Again, look at verse 1, they gather together at the Water Gate, and notice in verse 1 it says they “…And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate…”
There's evidently a great measure of unanimity. They’re all of one mind.
Some wonderful things happen when God’s people all have come together as one.
Illus: Remember this is what happened at Pentecost. When that 120 believers gathered in the upper room they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Again, in the book of Nehemiah 8 they ALL gather for the same reason, men and women and children, too.
They gather as one man with a collective desire to hear the word of God. You might say they’re coming together for a Bible conference.
Did Ezra and Nehemiah wonder how many would turn up?
They’re all there for one purpose.
One gets the impression that there are thousands of people now gathered: people who lived in Jerusalem, but people who lived outside of Jerusalem in the nearby towns and villages, and they’d come with one purpose and with one intention: to hear the word of God.
They want Ezra to read the Scriptures to them. They’re thirsty for the word of God. There's an enthusiasm for the Word of God.
Illus: Today people flock to the house of God for many reason and since we are familiar for those reason we will not discuss that.
But these thousands of people became AS ONE as they all came for the right reason
I told you a few minutes ago that they had built a pulpit.
Now look at Nehemiah 8:4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
Notice, the word “Pulpit”.
• In verse 4, the Hebrew word for pulpit is the word a tower.
• In verse 5, we read that Ezra was above the people, so it's built in such a way that everyone could see him.
Nehemiah 8:5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
Many churches today when the Word of God is read, they stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Why did they stand?
Illus: They stood for the same reason that when a man is in a restaurant and a lady walks up to his table out of respect the man stands.
This is not necessarily a pattern that God has set for the people of God to do when God’s Word is read. There is certainly not anything wrong with it when churches do stand because you can not show enough respect for the Word of God. This was the custom they had for God’s Word when it was read.
You notice this day began with worship. It began with a blessing, and it began with the people saying “Amen” and lifting up their holy hands and bowing their heads, and worshiping their Lord with their faces to the ground.
Nehemiah 8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. In other words they were on all four with their face toward the ground.
Look back at these words in Nehemiah 8:3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.
Everyone was paying attention to the reading of the word.
• No sleepyheads here.
• No one glancing at their watches here.
• They’re attentive.
There's an enthusiasm for the Word of God. They’re eager to hear the word of God. Men and women and the youth are there.
Illus: There are beautiful moments (and preachers especially are conscious when those moments come) when it seems to be that you could hear a pin drop and everybody is paying attention to the word of God and eager to hear
what God is saying to their hearts and souls, but those are precious moments, and they’re given, I think, by the Holy Spirit. But here the ears of all the people were attentive to the word of God.
Now, how much of the word of God was read?
You took note, of course, that this meeting began in the early morning and finished at mid-day. (This is a five-hour, perhaps a six-hour meeting.) They are standing the whole time.
We have looked at:
(1) Ezra
(2) Enthsiasm
But now let us look at the…
III. Exposition.
Look at Nehemiah 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
These men in verse 7 that we read about were station through out the large crowd.
Ezra would read a passage of scripture and he would stop reading and these men who had divided among this congregation among themseleves would say, “Did you understand what Ezra had said, and these men would explain to their groups what the Word of God was teaching them.”
Look at these words, So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly.
The Word of God should be heard by everyone and made clear to everyone.
Some would nod their heads telling these men understood what Ezra read, but most likely some hands went up asking these men to clarify what was read by Ezra.
What an extraordinary day this must have been a five six-hour meeting in which the Torah, the Book of the Law of Moses, was read and translated and expounded.
And you sense something of the excitement and enthusiasm among the people.
Look at Nehemiah 8:9-10 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
These people were some excited people about the Word of God. The Bible tells us those who are hungry for the Lord, excited in the Lord, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Conclusion:
Before I close there is something I want to close with that is very important. I am talking about Application
We can hear a thousand sermons from the Word of God but it does us no good until apply the Word of God to us personally.
Revival comes when God’s people are hungry for the Word and they apply it to their life.
There's nothing fancy in what Ezra did, just Scripture. But scripture read and preach if it is not APPLIED it does us no good whatsoever.
We have looked at three things in Nehemiah 8:1-10…
I. EZRA
II. Enthusiasm
III. Exposition
