Nehemiah 8:13

The Bible says in Nehemiah 8:13-18, “And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even 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 in the feast of the seventh month:[15] And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.[16] So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.[17] And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.[18] Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.” The children of Israel come back for a second day to hear the Word of God. You can tell whose hearts have been touched by the Holy Spirit because they keep coming back to hear the Word of God. They knew they needed a teacher. That is why it says at the end of verse thirteen that they came to “Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.” If someone is arrogant, they think that they have the answers already. They think they do not need a teacher: they will just read the Bible at home.

Something else that is really great about the people during the time of Nehemiah and Ezra is that the people wanted to obey the Word of God. They wanted to put it into practice. It says in James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” The purpose of studying the Bible is not just to learn it, but also to put it into practice. When you read the Bible or hear it being taught, always ask the question, “What changes do I need to make to my life to conform to what the Word of God is telling me?” When the children of Israel heard about the Feast of Tabernacles, they wanted to start observing that feast in order to obey the Old Testament law. The “booths” were temporary little dwellings like you would make if you were camping out and did not have a tent. They would not have been very comfortable. The purpose was to remind them of what their ancestors went through in order to get to the Promised Land. God took care of the children of Israel as they wandered through the wilderness, and He will take care of us too. The purpose of camping was also to remind them of how good they had it now that they were established in the land, and so maybe they would be thankful to God and use their resources and opportunities for His glory.

It is important to notice that it says in verse seventeen, “for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so.” That is a span of about eight hundred years. That is a long time to not obey this part of the Word of God. One would think that something that was stopped for that long would be stopped forever. But the fact that they got right with God, started listening to the Word of God, and then once again started doing the right thing shows that there is always hope. If people repent, turn to the Lord, start reading the Word of God and listening to the right teachers, things can be fixed no matter how bad it has become and no matter how long the errors have been taking place. But it cannot be done without the Bible. The Bible must be taught once again to young people. The Bible and prayer must be allowed back into schools. The parents must take their children to a Bible teaching church. If these things and other things like it happen, then we can turn back to God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It these things happen with a great national revival, this is what the final result will be just as it says at the end of verse seventeen, “And there was very great gladness.”

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:1-3, “Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.[2] And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.[3] And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.” We see three very important spiritual qualities that should exist in the life of every Christian: repentance of sin, separation from unbelievers, and giving the proper place to the reading of the Bible. Christians need to confess their sins every day in order to stay in fellowship with the Lord Jesus. We should do the right thing every time, but unfortunately, we do not. We can improve, but we cannot become perfect. The standard is very high: the standard is perfection. Jesus is our example. He did the right thing every moment of every day. And so when we fail, we must confess that sin to Jesus. It says in First John 1:8-10, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.[9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.[10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” One of the advantages of staying constantly in the Word of God is that it will reveal to you your shortcomings that need to be confessed. You will not grow in the Lord unless that process of continuous confession and continuous improvement takes place. And of course, the right kind of separation from unbelievers is critical. Love the sinner, but not the sin. Lead the unbelievers to Christ instead of letting them lead you into sinful activities. Be a leader not a follower. Let your light shine. As it says in Psalm 1:1-3, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.[2] But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.[3] And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:4-6, “Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.[5] Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.[6] Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.” The religious leaders were doing what religious leaders should do. They praised the Lord and then they told everyone else to praise the Lord also. You are not qualified to teach the Word of God unless you put it into practice in your own life first. That is what the qualifications for a pastor are all about in the books of Titus and First Timothy. In verse six these Levites gave several reasons to praise the Lord. The first reason is that the Lord is God and there is none else. He alone deserves to be praised because of who He is. The second reason is that God is the Creator. He made us and everything else, and therefore we ought to praise Him. Also, the “host of heaven” praises God and worships Him. We should desire to do on earth whatever is done in heaven. Jesus told us to pray to God, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:7-8, “Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;[8] And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:” One of the great truths that I see in these verses is that God has a plan. Year after year, decade after decade, and century after century God’s plan is going forth. Abraham has always been a big part of that plan. The Lord brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees and brought him to Haran which is in modern day Turkey, and then when Abram was seventy-five years old, Abram followed the Lord to the land of Canaan and left Haran. That was a big step of faith. God told Abram what to do and where to move to when Abram was seventy-five years old, and Abram did it. Not many human beings have surrendered to the Lord like that and believed God’s Word like that. Abram did, and the Lord loved it. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means a father of multitudes because of the many nations that would descend from Abraham. Jews and Israel, and Arabs and all Arab nations have descended from Abraham. Every true believer who puts their faith in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ have also descended from Abraham spiritually speaking. Verse eight says that God made a covenant with Abraham. That covenant was a promise from God about the land of Canaan and the descendants of Abraham. God always keeps His promises.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:9, “And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;” God knows what is happening even better than we do. He sees and He knows. Remember that God loves truth and goodness and hates deceit and unrighteousness. God also hears the prayers of those who cry out to them. Do not give up on God. The Israelites cried out to God for hundreds of years in Egypt, and finally the Lord decided to do something about it all. When the time was just right, God delivered them from Egypt. Looking at things from a human standpoint, even after the ten plagues against Pharaoh, they had their backs against the sea and in front of them was the Egyptian army. They had no chance to survive. But they had God, and God can do anything. They cried out to God and help was on its way.

The Bible says in Nehemiah 9:10-11, “And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharoah, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.[11] And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.” This is one of the greatest and most well-known events of the Bible: the opening of the Red Sea and then the children of Israel going across it to their salvation. Not only were they saved, but their enemies were destroyed in that same Red Sea. When God decides to act, it is marvelous to behold. Many times little children have stood by a body of water and threw a stone into it: that is how easily the Lord destroyed Pharaoh’s army.

Notice that verse ten mentions just one sin of Pharaoh and the people of Egypt that brought this judgment upon them. It says, “they dealt proudly.” God hates the pride of man. We should be humble before God our Creator and Master. We should be humble before God, realizing our sinfulness. We should be humble before God, realizing all that He has done for us that we do not deserve. We should be humble before God because Jesus died for us on the cross of Calvary.

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