Video to come.
Morning Message Text: Nehemiah 8: 13-18
13 On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law.
14 They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month
15 and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”—as it is written.
16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.
17 The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.
18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.
Morning Message:
It seems to me that God is drawing me to the book of Nehemiah. The last six chapters of Nehemiah describe the renewal among the people of Israel, who were re-establishing a national presence in Jerusalem. Within these six chapters we can identify ten steps to Spiritual Renewal. These steps are open and available for all of us to study, understand, and make our own. I told you last week that no one can make revival happen; it must come from the Lord, and it must begin in the hearts of God’s people. We can do what the Israelites were doing. We can make room for God to work by following these steps. Amazing things can happen when we draw closer to God and get serious about our obedience.
Now I want to revisit some of what we discussed last week. Let me clear one thing up first. I know that I came across as very critical of the Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service. My criticism was not directed at her personally, but more so at where and when she made her statement. She, like all of us, is entitled to her opinion, but a prayer service is not the place, and the pulpit should never be used to single someone out and preach directly to them.
Last week we said that Step 1 was getting back to the book, the Bible. I found another example of that this week in my readings. In 2 Kings 23: 25 we hear this written about Israel’s new king, King Josiah, “Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.” There is so much rich food for the soul in the Old Testament if we would only take the time to read it. Josiah was crowned king of Judah at the age of eight. When he was twenty years old, he began instituting spiritual and religious reforms in Judah. Why did he do this? Because workers in the temple found a copy of the Book of the Law which had been ignored. Josiah called upon the people to renew their obedience to God. He removed all the places of idol worship and removed the priests who had served false gods. When he was twenty-six years old, he declared that Passover should be celebrated, a feast that had been ignored for years. No king before or after Josiah did as much to revive faithfulness to God in Judah. And it all began with the discovery and application of the Word of God. Whether a nation or an individual, revival begins with reading and applying the Word of God.
The second step, after we get back to God’s Word, is for us to get serious about our obedience. Take notice of what they did. The next day, after a full day of worship and rest and enjoyment before the Lord, they gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law. Worship was wonderful, but there was more. Now it was time to dig in and follow God’s Word. When they looked into the Law, they found something. They saw that they had been neglecting something that God had commanded them to do. I think that’s why we don’t look. I think that the attitude of most Christians today is that if we don’t look at God’s Word, we can do what we want because we are ignorant of what it says. If we look, God’s Word could tell us that we should do something difficult, like stop doing something we enjoy. If you belong to Jesus, you can pretend all you want, but you know what is right in the sight of God. For some it might be as simple as a single verse that reminds us that our decisions do not match God’s ways. Something very subtle that reminded me today of how precious life is: Psalm 71 verse 6, “From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.” We don’t look, or are afraid to look, because the world doesn’t agree.
Okay, let’s see where this leads us. They gathered, they paid attention, they saw something that had been forgotten and realized that they were called to proclaim this newly discovered error to everyone. So, what did they do? They went, brought, built, lived in, read God’s Word, and celebrated. Now I am not an English teacher, and some might even say at times it sounds like English is not even my first language, but even I recognize that gathered, give, found, proclaim, went, brought, built, read, and celebrated are all action verbs. When we hear God’s Word, when we discover what it is calling us to do, we must be obedient and take action. Biblical teaching and preaching require a response. What is our response?
The Jewish people were reminded of the Festival of Tabernacles, a celebration commanded by God. This scripture reminds me of something from my childhood. How many of you ever camped out in a tent in yours or someone else’s yard? I am reminded of so many summer nights when my friends and I would set up the tent and spend the night under the stars. It was a different time then; things were much safer and our parents never had to worry about us. If they only knew that most of the nights we weren’t in those tents. We were out doing all the things that our parents told us not to do. We knew the rules. We knew what was expected of us, and we fully understood what the consequences of our disobedience would be, But, we were young, and like most young people we thought we were invincible. I think that we eventually learned that there was a price to pay for not obeying the rules. Nobody likes rules, but when we become adults we realize the need for obedience. Everything in God’s Holy
Word has a purpose. The Festival of Tabernacles anticipates the time when those who are in heaven will celebrate the joy of coming through the Great Tribulation. God wants us to see and know that wonderful hope. With obedience comes blessing.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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