Nehemiah: Rebuilding A Community: The Celebration. Nehemiah 8:1-18

Nehemiah: Rebuilding A Community
The Celebration

Nehemiah 8:1-18

 

A Return to the Word (v. 1-8)

• After the work on the walls had been completed
  • The community turns to God in worship
  • The call to worship God comes from the ‘people’
• This worship centered on refocusing on God’s truth revealed in His word
  • The book that Ezra read was probably Deuteronomy
  • The reading was 6 hours long (v. 3)
• The whole community was involved
  • Men & women
  • Young & old
  • The learned & unlearned
  • Lay leaders (v. 4) & Levites (v. 7)
    • The latter explaining what the text meant to the crowd as it was read (v. 8)
  • The people responded by (v. 6):
    • Lifting their hands in worship = showing a sense of need
    • Saying, “Amen! Amen!” = affirming their submission to the authority of Scripture
    • Bowing down to the ground = a sense of humility and submission before God

 

A Day to Celebrate (v. 9-12)

• As the people heard God’s word read, they wept and mourned
  • Realizing that they had failed to keep it
• But Nehemiah, Ezra, and the leaders call them to rejoice instead
  • Because God had shown His goodness to them despite their sin
• This also involved fellowship offerings and sharing in a communal meal (v. 10-11)
  • With the wealthy sharing with the poor

 

A Time to Remember (v. 13-18)

• On the 2nd day of celebration, the heads of each family gathered to study God’s word
• This led them to realize that the Feast of Booths was approaching (15th day of the 7th month)
  • Though it had not been celebrated properly* since the time of Joshua (v. 17)
• The Feast of Booths (see Lev. 23:33–43, Deut. 16)
  • A harvest festival celebrating God’s provision
    • This aspect was celebrated throughout the reign of faithful kings (2 Chron. 8:13; 31:3; 35:18)
  • A time to reflect on God’s guidance of His people through the 40 years in the wilderness
    • Living in tents like their ancestors had
    • This had been neglected, but now had new meaning as the Israelites returned from the Exile

 

So What?

• As God focused His people on His work
  • They celebrated
  • They refocused on His word
  • They remembered His goodness
• Are we doing the same?

Meditation Verse: Nehemiah 8:8