WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:06.559 Church, if you would turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 8 this morning. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:13.519 Working our way through Nehemiah, if Lord willing, the schedule goes as planned. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:16.879 We'll finish this up in the end of October. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:26.960 Nehemiah 8 is a kind of unique passage because it is a sermon and it teaches what a sermon is and what a sermon should do. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:32.159 There's not a whole lot of places in the scriptures where we can just kind of get a clear picture. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:36.240 This is a sermon being given, this is the reality of that. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:42.000 I was doing some rough calculations, some crude math. 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:46.719 I'm not a mathematician, not really a numbers guy by any means. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:59.359 But I was just thinking, if you can take the, like how many years we've all been Christians, for those who are Christians in the room, and add all those years up and think about how many sermons collectively have we listened to? 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.759 And it's gotta be in the tens and tens of thousands. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:05.840 Maybe close to a hundred thousand sermons. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:11.760 If you take everyone's life, every sermon that we've all listened to, add it up a hundred thousand sermons potentially. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:13.599 I mean, that's an amazing thing. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.079 When you think a hundred thousand times we've heard the word proclaimed. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.079 But what's the point of a sermon? 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:27.040 Why listen to thousands of sermons in your life? 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:38.079 God has ordained his word to be proclaimed, to be heralded to his people through the regular preaching of his word. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.719 Through the preaching of God's word. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:49.599 Not to build kind of a big event, but to build his church. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:57.280 And so we don't kind of come on Sunday mornings just to listen to me or to Ron or Jimmy or whoever else because we're really interesting people. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:03.920 Or that we have some amazing insight into the word that unless you're here, you're just not gonna get it. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:11.280 Rather, we preach so that there will be understanding and obedience. 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:16.800 The point of preaching is to bring understanding and obedience. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:21.680 For in this there's great joy and salvation. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:23.039 Let's read together. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.199 I'm gonna read all of chapter 8. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:32.080 If you know me, I do not do well with all the biblical names, although I've tried, so be patient. 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:37.120 Let us read God's sacred, precious word. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:44.240 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the water gate. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:51.599 And they told Ezra the scribe to bring up the book of the law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:03:11.360 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month, and he read from it facing the square before the water gate, from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and women, and those who could understand. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:16.159 And the ears of the people were attentive to the book of the law. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:22.240 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:40.960 And beside him stood Meteethus, Shema, and Neah, Uriah, Hilkiah, Messeah, and on his right, and Pedeah, Meshel, Mikoljach, Hashum, Hashbedinai, Zechariah, and Mishalim on his left hand. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:49.840 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it, the people stood. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:04:02.879 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, amen, lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:25.279 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Hakub, Shebethe, Hodiah, Messeah, Kalite, Ezariah, Jazbad, Hanan, Peliah, and the Levites helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their places. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:33.279 They read from the book of the law of God clearly, and they gave the sense that the people understood the reading. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:43.759 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and 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. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.079 Do not mourn or weep. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:50.480 For all the people wept as they heard the words of the law of the law. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:05:01.439 Then they said to them, Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine, and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready for this day is holy to our Lord. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:05.439 And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:11.839 So the Levites calmed the people, saying, Be quiet, for this day is holy, do not be grieved. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:23.120 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and dispense in portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were be that were declared to them. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:39.120 On the second day the heads of the father's houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came to gather to Ezra the scribe, to excuse me, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the law. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:06:03.920 And they found it written in the law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should proclaim it and publish it in their all their towns and in Jerusalem, go out to the hills and bring branches of olive and wild olive, myrtle and palm and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:29.519 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts, in the courts of the house of God, and in the squares at the water gate, and in the square at the gate of Ephraim, and all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, from the day of from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to the day the people of Israel had not done so. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:48.319 And there was very great rejoicing, and by day, and day by day, from the first day to 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 solemn assembly according to the rule, according to the rule. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:50.560 Says the word of the Lord. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:55.120 So we jump in to Nehemiah chapter 8. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:07:03.680 And if you've kind of been with us, we've been in a series through Ezra and Nehemiah, and we see a pattern in both the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:06.720 And that is these both men come to rebuild something. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:13.360 Ezra rebuilds the temple, and Nehemiah rebuilds the wall, and then they seek to rebuild God's people. 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:19.360 In chapter 8, we see this assembling of the people together. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:25.040 They're finally gathered together to hear the word proclaimed. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:27.759 It's interesting. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:30.720 The people were gathered, right? 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:36.639 And as they gathered, they wanted to know what is it that we're kind of here for. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:49.680 They've been traveling, they've been in Babylon for years, now some of them have been back for years, and they've been working hard, they've been rebuilding, they've been kind of rebuilding temples and walls and all these things. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:55.920 And then they gather the people together and they open the word together. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:01.759 That they may have understanding and clarity. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:13.759 It's my goal this morning that we can understand through this passage how God instructs his people through the proclamation, the teaching, the preaching of his word. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:16.639 And we know that that's not the only way. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:23.600 You don't have to be here on a Sunday morning or under a Sunday preacher to grow in your faith. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:26.720 And that's not what I'm saying, and that's not what the word is saying. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:34.799 But rather, it is through this time, this gathering of the people together, that God brings instruction to his people. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:43.840 So my points this morning, the three points are that the word is central, so listen attentively. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:51.519 The word has been given, so respond appropriately, and the word brings life, so enjoy obedience. 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:58.559 We see how serious these people were about God's word. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.279 They all gathered together to hear it proclaimed. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:04.639 They were present. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:08.159 It was a priority for them to gather together. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:12.000 I've said this before, I'll keep saying this. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:17.120 The Sunday gathering is the most important thing in your week. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:20.879 This is the most important thing you can do all week. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:27.039 And again, I don't say that because I'm just a phenomenal preacher, and you just gotta be here to hear me preach. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:29.519 You know that's not what I'm saying. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:33.600 But this is the rhythm that God has designed for his people. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.000 We see this all through the New Testament. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:44.159 They gather on the Lord's Day, they gather to encourage, to build one another up, to study the scriptures, to hear the word proclaimed, to lift up one another's burdens. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:50.960 We're never more the church than we are right here, right now. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:58.399 When we scatter, we say we try to scatter well, we're still Christians and we're still a part of the church, but we're never more the proclamation church. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:04.399 That we're all gathered here together on the Lord's day with the word of the Lord. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:06.000 So we gather. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:10.639 And when we gather, the word is central. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:12.559 The word is central. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:14.240 It's present. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.879 And we see this in this passage in verse 1. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:21.519 And they they gather the book of the law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:26.240 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:32.480 So it's interesting as we'll get in this passage, you'll realize this wasn't the norm. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:34.559 And this was kind of the problem. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:39.759 Like these people, as we know, were taken off into captivity because they were disobedient and then are brought back. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.799 And for a long period, the word was not central to their life. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:51.919 It wasn't central to their daily life, it wasn't central to their rhythm as a people of God and how they worshiped. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.480 So the first thing is that the word was, it's present. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:05.600 It's hard to say that we are people of God, that we're Christians if God's word is absent from our life. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:09.919 It's hard to say, man, I love Jesus, I'm a Jesus follower. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:12.480 Okay, where's Jesus' word in your life? 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:16.000 Yeah, I think it's somewhere on the bookshelf somewhere. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:17.679 I don't really need the word. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:19.919 I've kind of grew up in the church. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:22.159 You know, I kind of know the gist of the Bible. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:24.559 I don't feel like I need to read it or study it. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:26.960 I've heard everything it has to say. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:31.840 As Christians, the word is present with us. 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:33.919 It's in us, it's among us. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:34.960 We have it open. 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:35.919 We're studying it. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:37.600 We're people of the word. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:40.639 The word is central, it's present. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:42.960 And the word was honored. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:44.720 It wasn't just a token. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.120 It shouldn't just be a token thing that it's really nice. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:51.759 It sets there on the mantle or it sets on the coffee table and it looks really good. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:53.600 But it was actually honored. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:55.840 Look in verse 4, and then in verse 6. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:02.799 Verse 4 says, The scribes stood on a wooden platform, Ezra stood on the wooden platform that they had made for this purpose. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:05.519 They built this platform, right? 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.600 So they finished building the wall, and they're like, hey, one more thing, we've got to build like a platform. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:12.399 Not so everyone can just be like, wow, look at Ezra. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:14.960 He looks so priestly in those garments. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:16.879 He looks so nice there. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:17.519 No. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:22.399 It's so that they can clearly hear the word taught. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:27.919 There is a symbolism happening when the word is elevated up. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:32.320 It's a priority, it's our authority for us. 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:33.840 It's honored. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:35.440 And how do the people respond? 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:43.039 Verse 6, Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen and Amen, lifting up their hands. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:45.120 They bowed their heads. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:50.559 They were learning to have this honor for the word of the Lord. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:55.200 And we live in a day and age where we don't honor anything. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:57.279 But nothing is honored. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:00.080 People don't honor their parents. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:02.080 Parents don't honor their children. 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.720 They don't honor the authorities in their life. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:06.240 They don't honor their neighbor. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:08.559 They don't honor anything. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:12.559 You know, it's interesting how much it changes. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:17.120 Several years ago, we all went through a pandemic together. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:22.879 And I'm not here to talk politics, but there was a there was a huge push to honor science in that. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:23.440 Right? 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:25.600 And you're you're a fool if you didn't. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:30.159 And then now science disagrees with biology, and so we're not honoring science anymore. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.720 We're honoring your opinion, not biology. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.519 It's not about the science anymore, it's about how you feel. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:39.200 It's not about how you feel, it's about kind of what's the group think. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:41.279 What's the what's everyone's what's the consensus? 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.080 And so there's everything, truth is moving around. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:46.879 It's like, how do I get a hold of it to honor it? 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.039 It's just shifting all the time. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:55.919 The word of God is to be honored, it's to take priority in our life. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:00.080 Well, what's I have this conversation with people all the time. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.399 What's God's will for my life? 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:04.879 This is God's will for your life. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:06.159 This is it. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:10.960 His will is that you love him and follow him. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:14.000 And that's all laid out in his word. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.080 This is his will for your life. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:17.919 It's to be honored. 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:19.360 What's the Lord say? 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:20.480 It says, don't do that. 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:22.000 Well then you shouldn't do that. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.200 And I'm not talking about like we all struggle with our flesh. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:31.279 We all have our contending, but we're to seek to submit to God's word. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.559 It's to be honored in our life. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:39.679 It's to be honored in how we treat one another. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:41.679 We don't use God's word. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:45.679 We don't weaponize it to manipulate things to get what we want. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.320 We honor God's word. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:53.840 So the word is central, it's present, it's honored, and it's understood. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:55.039 This is so important. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:56.799 Look in verse 8. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:06.320 They read from the book, the law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:16.080 This idea of clearly, it's that there's it's given with understanding that it's laid bare, it's explained. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:20.399 It's not just some ideas and thoughts. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:29.120 Think about how many of us have grown up in the church and just heard sermon after sermon. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.039 It's like, I don't even know if I really understand what he's saying. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:36.559 Or it just sounds like white noise. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:45.840 It's so important as an elder and as Christians, as brothers and sisters in Christ, that we help people to understand the word. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:58.559 What good is it if I say, okay, this is how, this is God's will for your life, this is how you are to live, this is the final authority in your life, but you don't understand it. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:04.320 And this is the thing that the priests should have been doing for generations. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.639 They should have been teaching the law to the people. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.320 They should have been expounding upon God's word, but they were not. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:18.240 Some of the people were given over to sin and they didn't desire the things of the Lord. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:21.200 And here, God has brought his people back. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:27.519 If you remember, the theme of this series is that God renews and restores his people. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:28.960 He's bringing them back. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.200 They rebuild the wall, they're doing these things. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.039 Now he's restoring them. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.159 He's giving them understanding again. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:43.600 The Bible instructs husbands to live in an understanding way with their wife. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:53.120 And that doesn't mean, hey, your wife's a real, you know, difficult person, so you gotta kind of understand her, but saying, listen, this is your bride. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:54.799 Know her well. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:58.159 Live with her in an understanding way. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:04.480 Well, that implies that you're learning and you're applying and you're seeking to do this well. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:11.279 And if God's word is not central, if it's not present, it's not honored, we're not going to understand it. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:18.720 If we're not studying it and saying, Lord, help me to understand this, and taking passages to one another like this, I'm confused about this. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:20.720 What do you think about this? 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.240 There must be understanding. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:31.039 We live in a day and age where there's so little tolerance even for understanding. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:35.119 You don't have to understand anything, you just have to affirm things. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:35.599 Right? 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:38.640 So you don't have to understand my world, you just have to affirm it. 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:43.920 You don't understand what the Bible says, you just have to affirm it or not affirm it. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.599 That's not the kind of relationship that God calls us into. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:51.279 He calls us into a loving relationship with him. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:59.519 And this requires, again, that we know him, that we know his word, that we understand what is going on. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:05.119 So we must listen attentively, as they did in Nehemiah 8. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:11.680 So I know I'm not the most eloquent preacher to grace your ears. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.799 But you're not coming here to hear me. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:18.160 You're coming here to hear God's word taught. 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:21.279 And so you are to listen attentively. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.920 What does God's word say to you? 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:26.559 What's he saying to you with his spirit in you? 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:28.960 What is it that he's wanting to teach you? 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.039 For you to have understanding in. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:36.559 Listen attentively, because God's word is central. 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:43.759 The other thing is that God's word, because it's been given, we need to respond appropriately. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.720 We see this in the next several verses. 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:52.240 In verse 9, there begins to be this response of all this emotion. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:19:00.960 So Ezra reads the word, it's been given clearly, and there's this emotion, weeping, this mourning that the people are responding with. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:08.480 And it kind of says three times between verses nine and verse 12, hey, stop your weeping, stop your mourning. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:11.039 This is a day for rejoicing. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.960 Which is kind of an interesting interaction there. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:16.559 What's going on? 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:22.160 What I think is going on is that the people are feeling the weight of their sin. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:32.000 They're finally, for the first time, seeing and they're getting a glimpse of the glory of God and how magnificent He is in the kind of life that He's called His people to. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:42.079 And then they look back at their life and their father's lives, and then the generations who have not been walking in the ways of the Lord, and they're broken over this, and they're weeping. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:49.680 Which, when you think, what is a proper response to God's word? 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:53.279 What is a proper response to God's word? 00:19:54.000 --> 00:20:00.480 When you hear God's word taught or preached, and you're reading it, what is a proper response to it? 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:01.359 Right? 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:02.880 It's obedience. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.200 It's obedience in faith. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:10.400 But obedience again alone is not the intended desire. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:17.359 Obedience from the heart that desires to worship God. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:19.039 That's the intent. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:23.440 That's the obedience with the desire to worship. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:26.079 Does that make sense? 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:28.000 There's a difference there. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:34.720 One is just obedience for the sake of obedience, and one is obedience as an act of worship to God. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:43.759 Now I want to be clear: obedience for the sake of obedience is not wrong, but it's not fully right either. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:47.519 God has given us commands that we are to obey. 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:50.640 And even if we don't feel like obeying them. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:59.920 But every command God has given us as an opportunity for us to worship Him in our obedience. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:05.359 So the word was proclaimed by Ezra with clarity. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:14.799 Now the people, they respond with sincere hearts, a sincere desire to obey. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:20.559 They respond with mourning and weeping, and they respond with joy and rejoicing. 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:21.759 Look at verse 9. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:30.319 And Nehemiah, who was the governor in Ezra, the priestscribe, the Levites, who taught the people, said to the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:31.519 Do not mourn or weep. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.960 For all the people wept as they heard the words of the law. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:49.680 And it would seem this is the sorrow, the weight of the sin, the weight of all the years, the generations of missed opportunity, because people were not clearly teaching and sharing the word of God. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:59.759 There's times when we lay open God's word is proclaimed, and this is a true and right response is this mourning, this weeping. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:10.880 This sorrow over sin, sorrow that we have neglected to keep God's word central in our lives. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:14.319 And because of that, people are suffering. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:16.960 Marriages are breaking apart. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:18.960 Kids are struggling. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:22.880 Young people are playing with frustration and difficulty. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:28.480 Because we didn't keep God's word central in our lives. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:32.319 So they respond with this mourning and this weeping. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:38.960 But then there is this call to respond with joy and with rejoicing. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:44.640 This is, if you are a Christian, this has been your experience. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:46.720 You're made aware of your sin. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:49.680 You're made aware of your need for a savior. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.240 And there's this kind of weight on you. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.400 I can't save myself. 00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:56.240 I deserve to go to hell. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:57.920 That's what I deserve. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:00.400 There's this weight to those things. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:04.000 But then Jesus Christ says, No, I'm redeeming you. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:06.000 I'm paying the price for your sin. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:07.519 You belong to me. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:10.559 You're part of my covenant people. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:15.680 And that brings about this joy and this rejoicing. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.000 So there is a response. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:20.960 There isn't this kind of like, well, that's nice. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.200 Good sermon, preacher. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.920 Some people need to hear that. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:32.079 That's not the response that we give. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.559 That's not the response that is appropriate. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.079 Respond with obedience. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:41.119 Sometimes that is mourning. 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:43.119 Man, I've sinned. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:46.079 And look at the cost of that sin. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:48.160 There's heaviness there. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:50.240 But we don't just stop it. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:51.839 There's also joy. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:55.119 It's a joy to hear God's word proclaimed. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:59.200 It's a joy to hear the truth of God explained and made clear. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:04.079 It's a joy to know how we are to live and how we're to honor God. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:11.839 So we respond with obedience, with the heart that desires to worship. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:15.200 Because this brings life. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:18.079 The word brings life. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.160 There's joy in obedience. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:22.640 So enjoy obedience. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:32.079 Beginning in verse 13 of this passage, it begins to talk about this festival, this feast that's going on. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:39.839 This is the feast of booths or the feast of tabernacles or sukkat in Hebrew, if you're familiar with that. 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:51.039 This is one of the seven feasts that God's people were to observe, that God had established in the old covenant, that the people would remember what God has done. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:55.519 And this feast is typically celebrated at harvest. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:59.599 So September, October is when the feast would take place. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:01.359 And the people would do that. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:02.160 They would make a booth. 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:07.119 They make like a little tent, a little tabernacle out of sticks and shrubs. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:16.079 And we know in in Leviticus 23, where the instruction was given to the church on how they the nation of Israel, how they're to observe the feast of booths. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:22.559 They're to make these tents, they're to dwell in them for like eight days, from Sabbath to Sabbath. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:27.200 So from a Saturday all the way through to the next Saturday. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.480 And they're to remember that they were held captive in Egypt. 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:36.880 And that God delivered them out from captivity. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.640 And this isn't just kind of family folklore for them. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:43.759 This isn't just, you know, back in the day God did this thing. 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:53.839 But they established, God gave them the feast to remind them that God had protected them and that he had provided for them. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:58.000 That even as when they were in the desert, he was providing for them. 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:02.559 When they were sojourning through, God was providing for them. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:05.759 God provides for us. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:07.920 He's our provider. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:16.000 He's freed us from the bondage of sin and he will provide for us while we're in the wilderness in this present age. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:17.359 Right? 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:21.359 The garden of Eden, Genesis, it's gone. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:29.279 Brother, sister, we are in the desert, and there is a garden waiting for us ahead. 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:35.759 In the meantime, God is going to continue to provide for us. 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:46.880 This feast of booze was a foreshadow that the Messiah was coming, the ultimate provider was coming. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:56.400 And that our dwelling in tents is nothing more than just dwelling in tents for a season, for a time. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.599 It's actually, this is a side note, but it's interesting. 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:04.079 Most scholars believe that Jesus was actually born during the Feast of Booths. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:08.559 Now, I don't know how Christmassy you all are, but there are a couple of reasons for this. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:14.799 One, there's some good clarity that the Catholic Church started celebrating Christmas or the Lord's birth in December. 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:17.680 They started doing that in the fourth century, right? 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:23.359 There's also some understanding that shepherds would not have been out with their sheep in the middle of winter in December. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:34.319 It's also interesting that in John 1 4.14, it says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:42.400 And we have seen his glory, the glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:48.640 And in Greek, that word dwelt, that became flesh and dwelt among us is this tabernacle. 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:52.079 The word became flesh and tabernacled with us. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:54.240 He dwelled with us. 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:02.000 So there's life in this understanding that God's word brings clarity. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:04.799 It's saying you're not on your own. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:08.480 You're not just kind of in the desert trying to figure this out. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:10.480 God has a plan for his people. 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:17.519 He's been faithful, and we're to celebrate this feast to continue remembering how God has been faithful to us. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.519 They were attentive to the word. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:23.279 It's interesting. 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:24.640 It's like they discovered it. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:26.480 Look with me in verse 14. 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:36.960 And they found it written in the law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month. 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:41.039 This is like a newfound thing to them. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:50.319 Now there was probably some kind of remnant, like they've probably heard of this thing, but they didn't realize until they read through Leviticus 23 how they were to celebrate it. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:52.720 They were attentive, they're looking in the word. 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:54.319 Are we missing something? 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.880 Is there something we're kind of glancing over? 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:10.079 They're not kind of leaning on, well, I've been a Jew for all my life, or I've been a, you know, my great-great-great-great-granddaddy was a Jew, and we've been Jews all along, and we're all Hebrews, therefore, we must just know how this works. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:12.000 It's not what they did. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:16.400 They were attentive, studying the scriptures. 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:20.960 And then they begin to keep and obey the fast. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:23.920 Verse 17. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:32.000 And all the assembly, everyone who had returned from the city, from the captivity, made booths and lived in the booths. 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:32.799 Right? 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:34.799 Everyone did this. 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:36.240 They're like, hey, guess what? 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:37.200 We missed the mark. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:39.359 We've been missing the mark for generations on this. 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:40.799 Let's get this going. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:42.480 Let's be obedient. 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:47.119 And they were already struggling with a lot of opposition in the neighborhood, if you remember. 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:49.440 Like the neighbors didn't really care for these people. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:56.400 And here they are, like running out to the woods, grabbing a bunch of bushes, bringing them into the city and making tents. 00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:00.160 They're not kind of winning any popularity contest here. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.480 But what was their attitude? 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:05.200 The second part of verse 17. 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:09.359 And there was very great rejoicing. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:12.000 Very great rejoicing. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:17.039 There was this attitude, this among them, like we are actually doing it. 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:22.319 Like look at, like, hey, we're we're living this out perfectly? 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:24.720 Surely not, but we're doing it. 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:26.079 So they're rejoicing. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:28.000 They're not saying, well, look at me. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:30.000 I'm really good at booth building. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:32.640 And look at you, you're doing a pretty good job of this thing. 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:36.559 They're saying, we're being obedient to God's commands. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:39.119 We're glorifying Him. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:41.839 We're following His Word. 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:44.960 And that brings joy. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:56.960 This idea of obedience to God's word, that it can somehow stymie or kind of shut down your joy in life. 00:30:57.200 --> 00:30:58.319 I can't be a Christian. 00:30:58.400 --> 00:30:59.920 There's too many roles. 00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:03.279 Just think about this for a moment. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:07.920 If there is a creator God, I believe there is. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:21.759 If there is a creator God, wouldn't He know how you are to live, to have the most joy, the most contentment, the most satisfaction, the most meaning in life? 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:23.920 Right? 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:29.759 If he made you, he should know why he made you and what he made you for. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:41.279 Now, if only there was somewhere where he could just tell us these things and reveal to us why he did what he did and how it is that we're to live. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:49.359 If only there was a word that was we had that we could study these things and obey them. 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:54.480 Because in obedience is great joy. 00:31:55.440 --> 00:32:01.839 If you know the story of the Old Testament, this is just one kind of scene in the Old Testament. 00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:08.240 It's a story of people disobeying God's word and suffering. 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:17.119 For generations, for thousands of years, neglecting God's word and suffering. 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:19.200 And God is so gracious. 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:21.119 He says, Listen, I love you. 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:37.200