Nehemiah 8:1-6 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 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. 3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose…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. ESV
Nehemiah built the platform. Ezra stood on the platform to preach. Again we continually see the importance of understanding your God-given design.
Nehemiah and Ezra don’t compare, they compliment. They don’t compete, they complete.
Nehemiah built this platform in such a way that the word of God would be held in an elevated place to demonstrate the supreme authority of God’s Word. This is vitally important for us to understand in the way we view the place of God’s word in our lives.
They become deeply aware that God is at work and they begin weeping and responding to God which releases incredibly joyful restoration. This is where we find the very famous verse 10, “The joy of the Lord is your strength”.
As God's Word is released something beautiful begins taking place in their hearts that simply would not take place if it were not for the Word of God. The Bible is open. The people are awakened to surrender and God is mightily at work in that community.
This clearly reveals how vital it is that we study, teach and share God’s word in every community of the world!
These people were weeping and broken as they heard the word of the Lord. When we see who God is, we begin to realize who we are. There is a huge difference between conviction and condemnation. These people were experiencing conviction which leads to repentance, which results in refreshing.
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. NIV
Revival is when a bunch of people are convicted of their sin, and are awakened to God’s purposes. This is why revival centers around the preaching of God’s word.
They discover God’s direction in Scripture to participate in this celebration of the Feast of Booths.
Nehemiah 8:12-18 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. 13 On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. 14 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, 15 and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” 16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. 18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule. ESV
Feast of booths was seven days of camping and reading the Bible. They had to change their schedule, their budget and their priorities to give attention to something God said was important. What’s going to result from all of this? God is going to bless them tremendously.
When your time, talent and treasure is brought into a posture of submission to God it releases God’s Kingdom within you, around you and beyond you.
This practice of the Feast of booths, or Sukkot, continues today. In fact, without planning to do so, we have arrived at this teaching in our study of Nehemiah at the very time this practice is taking place. This year, Sukkot 2023 began the evening of Friday, September 29 and will end on Friday, October 6. Here we are in the middle of this celebration when we get to this part of Nehemiah. This is significant!
We want to encourage you to explore some expression of this ancient practice of the feast of booths this week. Purpose some kind of short-term structure to be reminded the Israelites lived in these short-term shelters when they came out of Egypt reiterating our understanding that we are all just passing through this temporal world on an eternal assignment. Celebrate with food thanking God for provision. Make time for each person to read a favorite portion of Scripture thanking God for the treasure of his Word in our lives.
GP2RL: Continue to read two chapters of Nehemiah each day and purpose to celebrate the Feast of Booths this week.
NEHEMIAH: Restoration, Repentance, and Refreshing
DISCUSSION GUIDE
UNDERSTANDING THE SEASON: Nehemiah is all about rebuilding the ruins of the work of God in our world. God’s people had grown distracted and disconnected from God’s plan for them to be the expression of His Kingdom in the Earth.
Jerusalem had been in ruins since the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. Nehemiah lead the third of three returns to Israel after 70 years of exile in Babylon. Even in a state of ruin God was still at work looking for someone who would have a heart to respond to what God was about to do.
This is the condition of the Western church today. Much can be gained by a close examination of Nehemiah’s response in his day. God woke up a fresh movement that brought life but it was met with great challenges. No matter how challenging it was God was always seeing his work through.
God’s work is a work within us as we learn to respond to Him. It is God’s plan is for us to spend time drawing close to his heart and hearing his voice together as a family. This is why we start each meeting with this question first:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
FOR GROUP LEADERS: The focus of the day is that we are all gifted differently (verse 1). God moves on our hearts and we love, serve and give in order to establish the eternal work of God’s Kingdom in the earth (Verse 5).
Ask each person in your group to answer the discussion questions below after reading the verses. Realize, there is great power in just reading the Bible together and allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken His conversational nature in the group.
Nehemiah 8:4-6 Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose…And Ezra opened the book (of the Law) in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6 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.
Psalms 19:7-11 God’s laws are perfect. They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light. 9 God’s laws are pure, eternal, just. 10 They are more desirable than gold. They are sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. 11 For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them. TLB
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. DISCOVER: Have each person give a simple 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, Encourage people to try not to add insights or application yet. Just simply summarize.
3. DEVELOP: What do you sense God may be speaking to you personally as we focus on these verses?
4. DEPLOY: We are to be doers and not hearers only. What will you do this week in response to what you sense God is revealing in this time together?
Everywhere we go, we bring...
GP2RL: Continue to read two chapters of Nehemiah each day and purpose to celebrate the Feast of Booths this week.