1
Their Ears Were Attentive
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Jerusalem had been destroyed under the Persians in 586 B. C.
The temple was destroyed;
the walls of the city were torn down;
the gates burned.
Thousands of people were transported to Babylon as captives and slaves.
Their children would know the homeland only through story.
Almost fifty years later after Persia had conquered Babylon, a decree was
issued allowing the exiles to return to Jerusalem.
Nehemiah had spent all of his life in Babylon, yet his heart longed for
Jerusalem as he remembered the stories of his people.
He desired to return and restore the temple and rebuild the city.
The story of Nehemiah’s return with the exiles,
how he and his co-workers rebuilt the walls
and the obstacles and opposition they overcame
2
are recorded in the first seven chapters of Nehemiah.
It is an amazing story.
They had no heavy equipment.
They were under threat of attack at all times.
Only half of the men could work at any one time,
the other half was needed to stand guard.
Those who worked still wore their swords.
Often they held a spear in one hand while they worked with the other.
Once the reconstruction was complete,
Nehemiah invited all of the people to participate in the dedication of the
new walled city
as a means to renew their connection to their faith
and affirm their understanding that God had remembered them
and was reclaiming them after their exile.
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Chapter eight begins with all the people gathered:
3
1-2
On the first day of the seventh month, the people came together in the
open area in front of the Water Gate. Then they asked Ezra, who was a
teacher of the Law of Moses, to read to them from this Law that the LORD
had given his people. Ezra the priest came with the Law and stood before
the crowd of men, women, and the children who were old enough to
understand.
5
Ezra was up on the high platform, where he could be seen by everyone,
and when he opened the book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the great
LORD God, and the people shouted, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed with
their faces to the ground and worshiped the LORD.
8
After this, the Levites … went among the people, explaining the meaning
of what Ezra had read.
9
The people started crying when God’s Law was read to them. Then
Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher, and the Levites who
had been teaching the people all said, “This is a special day for the LORD
your God. So don’t be sad and don’t cry!”
10
Nehemiah told the people, “Enjoy your good food and wine and share
some with those who didn’t have anything to bring. Don’t be sad! This is a
special day for the LORD, and he will make you happy and strong.”
4
There are two points I want us to explore as we look at this text.
First, we learn that during the exile
God’s word had long been neglected by the Israelites.
For a few, what Ezra was reading might have been vaguely familiar,
some may have remembered parents or grandparents sharing the stories,
but most had never heard these words before.
Ezra was reading about God’s faithfulness to the Israelite people,
God’s rescue of them from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea,
God’s provision in the wilderness.
God’s laws that taught them how to live in community
and how to live a life that brought honor and glory to God.
Ezra knew that the assemblage of the people of Jerusalem around the
word of God
was essential if they were to define or redefine themselves
as the people of God once more.
The people could attempt all kinds of social reforms
and struggle with the actual rebuilding of their city
all in vain if they did not acknowledge their history and tradition as the
people of God.
5
Here was the moment in which they could experience God's presence in
and among them;
a time in which they could rededicate their lives to God and God’s ways.
It is important for us to have the same kind of understanding of the use of
the word in our day.
Likewise we gather each week to hear God’s word;
reflect upon it, and to be reminded of God’s faithfulness.
We come to define and redefine ourselves as people of God.
We learn how to live in community
and how to live a life that will bring honor and glory to God.
Yet I fear we are like the people of Ezra’s time.
In our day, the Scripture has been long neglected by God's people too.
Many Christians are nearly illiterate when it comes to the Scriptures.
Like the exiles, we too need to get back to the Bible,
to read and study the written word of God for guidance and direction on
how to live as God’s people..
6
The story is told of the pastor who visited a Sunday school class one day.
The teacher proudly encouraged the pastor, "Question my students all you
like. They know their Bible and can answer any question you might ask
them.”
So the pastor asked, "Who broke down the walls of Jericho?"
Johnny quickly responded, "Not me. I didn't do it, pastor."
The pastor with a pained look said to the teacher, "Is this kind of response
typical in this class?"
The teacher said defensively, "Pastor, I know Johnny. If he said he didn't
do it, he didn't do it."
The stunned pastor sought out the Sunday school superintendent and told
her the story.
She replied: "That is our best class. I'm sure no one in the class is guilty."
A few days later the pastor reported the incident to the official board.
The treasurer quickly spoke up: "Pastor, I move that we pay for the damage
and charge it to upkeep."
There certainly is a great need to improve our biblical knowledge!
The Bible is the written Word of God.
7
It is the primary means by which we know Christ and God's ways.
The Bible provides light for the spiritual pilgrim and strength for the journey
of life.
The Bible provides correctives for our wrong ideas about God, about
ourselves and about life.
The Bible grounds us in the reality of God.
The Word of God is Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us full of grace and truth (John 1:1-14, RSV)."
Jesus teaches us by example how God wants us to live as his disciples.
Jesus simplified the law into something very simple.
Love God and love others.
Daily reading from the Bible brings unexpected joys to those who do it.
Joys come from biblical knowledge.
God's ways may initially cause us sadness because we realize our sins,
but joy comes because we learn that God wants to give us his kingdom.
8
Reading the Scriptures can bring us closer to God and bring us unexpected
happiness and comfort.
I think we all can and should work to spend more time in God’s word.
With all the modern translations and the availability of Bibles,
anyone who has the desire can easily find a readable, understandable
Bible to read.
Our text noted that the people had gathered and were eager to hear the
law of the Lord.
We believe Ezra read in Hebrew and the Levites translated it into Aramaic,
the common language, so the people could better understand it.
Ezra read from early morning to midday and the people listened attentively.
We’re told that the people began to weep when God’s Law was read.
One might ask, why did the people in Jerusalem cry when they heard the
law of Moses?
Maybe it was because it had been a long time since they had heard it read.
But I suspect the deep emotion of the moment also had to do with the
realization that they had drifted far from the ways of God.
9
Apparently they had drifted far from the word,
forgetting its stories and tradition,
forgetting about God’s faithfulness,
and failing to live according to its laws.
They wept for their sins.
It is easy to understand how they could have drifted away after living in
exile all those years,
exposed to different cultures and traditions.
The people had learned to adapt to the new situation, learned new
manners, a new culture, and a new way of life.
It appeared as if the people had lost much of their religion,
but they hadn’t realized how far astray they had gone until they heard the
law read.
Then they were deeply grieved and wanted to do better.
It wasn’t until this point that they realized that their identity as God’s people
was seriously threatened.
Yet the people were reassured,
10
“Enjoy your good food and wine and share some with those who didn’t
have anything to bring. Don’t be sad! This is a special day for the LORD,
and he will make you happy and strong.”
In other words don’t lose heart, God is always willing to draw his people
close when they come with a willing, sincere desire.
That brings me to my second point,
the people were instructed to respond with joy, not shame or dis-grace…
They were instructed to experience grace, peace, forgiveness and hope…
They were told, “God will make you happy and strong!”
The initial reaction of tears and mourning must have been a mixed
response of the people.
On the one hand, there must have been a great deal of guilt
that was followed by a genuine sense of repentance
for the previous indifference to the word of God.
On the other hand,
there had to be great deal of joy when the people also learned that God
was a gracious and forgiving God
11
who had not only not given up on them
but who still wanted them as God's own people.
In response they affirmed what they heard and responded with
spontaneous Amens.
This meant that they were in agreement with what they heard.
"Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to
the ground."
These acts of worship indicated more than remorse and repentance,
but also adoration of God
that was prompted by their humility and faith before God.
What we see in Nehemiah 8 is worship that transforms lives.
God’s Word can do all of that,
because the Scriptures give us a lens to look at this world
and our lives through God’s eyes.
We are reminded of God’s presence and love
when we otherwise might feel alone and abandoned;
we are pierced with words of judgment
when we might otherwise be puffed up with arrogance and self-satisfaction.
12
When we gather together as God’s people,
when we are conscious of coming into the presence of the living and holy
God,
when we center our worship on God’s Word,
when we offer all of ourselves to God,
we cannot help but be changed over time.
We gather to give glory to God and to have God make a difference in us so
that we can be sent to make a difference in God’s world.
When all of that happens,
we have reason to follow the example of the people on this special day in
Nehemiah 8
who ate and drank together and made “great rejoicing” (v. 12).
Many come to church expecting stern rebuke for their fallen-ness.
But if we follow the example of our text,
they should discover the incomparable joy of acceptance, love and
Christian fellowship
as they gather under the Word of God.
God’s word, witnessed through Jesus,
teaches us to offer grace
13
rather than dis-grace.
Ezra instructed the people to celebrate what had transpired between them
and God.
He urged them, this is a special day for the LORD, and he will make you
happy and strong.”
Therefore the people could celebrate the goodness of the Lord.
They came together to enjoy good food and share a meal together,
and they also discovered a deepening sense of community.
We all know those times when a meal becomes more than an occasion for
relaxation and refreshment.
A meal becomes a fellowship,
the meeting of hearts, minds, and spirit, as people share together in the
community of a meal.
As Ezra called the people back to the covenant,
we need to rehearse the gospel of salvation over and over again in our
worship,
and be faithful in the study of God's word
14
so that we can apply it to our lives.
This story reminds us of how easy it is to lose touch and drift away from
God while living in exile in this fallen world.
We live in a secular society with a veneer of religion.
We often give lip service to God,
but deep down we are driven by market forces, national pride, and
individualism.
In the midst of this consumerism, materialism, and self-centeredness,
we are called to live out the gospel.
Let us respond as the people of Ezra’s day:
Let us shout our Amens
Let us bow down and worship the Lord
Let us repent and
Let us find grace, forgiveness, peace, joy and hope in the Lord.
Let us be in an attitude of prayer as we come to the Lord in our own way
during this time of prayer.
15
(Time of silent reflection)
Prayer:
Lord we gather with attentive ears, seeking restoration. Whenever we come
home to you, we realize how far we have strayed and how much we have
forgotten of your law and your love. We have not loved you with our whole
hearts or loved our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us, heal us, and
restore us to our relationship with you as we are reminded that your word
does not come to condemn us, but to make us wise, reviving our souls and
rejoicing our hearts. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ who has
freed us from our sin to live with you for eternity. And God’s people say,
Amen.
16
Their Ears Were Attentive
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
1-2 On the first day of the seventh
month, the people came together in
the open area in front of the Water
Gate. Then they asked Ezra, who
was a teacher of the Law of Moses,
to read to them from this Law that
the LORD had given his people. Ezra
the priest came with the Law and
stood before the crowd of men,
women, and the children who were
old enough to understand.
17
5 Ezra was up on the high platform,
where he could be seen by
everyone, and when he opened the
book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra
praised the great LORD God, and
the people shouted, “Amen! Amen!”
Then they bowed with their faces to
the ground and worshiped the
LORD.
18
8 After this, the Levites … went
among the people, explaining the
meaning of what Ezra had read.
9 The people started crying when
God’s Law was read to them. Then
Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the
priest and teacher, and the Levites
who had been teaching the people
all said, “This is a special day for
the LORD your God. So don’t be sad
and don’t cry!”
10 Nehemiah told the people,
“Enjoy your good food and wine and
share some with those who didn’t
have anything to bring. Don’t be
sad! This is a special day for the
LORD, and he will make you happy
and strong.”
19
20