The passage we're beginning to look at this morning is really at the heart of the book of Nehemiah. In the earlier chapters, we've seen the walls of Jerusalem being rebuilt and in ch.7 saw the community beginning to be rebuilt. That theme dominates the latter half of the book and this chapter, along with ch's 9 & 10, are central to that rebuilding.
1. The Desire for Renewal (v.1)
The chapter is set just a few days after the completion of the walls and opens with the people calling for "Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses" (v.1). Something new is happening among God's people. God is moving among them and there is a great seriousness present. This move towards renewal and reformation is not primarily a man-directed event; there is no indication here that the people were organised by their leaders into making this request. It is spontaneous upon completion of the walls and is clearly an instance of the Lord making his people willing in the day of his power.
Reformation and rebuilding in the church demands the great seriousness of God's people but human effort alone will not prevail. Such seriousness is a product of God's Spirit at work. We must take our responsibilities seriously and we must ask the Lord to work among us. It isn't either/or; it is both/and.
2. The Covenant Renewed
Why do the people ask Ezra to bring out the book of the law, which in all probability was the book of Deuteronomy? It has been often noted that God's Word holds a central place in this chapter. That is certainly true and we'll look more closely at that later on. But the people are not interested in it simply as a piece of holy writing. They are concerned with what God says to them through it. It is a book of covenant and these people are eager to renew their covenant with the Lord.
The whole of ch.8-10 are a record of covenant renewal and it all begins here with the reading of the law. Why was this book so central to that theme? As you read through Deuteronomy you see the following themes emerge:
- The history of God's dealings with his people, especially how he called them in grace. He initiated this relationship, not them.
- The Lord's perseverance with a sinful people; his faithfulness is truly amazing!
- The people are given laws to obey to express their relationship with the Lord; those laws are summed up in the command to love the Lord and to love their neighbour as themselves.
- The covenant is established by the Lord but they will only know the blessing of it as they obey his word. To disobey will bring punishment, as expressed in the curses upon them.
Here, in this book, is the essence of their relationship with the Lord. For the nation to be rebuilt, the fundamentals must be re-established and embraced afresh. The wickedness of the nation had brought about the exile. They had been restored to the land by God's grace and for the sake of his purposes of salvation for the world.
We need to often remind ourselves of the basis of our relationship with the Lord: it is by grace alone, through his love in Christ. We are to be committed to him and are to obey him in love. He is the reason we exist and his purposes of grace and salvation come first.
This is a very special event and is akin in many ways to times of revival in the history of the church which we need to pray for today.
But it is also right to point out the same themes are stressed weekly in the covenant meal that we share together, as we remember our Lord Jesus and his blood of the new covenant shed for the remission of our sins, forming a people for himself, to be celebrated until he comes and all God's people saved. God's covenant is at the heart of the church's life.
3. The Priority of God's Word
But it is very important to recall that the Lord has not simply instituted a meal to remind us of these things; he has appointed pastors and teachers in the church for the preaching of his word. God's Word is to be an abiding priority in the life of the church. And we see here that it was so for this people.
Their commitment here to God's Word is very impressive. The reading of the book was attended by all who were able to understand and they "listened attentively" (v.3) for 6 hours! That was quite a sermon! (The book of Deuteronomy is a collection of messages spoken by Moses). Their eagerness to hear is also shown in the fact that Ezra stood on a special platform and all the people stood to listen.
Their example is a real challenge to us. How important do we see God's Word to be? Is it important in our daily lives? Is it central to how we see church life?
A great debate rages as to how church should be done in the 21st century; whatever we think on that, God's Word is not an optional extra. It is to be central because Jesus is central, because by his Word the Lord speaks of his grace, he teaches us how to live before him and equips us for service in his world as we reach out to others.
It is because God's Word is so vital that great care was taken to make sure the people understood what was read to them.
'Making it clear' in v.8 can mean that the Levites translated it to the people or that they made plain what was being said. However you translate that phrase, the whole verse is crystal clear: the Levites helped the people grasp the meaning and the application of the words they heard.
This ministry of explaining and applying is very close to what is done today through sermons, small group studies and so on. Such ministries are vital to the health of the church and so the progress of the gospel.
Here is the crying need in many developing countries. The gospel is making progress but there is a dearth of trained Bible teachers. The church's task is not simply gaining converts but making disciples, teaching them to obey all that God has said.
And I want to stress in closing what is so obvious in the text, that the people learnt together. Why is that? Because being a Christian, living as a child of God, is not a private thing. He calls us into his family and we are to live as a family.
His word has so much to say to us about life together as the church. We must hear together because we have a mutual responsibility to love one another, fervently, from the heart.
And learning together is also about mutual accountability. We hear and learn together and, as we do, so it becomes clear that we are in this together, that we all have a part to play in letting "the Word of Christ dwell in [us] richly, as [we] teach and admonish one another with all wisdom" (Col. 3:16).
Lastly, learning together is a source of mutual encouragement as we seek to serve the Lord, loving him and our neighbour. On our own, we easily slip back and want to give up. The writer of Hebrews encourages his readers not to do that but rather to "encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching". May God give us grace to do so. Amen!
