The Gospel Repair Shop: Spiritual restoration though God's word. Nehemiah 8

They often tell stories--of why the article (which may be of little value in itself) is so important to them because of its connection to a loved one.

The show then goes on to show the extraordinary skills of craftsmen and women.

Experts in woodwork and metalwork, mechanical work, furniture work, and musical instruments, working what seems to be magic.

They first deconstruct and only then reconstruct and restore the long-lost glory to the precious objects.

When the work is finished, they unveil it to the owners who express their overwhelming gratitude, their praise, and often their joy as they are moved to tears as the restored object is revealed in all its furnished glory.

When we look at ourselves, there are times in our lives where spiritually we may seem dingy, decayed, distorted, or perhaps even feel destroyed.

We need the Bible, we need good theology all the time to keep us walking closely with the Lord.

Especially in difficult times though, we need scripture to restore us, to renew us.

Theology is the gospel repair shop.

Theology is the study of God, as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ and in Scripture.

The various topics that we study, God, creation, the fall, redemption, and many more are like the different departments and experts in the tv show that work on the items.

As we gather together to study God through His word, we see these theological topics and they deconstruct our personal damage, and then reconstruct us until the original vision in our creation is realized.

Through our text in Nehemiah this morning, I want for us to see that spiritual restoration in our lives begins first with an emphasis on God’s word.

Nehemiah 7:73–8:18 (ESV)

And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

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.

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 the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand.

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.

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.

Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places.

They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

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; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.

Then he 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. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.”

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.

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.

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 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.”

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.

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.

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.

Spiritual restoration begins with an emphasis on God’s word.

The people were comfortable, settled in their towns.

Here in chapter 8 we pick up in the month following the completion of the wall.

Back at the end of chapter 6 we saw the wall was completed in the Hebrew month of Elul.

The 7th month now is the month of Tishrei

Most commentators and translators place the final sentence of chapter 7 in with chapter 8.

We must remember as we read that chapter designations and verses are not inspired.

There were added to help us better navigate scripture as we read and share.

The people are settling in to a new way of life with a secure capital city.

We see the people were in their towns.

After having gathered together to complete such a monumental task, it is natural for us to ask, why gather again so soon?

There is good reason for this.

In the Jewish calendar, the seventh month is a significant point in their year.

We have significant holidays we celebrate, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Independence day.

You can read more of this in Leviticus 23.

The month began with the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah today), followed by the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) on the 10th day of the month, and the Feast of Booths on the 15th, which they celebrated for week.

It would make for an interesting study to go into the significance of these feasts but this morning is not the time for that.

The feast of booths is the one that receives the greatest attention in our text.

The people are gathered for these significant days in their calendar.

This was to be a special, or sacred time as we are shown by the description of a solemn assembly.

Solemn assembly

I normally think of this as somber or gloomy but that is not the only purpose of the word.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Solemn

sol•emn \ˈsä-ləm\ adjective

[Middle English solempne, from Anglo-French, from Latin sollemnis regularly appointed, solemn] 14th century

1: marked by the invocation of a religious sanction 〈a solemn oath〉

2: marked by the observance of established form or ceremony specifically: celebrated with full liturgical ceremony

3 a: awe-inspiring: SUBLIME 〈solemn beauty〉

b: marked by grave sedateness and earnest sobriety 〈a solemn gathering〉

c: SOMBER, GLOOMY 〈a solemn gray building〉 synonym see SERIOUS—sol•emn•ly adverb—sol•emn•ness noun

This is to be and exceptionally special time for the people as they are able to celebrate now in relative peace and safety that they had not had for a significant amount of time.

It is interesting to note that Ezra is instructed by the people to bring the Book of the Law of Moses to them.

And the title is significant to note as well.

Ezra was asked to bring the book of the law.

The Book of the Law of Moses indicates that this book was not something new.

Rather the people wanted to get back to the foundation of their faith.

A foundation that had been laid long before when they were brought out of slavery in Egypt.

The fact that the people requested it shows that there was this great desire presence.

That is shown even more through the setting where it was read and the length of time they gave to the reading.

Nehemiah 8:3 ESV

Read from daybreak until noon - 6 hours!

J Vernon McGee in his thru the Bible series tells the story.

“I don’t know where I could find a congregation who would listen to me to read from the Bible from morning until midday - I always had trouble getting them to listen for forty five minutes.

(Our attention spans today are even shorter, adults are 20-30, many kids are 15 or less. Look at the popularity of tik-toc, reels, shorts.)

McGee continues “Their impression of my sermons was similar to that of two little old ladies who were walking out of church one Sunday morning.

One said, “My, that preacher certainly preaches for a long time!”

Her friend replied, “No, he really doesn’t preach a long time, it just seems like a long time!”

To most people, 45 minute sermons seem like a long time.

For many of us today, a 30 minute sermon seems like a long time.

These Israelites who gathered to hear God’s word read were really interested, however.

They had been in captivity for 70 years and had not heard the Word of God.

It was a new experience for them.

I wonder what those two little old ladies would have thought about a service that had about six hours of Bible reading and preaching at the people’s request, during which the people stood the whole time!

And not only that, they came back the next day for more!

That's what is truly remarkable about the situation that we just read about.

In Nehemiah, the physical setting has set the stage for a time of spiritual renewal.

At the center of this revival, was the exposition of Scripture.

In fact, commentator Derek Kidner states, “This day was to prove a turning-point. From now on, the Jews would be predominantly ‘a people of the book’”

Nothing like this had ever been seen for two hundred years.

If we gathered at daybreak and read from the OT until noon.

How many of us would listen attentively.

I know even I myself would lose interest reading for that long.

Yet the people all listened attentively.

Some of this has to do with our attention spans today.

We live in a fast paced culture.

I believe one main reason for their attentiveness though was a high regard for God’s word.

This is put on display through the physical setting.

A platform was built for the occasion.

God’s word was elevated before them.

Ezra also had significant men, significant leaders both to his left and to his right.

When the book was opened, all the people stood.

(This is a precedent many churches use for standing when scripture is read).

It appears that the people remained standing the entire time the book was read.

This is a tradition that was actually carried into the synagogues of Jesus day.

Often the teacher would sit, and the people would remain standing.

I believer here specifically in Nehemiah, the peoples posture is a symbol of reverence and desire.

Not only were they standing but as verse 6 says,

Nehemiah 8:6 ESV

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.

Hands raised, heads bowed, ready to receive the Lord’s word.

This passage provides us as well a basis for preaching and teaching based upon God’s word.

The Levites read out of the book of the law of God, translating and giving meaning so that the people could understand what was read.

Nehemiah 8:8 ESV

They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

We must keep in mind that this was a new experience for these people.

Nothing like this had happened for a long time.

It makes me think-

Do you remember really reading the Bible for yourself for the first time?

Perhaps it was as a child, perhaps as an adult.

I personally remember the excitement of reading God’s word for myself for the first time.

What this focus on God’s word did for the people was to reveal in them their need for spiritual restoration/renewal.

Do we need spiritual restoration?

The need for physical restoration was easy to see in Jerusalem’s case.

The city was in ruins, the walls were destroyed.

But the people also needed to be restored spiritually.

Having not had the Law of God in their lives for a significant amount of time, the people did not know how they had been grieving God.

It caused them to mourn and weep their actions.

They realized they were sinful people.

Which is the same effect that the Gospel has on each of us today.

The good news of Jesus reveals our sin and our need for a saviour and calls us to respond.

That is why spiritual restoration begins with an emphasis on God’s word!

While yes, it is not a bad thing to recognize our sin, but once we have responded, and turned to Jesus for salvation, we should not remain in that sorrow.

As the feasts of the 7th month went, the feast of trumpets was a call for the people to repent.

The day of atonement was the one time each year that the high priest would approach the mercy seat, the most holy place, to make atonement for the nations sins.

Then the feast of booths/tabernacles was a reminder of the peoples wondering in the wilderness.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Feast of Tabernacles

The remembrance of the wilderness wandering was considered an occasion of joy, connected to God’s saving work on Israel’s behalf.

They were to gather together and celebrate with one another because of what the Lord had done.

The need for this restoration is again shown in verse 17.

Nehemiah 8:17 ESV

And the party continued so to speak.

Nehemiah 8:18 ESV

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.

Solemn is not gloomy remember but rather reverent.

It was a celebration, but more of a 50th wedding anniversary type, not a college party.

So we have this passage before us and it should be driving us to something.

It is a great story, but how do we apply it?

The application is in our asking of ourselves about our own need for spiritual restoration.

What do I mean by spiritual restoration?

Let’s think of it this way.

I will share with you some from my own life.

A tale of two cars

This first car, it is obvious that it needs work.

The outside is trashed, it is missing pieces.

Easy to see that it needs work.

Spiritually it is not always so easy to see though.

Let’s take a look at another car.

This car has had some work done.

From a distance it looks good.

It runs well.

But when you get close to it you can begin to notice some things that are off.

The paint isn’t quite right.

It’s missing all of it’s badging.

There are some mechanical issues that need addressed.

Spiritually, I believe most of us that attend church are like this.

We look okay on the outside.

But there are some issues, there are some flaws, we all have issues that need to be addressed.

And until someone gets close though, they aren’t really seen or noticed.

In reality, this is one of the things that plagues our western culture today.

If we don’t get close to people, they won’t see our flaws.

I can tell you the things that were wrong with that car because I knew it, I had worked on it.

But I got to a point, and I stopped working on it.

I didn’t continue.

I had a book that I could reference to help me in the restoration process, but I did not follow it.

That car was one of the significant things in my life that led me to a committed relationship with the Lord.

I know I have shared to story with a few people, but that is the car that the steering wheel came of in my hands as I was driving and I was t-boned by another vehicle.

The thing is with that whole situation though, I knew that there was something going on with the brakes.

But I hadn’t taken the time to address the issue, because it was running fine, it was driving, and I was enjoying it.

The thought never crossed my mind that that issue could cause the steering nut to work its way loose.

Our need for spiritual restoration.

I use this example to help us see our own need for spiritual restoration.

Because sometimes we may even feel like this.

Sometimes, we may come to a point in our lives where we need to start over.

We may even feel like this car looks.

Picture of both cars side by side

If you look at these two cars and picture your own life.

Perhaps you see yourself in one place or the other, or somewhere in between.

When we begin a relationship with Jesus, we are all on a path of spiritual restoration.

Sometimes there are set backs in life.

Sometimes it feels like we are starting over.

But when we make it a point to make God’s word the central focus of our lives.

Restoration and renewal will happen!

Because God is the one doing the work.

Our chapter today in the book of Nehemiah shows us that no matter where we are in the process, the key to spiritual restoration is to keep God’s word at the center.

To follow it, honor it, trust it, obey it.

God’s word will cause us to be sorrowful for our sin.

To give us reason to repent and return to the Lord.

But it also gives us reason to rejoice.

To have a great celebration because of what God has done and is doing in our lives!

As I close today I have heard this story a number of times but always resonate with it myself.

Chuck Swindoll (Hand Me Another Brick [Thomas Nelson Publishers], pp. 152-153) tells of a time when he spoke at a family conference.

He noticed a young couple with several small children.

Although they looked and sounded like a Christian family, it was evident to him that they were very miserable.

He knew that divorce was on the back burner of their minds.

But as the week progressed, he saw that couple change as they listened to the teaching of God’s Word.

The husband hung on every word.

The wife had her Bible open and followed the messages closely.

At the end of the week, this couple came up to Swindoll and his wife and said,

“We want you to know that this week has been a 180-degree turnaround experience for us. When we came, we were ready to separate.

We’re going back stronger than we have ever been in our marriage.”

But that joyous news was dampened by another family’s response. Chuck continues,

At the same conference with the same speakers, the same truths, the same surroundings, the same schedule, another father was turned off.

He wasn’t open.

He attended the first few sessions, but by and by the guilt became so great and the conviction so deep that he went home.

He had stayed awake the entire night before and reached the decision to leave and not come back.

His family left hurting—perhaps even more than when they came.

What was the difference?

Swindoll says, “attitude.”

The couple who benefited had teachable hearts.

The other man did not.

Some people come to church with reverence for God and His Word, saying, “God, teach me! I want to know You more!”

They are ready to respond to the Word.

They profit from the teaching.

Others come to the same service with sin in their hearts that they don’t want to deal with.

They are turned off by the very same message that helps others to grow.

If you want spiritual renewal, check your heart.

It comes when responsive hearts read and reverently hear God’s Word faithfully proclaimed.

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