Israel’s R and R: the Road to Revival

Nehemiah 8

Intro/Overview of where we are in Neh and roadmap of chapter 8

Nehemiah is called of God to venture out and initiate the rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

Despite resistance, oppression, lies, and threats from the ammonites- The wall has been completed in 52 days, select people had been gathered back to the city to dwell in it, and now in the beginning of the seventh month the people gather in the open square that was in front of the water gate. This is where we pick up now starting in verse 1 of chapter 8.

The main points we’ll be talking about today is- the people’s hunger for God’s word, the importance of Expositional teaching and study, and the necessity of taking time to intentionally reflect on God’s faithfulness and goodness towards us in our own lives.

Prayer

Read Verses 1-3

Vs 1

All the people dwelling in Jerusalem assembled at the water gate, in the southeast part of the temple and eastern wall (probably for it’s acoustics and space), and requested that Ezra would read from the Book of the law- known as the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).

-What’s interesting to me is the hunger the people had for the word of God. They approached the leadership with their need for the word of God.

-We hear a lot in our circles of people wanting revival, claims of revival happening etc. and as i read the text, a thought popped into my head about revival. If we want to know if what we are seeing amongst the people and ourselves is an authentic revival- we need to ask- is there is a deep hunger and reverence for the word of God? This leads to my first point:

First Point: A true repentance is marked by a hunger and submission to the word of God.

-There are very few times in the account of the old testament where the people are begging the priests and scribes for the reading of the word of God, so what’s different this time?

suffering has a profound effect on our walk with God. If we learn to yield to Him in those times of suffering, we will experience revival and great strides of growth in our walk with Jesus. If we do not yield to Him and harden our heart, it means disaster for us.

Story of being firefighter, coming to end of myself and repenting and following Jesus, and a newfound hunger and desire for the word of God came.

illustration of what happens in the refinery- we can either yield to the heat and be made into something new or we can come apart and be destroyed. Proverbs 17:3 “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.”

We see here that the people chose to yield to God.

Reread Vs 2-3

He brought the word of God to all who could hear with understanding, and he read from it from morning until midday, and they were ATTENTIVE.

Def of Attentive- Paying close attention (Attentive Server). On the edge of their seat, undistracted.

Morning until midday- that’s about six hours of reading starting from Genesis, and they were “on the edge of their seat” the whole time.

It was read to men, women, AND all who could understand. This insinuates youth. Teaching the scriptures to everyone- including our kids is not optional according to scripture. Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.”

So it’s Scripture that directs us, guides us, convicts us and feeds us. It’s not a speech or a powerful motivational speaker, it’s the word of God- and the people realized this

Story of Amanda needing infusion, how sick she is, develops pneumonia, then low in iron, lost 60 pounds in a month- doctors treating everything except giving her the infusion we needed- (liver doctor treating the liver, kidney doctor treating the kidneys) and everyone missing the root of the problem. we can be like this sometimes, departing from expositing the scriptures and trying to treat all of the symptoms popping up- instead of faithfully teaching the word and bring the understanding to the people.

So Why point this out?

Second Point: Biblical Expositional Teaching is the prescription for a revitalized congregation. Right Doctrine leads to right living (Rick)

We should never substitute anything in the place of expositional teaching and expect a healthy flock. (moved to NY, briefly went to a church that had congregation members that believed New age false teachings/word of faith- they didn’t teach the word, they taught around it) Theres a lot of programs and ideas floating around at all times that ive seen lots of different churches do to try and go after the specific problems people are encountering, but prioritizing the verse by verse book by book teaching of the word of God is the what gets us healthy, and keeps us healthy.

I grew up Christian, but lived the surface and nominal lifestyle and drifted away- and i didnt experience personal revival until i started reading and studying the Word of God.

As we start teaching the word and expositing it, the congregation will begin to READ it in the same way. I started listening to the Chuck tracks 3 years ago, and hearing him teach transformed the way i read the word. So while the people need to be disciplined to read on their own time just as we do, pastor/teachers have a huge responsibility to example how to read God’s word- and in many ways this comes from their teachings.

Restate Second point (Biblical Expositional Teaching is the prescription for a revitalized congregation)

Read Vs 4-7

The names of those at Ezra’s right hand, are not really that well known if at all. Not like Moses/Abraham/Joseph

We may never have notoriety in the church- we may not be the ones to address the congregation from the pulpit. We may be the ones that build the wood platform or teach/disciple behind the scenes.

Notoreity is NOT a fruit of the Spirit. Where did we get the idea that notoriety is connected to eternal value? It’s not a biblical idea. The world teaches this, not Jesus.

Story of moving back, not knowing anyone and meeting with jordan, finding out about their infertility. Me and my wife were radically used by God in a little Vietnamese restaurant to answer a prayer from a broken couple, their prayer was for a couple that would understand what they were going through, to minister to them. A prayer that had been prayed for a whole year- and only 2 people were on the receiving end of that. It’s not about crowds, it’s about being faithful to the place God has put us in- crowds or not.

Im thankful pastor rick and dave tell us all the time- we might never be on staff here as pastors, God may use us elsewhere. It reminds me it’s not about me, i’m not the main character in this story. We need to be content with not being known, but that through us- God would be known. The most special thing about me is not who I am, or what I have, or how many people know my name- but that they know the One who lives in me. The One that calls me His son. I need to endeavour to keep what Jesus Christ says about me, as the most notable thing about me. It’s not about my influence, it’s about His. It’s not about my notoriety, it’s about His.

Read Vs 8

Vs 8 they read DISTINCTLY from the book, they gave the sense, they helped them to understand the reading.

Distinctly def is to make something apparent, distinguishable, CLEAR.

How often have we left a teaching maybe in our past where we just scratch our heads and have no idea what just happened. I spent the majority of my life living in that place of not understanding the scriptures.

It’s our duty and responsibility to help people to understand the reading, to make it clear to them, to “put the cookies on the bottom shelf” as Skip heitzig has said.

James 3:1 “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” Right before the first time i taught, i read this scripture, and had a holy reckoning before God, to understand this and to count the cost. We’re receiving the stricter judgement, because it’s our responsibility that as we get up to teach, we need to give the people the understanding and make it apparently clear to them what God is saying, and if we don’t, there are consequences for that.

Read Vs 9-12

Nehemiah, Ezra, and all of the leaders after seeing the people weep over their sin, then commanded that they no longer weep- that the day is holy to the LORD and to go out and rejoice, have a bbq and give to others who did not have anything- to not sorrow, because the joy of the Lord is their strength.

Something that stood out to me about this, is it says the people wept over their sin. Not Nehemiah, not ezra or the levites- the people.

This to me means that the leaders would have had to deal with their sin already before God- before ever standing before the people and speak.

Quote from David Guzik- “Leaders have a special need to understand and walk in God’s Word. Their ignorance or disobedience affects far more than themselves — it affects everyone they have an influence on.”

I dare not stand in front of God’s people, willfully disobeying the conviction of the Holy Spirit regarding undealt with sin in my own personal life. I believe that would be presuming upon the grace of God, and I believe that would clearly show a loss of consciousness of the presence and holiness of God. We had better be careful to deal with our sin before the Lord before ever standing in front of His people to lead or speak the word of God.

In vs 9 we see the people’s realization of their spiritual state. When people come to the place of understanding their sin and rebellion against God and weep- we then need to come along side of them in the power of the Holy Spirit to encourage the unbeliever to accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and rejoice that they are forgiven. For the believer to repent and and ask for His forgiveness, and rejoice knowing that as they stand in Christ- they have it. It is a good and proper response to weep in view of our sin, but we need to then move on and rejoice greatly for the finished work of Jesus Christ for us.

Vs 12 says that they rejoiced greatly and ate and drank, because they understood the words that were declared to them. We need to help people understand that realizing our sin and weeping over it and confessing it to the Lord is only step 1 to a right standing with God, the final step is accepting the forgiveness of Jesus Christ , which then leads to rejoicing because of it!

Read vs 13-16

the leaders of the houses with the priests and levites gathered again the next day to understand the words of the Law. Even the priests and levites realized how desperately they needed to learn what God’s word said.

The Feast of Tabernacles, was a feast that was about celebrating God’s deliverance of the people out of the bondage of Egypt that we read about in Exodus. About 900 years from the days of Joshua some commentators believe, where the people had not dwelled in “booths” as the law commanded- an important part of the feast. That’s hundreds and hundreds of years of not spending time intentionally observing what God had done for them. How much does just a week or two of not dwelling on what God has done for us in our own lives affect us?

In regards to the water gate, Most scholars and commentators believe This gate was likely used to bring water libations (or Drink offerings) into the temple, which were required as part of the Sukkot, or Festival of Tabernacles, service., or potentially it could have also been used by the high priests to access ritual baths before entering the temple. Luke 22:20 “Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” Right here we see the blood of Jesus having fulfilled the need for a drink offering

John 7:37–38 “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.””

I can’t help but see that Jesus knew they remembered this very account of Nehemiah, the reading of the word of God at the water gate on the feast of tabernacles and they’re dwelling on all that God had done for their nation- and Jesus so carefully using their knowledge of the old testament, the imagery around them, to connect it to the work God was doing right then and there, and the work God planned on doing by pouring out the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Jesus.

Third Point: · We need to take time to “dwell in our booths”.

As the people sat and remembered and celebrated what God had done for them- Jesus spoke to them regarding, who He was as Living Water to them, and the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit to those who believe- that amazing work that God still wanted to do. We need to make time in our own lives to sit and reflect quietly on the work God as done in our lives, and be attentive to listen for Him to speak to our hearts about what He is planning to do next.

We need to remind ourselves and each other of all that God has done, which reminds us there is still more God wants to do- the people didn’t just fake it til they made it, they had just watched God rebuild their great city and provide for them- even though they totally forsook Him and sinned against Him. They were reminded of the grace of God. We need to be disciplined to remind ourselves of the grace of God towards us, and be prepared and put time aside to hear what God plans to do next in our lives.

These people missed what Jesus was talking about, it wasn’t until afterwards that the disciples understood.

I believe that God plans to work in and through the lives of everyone in this classroom, and us being here is our agreement and surrender to the will of God, to be used of God. He has a plan and a purpose for us, but we can miss out if we’re not making Him the center of our attention, if we fail to realize the purposes and plans of God for our life, we miss out on a greater closeness and intimacy with God. God still poured out His Holy Spirit, even though some may have missed what Jesus was talking about. God will still work through your life, but theres something dramatically different and special about hearing God tell you first and understanding His intentions- and then watching Him do the work. So make time for Him to speak to your heart through His word.

Read Vs 17-18

Daily they read the Book of the Law, they kept the feast, they assembled together- they had done what God had asked them to do. The result? Very great gladness.

There is a beautiful joy that comes from being doers of the word as it says in James. When i can say “I know I am doing what God has asked from me, I know that I am doing it.” Especially those of us that lived in rebellion to God and that dread and exhaustion and fear, but now as we walk in the Spirit and strive to do all that He has commanded us- our greatest hope is to hear the words from the Lord- “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.”

Matthew 25:23 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

I believe right now for all of us students, right now is the time of the few things. God has given us a few things to be good stewards of in school of ministry. God has placed us here to learn and to grow, and to be faithful to do the few things that THROUGH Pastor Rick, the Holy Spirit has tasked us to do.

Now is the time for us to recommit to the study of the word of God and to get hungry for it, to learn how to exposit the scriptures correctly for ourselves and for when we teach, and finally to get serious about dwelling on the faithfulness of God in our lives, and as His sheep, to listen for the Good Shepherd’s voice and what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.

(if time permits) Address class about what God has taught me through SOM as i reflected on it-

It’s shown me i’m not a natural at memorizing scripture, but the Holy Spirit is an incredible Helper to me

It’s shown me the temptations of pride for all of us and for pastors is very real and present, and if you disagree and don’t think youre tempted to be prideful- that’s pride right there. But God’s grace and mercy towards us to still use us for His purposes- even though we struggle so greatly and stumble at times.

Ive seen that The life of a Pastor or leader in ministry can often be very lonely, but the Lord has shown how close He can be to me in those times of loneliness- if i just discipline myself to get away with Him and “dwell in my booth”.

I can lose my hunger for closeness with God when i’m busy or preoccupied, but the trials and suffering drives me back to Him- so maybe i shouldn’t hate suffering anymore, because i know that it’s drawing me closer to Jesus, and just exactly what Romans 5:3–4 says. It says- “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

1 Peter 4:19 (NIV) “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”

Prayer