Reading and Repentance
Notes
Transcript
I. The Reading of the Law
I. The Reading of the Law
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.
A. People Gathered to Hear (8:1,6)
A. People Gathered to Hear (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.
Notice the first thing about the reading of the Law is that all the people gathered. They all wanted to hear Ezra read from the book. This was the book of the Old Testament Scriptures, the book of Moses which makes up the first 5 books of our Bible today.
They people gathered, and the told Ezra, bring the book! WE want to hear from the book for one primary purpose, because the LORD has commanded it!
Let me ask you, do you want to come on the LORD’s day and hear from the Book? Do you want to gather with the Lord’s people and hear what He has to say through the reading of the Scriptures.
I want you to see next how the people responded to the reading of the book.
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.
They responded by answering Amen, Amen, lifting their hands,
When the Book was being read they agreed, the assented, and they heard the word read and said yes, yes.
They not only offered praise through their words but through their actions. Lifting up their hand probably through prayer and praise to God!
2. They bowed their heads in humility. The people recognized the holiness and power of God. They begin to understand their sinfulness in the sight of God. They begin to see their need for forgiveness.
3. They worshipped their LORD with their faces to the ground. Throughout this book we see that the people are said to be stiff necked (illustrate). However, here as the book is read the people bow their head and worship.
They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
B. Ezra the Priest Stood to Read (8:2-6)
B. Ezra the Priest Stood to Read (8:2-6)
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.
I want you to picture this in your mind. The people had gathered into this square, they called for Ezra the priest to bring the Book of the Law to be read. They are all standing around the platform with anticipation desiring to hear what God has commanded.
Then here comes Ezra, the priest the man they have great respect for and he walks up with to the platform with this precious book to begin to read it and notice what verse 4 says.
He read from early morning until midday. For half a day Ezra read and notice who was there men and women and all who cold understand. That means even children who were old enough to begin to hear, to listen, and understand what the Word of God says.
Now how many of you could understand what I just read? This means you all are old enough to be read the Word of God, to be read the Scriptures.
I want you to see something else, look at verse 4,
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.
Imagine that Ezra the priest stood at a wooden platform they had made for the purpose of reading and explaining the Book of the Law. Does that sound familiar?
Let me give you another modern illustration. Alistair Begg said when he was a boy in church their pulpits were a lot different than ours. They were actually round, so you would walk in them from the back and they also had a gate in the back so you could be closed in the pulpit.
He goes on to say he has vivid memories of what they called the beetle who would come out before the sermon and place the open Bible on the pulpit then he would walk out and the pastor would walk in, once he was in there the beetle would shut him in the pulpit. This was for the purpose and illustration of the pastor being shut in behind and under the authority of the Scriptures. Because it was understood that the Scriptures were the authoritative and sufficient Word of God and that is all you needed for salvation growth in understanding of God and His Word.
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.
So the people were there to hear, the priest was there to read, and notice the last thing about this reading of the Book of the Law.
C. Levites Helped the People Understand (7-8)
C. Levites Helped the People Understand (7-8)
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.
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.
There were other men there to help the people understand the Law of God. So as Ezra read there were other men who were assigned the duty of reading and explaining the Scriptures to the people. It was understood that they may need some help, Ezra could not do it all so these Levites were there to help minister the Word of God to all who were there.
Nehemiah
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.
Can you think of something similar in the church here at Pray’s Mill? Pastor Josh does most of our preaching and reading. Pastor Adam, myself, Brother Kevin, and other take turns reading, then we are all available to help those who need it understand. Your SS teachers, your parents and others are also called to help you understand.
Nehemiah
This brings us to our second main point, what happened when the people heard the Scriptures. They were brought to a point of repentance. Following this explanation of the reading of the Book of the Law Nehemiah explains,
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.
II. The Repentance of the People
II. The Repentance of the People
There are a couple things I want you to understand before we look at their repentance. One the purpose of the Law of God.
The purpose of the Law of God is what Paul says is to be our schoolmaster. In other words, the Law points us to the holiness of God and to our own sinfulness. In other words when we read, You Love the Lord God with all your heart, that shows us that we have not done that. We have fallen short of loving God with all of our heart.
When the Law says, you shall honor your father and mother, we may recognize we have not done that perfectly because we have disobeyed our father and mother. Or thou shall not bear false witness…Do you understand?
Secondly what does it mean to repent? Repentance means a change of mind and direction. Meaning I now understand that my sin is against God, I agree with him that I have broken His law and I am asking him for forgiveness and turning away from that sin and to Him!
Now watch what Nehemiah tells us about the people’s repentance.
A. They Repented Through Fasting
A. They Repented Through Fasting
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.
Now do you see what they did?
They fasted, they did not eat.
They put on sackcloth,
They put (earth) dirt on their heads.
Do you know what all of this shows? Humility. They did not eat because God was more important at this time than food, they put on humble clothes (something like a feed sack) and dirt on their head showing their humility before God. This was a visible sign of their repentance.
Notice also,
B. They Repented Through Confession
B. They Repented Through Confession
And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
Notice what they did, they not only repented visibly, but verbally. They got away from the other nations that were causing them to sin. Then they stood up and confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers. They audibly repented. They spoke out about the way that they had sinned.
They wanted those around them to hear how they had broken the law of God and how they had turned away from God and his commands. They wanted everyone to know they understood their sin and no longer wanted to commit these sins.
Now watch what come next.
C. They Repented Through Worship
C. They Repented Through Worship
And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.
After they had humbled themselves, confessed their sins, Nehemiah said they continues to worship, for another half of a day. Look at verse 5.
Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
Nehemiah 9:
Do you see how they being to praise God? They said blessed be your glorious name. They understood this Holy God was also a gracious, merciful God whose steadfast love never ends. It goes on forever and ever! He is a forgiving God.
They go on in verse 6,
“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
They praise God for his creating the earth, the heavens, and all that is in them. The recognize that God sustains all of these things and that even those who are in heaven, the angelic beings and the saints who are already there are offering continuous praise and worship to Him!
Now do you see how all of this started from the reading of the Book of the Law? Let me ask you, how do you respond when the Bible is read? Do you lean in and listen? Do you understand that you have sinned and need a Savior? Do you ask questions of your elders, pastors, teachers, or parents?
We are all hear to help you see your need for Jesus. Maybe this morning after reading this passage of Scripture from Nehemiah you feel the need to confess your sins and ask God for forgiveness?
Don’t wait, take your teacher or one of your pastor by the hand and ask them to help you understand how to confess, repent, and worship God for His glory.