Lessons From the Exiles: Knowing & Understanding God's Word

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Nehemiah 8:1–8 ESV
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.
These people stood for HOURS just hearing the Word of God read aloud.
Afterward, men explained the law so that everyone could properly understand.
We get agitated if our church service goes too long.
How hungry are we to know God’s word?
How much time do we spend drawing close to God?
This passage really convicts me.
I love God, but I don’t spend nearly the amount of time with him that I could.
And when it comes to church, when I am the one in the pew, it is so easy for me to zone out unless the preacher has a REALLY good message.
But these people were there practically ALL DAY listening.
And they weren’t just listening—they were responding.
Nehemiah 8:9–12 ESV
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.
When the people heard God’s word being read, and they realized just how badly they had fallen into sin, they were deeply grieved.
But Nehemiah told them that they should rejoice, because now they understood God’s word and could serve him better.
Near the beginning of the 20th Century, natural hot springs became the rage when people were looking to be healthy. Companies that wanted to profit off of this concept started sampling the water at popular hot springs, and they discovered trace amounts of radon. So to capitalize on this discovery, they started adding radon to water to sell as a health tonic. Other companies made bottles lined with radon—just add water, and you have an instant health drink guaranteed to boost your energy.
What they didn’t realize is that constant exposure to radon—which is a form of radium—kills you.
Eben Byers, a wealthy industrialist, was drinking three bottles of radium water a day.
As it turns out, radon doesn’t even need to be radioactive to kill you.
Exposure to radon gives you cancer.
After two years of drinking the water, Eben Byers started losing teeth.
When the Wall Street Journal wrote about Mr. Byers, the headline read, “The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off.”
Mr. Byers died of aggressive cancer and radiation poisoning, and was buried in a lead-lined coffin.
But people all around the world were poisoning themselves with radium water, because they didn’t know any better!
When Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, our military was caught unawares.
They thought they were prepared, and were looking for possible attacks.
But while they were looking at radar and listening to radio chatter of the enemy, they didn’t notice the little things the enemy was doing.
The enemy began planning months, maybe a year or two, in advance.
They sent spies to Hawaii to study Pearl Harbor’s strengths and weaknesses.
We THOUGHT we knew what to look for, but we didn’t.
We missed the little signs that would have told us a threat was coming.
One of the biggest sins the Jews had committed (if there is such a thing as a bigger sin) is that they had started intermarrying with the pagan nations around them.
Why is this a big deal?
Nehemiah 13:23–24 ESV
In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people.
Prominent Jews, including officials and priests, had taken wives and fathered children who didn’t even know the Hebrew language, let alone know the God of the Jews.
And because the Jewish religious leaders and political officials were doing it, the rest of the Jews figured it must be ok.
Israel was to be a nation set apart as holy—an example to the rest of the world.
Their enemies were stealing the Promised land from them by marrying into their families and producing non-Jewish offspring who would simply inherit everything.
Just because something is popular doesn’t make it right.
Just because some church is preaching something that sounds good doesn’t make it right.
I was told that, at the end of the Friday night tea party, someone from the church got up to take an offering.
They started talking about investing seed money as a motivation to give.
This is prosperity doctrine, that motivates people to act out of selfish desires for personal gain rather than for furthering God’s kingdom.
There are really big churches out that that are hugely popular because they spend all their time trying to make people feel good rather than helping people grow in Christ.
It’s all about getting a blessing, which is defined in material terms.
If you do this, pray like that, Jesus will make your life on earth better.
But what did Jesus say?
John 16:33 ESV
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus does not promise a problem-free life filled with wealth. He promises victory over the circumstances.
So what did the Jews do when they learned of their sins?
How did they react when they learned that they had offended God by marrying pagans and fathering children who couldn’t even speak Hebrew?
Did they say, “Oh well, I guess that’s just how things are”?
No.
They sent those wives and children away.
These pagans would have no part in the inheritance of Israel.
It sound harsh—it IS harsh.
But allowing them to stay would have been perpetuating the sin in Israel.
When we see the sin that had crept into our ways of living, we have to put a stop to it.
We have to take steps to see that sin doesn’t enter our door any more.
It’s hard to escape compromise once it has entered our lives.
We are going to look like jerks in the world’s eyes.
We will be painted as intolerant, ignorant, and cruel.
But we have to stand up for the truth, and we must live the truth in every facet of our lives.
And to live the truth, we have to know the truth.
In Nehemiah’s day, the books of law were copied by hand. There were only a few copies to be distributed among the temples.
The only way for people to know the scriptures was for them to hear it read aloud by the priests and scribes.
Today, everyone has access to God’s word.
You can find Bibles at Walmart.
You can order them online.
You can put a Bible app on your smartphone and read from your favorite translation.
You can listen to the Bible being read aloud on CDs and online.
So what is your excuse for not knowing God’s word?
What is MY excuse?
The prophet Hosea spoke out against the priests.
Hosea 4:6 ESV
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
I don’t want to be guilty of keeping the truth from you.
2 Corinthians 4:1–5 ESV
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
We need to know that we are sinners, that the wages of sin is death, and that there is rescue from our death sentence through the blood of Jesus.
We must remember that this life is not meant to be easy, and that following Jesus does not guarantee a life free from problems. In fact, life will probably be tougher, because the world hates us.
2 Corinthians 4:8–12 ESV
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
We cannot continue to let the philosophies of this world infiltrate and infect the Church’s way of thinking.
Sin is sin, no matter how popular it is.
Lies are lies, no matter how convincing they are.
Our only defense is to know God’s word.
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