It was the prayer of the Reformers in the sixteenth century that the plowman might know the Bible as well as the monks in the monasteries. They understood that every reformation begins with the Word of God. This is what we see in the reformations recorded in Scripture, e.g., those that took place in the days of Asa, Jehoshaphat, Josiah and Hezekiah in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the establishment of churches throughout Judea, Samaria, Asia Minor and Europe was the direct result of the apostles preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, it should be our prayer that farmers and auto mechanics and plumbers know the Bible not as well as, but better than, most of the clergy of the twenty-first century. We should plead with God for little children in the Sunday school classroom to know the Word of God better than the so-called “experts” teaching in unbelieving theological seminaries.

If this is to be a reality today, the church cannot sit idly by. Of course, the Spirit of God is sovereign and only moves when and where he wills, and our desire for his movement often does not always correspond to what he actually does. Nonetheless, we must affirm our responsibility. The Lord is pleased to draw new believers to himself through those who already believe, just as Andrew led Peter to Jesus and Philip led Nathanael to him (John 1:40ff.). It is our duty before God to pray for the conversion of the lost, to develop strategies to reach them, to equip ourselves to go out and compel them to come in, and to support those who are called to do this as their life’s work.

In today’s text, we have the record of a reformation that took place in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, when all the people gathered together as one man to hear the Word of the living God.

The People’s Request

The previous chapter of Nehemiah ended by noting that the children of Israel were dwelling in their own cities following the completion of the wall. Only a few days had passed before they gathered together in Jerusalem and begged Ezra to read to them from the law of Moses. This convocation took place on the first day of the seventh month, which marked the beginning of a new year — Rosh Hashanah — on the Jewish civil calendar (v. 2). This was an excellent opportunity for them to express their gratitude to God for the completion of the wall. For this occasion, they gathered in the street (i.e., in the public square) just before the water gate. In other words, they chose a piece of property adjacent to the temple where there was enough space to accommodate a very large crowd. They wanted to make sure that everyone could hear the law with his own ears.

This is the first mention of Ezra in the book of Nehemiah. We know from the book that bears his name that he had led a second return from Babylon approximately thirteen years earlier, which also took place with the blessing of Artaxerxes, the Persian king. His primary purpose in returning to Judea was to teach the law of God. He had a double interest in this: according to the first two verses of our text, Ezra was both a scribe and a priest. When he first arrived in Jerusalem, the moral and spiritual condition of the people was appalling, but by patient instruction, coupled with Nehemiah’s challenge to rebuild the walls in faith, the Lord ultimately used his ministry to bring forth a positive response.

On the other hand, the passage of Scripture that we are looking at today is not about Ezra. It’s about the people. The people gathered together on their own. They asked Ezra to read to them from the law of God. Deuteronomy 31 required that the entire law be read in a general assembly of all the people every seventh year, but the Babylonian Captivity had prevented this for many years. Here the Jews wanted to return to the practice. The fact that they approached Ezra demonstrates not only their desire to hear the Word of God, but also their willingness to serve him acceptably. Nehemiah says that this is exactly what they did.

Altogether, the word people occurs thirteen times in the first twelve verses of this chapter, nine of which specifically say all the people. Although Ezra was the one who read the law to the people, it was the people’s thirst for the Word of God and their obedience to it that Nehemiah highlighted for us. Their response was the result of the Spirit of God applying the Word of God to their hearts and lives. By highlighting their response, Nehemiah exalted the glory of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Nehemiah described those who assembled for the reading of the law in verse 2 as men and women, and all that could hear with understanding. The next verse has a similar description. The assumption of most commentators is that these descriptions indicate that only those who had a more mature discernment were present — perhaps those over the age of twelve or so. After all, the reading and instruction that took place on this day lasted for approximately six hours — from the break of dawn until noon. During this time, it is estimated that one-fourth of the Pentateuch was read. This would have been a very long time for infants and small children to stand still.

Adam Clarke takes an even more extreme position. He wrote, “Infants, idiots, and children not likely to receive instruction, were not permitted to attend this meeting; nor should any such, in any place, be ever brought to the house of God, if it can be avoided.”

But this is probably not what Nehemiah meant. Although only men over a certain age were required to attend the annual feasts after the Jews settled in the land, every seventh year there was to be a gathering together of all Israel, including women and children, to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, during which the entire law was read. Even strangers who were lodging within the gates of the Jews were to be there. The command reads, When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: and that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it (Deut. 31:11–13). As you can see, this law was quite explicit. There were no exceptions: everyone was to participate. It’s unlikely, therefore, that the people would have kept part of this law, while ignoring other parts of it. It’s even less likely that the parents would have left their infants and small children at home, while they trekked to Jerusalem with their older children for this event.

Why, then, did Nehemiah describe those who were present as men and women, and all that could hear with understanding? Keep in mind that Nehemiah borrowed his description of the people from Moses’ instructions for the Feast of Tabernacles, even though the Feast of Tabernacles would not be celebrated for another two weeks. But he also made one very important change: instead of describing the people as men, women and children who did not yet know anything, he described them as men, women and those who could hear. The change was not meant to exclude the children, but to include them. In Moses’ day, the children knew very little because the lessons of the exodus and conquest were still being played out. But by the time of Nehemiah the lessons of God’s grace were not only known but had been rehearsed countless times. Thus, even very small children had greater understanding of God's prior redemptive acts than the adults did in Moses’ day. In any case, the point is that all the people of God — the entire covenant community — had gathered together.

Staying Focused on the Word

The reason that the people gathered together was to hear the Word of God. Verses 3 through 8 describe in detail how this was done.

According to verse 4, Ezra read the law from a pulpit of wood, i.e., a platform or stage that was elevated above the people, so that the people could hear what he said. Thirteen men, probably priests, joined him on this platform — six on his right hand and seven on his left. Considering the fact that the reading lasted six hours and that there were more than forty thousand people present, it’s likely that these men assisted with the reading.

When Ezra opened the book of the law to read it, the people stood up out of respect for the Word of God. Some churches have adopted a similar practice, although it is neither commanded in Scripture nor identified as the normal practice of the Jews. Honoring the Word of God is good. Psalm 138:2 says the God himself magnifies his Word above his own name. But we have to be careful that we are neither selective nor superstitious in doing so. There are churches, for example, in which the people stand only for the reading of the gospel, but sit for the reading of other parts of Scripture. This assumes that the gospel has greater value than the rest. Another example of this is the practice of putting the “words of Christ” in red in our translation, as if the entire Bible were not the product of the Spirit of Christ working through his prophets and apostles (I Pet. 1:11–12).

Before Ezra began reading the law, he praised God. To this the people responded with a double Amen as they lifted up their hands toward heaven, i.e. towards God in humble dependence upon him for grace and mercy. Abraham lifted up his hands in prayer. Genesis 14:22 says, And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth. David did also. He wrote in Psalm 63, Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name (v. 4). In the New Testament, Paul encourages men to pray every where, lifting up holy hands. In any case, this was not the kind of hand-lifting that we see in modern churches, where people lift their hands over their heads and wave them around while uttering extemporaneous praise. According to verse 6, the people lifted their hands as they bowed their heads and worshiped with their faces toward the ground. The lifting up of their hands symbolized that they were calling upon the God of heaven, and the bowing of their heads acknowledged that they were unworthy to do so in and of themselves.

In addition to the thirteen men who stood on the platform with Ezra, another thirteen are mentioned in verse 7. These were all Levites. It was their job to instruct the people concerning the meaning of the law. Exactly how they carried this out is not perfectly clear. Verse 8 says that the Levites also read from the law. This probably means that Ezra and those on the platform with him did not read for the entire six hours. Rather, they read a passage and then the Levites helped the people to understand that section before going on to the next. But it is also highly probable that the Levites had to translate the law as well. One of the consequences of the Babylonian Captivity is that the Jews adopted Aramaic (a Babylonian dialect sometimes known as Chaldean) in place of Hebrew as their day-to-day language. Although the two languages are very similar, the reading of the Scriptures in Hebrew would have been incomprehensible to those whose first language was Aramaic.

Note here the extreme care with which Ezra and the Levites honored God’s Word. When they read it, they read it clearly. And in interpreting it, they were especially careful that the people understood its correct meaning. Look at the description in verse 8. It says, So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

New Testament preachers are under the same obligation today. Paul wrote to Timothy, Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine (I Tim. 4:13); and again, Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine (II Tim. 4:2). After all, we have what Peter calls a more sure word of prophecy (II Pet. 1:19), i.e., a word that towers above all the cunningly devised fables of men. Thus, we also must be just as careful, if not more so, to preach the Word accurately, faithfully and diligently.

The People’s Repentance

In our text, the reading and teaching of the Word of God had the effect that every preacher desires. The Spirit of God used it to humble the people. Verse 9 says that the people wept and mourned when they heard God’s law.

Mourning for sin, however, is not an endless sorrow. Eventually it must give way to the joy of sins forgiven and the hope of everlasting life. Sometimes those who mourn must be encouraged to turn their mourning into joy. Here Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and the Levites sought to console the Jews. They told them that, although weeping for one’s sin was appropriate and necessary, the day in which they were weeping was a holy day. It was a day to rejoice, a day to celebrate, a day to remember all the good that God has shown toward his people. This is what they must concentrate on.

Later in this chapter, we’ll see that the people discovered that they were remiss in celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. But that is not what was in view here. The holy day on which they were mourning was the celebration of the new moon. The months of the Jewish calendar were based on the lunar cycle, with each month beginning with a new moon. Verse 2 of our text says that the people gathered together on the first day of the seventh month. The law of Moses prescribed that the new moon be celebrated by offering two young bullocks, a ram and seven lambs as a burnt offering, a kid as a sin offering, along with all the proper meat and drink offerings. These offerings were made in addition to the required daily sacrifices (Num. 28:11–15). But this new moon was even more than that. It was the new moon of the seventh month, which was also the beginning of the new civil year. It was celebrated with even more sacrifices than the celebration of the new moon, which were offered to the sound of trumpets blowing. The trumpets heralded the beginning of a new year and prepared the people for two events that would take place later in the month: Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) and the Feast of Tabernacles. Because of the blowing of the trumpets, this celebration came to be known as the Feast of Trumpets (Num. 29:1–11). It therefore had a significance all its own. It was a holy convocation, a Sabbath and a religious observance.

The joy of this day, therefore, must take precedence over the sorrow of the people, even though their sorrow is rooted in a deep hatred of their sin. They were to celebrate, according to verse 10, by going their way, eating the fat, drinking the sweet, and sharing their bounty with the poor, thus allowing every Jew to participate in the joy of this holy day. They were to enjoy this day almost like we enjoy Thanksgiving or Christmas. Why were they to keep the day in this way? The reason is identified at the end of verse 11, viz., because they were to find their strength in the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is what protected them and allowed them to enjoy his blessings. Here the word strength (מָעֻזְּכֶם) literally means refuge or fortress.

In the New Testament, the church at Corinth did not find its strength in the joy of the Lord. Because the rich did not share God’s bounty with the poor at a regular meal preceding the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Supper was profaned and God’s anger aroused.  Some of the church members became sick and others died as a result (I Cor. 11:17–34).

As soon as the people heard the encouragement of Nehemiah and Ezra, they ceased to mourn and started to rejoice. They did exactly as they were instructed. In fact, verse 12 says that they made great mirth. If the joy of the Lord is one’s strength, how can that joy be anything but great?

Once again, they could do this because they understood the words that had been declared unto them. This is what the end of verse 12 says. There can be no faith or obedience without understanding. We can believe and do only what we understand.

Beloved, we do not control the Spirit of God. He works when and where he pleases. When Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God in his grandfather’s congregation in North­ampton, it produced almost no response. But when he preached it elsewhere, it moved men, women and children to tears. The Spirit of God blessed one but not the other.

But we do have the responsibility before God to carry his Word out into all the world. The great commission instructs us to do so, and the example of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Paul teaches us to persuade men to turn to Jesus Christ with every ounce of energy that we have. We must be the watchmen that warn sinners of the coming destruction. Are you willing to support the preaching of the Word? Are you willing to be the Lord’s spokesman when he gives you an opportunity?

Although we cannot make the Spirit bless our labors in the way that we might think he should, we can pray for him to do so. Prayer is an invaluable tool. Paul prayed that God would open a door of utterance for him to speak the mystery of Christ (Col. 4:3), and he begged the church at Ephesus to pray likewise (Eph. 6:19). Our prayer life will reflect the value that we place on reformation and revival. Do you pray for the success of the gospel? Is it your earnest desire to see the coming of Christ’s kingdom?

And just as importantly, this passage reminds us that we also need reformation. None of us, no matter how long we’ve been believers or how much education we’ve had in the Scriptures, is fully sanctified in his knowledge. When we hear the Word of God, as did the Jews of Nehemiah’s day, we must ask ourselves how that Word applies to us. Hearing the Word of God, whether in our private devotions were in the public assembly of God’s people, should never be a spectator sport for us. How is it with you? Do you seek to be conformed more and more to the image of Jesus Christ? Do you hear and receive his word with all readiness of mind, as did the Berean Jews?

May the Spirit of God grant each of us a fuller understanding of his Word and our responsibility each and every day! Amen.