The Joy of Obedience
Notes
Transcript
The Joy of Obedience
Nehemiah 8:13-18
INTRODUCTION
Malawi- first trip. Scared to death.
Too many worms that eat you from the inside out.
Hippopotamus- most dangerous animal in the world.
Lions- enough said.
Food- not prepared correctly.
Airplane- 15 hours stuck in a plane. -- Ethiopian plane?
Black Mambo- most poisonous snake in the world.
God called. I went.
The joy came in the obedience.
Started three churches. Met some great friends.
Led Godfrey to faith in Jesus. Now pastoring these churches.
13 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.
14 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,
15 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.”
16 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.
17 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.
18 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.
Why Day of Atonement is not mentioned. It was before Feast of Booths.
The requirements of Day of Atonement were for the Priests. The people did not have a part. The first thing they were to participate in was Feast of Booths.
They found joy in the obedience.
4 Reasons Feast of Tabernacles Brings Joy
1- It’s a Reminder of God’s Proclamation
1- It’s a Reminder of God’s Proclamation
13 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.
vs 13- the Bible is not just for Religious Leaders.
Curse of Middle Ages- relying on the elite to tell the poor what God says in his word.
They examined the way they had been doing it to the Bible and found that they had not ever been obedient to the whole feast.
A new understanding and new obedience brings Joy
18 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.
God’s Word is not just meant to be understood, it’s meant to be obeyed.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
2- It’s A Reminder of God’s Provision
2- It’s A Reminder of God’s Provision
The feast was a reminder of how God provided for His people during their 40 years in wilderness.
Manna From Heaven- gathered daily.
1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.
2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?”
8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”
Water From the Rock
After days without water people were ready to stone Moses.
5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
God provides what is necessary to fulfill his call.
ILL- Mission Trips
Flora Factor, Seminole Indian lady in Wewoka. Very poor. Raising a granddaughter.
Driving down road listening to southern gospel station and they were promoting a mission trip. She about had wreck because she raised her hands and knew God was calling her.
She sold most of her furniture before she told the church.
3- It’s A Reminder of God’s Presence
3- It’s A Reminder of God’s Presence
God dwelt in a tent with them. The Tabernacle.
Luminaries were placed in the temple to make it appear the Temple was on fire. Reminder of God’s presence with them.
God miraculously showed his presence in the Tabernacle.
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.
37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up.
38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
Presence moved into the Temple.
6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.
10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord,
11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
Jesus took on body and “tabernacled” with us.
Emmanuel= God with us.
Death of Jesus- the Curtain was Torn that separated the Holy of Holies from the people.
God’s Presence in us as believers
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
4- It’s a Reminder of God’s Providence
4- It’s a Reminder of God’s Providence
God used this feast to point to the future.
Messiah- Jesus claimed to be both the Manna and the water.
Manna
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Water from Rock
Jesus claimed to be the “living Water.
Samaritan Woman at Well
Another time he was teaching and makes same claim in John 7.
On “last day of the feast”
Feast of Tabernacles- Daily ritual
7 days of parading water from Pool of Siloam to the temple in a large golden pitcher, around the altar and to the water gate. once a day and on 7th day they did it 7 times. on the 8th day (Sabbath), they did not do the water parade but they spent the day in contemplation in prayer about the previous 7 days.
Jesus stood up- Sabbath- Jewish men given opportunity to teach. So probably the 8th day.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Living Water is reference to Holy Spirit.
Jesus was God’s plan from the beginning. These holy days pointed to the day they would be ultimately fulfilled.
CONCLUSION
How has God’s Word changed your life?
Are you ready to surrender to Jesus?