So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. ^3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

^4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

^5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. ^6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

^7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. ^8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear^a and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

^9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

^10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

^11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve.”

^12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

^13 On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to give attention to the words of the Law. ^14 They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month ^15 and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make booths”—as it is written.^b

^16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves booths on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. ^17 The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.

^18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.

Ch. 9

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads. ^2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers. ^3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel contains some of the most famous renaissance paintings in all of the world and arguably the most famous frescoes. It took Michelangelo four long years to paint these works of art. It took one man four years to paint the ceiling and starting in 1980, it took a large team of experts a full fourteen years to restore the frescoes. You can see some of the before and after effects of the restoration. The painting appeared so dull due to almost five hundred years of smoke and dirt that had built up on them. When the originals were completed in 1512, everyone who saw it was in awe of its beauty and detail. Following the restoration, most of the original beauty was restored and after hundreds of years Michelangelo’s true genius could be appreciated again.

Reading the Bible can be a lot like restoring a painting. The Bible itself does not need to be restored, but what needs restoring is our mind and spirits. But the problem is that layers of soot and dirt can build up on our hearts and minds so that we cannot see the true beauty of God as he is displayed in his word. There are several things which form this dirt and soot. Neglecting the Word will lay down a covering of soot. Being locked into our traditions decreases the clarity of the word. We can become so convinced that we have the correct interpretation about a certain passage or theological category that we become unwilling to even examine its truthfulness. And of course all of our sin adds layers upon layers of soot and dirt. But if we approach the Word with a humble and sincere desire to learn and be changed by it, as we read and meditate upon it, God’s beauty and power is revealed in all its glory. We thought we had seen God’s true beauty, but compared to what we now see, our original understanding seems like a soot-covered painting which lacks luster and magnificence.

In a very magnified way, this is what happened in chapter eight of Nehemiah. Through the many generations of godless kings, exile in Babylon and struggle for survival in Judah, the Word of God had been horribly neglected. No one loved the Scriptures like King David and even though there were brief reforms under Hezekiah and Josiah, most leaders and most Israelites neglected the word of God. Even if they had copies of the Law at their disposal, the layers of neglect, tradition and sin prevented them from seeing and understanding God’s word. But in chapter eight we have one of the greatest revivals in all of Jewish history and all of it centers around a thorough understanding of God’s word.

In this chapter, Ezra the priest makes a reappearance and organizes a public reading of the Law. A high wooden platform was built for this special occasion. To put things into perspective, the massive rebuilding project on the wall had been completed about a week prior. One would think that the success on the wall would have strengthened their faith and prepared their hearts to receive the good news from the Law. Ezra had thirteen men with him on the platform and another thirteen men walking among the crowds of thousands helping them understand the Scriptures that were being read. Did you notice how long this lasted? Verse three tells us that “he read it aloud from daybreak till noon.” That means that he read for about six hours! This was a six hour sermon and we complain when we sermons go over thirty minutes! Actually, I don’t hear complaining from our church, or if you do complain, no one tells me about it, but there just might be a little grumbling if I preached for six hours, especially if everyone stood the whole time as they did. (In reality, I might be the first one to complain if I had to preach for six straight hours!)

This really was much closer to what we might call “preaching,” because they were not merely passive listeners seeking a bit of new knowledge, but the entire process was organized to bring abut maximum understanding. As Ezra read form the Law, there were thirteen helpers roaming around the crowd helping them to understand the Scriptures. Look at the strong emphasis on understanding in this chapter.

2. which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand

3. He read it aloud…in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand

3. all the people listened attentively

7. The Levites…instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there

8. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

12. because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

13. the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to give attention to the words of the Law

The people needed help to understand the Scriptures for at least two reasons. The first was that the Hebrew that Ezra was reading from the scroll may have been an outdated form of the language. For example, this is what you would see if you attempted to read from Wycliffe’s English translation written in 1386.

alle ye that traueilen & ben chargid come to me & I schal fulfille you. take ye my yok on you & lerne ye of me for I am mylde and meke in herte: and ye schulen finde rest to youre soulis/ for my yok is softe & my charge liyt. (John Wycliffe, 1386)^[i]

Is this English? It’s an old style of English, but it is still the English language. This may have been one of their hindrances to understanding. It is also the reason we need to make use of the best English translations available to us. The second reason they put so much emphasis on understanding was to prevent a type of Bibliolatry—an unintended worship of the actual scrolls. None of these people had ever seen the Antique Roadshow on PBS, but all of them knew a valuable piece of history when they saw it. When Ezra unrolled the ancient scrolls to read from it, there would have been an immediate temptation for idolatry of the scrolls themselves. The scrolls were old and valuable. They were probably preserved copies from before the Babylonian exile, handed down from generation to generation or else hidden away in safety like the Dead Sea Scrolls were tucked away for two thousand years in hidden caves. There would have been a danger to almost worship the scrolls instead of worshipping the God who wrote the scrolls. We have to remember that we are all pagans at heart. It is easier to worship an inanimate object that we can see instead of the one true God who we cannot see with our eyes.

Ezra and his assistants were all aiming for clarity and complete understanding, because without understanding, at best all you have is empty words, and at worse, you have a leather scroll to be worshipped. In our day, there are few things more dangerous than a partially informed Christian. Have you noticed that Christians are some of the most gullible people around? It’s quite easy to learn enough Bible verses and Christian lingo to be really dangerous, because a little knowledge makes you more likely to follow after false teaching of all kinds.

For the past several months there has been a so-called revival happening in Lakeland, Florida. Tens of thousands of Christians have made a pilgrimage to Lakeland to check out what was happening and to see the leader of this movement, a man named Todd Bentley. This self-proclaimed prophet and evangelist is a prime example of how a little bit of knowledge can make you dangerous. Let’s watch this video clip.

This “revival” came to a screeching halt when Mr. Bentley was discovered to have had an inappropriate relationship with a woman who was not his wife. An interesting articvle was written by the editor of Charisma magazine, the most widely read publication of those in the charismatic movement. He writes:

“Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up. A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley’s news hit the fan. He said to me: “I’m now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment.” Ouch. Hopefully we’ll learn our lesson this time and apply the necessary caution when an imposter shows up.”[ii]

John Piper also wrote a blog entry about the Lakeland fiasco, saying that the main problem was not necessarily the craving for the wild and crazy as much as it was an abandonment of Biblical truth and discernment.

“Discernment is not created in God’s people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds. When that happens, then the brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance will have the strong fiber of the full counsel of God in them. They will be profoundly Christian and not merely religious and emotional and psychological.”[iii]

No one wants dry, Biblical truth. We all want something to happen. Maybe we are not seeking after the wild and crazy, but we want to see the truth of God and we want to see the power of God, but these two things always, I repeat always go together. What those Christians in Lakeland Florida saw was neither the truth of God nor the power of God—a power perhaps, but not the power of God. We want the truth of God and the power of God. In other words, we want to know God and we want to experience God. And this is exactly what happened when Ezra read and explained the Scriptures. The key verse is verse twelve. Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them. Notice that their celebration came as a result of their understanding. They were not joyful for any old reason. They did not celebrate for no reason at all. Their joyful celebration was a direct result of their understanding of the word.

Remember that this was a rediscovery of the Scriptures for them. Through their neglect of Scripture and their sin, they had developed a thick layer of soot and dirt over their hearts and minds. This day of teaching by Ezra was a cleaning and restoration of their hearts. Before this clear teaching, the full splendor and majesty of God had been hidden from their sight. But hour after hour, Ezra cleaned away the decades and centuries of accumulated dirt to reveal a vibrant picture of God; a new understanding of God; a renewed vision of God.

What exactly did they see in this renewed vision? We are not told the exact content of the teaching. Over six hours of teaching, no doubt Ezra covered many key parts of the Law. The response of the people gives us a clue. From verse thirteen to the end the people are busy preparing for and celebrating the O.T. feast of booths. If there was a genuine revival in Viroqua—a true, Holy Spirit driven revival, not the false revival of Lakeland, Florida—do you think it would culminate in a seven day celebration of the feast of booths? That would not be very likely, right? There would be confession of sin and repentance and countless changed lives—and all of that did come eventually in this Jewish revival—but first came a celebration.

But why the feast of booths? The feast of booths was a commemoration of God’s deliverance from Egypt and his provision during the forty years in the wilderness. After they entered the Promised Land, the Israelites were supposed to build small rooms made of branches on the flat roofs of their homes. They celebrated the feast of booths because they saw a renewed vision of God as Savior and Deliverer. This was the preaching of the gospel under the old covenant. What the mass of crowds received that day was good news—and it was good news, the great news of salvation. But as they caught a fresh glimpse of the holiness of God, their first response was to mourn and grieve over their sin.

^9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

^10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

^11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve.”

^12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

^17 The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.

The wall was completed in a miraculous fifty two days. God had sent Nehemiah to build the wall and rescue them from their enemies and a week later they received the great news of salvation which became for them a source of great joy. And it was not mere happiness or even a run of the mill joy, but this was a sacred joy; a holy joy; a celebration of the holiness and deliverance of their great God kind of joy.

When was the last time you could say you experienced sacred joy? When was the last time you felt great joy, when you rejoiced in the Lord? All people seek after happiness and joy of some kind, but compared to sacred joy, there is a fleeting nature to secular joy. I saw an example of what I call secular joy at the Olympics this past week. You may have seen the adorable, hard working Shawn Johnson receive her fourth Olympic medal and her fist gold medal on the high beam on the last day of gymnastics competition. Naturally, she was beaming with joy. The camera showed her parents weeping for joy. It was a joyous occasion. The next morning she was interviewed by Bob Costas and she described her experience in winning the gold medal as the greatest feeling she had ever felt. Being a good journalist, Costas asked her if she planned to compete in the 2012 London Olympics four years from now. Miss Johnson thought for a moment and said, “If I could get that feeling back again, I would do it.” I am not sure of the amazing joy of winning a gold medal was already beginning to fade, or else she knew that it would soon fade, but the point is that she wanted to hang onto that feeling of joy because she knew it was a fleeting joy. It was a secular joy that could not last.

Now compare her words with those of U.S. men’s marathoner, Ryan Hall. He said these words prior to the Olympic Trials, which was to be only the second marathon he had ever run in his life.

"Now as I prepare for my first Olympic trials, I feel God calling me to run free, to run free from having to make the team, free from the worries of needing to prove myself, free from the riches of this world, free to run with a heart full of passion and praise for God, free to pour myself out for Him, not for me."

What Hall is describing is not the fleeting nature of secular joy, because at that point in time, he had not won a gold medal. He had not made the Olympic team and he had not run more than one marathon. The kind of joy he described was an eternal, sacred joy that can only come from a knowledge of the Savior. Hall went on to win the Olympic trials in record time and he finished 10^th  in the men’s marathon yesterday.

When was the last time you experiences sacred joy?

Ex. Sacred joy at the building site on Monday

Rich Maurer

August 24, 2008