When God’s people are constantly exposed to Scripture and Spirit Led Instruction & Interpretation… amazing things happen! The principals found in Scripture guide us: Truths about God & US. The story God tells in His Word brings a response by His Spirit. The response is important but don’t miss exactly what the story tells us about God.
STORY & RESPONSE…They had been soaking in God’s Word [Torah / Pentateuch]
THEY GATHER AND FORM A COMMUNAL BOND AROUND GOD’S WORD…God’s Word – Repentance / Confession – Praise – Sacrifice…They form / reform Community Based on His Name…BY HIS WORD !
This is the end of The Festival of Tabernacles / Booths / Sukkot
shelters was to commemorate the time the people of Israel lived in the wilderness for 40 years sustained by God alone.
Last Week…
And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths… And there was very great rejoicing. And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he [Ezra] 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. ~ Neh. 8:17-18 [Lev. 23:33-36 & 39-43]
Nehemiah 9:1-21 [ESV]
1 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. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
- Time for the feasting to end and the full impact of God’s Word to have it’s effect
- Everyone participated [Important factor]
- They fasted [self denial to create dependance on God]
- Sack cloth & dirt on the head [show of contrition and humility]
- They separated themselves from all foreigners [set apart = Holy]
- They confessed their own SIN… AND the community / nation’s SIN
They Got real with God’s Word! It prepared them for this solemn assembly…
3 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. 4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
- 3 Hours: Sanding and listening to the Book of The Law: The Pentateuch [1st 5]
- 3 Hours Confession & Worship
- The Levites led the prayers of confession & worship [Emotional & Active]
5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said,
- Levites = Ministers / Worship Leaders….in both list who comes 1st?
- Here is how the rest of the day is going to go…
- THIS WEEK PREVIEW:
- 2nd: Declaring What He Has Done
- 3rd: How His People Have Failed Him
- 4th: Recognition of God’s Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness
- NEXT WEEK PREVIEW
- 5th: People Fail Pt. 2
- 6th: God’s Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness AND Judgement / Exile
- 7th: Repentance / Ownership & ‘Re-Covenanting’
Here is what is declared by the ‘Leading Levites’
“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. 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.”
- Posture of Honoring…’Standing Up’ for something [Wholehearted / Whole Bodied]
- 1st statement about God: Self-Existent / Eternal [both ways]
- Based on Who God IS, HIS Name, is to be blessed, glorified, exalted, praised…
- 2nd statement about God: The TRIUNE God alone created & preserves ALL!
- Because THEY know the fullness of YOUR creation, all heaven worships YOU
They Declared Foundational Truth about God [From HIS Word]…Now His Story of God’s personal relationship with His people
7 “You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before You, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept Your promise, for You are righteous.”
- Abraham was: Chosen / Brought / Faithful / Blessed [Covenant & Promise]
9 “And You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for You knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers.
- Quick synopsis of the ‘Egypt Years’… the ten plagues up to Passover
- ‘Our fathers’ was Moses & Aaron and they were representing Yahweh
You made a Name for Yourself, as it is to this day.
- Yahweh distinguished Himself as the one and only God of the universe
- The Name God made for Himself among people of the world: Omnipotent
11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and You cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.”
- No one could have even imagined the idea of what God did [Creative]
- There was one group of people God protected and another HE destroyed
- The archeological evidence has been found, it happened
12 “By a pillar of cloud You led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go.”
- Once the Egyptians were no longer a problem there was the natural world
- Every day the pillar of cloud protected them from the sun & heat
- Every night the pillar of fire kept them warm & safe
- These are no shabby miracles…they demonstrate God’s care for His people
13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 and You made known to them Your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses Your servant.”
- The coming down…condescending to the level of His people for RELATIONSHIP
- God’s Ways, Will & Rules are the best possible thing for us: Right, True & Good!
- They mention only one of all the commandments Sabbath [balance]
- They place great importance on the Law of Moses [synopsis is ok but…]
15 “You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and You told them to go in to possess the land that You had sworn to give them.”
- God supernaturally fed them and produced water…
- God proves He takes care of His chosen people that walk with Him in relationship
- God says: Go take this great land, I have promised it to your ancestors…
16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey Your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that You performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.”
- Instead of dealing with the truth about God they presumed wrong things of Him
- They forgot what God had done
- They wanted to go back to slavery in Egypt…How about you?
“But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies,”
- God people declare God’s character!
- He kept his part of the covenant relationship with them… even when they did not
- Worst possible open rebellion!
19 “You in Your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.”
- Even after ALL the evil things they did, God STILL continued to care for them!!!
- The generation that rebelled did not enter but their children did
PRINCIPAL & APPLICATION
Constant exposure to God’s Word releases great joyousness & solemness. A Biblical relationship with Christ as His disciple is a balanced life of both.
Model Christ’s balance and share the joy & seriousness of life. [Jn. 1:14 & Rom.12:15]
PRINCIPAL & APPLICATION
Constant exposure to God’s Word in community will leads to humility before God that brings confession & worship. Scripture should lead us in our approach God.
Develop a habit of Word based Confession & Worship. [Ps. 139:23-24 & Hosea 14:1-2]
PRINCIPAL & APPLICATION
Constant exposure to God’s Word shows us how personally and supernaturally God protects and cares for His people in relationship. God promises to care for those He calls to be His people.
Trust God to provide rather than your planing and resources. [Philippians 4:12-13]
PRINCIPAL & APPLICATION
Constant exposure to God’s Word reminds us of our stubborn disobedience to God’s revealed expectations. Our need for ‘SELF’ is proven to be destructive.
Honestly hold Yourself to God’s standard not the world’s. [Romans 12:1-3]
PRINCIPAL & APPLICATION
Constant exposure to God’s Word shows us over and over again what a graceful, merciful, forgiving and loving God He is. He is bigger than our sin, just as He has always been!
Develop a habit of thanksgiving for God’s Grace in Christ. [1 Thess. 5:16-18]