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“¹¹ The Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for this is a holy 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.” NIV

Don’t let your approach to the Bible be merely academic.

We read the Book of books not simply for information, but also for transformation. What the people did here came from ‘understanding’ what God’s Word said (12b), and they had the greatest celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles since Joshua’s day (17). They translated this Word into life, and obedience led to ‘’great’’ joy.

I think of these words of Jesus:

‘’Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them’’ (John 13:17).

A passage in James 2 also comes to mind:

‘’In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead’’ (verse 17).

I remember my dad having a popular commentary on the epistle of James, and in it, the author, Ethel Barrett, said, ‘Christianity is as practical as a pair of shoes; not just for putting on and showing, but for getting up and going.’

What is taken in is meant to be walked out.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, as I read your Word, show me what you would have me do, and strengthen me to do it.

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

Tom Hale explains: ‘God-given joy is not merely happiness or a ‘’good feeling’’; it is rooted in our salvation. It is because our sins have been forgiven and we have been restored to fellowship with God that we can experience the joy of the LORD. That joy is a sign of God’s Holy Spirit within us (Galatians 5:22); and if God’s Spirit is in us, we will have God-given strength as well.’ ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.762.

I have often said that the fruit of the Spirit is nothing less than the character of Jesus, reproduced in the Christian by the Holy Spirit. So this is Jesus’ own joy imparted to us. The joy He Himself possessed (and possesses) He gives away to His own. As he said to His disciples:

‘’I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete’’ (John 15:11)

Prayer: Lord, please give us your help that we do not live below the level of our privileges in Christ

“⁸ They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear^[a] and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.⁹ Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, ‘This day is holy 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 holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’” NIV

Hearing, reading, studying God’s Word does not always result in joy. Sometimes it causes you to mourn; it leads to conviction of sin. It seems that’s what happened here. But ‘’Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret…’’ (2 Corinthians 7:10a). So such ‘’sorrow’’ should not linger, but may be quickly replaced by joy. That is the spirit of the message here. ‘’Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’’ (Matthew 5:4)

Notice how Ezra, Nehemiah and the Levites worked as a team to get God’s Word to the people. This was not a personality-driven ministry. No-one was above another. The pulled together in the cause of God. Certainly in the case of Ezra and Nehemiah, they were two big characters, but there’s not a whiff of friction or competition between them.For effective team ministry to take place a stake must be driven through the heart of egoism.

PRAYER: Lord, may we never lose sight of the fact that we all need each other, and we are stronger together.

“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 and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.” NIV

It struck me this morning, as I was reading chapter 8, that Ezra has suddenly appeared on the scene, and I haven’t specifically noted it. Just to say that the ministries of Nehemiah and Ezra overlap, and their books should be read together to get a bigger picture of the time, and the circumstances they were facing. Warren Wiersbe explains: ‘When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in 444 B.C., Ezra was already there, instructing the people in God’s law. When the work of rebuilding was completed, Ezra held a great ‘’Bible conference’’ during the Feast of Tabernacles.’ ‘With the Word’, p.268.

With regard to today’s reading, I have also found this quote helpful:‘Passages like this give scriptural confirmation of the need for preachers and teachers of God’s word, and for books to help explain it…Some Christians have the idea that they don’t need to read books about the Bible, such as commentaries. They say that only the Holy Spirit is needed to help one understand the Bible. Ezra certainly would not have agreed. After all, the Holy Spirit also helps writers write commentaries. It is pride that keeps people from wanting to learn from others.’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.761.

PRAYER: Lord, please give understanding to  your preachers, and through your preachers.

“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 worshipped the Lordwith their faces to the ground.“NIV

Sometimes, just the sight of my Bible on the desk next to me, or the feel of it in my hands, ignites a sense of joy which goes right through me and causes me to say inwardly, ‘I love this Book.’ I don’t report this to generate admiration in others, but simply to give testimony to the joy the Scriptures can bring to one heart. Of course, it is more than the sight, or the feel, of the Bible that should stoke the flames of gratitude and gladness; it is rather its contents that are the fuel for the flames. But that is why I regularly feel excited when I see my Bible – because it’s overall message is so overwhelmingly thrilling.

In today’s reading the response to God’s Word is joyful reverence. As you read your Bible, with an open heart, asking God to speak to you, at times you will want to lift up your hands in praise. At other times you may want to fall on your knees, and even on your face. Christian worship combines awe and intimacy.

Notice the people took their cue from Ezra. He led in praise, and they all ‘’responded’’. Leaders may well need to ‘eat last’ (as in a recent book title). But they must also go first – and others will follow.

PRAYER: Lord God, teach me to love your wonderful Book more and more. Indeed, teach me to love you, its Author, more and more. In its pages let me meet with you.

“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.“NIV

When I went ‘up’ from Junior school to Secondary modern, I felt certain differences in the atmosphere. One was that you had to stand up whenever the head, or head of year, walked into the room. Then there were certain other teachers who told us, ‘You stand up when I walk into the room too.’ One of them was a science teacher called Mr Little (who happened, ironically, to be quite big!) I found him scary. The early weeks at my new school were, at times, quite intimidating, although I soon got used to it. But I can still now feel the respect engendered (or demanded) by certain staff members, for whom we used to stand upon their entry. There was respect in the air.

Yet even more than this, I remember the impact of P.S.Brewster. Percy Brewster was the Secretary General (what would now call the General Superintendent) of the ‘Elim’ movement when I was in my teens. He carried about him a certain glow, an aura, a sense of the presence of God. I remember the first time he came to preach at my home church in Wigan one Saturday night, many moons ago. Still now I can feel something of what went through me when he asked the packed house to stand for the reading of God’s Word. This was not any old book, or a casual moment. This mattered. We were in the presence of God and His Holy Word, and we knew it. The air crackled with Spiritual power. I sensed ‘anointing’.

When I was a young boy, my old pastor (who may have been younger than I am now, so I’d better be careful) showed me the spine of a Bible, and pointing to each letter of the words ‘Holy Bible’ he said to me, ‘Honour, Obey, Love Your Bible. It Brings Life Everlasting.’

PRAYER: Teach us Lord to honour you and honour your Book.

‘⁴ Ezra the teacher of the Law 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.‘ NIV

First, a general comment on what we have looked at thus far in chapter 8. It comes from F.B.Meyer, and his book ‘Devotional Commentary’, pages 206, 207: ‘Surely this was the first public Bible-reading! When will the people be again as hungry for the Word of God as those Jews who stood in the open space from early dawn till the scorching noon?’

But then more specifically on verse 4, I note that Ezra is the big name; one of the names to go down in Biblical history. However, to his right and left there were other people alongside him. Their names are not necessarily well-known, but I want to say it takes a team. It seems to me that the kind of leadership we see repeatedly in the pages of the Bible is mainly of the shared variety. You can think of ‘famous’ pastors of widely-known churches across the world today, and I can pretty much guarantee you this: the ‘success’ of such churches will be partly because of a whole lot of other effective and faithful people who never get the limelight, but they are happy to serve. That is not to diminish the part played by the strongly gifted senior leader, but they could not do what they do alone.PRAYER: Lord, we praise you for all who lead in your church. Some are given a high profile, but many are not. However, may they all glorify you in humble service, and desire only ‘to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds..to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that they do your will.

“¹ all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Lawbefore 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.” NIV

For effective preaching to happen two things have to synchronise. There must be ‘priests’ (leaders), like Ezra, who have a heart to set the Lord’s Word before the people; and there must be a people who have hearts to heed what God says. This was a long service by any standards, but the people were alert and attentive. It caused me to remember Luke’s statement about the first Christian church in Jerusalem: ‘’They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…’’ (Acts 2:42a). (By the way, the Bible reading was probably the Pentateuch – the first five books of the Old Testament. If Ezra did not read all of it, he no doubt read large chunks. The Pentateuch, it has to be confessed, contains large sections of Scripture we may find difficult to digest. So it’s good to be reminded that this is God’s Word and it is all important).

But I’m also reminded of Paul’s words to Timothy:

‘’Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.’’ (1 Timothy 4:13 New Living Translation).

The public reading of Scripture is very important. This is where the more liturgical churches may have an advantage over the ‘free’ congregations at times. The reading of both Old and New Testament passages is embedded in their services.

 If you get the opportunity to read the Bible out loud in a service, approach your task with reverence, care, thought and prayer. It is God’s Word you are handling, and you want people to understand’’ what He is saying.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord for the fact that your Word is so freely available to us. Thank you for those who have given their lives to put it in our hands. Give us hearts to sit at your feet and listen attentively.

^“1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.“NIV

I confess, I look at this verse with not a little sadness, as well as longing. I miss the days when we could assemble in this way. (But let’s be honest, we often took it for granted, did we not?).

I am grateful, of course, that we can still gather as one on-line, and I commend you for the loving, caring unity you have continued to display throughout this long and difficult season. It’s wonderful to see.

The undeniable (and indestructible) truth is that we are ‘’one’’ people in Jesus (Ephesians 2:15) whether or not we can meet in one place.

By the way, I couldn’t help but think it significant that this great Bible ‘convention’ took place ‘’in the square before the Water Gate.’’ Paul, in Ephesians 5:26, writes about ‘’the washing with water through the word…’’

A friend, who had been a backslider from the faith, and came home to Christ in his 50’s, bemoaned the fact that he couldn’t remember as much of the Bible as he wanted to. He read it greedily, but couldn’t retain it. ‘But I suppose it’s like water going through a sieve,’ he said. ‘It cleanses as it goes.’

PRAYER: Lord, may your Word continue to have its cleansing effect in our lives, and may we put ourselves repeatedly in ‘the shower’ – in the place where its waters can pour over us.