Nehemiah 8:1-3

Nehemiah 8:1-3 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. Wow! Can you imagine standing in a crowd in a street and listening to the Bible being read for four hours straight? That’s what the people of God did! But things were different back then. There were no printing presses and Bibles, or scrolls, were scarce. They had to be hand copied. Can you imagine copying all five of the books of the Law of Moses? That is what the scribes did all day long. But it wasn’t boring to them; it was a wonderful privilege! You may remember that the Book of the Law had been lost. It had been safely hidden away when Nebuchadnezzar had carried the Jews away to Babylon seventy years earlier. The Jews knew about God, but they hadn’t heard God’s Word read for seventy years! And they were hungry to hear it and to obey it. They were super quiet as Ezra read and explained God’s Holy Word. I wonder – do we respect God’s word? are we pleased to read God’s Words? We need to be. let’s respect our Bible and love it like the Jews of Nehemiah’s days.