Nehemiah 8:4-6

Nehemiah 8:4-6 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up: And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Someone had made a special, raised platform for Ezra to stand upon. And as Ezra spoke, thirteen strong-voiced men stoodaround him and relayed to the people the words of God as Ezra read. Can you imagine speaking to 42,360 people without a microphone? With the help of his assistants, Ezra did. And when Ezra opened the Book of the Law before the people, they all stood up showing their respect. As a priest of God, Ezra was thrilled to see his people hungry to hear God’s Word. Ezra blessed the people, and the people in return fell down and bowed down to the Lord God. What a time of worship they all had that day! How pleased God must have been to see their joy and worship! Did you know that God made us to have fellowship with Him? Did you know that God made us to praise Him? And we are happiest when we are doing what the good Lord made us to do.

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.

Nehemiah 7:62-64

Nehemiah 7:62-64 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred forty and two. And of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai, which took one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite to wife, and was called after their name. These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood. These six families were outsiders who tried to sneak into Jerusalem pretending that they were really Jews. But Nehemiah had a list of those who were true Jewish descendants and they weren’t on the list. Tobiah tried one last time to get into Jerusalem. But he couldn’t. He was finally booted out. God was keeping His people pure and free from wicked outsiders. Even three of the priest’s families were polluted. God had strict rules for the priests. When the priests disobeyed God’s laws, they gave up their right to be a priest. God expected them to be obedient. God expected the priests, of all people, to set a good example to the other people. God expects us to set a good example too. Others are watching us. Obey God and follow His Word.

Nehemiah 6:17-19

Nehemiah 6:17-19 Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them. For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear. Shechaniah was in the priestly line and the wicked Tobiah had married his daughter. That made for a sticky situation for Nehemiah. Shechaniah was a good man, but his son-in-law was an evil man who opposed everything that Nehemiah did. Shechaniah seemed to be honest and kept Nehemiah informed on Tobiah, but I’m sure Nehemiah didn’t really trust him. It is said that “blood is thicker than water.” That means that even though Tobiah was a bad man, Shechaniah liked him because Tobiah was married to Shechaniah’s daughter. Shechaniah always tried to say nice things about Tobiah to Nehemiah. But Nehemiah knew that Sanballat and Tobiah were snakes! And they never stopped causing trouble! And that’s the way Satan is with us today. He never stops causing trouble for us. We need to be on the lookout for Satan and for those who are his buddies. We can spot them because they are the ones who oppose God and God’s people. Don’t give in to Satan’s tricks. Trust God and be on the lookout for Satan and his minions.

Nehemiah 6:15, 16

Nehemiah 6:15,16 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. Nehemiah encouraged the Jews to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem in just 53 days! Wow! The wall was almost 2 ½ miles long. It was about 40 feet high and 8 feet thick. The gates were solid wood with iron hinges and connecting pins. You can imagine how Sanballat felt when he saw that the wall was completed. He never imagined that the work could be done so quickly. But the wall was finished because God wanted it finished! After all of his wicked attempts to stop the work, Sanballat had lost. He knew it and everyone else around him knew it. And he was embarrassed. How wonderful to praise the Lord for His faithfulness. How good to show God’s goodness to everyone who lived around the city! I am sure that Nehemiah and the people were proud of their work. But, most of all, they were proud of their God. He had forgiven them and blessed them after seventy years of captivity. Finally, the Jews had a homeland. They were back in their capital city of Jerusalem. And all of their accomplishments were because God had blessed them. Wasn’t God good?

Nehemiah 6:10,11

Nehemiah 6:10,11 Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. Satan tried to scare Nehemiah with Sanballat and Tobiah. But that didn’t work. So Satan used a sneaky tactic. He used one of Nehemiah’s friends to give him bad advice and to try to make him fearful. Shemaiah told Nehemiah that he knew that he must be scared. Shemaiah went on to say that he had a safe room in the Temple where Nehemiah could hide for a while. Shemaiah tried to get Nehemiah to come in and lock the door behind him. They would be safe in the Temple behind a locked door. But Nehemiah saw through the suggestion and knew that it was a temptation from Satan. Nehemiah was not afraid. He had too much work on the walls and gates to do. He didn’t have time to hide in the Temple. It was true, Nehemiah was taking a risk to be out in the open supervising the work, but the risk was worth it. Rebuilding the walls was an important job and Nehemiah was doing it for God and for God’s people.