Nehemiah 8-13
Nehemiah 8-13
Unfortunately, the behavior of the returned exiles quickly began to resemble their forefathers—whose sin had led to their captivity in the first place (cf. 1 Kgs 17, 25). The people again had an operational temple, but they did not resemble the character of the law of Moses. The final installment of the Ezra-Nehemiah sequence records the most significant reform since the days of King Josiah (cf. 2 Chron 34). Here the people heard the law and committed themselves to obeying it. Indeed, this was just as significant as the reconstruction of the temple, and the wall around the city of David.
The reform amongst the returned exiles had several facets:
- Ezra stood on an exalted platform and read the law of Moses to the people (8.1-8). When Ezra the priest began to read, the people—young and old, women and children—stood and with raised hands shouted, “Amen, Amen!” (v. 6). They understood that they were in fact practicing the law; God’s people were in God’s land, ready to obey Him. As Ezra read the law of Moses, several Levites stood amongst the people and explained the law to the people; “They read the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read” (v. 8)
- Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Levites instructed the people to stop weeping and begin to celebrate the holy occasion (8.9-12). They said, “Do not grieve, because your strength comes from rejoicing in the LORD” (v. 10b)
- They celebrated the festival of Booths (8.13-18). The people had understood that the Sabbath rest of the land had been fulfilled (cf. 2 Ch 36.21); this was a time of renewal, cancellation of debts, in accord with Dt 31. This seven-day celebration included hearing the law and dwelling in tents in the city
- They confessed their sins—so grievous in light of God’s faithfulness to His people (ch 9). Already in a spirit of mourning (cf. 8.8-11), later in the same month the people gathered with weeping, fasting, hearing the law of Moses, confessing their sin, and worshipping the LORD. Several of the leaders recounted God’s acts from creation to their return from captivity. Their final words show that weeping was not only for their sin, it was also for independence; they said: “Here we are today, slaves in the land You gave our ancestors so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness. Here we are—slaves in it!...We are in great distress” (vv. 36, 37)
- They corporately vowed to follow the law of God (ch 10). They listed the names of the leaders and the people, all who had “separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to obey the law of God…to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD” (vv. 28, 29). Specifically, the people vowed that they would not intermarry with foreigners (v. 30), or participate in commerce on the Sabbath (v. 31); to the contrary, they would contribute to the work of the temple (vv. 33-34), bring the first of all their produce to the LORD (vv. 35-37a), and give a tenth of their income for the support of the Levites and the house of God (vv. 37b-39). Their motive was single: “We will not neglect the house of our God” (v. 39)
- They resettled Jerusalem, with special attention given to those who would serve in the temple (chs 11-12.26)
- They dedicated the wall around Jerusalem (12.27-43). Two processions convened at the temple, and “On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem’s rejoicing was heard far away” (v. 43)
- The Levites were supported with joy (12.44-47)
Despite these remarkable steps, after Nehemiah returned to his post in the court of King Artaxerxes, spirituality declined in Judah and Jerusalem. Nehemiah asked the king for a second leave of absence and worked to reform the people yet again (ch 13); how quickly they had forgotten their vows! The very areas they had set to reform now fell into disrepute.
Perhaps the most significant feature of the closing chapters of Ezra-Nehemiah is the celebration of the Festival of Booths. It was to be an annual commemoration of how the LORD sustained Israel in their 40 year wandering (cf. Lev 23.33-44). Two days after the festival the author records that the people assembled in a time of confession—the prayer of which was a recounting of the storyline of Scripture to their day, from creation to God’s call on Abraham to their occupation in the land and exile from it (ch 9). Their confession emphasized that Israel was culpable because they had been given the law by Moses, and many Spirit-endowed messengers had taught them along the way (cf. Ex 18.13-27; Num 11.16-30; Jer 16.10-15), but they had failed to obey it (cf. esp. vv. 13-15, 20, 30). While the Festival of Booths (or Tabernacles) had most likely not been celebrated for hundreds of years prior to Nehemiah’s day (cf. 8.17), it would gain increased prominence up to the time of Jesus. During one of Jesus’ visits to Jerusalem for the Festival of Booths, John records that:
“On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.’ He said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been received, because Jesus had not yet been glorified” (Jn 7.37-39).
Jesus made His comments after days of feasting and celebration, when people were remembering God’s faithfulness to the wilderness generation. From Jesus’ words it is apparent that one could observe even this great festival of Judaism and still be famished of spirit. In the storyline of Scripture, only by recognizing Him could one be satisfied—even overflow!
*For a complete list of references, please see scripturestoryline.com