Nehemiah 8-10

Posted on Sep 29, 2016 in Reading the Bible in 2016 |

Thursday 

So the temple is built and the walls are completed and the people gather with a “unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate.” (8:1)

Ezra the scribe is asked to bring the Book of the Law and stand before the assembly and read the Law. We are told that the people listened closely from early morning until noon and that Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites helped the people understand what was being read. The reading had greatly troubled the people as they were crying as the Law was being read.

Nehemiah encourages them to celebrate and not mourn. “This is a sacred day before our Lord, … for the joy of the Lord is our strength!” (8:10)

How privileged we are to have access to the Bible, the word of God, at anytime and anywhere here in the United States, but yet how neglectful we have become to reading it or hearing it read. This time that we spend each day in reading God’s Word should bring about strong emotions in us, we should be filled with joy, we should weep for the world, we should be angry at how the culture around us has brained-washed us into thinking the Bible is irrelevant and how too many people misinterpret its message. What a peace reading the Bible can bring to us.

I wonder if today you asked even a group of Christians to stand in the center of town and listen intently while the Gospels were read, just how many people would show up. I hope that we never let the Bible become just another book in our homes.

Reading the Bible should be something that is taught to our children and our grandchildren. When is the last time you read the Bible out loud? When is the last time you read the Bible together as a family? I think it would help the breakdown of our families if more homes would just take 15 minutes a day to read the Bible out loud.

Let us not neglect the importance of scripture reading as part of our daily routine. There is something very powerful (just as we learned in our reading today) about hearing and reading the Holy Word of God.

Sharing the Message

Pastor Kathy

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