Peripatetics: The Art of Walking
Monday, September 27, 2004
Nehemiah 7: 1 starts out announcing that the wall was rebuilt and the doors to the city were in place. Jerusalem, for the first time in 300 years, was secure, and a faithful leader was in charge.
Unless you know the background of the story, this reality won't mean too much to you. See, the nation of Israel hadn't really had too much ability to be the nation of Israel since about 732 B.C. A series of military invasions and occupations had caused the people to be dispersed...and if you know much about Jewish history, well, that's pretty consistent.
This revival started with a man named Nehemiah...a high-ranking and trusted government official who felt a tremendous sorrow that Jerusalem was in ruins. Imagine. The city that David couldn't wait to visit for festivals...the place that allowed Israel to come together and celebrate being Israel...the place where the Temple, the home of God, was...the one place on the planet where Israel could be the light of the world and the city on the hill to show everyone that their life was abundant because they were walking with God...yes, THAT city. Ruins.
Nehemiah got the ball rolling and restored the city in record time. He even did it against much opposition. See, the enemies of Israel had a vested interest in making sure that Jerusalem stayed in ruins. Ruins of hundreds of years were cleared up in a matter of months...no mean task.
Small problem, though. Over generations, Israel had forgotten to remember what it means to be Israel. Just sort of drifted away...generation by generation...until they knew they were Jewish and had some sort of heritage that was unique...but they more or less forgot their God and moved on with their lives.
Nehemiah remembered, though. Fixed the city, but there wasn't anyone to live in it. So, he puts out notice to anyone that remembers they are God's chosen people that Jerusalem is open for business again with land and such available and Chapter 7 gives us details of who moved back in. It took 7 months (verse 73), but they got all moved in.
Now what? Kind of like our Acts 2 study...3,000 people got saved, now what happens?
In chapter 8, verses 1--12, we see that it's time to remember what they'd forgotten. An assembly of the nation was called in the town square. They were going to listen to Ezra, the priest.
And he pulled out scrolls. The Law. Even had a special podium made for the occasion.
Verse 5 staggers me. When the book of the Law was opened the people knew enough to revere it. The stood out of respect for the reality that God was communicating with them.
We've lost that, I think. Hebrews 4: 12 tells us the Word of God is living and active (as opposed to some dead & lazy book irrelevant to our culture) and able to change our very souls. 2 Timothy 3: 16 tells us it's the very breath of God...which has the express purpose of making us grow in Christ (4 particular effects if you read the verses). 1 Timothy 1:5 tells us that the goal of the teaching is love. That when people will grow in Christ, they will love God, and as a consequence, love each other.
Now, Ezra was reading a book that didn't talk about the love of Christ, but rather the faithfulness of God. If he was reading the Pentateuch as I suspect he was, the reaction of the people is easily explained.
The creation account. Noah. Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. Moses. The Exodus. In verse 6 they would've been giving the "Amens" like nobody's business because of remembering God's faithfulness to their nation. They would've bowed low in reverence at the giving of the Law. Verse 8 tells us that they were having to have to book translated since most of the people had forgotten to remember what it means to be Israel that they now spoke Aramaic instead of Hebrew. Imagine. Jewish people not even using Hebrew.
They had forgotten to remember.
And, in verse 9...it made them weep. It went straight to their souls. God's Word will do that. Says so right there in Hebrews.
We'll talk more about that tomorrow. But for today (and if you're still with us on this long devotion, then I'm pretty happy about it) take a mind vitamin on this: Can you think of a time when you really leaned on God and He showed Himself to be faithful to you? When was it, and how can remembering that encourage you?
Journal prompt for today (or give us all your insights in the "comments" section!): In our churches, we tend to unzip our Bible covers and dive right into the text during a sermon or Sunday School class. What can we do to regain a reverence for God's living and active Scripture?
Brent 7:03 AM
Comments:
I think the evidence of God's faithfulness was most evident to me when i realized how much i didn't lean on Him and yet He has always and continues to be a very present help in time of need.
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