Nehemiah Chapter 8



But, in the 8th chapter, we have them gathered 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 Jehovah 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. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose (vers. 1-4).

"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 Jehovah, the great God: and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly" (vers. 5-8).

Here was another feature, and mark, beloved friends, this studying, this learning, this profiting by the law of Jehovah was after they had found themselves in their true position. You will never find that men grow in knowledge in a false position. They may, no doubt, learn enough gospel to bring their souls to God, and they may learn certain moral duties, and we must thank God for it. We must not be slow of heart to own what God works, wherever He works; but never expect intelligence of the mind of God unless you are where God would have you be. And it is evident that what is good for one is good for all, and that what God gives as His will for His people is binding upon all His people. Here, then, they were assembled. They were assembled in God's city - in God's land, and here it is that the law profits.

I do not say that in Babylon and Assyria there were not souls that read the law of the Lord; but everything was so out of course - so opposed by circumstances so little agreeing with them - that in such a state the mind always glides over the word. The word does not make the same impression. The truths of scripture do not tell upon the heart. When you are in a true position all becomes luminous according to the goodness and sovereignty of God. So, we find, it was here, and not before, that the law of God gets its full place; and Nehemiah, as we are told, and Ezra the priest, and the Levites, said unto all the people, "This day is holy unto Jehovah your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law." But there is a season to rejoice as well as to weep. There is a time when we must not eat the bread of mourners. So it was here. "So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them." We ought to enjoy the truth of God.

The people accordingly, then, are found in the seventh month gathering together to keep the feast of tabernacles; and this they did, so that since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day they had not done as they did then. A solemn fact. What had they been about all these hundreds of years? The Spirit of God records for our instruction that the feast of tabernacles had lost its place, practically, amongst the Israelites since the days of Joshua. The reason is evident. Why that feast? Why had it been disused? To tell you that they were in wars, that they were in troubles, is no real answer. No doubt there was fighting in the days of Joshua, and there were troubles in the days of the judges; but then came in David and Solomon. Why was not the feast of tabernacles celebrated then, as it was now?

The reason seems to me plain, and that is that they were so occupied with the present rest that they forgot the future - just the way in which the Lord's coming passed out of the minds of Christendom. For hundreds of years people thought nothing about it; they were not interested in it. They were settled down in the earth. They were occupied with the work of the Lord. The hope was not sweet to them. They were no longer living in the hope of the Lord's coming. God has raised it, and brought it in in a very low day. So it was here the gathering together of the people - the true gathering in, not merely that partial work which had been wrought when they were brought into the land under Joshua. It was then, on the contrary, that the keeping of the feast went out. And, now, in this low day, when things were at the most painfully weak point they had ever reached, it was then that there was faithfulness - not power, but faithfulness. When there was fidelity, and cleaving to the work of the Lord, then they began to find the importance of the feast of tabernacles. Their hearts were looking onward to the great gathering in, when the harvest and the vintage had taken place. "And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner."