8 October 445 B.C. Ezra and Bible Reading. Oh no! Not heavy Bible reading for divine services! People will be bored and not come back!
8 October 445 B.C. Ezra and Bible Reading. Oh no! Not heavy Bible reading for divine
services! People will be bored and not
come back! What about church growth? Reading the Bible will turn them off.
God blessed His covenant
Church through Nehemiah, a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes (c. A.D. 465-424). Nehemiah became a Royal Governor of Judah,
ruling and leading in favor of God’s people, covenant, Word and promises. He was a man of prayer and duty (cf. Nehemiah
1.1-6.16). He led the Church in
rebuilding the walls and rehanging the gates in 52 days.
But more important than
building walls and rehanging gate was the rebuilding and reassertion of the
central and governing importance of the Word of God. Ezra, a priest and scribe, led the assembled
congregation in the reading of God’s Word.
Assembled, Ezra unrolled
the scroll and read. Assistants,
probably Levitical priests, assisted in giving the sense of the Biblical text.
They started the reading
of God’s Word at daybreak.
Nehemiah 8.1-4.
Nehemiah 8:1-4
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
(Introductory notes: 8 2
Ezra gathereth together the people, and readeth to them the Law. 12 They
rejoice in Israel for the knowledge of the word of God. 15 They keep the feast
of Tabernacles or booths)
.1 And all
the people assembled themselves [a]together,
in the street that was before the water gate, and they spake unto Ezra the [b]Scribe,
that he would bring the book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded
to Israel.
2 And Ezra the Priest
brought the Law before the Congregation both of men and women, and of all [c]that
could hear and understand it, in the first day of the seventh month,
3 And he read therein in
the street that was before the water gate (from the morning until [d]the
midday) before men and women, and them that understood it, and the ears of all
the people hearkened unto the book of the Law.
4 And Ezra the Scribe stood
upon a pulpit of wood which he had made for the preaching, 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 Malchijah, and
Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
Footnotes:
They read and praised the
Lord.
Nehemiah 8:6
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
6 And Ezra praised the Lord
the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their
hands: and they bowed themselves, and worshipped the Lord with their faces
toward the ground.
This continued until
noon, that is, several hours later. The
people wept and the priests taught…as it should be.
Nehemiah 8:7-10
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
7 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.
8 And they read in the book
of the Law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand
the reading.
9 Then Nehemiah (which is
Tirshatha) and Ezra the Priest and Scribe, and the Levites that instructed the
people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God: mourn
not, neither weep: for all the people [a]wept,
when they heard the words of the Law.
10 He said also unto them,
Go and eat of the fat, and drink the sweet, and send part unto them, for
whom none is [b]prepared:
for this day is holy unto our Lord: be ye not sorry therefore: for the [c]joy of
the Lord is your strength.
Footnotes:
a.
Nehemiah
8:9 In
considering their offences against the Law. Therefore the Levites do not
reprove them for mourning, but assure them of God’s mercies forasmuch as they
are repentant.
It can be best summarized
by Psalm 119 broadly and verse 11 more specifically.
Psalm 119:11
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
Footnotes:
a.
Psalm
119:11
If God’s word be graven in our hearts, we shall be more able to resist the
assaults of Satan: and therefore the Prophet desireth God to instruct him daily
more and more therein.
Questions:
1.
The
centrality of the Bible in worship in 2014?
2.
TBN?
3.
Joey
Osteen?
4.
Your
own local parish? More preaching than
Bible reading? If so, why?
5.
What
was Cranmer’s view of the power of the reading of the Bible?
6.
Others
who evince this confidence in the Bible itself, alone, sufficiently,
powerfully, and totally?
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