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:
- Nehemiah 8:1 Hebrew, as one man.
- Nehemiah 8:2 Which had age and discretion to understand.
- Nehemiah 8:3 This declareth the great zeal, that the people had to hear the word of God.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:
- 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.
- Nehemiah 8:10 That is, remember the poor.
- Nehemiah 8:10 Rejoice in the Lord, and he will give you strength.It can be best summarized by Psalm 119 broadly and verse 11 more specifically.
Psalm 119:11
1599
Geneva Bible (GNV)
Footnotes:
- 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:
- The centrality of the Bible in worship in 2014?
- TBN?
- Joey Osteen?
- Your own local parish? More preaching than Bible reading? If so, why?
- What was Cranmer’s view of the power of the reading of the Bible?
- Others who evince this confidence in the Bible itself, alone, sufficiently, powerfully, and totally?
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