28. Keep it Simple: Nehemiah 7 and 8

This weeks Keep it Simple episode is here, we see Nehemiah doing God’s will and being a strong leader like we know him to be.  We see the genealogy from the first group of people that had came from captivity and the list is extensive.  We see groups from top to bottom of the house of Judah and Benjamin everything from servants of Solomon to Levites and people that didn’t have proof that they were Israelites.  There were gifts to the temple and leadership of gold and silver robes and livestock.  Now we get to the meat of the week, chapter 8, and Ezra goes into downright revival mode at the behest of the people, the people wanted to hear the Law of YHVH.  The people requested Ezra to read the Book of the Law  and he did from daybreak to mid day and the people stood up and paid attention, they didn’t daydream.   The people were so reverent that their faces hit the ground when hearing the word and the Levites were there to explain the Law to the people and make sure the people understood.  They explained things at the people’s level and didn’t try to talk over the people’s understanding , the Levites has street cred with the people.  Also, think about this the people had lived in captivity and knew what had happened and were literally standing in the ruins of Jerusalem due to the sins and the falling away of their forefathers so their hearts were heavy.  But, it gets good Ezra tells the people to rejoice that their sins are no more, rejoice, be glad, go eat and drink wine and to give to those who hadn’t prepared anything.  The next day the heads of the households wanted to read the text and gain better understanding and found out about the Feast of Tabernacles and live in huts for the week of the festival and the booths or tents were everywhere.  They had not participated in these Feasts days as described in the law since the time of Joshua.  This group of Israelites learned from their history and decided to follow the law not subvert the law.  

 

We see dark from light under great leadership here, we see the people unifying, symbolism of Jesus being the living water, and great hunger with great understanding and reverence.  We are seeing a people broken because of their past and being reminded that since they’ve repented that they walk in a new way of life through the sacrifices and reverence.  They learned to rejoice in YHVH after worshiping face first to the ground to God.