The Israelites had a huge reaction to the Word of the Lord that Ezra read to them. This daily devotion looks at how hearing God’s law prepares us to be the disciples God wants us to be.
Nuggets
- God wants us to focus on Him, not our past mistakes.
- We have to be prepared and prepare others for the day of the Lord.
Devotions in Living Out God’s Word series
Nehemiah started out Chapter 8 by telling us that we need to hear God’s Word in order to follow it. We have to agree with what we hear and let it change us.
This precipitated a huge response from the congregation. Remember, they were unified in their listening.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Don’t Weep
“And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law” (Neh. 8:9 ESV)
God wants us to focus on Him, not our past mistakes.
Nehemiah and Ezra were the dynamic duo of their time. They were joined on that day by the Levites proclaiming it as holy.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
Glossary
It surprised me that the people were told not to mourn or weep. Aren’t we supposed to feel bad when we have committed a major sin?
They had sinned enough that they were exiled. Now, they were back in their homeland.
God wants us to learn from our past sins. I wouldn’t think that He wants us to have an it-doesn’t-really-matter attitude.
But then, we could be like Nehemiah and Ezra’s Israelites. Mackennal described what God was addressing. He wrote, “The distress of the people was not unnatural; neither was it excessive. It might, however, through indulgence of it, have become excessive and unreal.”
Don’t we do that? We wallow in the poor, poor, pitiful me state.
But what we are really saying is God can’t — or shouldn’t — forgive us for our sin. We see ourselves as totally unworthy of His forgiveness.
We are indulging in our view rather than what God will do.
But let’s look at it from the other side.
Let’s say we are not truly repenting. Repentance is acknowledging our separation from God and expressing sorrow for breaking God’s laws and commandments by making the commitment to change our sinful ways to ways of righteousness through obedience.
- Sin is not believing that Jesus is our Savior to save us from our actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
Glossary
Mackennal argued that this loss of contrition meant we weren’t repentant — saved — in the first place.
We can’t be stuck in the past, bawling our eyes out.
We have to make sure that we are focusing correctly. We can’t focus on the sin we have committed. We have to focus on what we can learn from it and following His laws and commandments.
Mackennal also brought up the concept of self-control. Self-control is the ability to withstand temptations by managing ourselves — our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
We have to manage ourselves when we switch the focus from the past sins to the present and future forgiveness.
Being Prepared
“Then he said to them, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord …’” (Neh. 8: 10 ESV)
We have to be prepared and prepare others for the day of the Lord.
What does it mean when it talks about things not being prepared? This is talking food, but it really is talking spiritual.
- “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Mt. 24: 44 ESV).
- “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (I Pet. 3: 15 ESV).
- “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (I Cor. 16: 13 ESV).
When we aren’t prepared, we fall into what Allen called “… poverty, destitution, starvation, and ruin.”
Resource
That fits in, too, when we look at portions. When we send portions, we are sending blessings. Blessedness means we have been perfected. Remember, perfection is a state of maturity in our walk as a disciple.
Disciples are to send these portions. That means we are to witness. Witnessing means we tell non-believers that Jesus can be their personal Savior.
We have to share the blessings — the gospel — with those who do not know God, so that they can be blessed.
Making the Connections
What this is telling me is that we have to put everything into perspective. We can’t change the past. What happened, happened.
We have to learn from it and use it to be more obedient to God. We have to use it to transform us into a mature disciple.
We do that by listening to God’s Word – His laws and commandments. Doing so prepares us in important ways.
- We fix our spiritual condition by accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord because we cannot save ourselves.
- We prepare for trials, so that we can endure them.
- We prepare for temptations, so that we can resist Satan.
- We prepare for eternity with Him because we transform to be like Him.
How Do We Apply This?
- Search for and seek God.
- Hear God’s Word consistently as a member of a congregation of like-minded people.
- Focus on God in the ways in which He calls us.
- Share the gospel with those who do not know Jesus.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17)
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3)
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16)
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11)
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2)
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11)
Father God. We praise You for the Plan of Salvation that You designed to transform us. We were sinful creatures. You want us to be holy as You are. Help us to move on from the sins we commit, so that we can be more like You. Amen.
What do you think?
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