Nehemiah 8“A Tent Revival in Jerusalem”

February 8, 2015First Baptist ChurchJackson, Mississippi

USA

What’s the number one thing?

The Glory of God!

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The Glory of God!

1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

February Memory Verse

Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

Tent Revivals

Tent Revivals

Introduction to Nehemiah 8

• Cyrus allows exiles to return to Jerusalem in 538 B.C. after captivity in Babylon

• Zerubbabel rebuilds the Temple in 516 B.C.

• Ezra returns to Jerusalem to lead the Temple

• Nehemiah returns in 445 B.C. to lead rebuilding of walls of Jerusalem in 52 days

• The people are registered by families and assigned housing areas in Nehemiah 7

Nehemiah 7:73b - 8:1

73b When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, 1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

• Ezra had the people hungry to hear

• Scrolls brought back from Babylon

Nehemiah 8:2-3

2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Nehemiah 8:4-5

4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.

Ezra Reading the Book of the Law of Moses

Ezra Reading the Book of the Law of Moses

Nehemiah 8:6

6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, "Amen! Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

Nehemiah 8:7-8

7 The Levites —Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

• Hebrew language not familiar to all

Nehemiah 8:9

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Nehemiah 8:10-11

10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve."

• Focus on your present victory and future, not the sins of your past

Nehemiah 8:12

12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

Nehemiah 8:13-14

13 On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law. 14 They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month

Nehemiah 8:15

15 and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: "Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters"—as it is written.

• Exodus 23:16; Lev. 23:34; Num. 29:12; Deut 16:13

Deuteronomy 16:13-14

13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

Nehemiah 8:16-17

16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day [900 years], the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.

Nehemiah 8:18

18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.

The Feast of TabernaclesFestival of Booths

Tent (Booth) Revival

Summary of Nehemiah 8:1-18

• The Israelites call for Ezra to read The Book of the Law of Moses

• The people weep as scripture is read and explained

• People encouraged to celebrate (Choice foods & sweet drinks)

• Celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (Ingathering) (Festival of Booths)

Questions & Points to Consider in Nehemiah 8

• What was the Book of the Law of Moses that Ezra read and inspired the Israelites?

• Who wrote it?

• What was the significance of this Book?

• Can we apply it to our lives today?

The Book of the Law of Moses - Ezra’s Scroll

“Book of the Law of Moses” read by Ezra

Views concerning the extent of this Book

1. A collection of legal materials

2. The priestly laws of Exodus and Leviticus

3. The laws of Deuteronomy

4. The Pentateuch (5 vessels) or Torah (teachings or law):

-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Pentateuch or Torah or Law

• The first 5 books of the Old Testament are really one continuous narrative.

• Possible that Moses’ writing was divided into 5 scrolls because of amount of material

• Joshua 1:7 refers to it as “The Book of the Law”

• King David refers to it as the “Law of Moses” in 1 Kings 2:3

• For our purposes today, these are all the same

Who wrote the Pentateuch?

Moses

• Raised and educated in the court of Pharaoh

• Familiar with the 22 letter alphabet

• Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus written at the convocation at Mt. Sinai in Moab

• Deuteronomy written 1400 B.C. in Plains of Moab, about 40 years after the exodus from Egypt.

Scripture References for Moses

Exodus 17:14 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”

Exodus 24:3-4a3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the Lord has said we will do." 4a Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.

Moses reads the scroll

Exodus 24:7-87 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey." 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words."

God as Writer

Exodus 24:12 12 The Lord said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction."

Exodus 24:18 18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

The 10 Commandments

• Moses smashed the 1st set because of the Golden Calf worship episode in Exodus 32

• Moses goes back to Mt. Sinai and God writes a 2nd set of the 10 Commandments

• The 10 Commandments served as a framework for all of the other laws

• Moses wrote on scrolls; God wrote on stone

• Tablets placed inside the ark of the covenant

Purposes of the Pentateuch/Torah

• To educate the people of Israel about their identity, their history, role among the nations of the earth, their future

• To record the mighty acts of God the Creator

• An instrument for God to communicate with His people

Exodus 19:3-6 God Calls Israel

3 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 'These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Exodus 19:7-8 Israel Accepts

7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do."

The Covenant Relationship

1. Begins with a spiritual act of being knit together

2. Begins and grows by making and keeping covenants

3. “Generous soul” attitude

4. Protective relationship

Theology in the Pentateuch/Torah

1. God and Moses perceived obedience to the laws as a grateful response to those who had been saved out of Egypt.

– Not a way or precondition to salvation

– Preamble to the 10 Commandments says, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt”

– Obedience is the appropriate response to salvation already received

Theology in the Pentateuch

2. Obedience to the law was an expression of covenant relationship

– Israel’s primary commitment was to the God who graciously called Israel to Himself

– The commitment was not to a code of laws

– They were to obey “His voice” – written words

Theology in the Pentateuch

3. God’s revelation of the law to Israel was a supreme act of grace and a unique sign of privilege

– Other nations worshipped gods of stone & wood

– Israel’s God clearly revealed what was an acceptable response to Him

– Obedience to God’s laws was a delight and they knew that God would reward obedience

Theology in the Pentateuch

• 4. Obedience to the law was to be an external expression of an inward disposition of faith and fear in God

– Obedience expressed love toward Him

– True biblical religion is a matter of the heart

• Placing of God’s spirit within a person (Ezek. 11:19)

• Writing God’s Torah on the heart (Jer. 31:33)

• Jesus’ reply to “greatest commandment” question

Which is the greatest commandment?Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5

Matthew 22:35-4035 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Theology in the Pentateuch

5. The laws were perceived as comprehensible and achievable by those whose hearts were right with God.

1 John 5:2-32 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

Can we apply the Pentateuch/Torah to our lives today?

1. Jesus is the fulfillment of all that was written

(On the Road to Emmaus after resurrection)

Luke 24:25 25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Jesus Explains to the Disciples

Luke 24:44 -4544 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Lesson Application:Stories of the Israelites as an Example

2. Their story represents our delivery from the bondage of slavery (sin) and the journey of life (battles and struggles) to get to the promised land (heaven).

- You cannot compromise with the pagan culture and not be affected by it.

- God provided all they needed – daily bread only

- Celebrate the victories with choice food and sweet drinks

REMEMBER

Celebrate the victories with choice foods and sweet drinks!

Nehemiah 8:10

The Plan of Hope & Salvation

John 3:16 NKJV16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

John 14:6 NKJV6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Romans 3:23 NKJV23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23a NKJV23a For the wages of sin is death,

• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve

death, died in this life to pay the penalty for our sins.

• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second death explained in Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Romans 6:23b NKJV23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 NKJV8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Revelation 21:7 NKJV7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

• Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to accept Jesus as our Savior.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13 NKJV13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD

shall be saved.”

If you have questions or would like to know more, Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-979-1900 or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/