God’s Law, Love and Blessing

Read Nehemiah 7-8
 
Nehemiah 7:73b-8:3 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, 8:1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel…3 Ezra read (the Law) 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.
 
BE sure you read chapter 7. You may not be excited about all the numbers. But this is evidence of how after their exile the people Israel were once again becoming a nation. This also describes how God’s Word was being reestablished in Jerusalem. The order of priesthood is revived to teach and administer God’s Word. Note how essential it was that men must have evidence they were a Levite if they desired to be a priest. God’s law commanded this, and the priesthood sought to obey.
    Chapter 8 begins in an unusual format as a sentence extends from Chapter 7. The priest Ezra reads the law to the people. Remember, they have likely not heard God’s Word before this as there has been no active teaching in Judah for 70 years. Can you imagine going to your local town square, courthouse steps or some public place to listen to the Bible read for about six hours? Would you go to a week-long “Bible fest” where each day someone reads the Bible to you? All you do is listen and absorb the Word of God. Our experience is that when God’s Word is not easily available to people, they will eagerly gather at a place to hear the Bible.
    That’s what happened here. Ezra and others are reading what we know as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. God, of course, wants his people to know him in the same way the people of the exodus knew him. His will is to reveal his great mercy to re-form a nation to bless the world. The Father’s desire is to rescue Israel from physical and spiritual slavery, to care for them in the wilderness of unbelief, to raise up leaders to guard them.
    God wants the Jews to know “I love you. You are mine. I want to bless you. I want you to enjoy a great life. Here’s how.” Yes, God welcomes his people home. He is providing a new city from the old. The gates are up to protect them physically. The Law is now “up” before the people forming a wall of righteousness. His love is evident to bless them.
    Have you been away from the Word of God? Do you reject the hearing of his law? Be encouraged, then, to read all of the Bible, so you know who God is. Hear his love and his law. Know his grace. Receive his blessings for you. 
 
Before the Exile, God Promised: Jeremiah 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”