04-25-21 “Standing before God at the Water Gate”

Scripture  Nehemiah 7:73-8:18

    Do you believe the bible to be true? Do you believe that God is the author of the whole Bible, who inspired approximately 40 people to write what they wrote? Do you believe some of the Bible, but not all of it? If so, what parts?
Have you ever read the Bible? It is fascinating that most people who say they don’t believe the Bible to be true or to be authored by God, have never actually read the Bible, or at least not all of it. How can you disbelieve something to be false that you have never read? I believe it is the job of the atheist, agnostic, and the curious seeker to read the Bible and then come to a reasonable and intelligent conclusion about it.
    The worst way to try and read the Bible is to start with Genesis and end with Maps. With “The Story”, we are about to embark on one of the simplest and best ways to, at least get a good idea, of what the entire Bible is about in just 31 weeks which requires an investment of about 62 hours (1 hour or less of preparation each week and one hour in a community group each week). That is equal to about 2 1/2 days out of your entire life to see if you really do believe the Bible to be true or not. Does that sound like an investment worth taking?
    Today, we are going to look at one small part of a larger story, that will show us what happened when a group of people, who had not been able to read the bible, and who were not living by the heart of the Bible’s message, were given that opportunity once again and what happened to them when they began hearing and responding to the author; to the God of Bible.
 
    600 years before Jesus was born, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Jerusalem, and over several years he took many of the Jews captive; taking them from Jerusalem to Babylon We call that the ‘Babylonian Exile’. Some of the most famous Jews who were taken into exile were Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. Let’s see where Babylon was. MAP SLIDES: babylonian empire 1 then babylonian empire 2 Texas

After about 60 years of exile, Babylon was taken over by Persia. Cyrus, the King of Persia, began allowing exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem. It was another 60 years when Artaxerxes allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls which had been destroyed by the Babylonians. 13 years before Nehemiah arrived to rebuild the walls, a priest named Ezra arrived to begin rebuilding, not the walls, but the people.
 
          Ezra Nehemiah was once one book that was eventually divided into two. In Nehemiah 8, we find the culmination of what Ezra had been preparing the people for during those 13 years.
 
Nehemiah 7:73-8:18
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.
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.
4 Ezra the scribe 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. 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.
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 could understand what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred 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.
10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred 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 sacred day. Do not grieve."
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.
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 scribe 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 booths during the feast of the seventh month 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 booths"-as it is written.
16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves booths 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 booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.
18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.
 
 
The best way to make sure we respond positively to the opportunities God provides us is to prepare ahead of time for them. But how do we anticipate those moments? The Lord has shown us how.

(Photo: Scribe copying the Scriptures. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
At the end of the exile, God moved the heart of the pagan King Artaxerxes to allow Ezra—a scribe and priest—to return to Jerusalem 13 years before Nehemiah returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Ezra returned to rebuild the people. He did it by calling them to return to the Word of God.
Ezra shows us both how to prepare for the opportunities God provides and how to protect ourselves from what threatens them.
EZRA’S PRIORITY
The best-known verse in the book of Ezra serves well as Ezra’s life verse 7:10: Ezra had determined to study and obey the Law of the LORD and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.
Ezra’s threefold passion models a priority for all of God’s people. Each part is essential, as is the order in which they occur:
·         Determined to study . . . the Law of the Lord
·         Determined . . . to obey the Law of the Lord
·         Determined . . . to teach those decrees and regulations
Ezra taught the people at Jerusalem’s Water Gate.
 
The location of the Water Gate in Jerusalem is likely near the Gihon Spring—a distribution point for water. If so, the location where Ezra read the Law—near Jerusalem’s only source of fresh water—provides in itself a powerful metaphor.  He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law. —Neh. 8:3 NLT

(Photo: Water Gate excavated by Eilat Mazar. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
 
Because Ezra devoted himself to dispensing God’s Word to the people, when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem 13 years later, the people responded immediately to his challenge to rebuild the walls.  When enemies threatened to discourage their work, the people pressed on in spite of the threats. Ezra’s preparation of the people with the Word of God had made them trust in God’s protection.
So, it’s no surprise why the people requested Ezra read them the Bible that day at the Water Gate. Ezra had whetted their appetite for the truth.
 
As a regular intake of water is essential to our physical lives a regular intake of God’s Word is essential to our spiritual lives.
Take your time at the Water Gate.
 
          Nehemiah 8 moves from the Water Gate scripture reading to tell us about the Feast/Festival of Booths, when the people made booths – or little huts to stay in to remind them of the years of wandering in the wilderness when they lived in temporary shelters and were in a spiritual wasteland. The festival lasts for 7 days + 1. The day after is, by some considered a separate festival. The eighth day is called Shemini (“Eighth Day of the Solemn Assembly”). The eighth day commemorates the completion of the annual cycle of readings from the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and is called Simḥat Torah – or - (“Rejoicing of the Law”).
 
          The only way the people could come back from exile (being in a place distant from God) was to immerse themselves in God’s word, which is exactly what they did which then prepared them to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem where they could live protected and in peace.
 
          How distant are you form God? Would you like to get closer to Him and do some rebuilding of your life where you will feel a sense of protection and peace? The only way to do that is to immerse yourself in God’s word – “The Story” is a great way to begin doing that.
 
          However, the Bible is worthless if it doesn’t connect us to Jesus. You just heard an entire sermon and heard nothing about Jesus…or did you? Let’s see.
John 4:13-14
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." I admit that sounds good but there is nothing there to that comes from everything we heard in Nehemiah 8, but it sure is good preparation for what we hear 3 chapters later in John that means everything you have heard in the message today connects us to Jesus when you understand His word which you are about to do.
 
John 7:37-38

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, (What feast? The feast of the booths. Which day? The last day, which likely means the 8^th day - Shemini – Rejoicing of God’s Word) Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."