Sermon Tone Analysis

Discouragement or Encouragement?

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"Do we get Discouraged or Encouraged as we study and apply God's Word into our lives?"

Nehemiah 8

The Text in Context

When God judged the nation of Judah for unfaithfulness and disobedience to him, he sent the people into exile and allowed the Babylonians to destroy the temple and wall of Jerusalem.

These physical circumstances were a source of shame to the Judeans.

Now I want us to notice something...In , each of those judgments is reversed as an indication that God’s promised restoration of the Judeans is under way.

reminds the reader that the Judean community is composed of descendants of those who experienced God’s grace in the return from exile.

Beginning in , greater emphasis is given to the spiritual condition of the Judeans.

God’s promise of restoration included a new covenant with Israel in which his people internalize his instructions and obey him sincerely ().

Now in chapter 8 the people hear God’s instructions and respond with joyful obedience.

This leads to further steps to be taken in the ensuing narrative, such that resembles a covenant renewal between Israel and God, a taste of what the new covenant should be like.

God also promised that in the restoration Jerusalem would become a holy city (; ).

Jer 31:

gives an advance indication that Jerusalem is about to be repopulated, so the covenant renewal of appropriately ensures that the city’s new inhabitants, who are determined in , will be suitably holy.

Let’s now take time to read chapter 8

Nehemiah 8

gives an advance indication that Jerusalem is about to be repopulated, so the covenant renewal of appropriately ensures that the city’s new inhabitants, who are determined in , will be suitably holy.

Historical and Cultural Background It may seem strange to modern readers that the assembly gathered to hear Scripture read aloud.

In contemporary culture it is taken for granted that a text is something easily accessed, and therefore something all can read privately.

In the ancient Near East, however, relatively few copies of written texts were available, and many people had practically no access to them.

Literacy itself was also lower in those cultures.

Thus, the quickest way to satisfy the people’s desire to know God’s word was through a public reading.

The people’s request to hear the law read also sits well against the background of .

In that passage Moses commanded that the law be read to Israel every seventh year during the Festival of Tabernacles.

It is not clear whether the events of occurred during a “seventh year,” but even if they did, the people clearly asked for the law to be read even before the Festival of Tabernacles, indicating their eagerness.

Interpretive Insights 8:1  as one.

During the seventh month the people were to observe the Festival of Trumpets (on the first day), the Day of Atonement (the tenth day), and the Festival of Tabernacles (fifteenth to the twenty-second day).

For Tabernacles, all the men were to travel to Jerusalem.

The fact that all the people came to Jerusalem at the beginning of the month and without any mention of anyone calling them indicates an unusual eagerness on their part and an uncommon degree of unity.

they told Ezra . . . to bring out.

The initiative for reading the law comes from the laypeople, not from Ezra or the priests.

This is somewhat similar to, but perhaps even more impressive than, , where laypeople initiated action about the mixed marriages.

There was no requirement in the Pentateuch for the law to be read at the Festival of Trumpets, and this fact highlights the people’s desire and initiative all the more.

8:9  “Do not mourn or weep.”

For all the people had been weeping.

It is not stated why the people are weeping.

When Josiah heard the law read, he wept in repentance of sin (), so that is likely why the people weep here.

However, the leaders instruct them to rejoice instead of mourning.

The reason is that the occasion is a festival, and all festivals were to be observed with rejoicing and fellowship offerings (; , , ).

Modern readers might expect that a day designated as holy would be observed with solemnity, but the Old Testament expectation was that such days would be full of rejoicing.

The people’s joy was to come from remembering the blessings they had as God’s people.

So the leaders are simply reminding the people how to obey God on this occasion.

The Missing Day of Atonement One of the important events God instructed the Israelites to observe was the Day of Atonement (; ; ).

Since it was to occur on the tenth day of the seventh month, readers have frequently wondered why there is no mention of it in .

Pondering this question may actually make it easier to observe the writer’s purpose in this chapter.

focuses most on the actions of the people as a whole rather than on the actions of the priests.

It shows that the people gathered together in Jerusalem and were eager to obey God’s law, even if that meant they needed to change behavior they were used to.

It also emphasizes the joy that came from understanding and obeying the law.

By contrast, the Day of Atonement mainly involved the actions of the priests, especially the high priest.

The people were not required to gather in Jerusalem.

The community may already have been observing the day according to God’s regulations, so there may have been no need to make changes.

And it was not a day of celebration.

Since the narrator’s message centered on the features noted above, there was no reason to include mention of the Day of Atonement in this chapter.

In addition, however, the ark of the covenant had a central place in the activities of the Day of Atonement (e.g., ), and since the ark was destroyed at the time of the exile, it is also possible that the people felt they could no longer observe the day properly.

8:10  the joy of the Lord is your strength.

The phrase “joy of the LORD” is by itself ambiguous.

It could refer to the joy the Lord has or supplies, or it could refer to joy that someone has concerning the Lord.

The people are told several times in the context to rejoice, and the cause for their rejoicing is the relationship they have with the Lord and the blessings he brings.

The phrase probably refers, then, to joy the people have concerning the Lord.

The word translated “strength” may more accurately be rendered “fortress” or “refuge,” implying a source of protection.

Thus, the message is that when people rejoice over the Lord, their rejoicing protects them (see further in Theological Insights below).

8:15  as it is written.

The proclamation reported in this verse is not a quote from any part of the law of Moses.

It seems instead to be a summary of what the community leaders understand the law to be telling them to do in light of their study of it (vv.

13–14).

states that all the appointed festivals are to be proclaimed, which may be the basis for the proclamation here.

tells the Israelites to gather branches from several specific types of trees but also from leafy trees in general.

This is likely the basis for directing the people to gather branches from types of trees that were not specified in Leviticus but were available to them.

Finally, instructs the people to live in temporary shelters for seven days, and this is why the present passage tells the returned exiles to build such shelters.

By understanding the intent of the Leviticus text, determining how to apply it in contemporary circumstances, and sharing these insights with the people, the leaders feel confident that they are guiding the people to do what Scripture says.

8:17  From the days of Joshua . . . had not celebrated it like this.

The Festival of Tabernacles had been observed in Solomon’s day (; ) and in the time of Zerubbabel (), at minimum.

Therefore it must be that the manner in which it is celebrated here has not been matched since the time of Joshua.

The narrator emphasizes building shelters and living in them.

Although this is instructed in , the instructions for this festival in do not include this aspect, and the descriptions of the celebrations in Solomon’s and Zerubbabel’s times do not mention it either.

It is quite possible, then, that the Israelites had neglected to live in temporary shelters during this festival between Joshua’s time and the events of .

Their eager discovery of this requirement and willing obedience to it illustrate an attitude to God’s Torah that is unusual in Israel’s history.

Theological Insights This passage helps the original readers to visualize what the fulfillment of should look like.

God’s ideal relationship with his people is one in which he protects and provides for them, and all of them obey him wholeheartedly.

emphasizes the Judeans’ eagerness to hear the word and understand it, as well as their obedient response.

The whole community acts this way, not just some.

Mention of the joy of the Lord leads to another important insight.

What people are attached to and value affects their emotions.

When the Judeans listen to God’s word, they hear both stories of how he has chosen, saved, and blessed their ancestors and commands they are to keep.

As they listen, they are able to recognize that God has similarly delivered and blessed them by bringing them back to the promised land.

They understand that his commands are intended for their good.

They begin to grasp that the covenant relationship they have with God is the most wonderful possession possible, and they mourn the ways that they have been unfaithful to him.

But the leaders in remind them that God wants them to rejoice, not mourn.

He promises to forgive and restore them.

If they truly value their relationship with him enough that the prospect of returning to mutual covenant faithfulness makes them rejoice, then they already have the attitude God desires, and he will not judge them.

Such joy in the Lord is a refuge for them.

Teaching the Text The entire Bible highlights the connection between God’s word and the ability to be in relationship with him.

Israel understood God’s love for them and his plans for them through the revelation preserved in the Old Testament.

The New Testament reveals that eternal life can be received only through hearing the word of Christ ().

Because God’s word plays such a central role in connecting his people to him, it is only natural that they have a deep desire to know it and order their lives by it.

And since the church participates in the new covenant as inaugurated by Christ, its members should have an even greater desire for God’s word than pre-Christian Israel had.

They should be encouraged to see this desire as normal.

But although knowing, understanding, and obeying the word of God are natural impulses for believers, sometimes their interest in it can be dulled.

The list of possible interferences is long, but this passage sheds light on a particularly subtle one.