Elizabeth:
1 And all the people
gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate,
and they [a]asked Ezra the scribe to bring the
book of the law of Moses which the LORD had [b]given to Israel. 2 Then Ezra the priest brought the law
before the assembly of men, women and all who couldlisten with understanding, on the first day of the
seventh month. 3 He
read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate
from [c]early morning until midday, in the presence of
men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to
the book of the law. 4 Ezra
the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And
beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his
right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah,
Zechariah and Meshullam
on his left hand. 5 Ezra
opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above
all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God.
And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands;
then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin,
Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah,
the Levites, explained the law to the people while the peopleremained in their place. 8 They read from the book, from the law of
God, [d]translating to give the sense so that they
understood the reading.
“This Day
Is Holy”
9 Then
Nehemiah, who was the [e]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 were weeping when they
heard the words of the law. 10 Then
he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send
portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do
not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people,
saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 All the people went away to eat, to
drink, to send portions and to [f]celebrate a great festival, because they
understood the words which had been made known to them.
It has been
quite some time since I have last blogged, or since we have last blogged
actually. Allison and I have been super caught up in the everyday tasks of life
that unfortunately we haven’t been as faithful to our reading and blogging as
we would like. So, with that said, we are writing about Nehemiah…uhm, yeah, we
did skip blogging few books…oops! I can assure you that we did actually read
them and we had conversation about them. However, it’s just too much to cover
in one blog entry, so we will blog about what we have most recently read and
that is Nehemiah.
Nehemiah…hmmm…what
to talk about. All I know is that I really like that name! Would be such a cute
young boy’s name.
Nehemiah
8:1-12 really stood out to me. In this passage, Ezra who is the priest reads the
law to people and then they mourn and then Nehemiah tells them to stop mourning
and to go rejoice and celebrate by eating and drinking merrily.
Hmmmm…interesting. In my mind I picture
a church service of sorts outside. I see a robed man coming before crowds of
people, standing at a podium and reading scripture. I picture the crowds bowing
before him and attentively listening, as they listen to the text, they
gradually face their heads to the ground (I think the text mentions that their
heads are to the ground at some point.) in reverence to the law that is being
read to them. Then I see them crying because of what is being read, and as I
see them crying, I can’t exactly tell why they’re crying, but they are showing
emotion. Then after Ezra leaves the “podium” of where he was standing all of
the sudden Nehemiah, the governor, appears and he says “Why are you crying?
Stop it! Eat yummy food and drink fine wines and be happy. Celebrate this day,
for it is holy to the Lord.”
Now, you
probably read it differently than I did, but that’s what I saw happening. I’m
at first really confused why the crowds are engaged and reverent to the law
that is being read and then they’re all of the sudden crying. Then when
Nehemiah pops up, they quickly change emotions and are happy because they were
told to be. When I talked to a good friend of mine, he explained to me that the
people are crying because they’re hearing all of the laws being read to them
and they see that they are failing and they haven’t been keeping the law as
they should. Ohhhhhh….now that makes a bit more sense. However, crying over
laws that haven’t been kept still seems silly. I understand that these people
are realizing that they haven’t been loyal to the law and they feel ashamed,
but that means they now have an opportunity to turn it around. Crying about it
won’t do any good. But, there’s more to this than just law, clearly there are
too many laws and too many demands that are expected of these people and they
can’t possibly measure up, but God never disappears. He was present with them
when they did mess up and He was present in this setting too, and guess what?
He’s going to be present in future mistakes and successes. He will always be
there. I really like verse 10 where Nehemiah says “Do not be grieved, for the
joy of the LORD is your strength.” It puts everything into perspective, while
we may not do what is right all the time, or even be aware of the wrongs we’re
doing, God is still there. Ultimately it is the joy He has for us that needs to
be our strength. The joy that He has for us that never ends even we mess up,
He’s there…and that is truly powerful.
As I
envisioned this story earlier, I had the setting outdoors and what I imagine
old-time biblical land to look like. I think this passage could easily find
itself in church today. First off, how often do we really listen to the
readings during church? Secondly, if and when we do, how do we respond to them?
Is it with emotion or no emotion? For me, words in scripture haven’t brought
tears to my eyes, but I have heard them seriously and powerfully. They have
spoken to me, and have stirred up in me a desire to take leaps of faith, to
serve my neighbor, to love stronger, and to be a better person. Whether good or
bad, unlike the people in the passage from Nehemiah, I don’t feel like less of
the person I should be from reading scripture, I hear the law, but realize I
know and love a God that is much larger than that. I know a God who will help
me through my weaknesses and mistakes. I have a God who is just as present when
I mess up as when I succeed. I hope you come to hear the beauty in scripture,
and know the love of God as you live your life.
“Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength,” this day
and always.
Allison: It’s good to be back :)!
So Nehemiah. As I read Nehemiah,
I noticed the people turning back to God.
Again. Story of my life. And honestly, while part of me is so glad the
nation of Israel doesn’t leave us with this perfect example of faithfulness
(that I know I would never live up to), it is a little tiresome to hear about
them turning back to God. Again.
But this time I noted the ceremony they follow in Chapter
9. And this is probably something they’ve
done before when they turn back to God as a nation, but it caught my
attention. They reiterate the history of
their people, the history that God has been in, around and amidst since the
beginning of time. They begin with the
creation story, and then recount how God chose Abram…Abraham, rescued them from
Egypt, protected them as a young nation, gave them prophets and kings and showered
mercy on them every time they turned back to God. In this prayer is praise and confession, but
also a reminder to themselves of how God has led them. They speak of the love, mercy and
faithfulness of God to their fickle nation, and they vow again, just as their
ancestors did, to obey and serve God with every aspect of their lives—because while
they know they won’t be perfect, they know life is better when they do.
Sometimes it’s really hard to remember where God has been in
my life. Satan often uses my poor memory
to bring me down, to make me feel alone and forgotten. And even though I know God is active in my
life, I’m at my weakest when I just can’t seem to remember how. But what if I were to be like the Israelites—taking
time to think back and remember how God has led me to where I am? I believe it would empower me. I believe it would remind me that I’m not
where I am by accident, but because that’s exactly where God has led me. I believe it would challenge me to trust in
God again, to take that oh-so-scary step off the edge of what I can “control”
and act in faith. Now I’m probably not
going to be able to cover every faith moment in my life every single time. But I challenge you to join with me in
this. Even if it’s just a short moment
to remember how God has been active in your life in the past week. Even if it’s just a running list of bullet
points you add to. There’s something so
powerful about seeing where God has taken you, carried you and filled you; and
it just might be the very strength we need to continue on.
Also, completely unintentional but completely awesome—this blog
is so Thanksgiving-esque. Eat yummy
food, drink fine wine and be happy…all while remembering the goodness of God
:)!
Strength Remembrance Thanksgiving
Sisters in Christ,
Allison & Elizabeth
