WWUTT 754 Ezra Exegetes the Law?

After God brought his people out of exile and back into Jerusalem, Ezra read the entire law before the whole assembly. And this looked not too much different than hearing a sermon preached on Sunday, when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing, and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Nehemiah’s Rebuilding and the Repopulation of Jerusalem

Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study in the book of Nehemiah, and we'll begin in Chapter 7 today, where we see the completion of the wall around the city of Jerusalem. And at that point, the drama, for the most part, comes to an end.

I talked about how Nehemiah is an adventure story. Well, that adventure part of things ends here in Chapter 7. And then after that, we have Reformation that comes to Israel. And Nehemiah really concerns himself with seeing that the people repent of their sin, that they obey God, will have the dedication of the wall.

But he also wants the city of Jerusalem to be repopulated. So he encourages young men to take a wife and have a family. And it is in obedience to the command that God gave his children that they would go into the promised land, be fruitful, and multiply.

So Nehemiah is hoping that a repopulation of Jerusalem will ensue, and really the whole promised land in general. And perhaps what he has in mind is a fulfillment of a prophecy in Isaiah 62, where in verses 4 and 5, God says,.

And it is.

Perhaps this prophecy that Isaiah had made that Nehemiah is thinking about when he wants to see Jerusalem repopulated. So what we have in Chapter 7 is the same list of exiles that we actually had in the book of Ezra, Chapter 2.

So I'm not going to read through this again. Well, I didn't read through it the first time. I didn't want to pronounce all those names. But you can certainly go and read Nehemiah Chapter 7 for yourself.

We will read those first four verses where we have the completion of the wall around Jerusalem. Nehemiah Chapter 7 beginning in verse 1. Now when the wall had been built, and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, I gave my brother Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.

And I said to them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts, and some in front of their own homes.

The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt. So this is where then we have the list of returned exiles for Nehemiah desires that those who have returned, though they are few in number, would be fruitful and multiply and fill the land.

In verse 66 it says the whole assembly together was 42 ,360 besides their male and female servants of whom there were 7 ,337. And so there you get kind of an idea of the population of the city. At the very end of this chapter we have a statement that's mentioned that is not included in the list that we have in Ezra chapter 2.

So at verse 73 I'll read, So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their towns. And in the book of Ezra that's where that statement ends, but in Nehemiah we have this statement added, And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

And that's really just to indicate at what time of year this was. So it was about September October time frame, because then what we've got coming up is the Feast of Booths celebrated, which we'll read about in chapter 8.

Ezra Reads the Law to the Assembly

So first things first, Ezra reads the law. He reads this in the assembly of all of Israel so they would hear the word of God proclaimed and understand what it is that they had transgressed, and also the law that they are to keep.

And whenever we read about in the Old Testament, mostly like 1st and 2nd Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, whenever we see a reference to the law we're almost exclusively just talking about the book of Deuteronomy.

So Deuteronomy took the law that was given in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, and summarized it and repeated it to Israel. That word Deuteronomy actually means second law. So it's like the giving of the law again to Israel, which was what Moses did before Israel entered the promised land in the book of Joshua.

He gave them the law again, and we have the book of Deuteronomy. So this is what Ezra read to the people. And here in chapter 8 beginning in verse 1. And so this was almost 50 ,000 people that were standing there listening to this being read.

That's a pretty massive assembly for everybody to be able to hear what it was that Ezra was saying. So there's a couple of ways in which this could have been done. It was Ezra reading, and then you had respective men that would have heard what Ezra read, and then they repeated it to the groups that were sectioned out by tribe.

It could have been done that way, or it simply could have been that Ezra projected just extremely well, and everybody was able to hear it. We do hear stories of people who preached to tens of thousands, even in recent times.

Like thinking, for example, the tens of thousands that Charles Spurgeon had preached to or George Whitefield. I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who famously estimated that as many as 30 ,000 people could stand with an earshot of George Whitefield and still be able to understand him.

So you put Ezra in a place up high enough and you strategically place the people around, and he would likely have been able to project to all of them. And this would have been a rather exhaustive speech, too.

An exhausting speech for him to have to project loud enough that everybody could hear him. And he spoke very slowly, so that it was articulated well and everybody could grasp his words. Because we even read here how long it took him to read the entire Book of the Law.

Verse 3. He read from it facing the square before the water gate from early morning until midday in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

So you're talking it probably took him anywhere from three to five hours to read all of the Book of Deuteronomy aloud to the people. Now you may have seen the famous, I think it's Gustav Dore, engraving of Ezra standing in front of people and preaching.

It's the most famous depiction of Ezra reading the Law. And he's holding two tablets that resemble what we think the Ten Commandments look like. But that picture is not at all accurate as to how this scene looked.

Because Ezra would have been in a place much higher. The people would have been more tightly packed and it would have been very tiring for everybody to be so close to one another and have to stand there for three hours to listen to Ezra read the Law aloud.

But it says they were attentive to it. Because this wasn't about coming and listening to a great charismatic speaker. This wasn't about being comfortable even in that place to hear a riveting speech. Something motivational.

Something feel-good that would give me the warm fuzzies. No, it was the Word of God. And the people were there to hear this Word that had been delivered to their ancestors when they were at Mount Sinai.

They desired to hear God's Word read aloud to them again. And they were joyful to be in this place. This place from which they had been exiled because of their sin against God. So to be sure that they would repent in the right way and then continue living in a way that is pleasing unto the Lord, they desired to hear His Law.

So they knew how to live in a way that honored their God who brought them back to the place that they had been exiled from. They deserved to be destroyed, but here they had been restored. And so they were filled with hearts of passion and worship unto the Lord their God.

Verse 4. And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And this would have been a very tall platform. It wouldn't have been like a chancel or the stage at your church where you just kind of step up two steps and you're somewhat over everybody.

But not that much taller. This may have been more like a pulpit that you see in a much older church. Like the old large churches where the pulpit is so high you're almost an entire story over everybody else.

That would have been like Ezra and maybe even a little bit taller than that. And there would have been some sort of podium that was built into this platform because as we go on we're going to see that Ezra opened the book so he would have placed it on something.

He wouldn't have been standing there holding the law. It would have been heavy since the letters were written much larger than you probably have the print in your Bible. So it was opened and set there on that pulpit as he read to the entire people.

And we have a list of some of those who stood on his right hand and on his left. And then in verse 5, Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was above all the people. And as he opened it all the people stood and Ezra blessed the Lord.

This is saying that Ezra is standing before the people and they all stood there to hear the law. They didn't sit down. They weren't lounging. They stood to hear the law proclaimed. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. This doesn't mean they were face down on the ground but as they stood their faces were looking down.

And then what we have next is a list of Levites and it says that they helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their places. So when I gave you the picture before of Ezra preaching and there may have been some other men who were hearing what Ezra said and then they were carrying that message to different groups so that everybody could hear it.

That may have been what the Levites were doing. Helping the people to understand the law. Maybe to interpret it for them in some way as well as just helping Ezra with his projection. Making sure that his words carried further and met all the groups of the people that were there.

While the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the law of God clearly and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading. So there's a couple of ways to interpret this.

Either they were strategically placed near the people so that they could carry Ezra's message out further so that everybody could hear it. Or it's that they were even right there where Ezra was at and Ezra would read a portion and the Levites would explain it and this was like exegetical preaching.

This was expository preaching. Whichever way you interpret it, that's what we have here. With Ezra reading the law to the people and the Levites explaining it to them so that they would know exactly how they were to obey and please the Lord God who had brought them out of exile and returned them to the place of his promise.

Godly Sorrow and the Joy of the Lord

So now we go on. Verse 9. And Nehemiah who was the 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 wept as they had heard the words of the law.

Then he said to them go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready for this day is holy to our Lord and do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

So the Levites calmed all the people saying be quiet for this day is holy. Do not be grieved. And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

So there's a sense here in which the people wept because they realized and understood their sin and then Ezra says to them and Nehemiah and all the Levites that it's no longer a time for mourning, it is a time for rejoicing.

And this is the same sort of thing that we go through when we hear the gospel. First we hear the law, we're cut to the heart because we realize our sin against God that we have rebelled that we are worthy of death and judgment and yet we hear the gospel of Jesus Christ that Jesus died for our sins.

He rose again from the grave. He has ascended into heaven where he is interceding for us before the father and he is coming back again to receive us to himself and on that day of judgment we will not perish but we will have everlasting life and upon hearing the good news of this gospel which we receive by faith it causes our hearts to rejoice.

We know that we're worthy of destruction because of our sin but through Jesus Christ God has forgiven our sin and has cleansed us from all unrighteousness. All who repent of sin and believe on his name we are forgiven and we are received by God and that is a time of great rejoicing.

So indeed when we first hear the message of our sin we're grieved and we should be grieved over our sin but then hearing the gospel is no longer a time of mourning, it is a time for rejoicing because our sins have been forgiven and we've been clothed in the righteousness of Christ and so this was just the same as what Israel had gone through here.

They were grieved, they were cut to the heart over their sin and then it was Ezra and Nehemiah and the priests who said it's no longer a time for mourning, this is a time for rejoicing. We have been restored to the land.

God has kept his promises, his favor is with us. Look at the walls. These walls that were broken down, look at the temple there. These things have been completed because God is faithful, because he is with us and so we are to eat, drink, and be merry.

We are to have a celebration and drinking wine was a symbol of God's abundant provision for his people so drink wine and find those who do not have any and give to them so everyone's hearts would be merry and this is not drinking to get drunk but it is drinking in celebration of the abundant provision that God has provided so going on here into verse 13, on the second day the heads of the fathers houses of all the people with the priests and the Levites, so this is the day after Ezra had just read the law to all the people, they came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the law.

So they've heard Ezra proclaim it and they didn't just leave their hearing of the law to that one day that Ezra had taught the law, rather they come back to him the next day and they're like hey we want to come back to this again we want to go back and review some of the things that you had said and we want to look at these words more intently so this shows the condition of the hearts of the people and their desire to know God, his word and follow it.

Verse 14, and they found written in the law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, this was the feast of booths and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive myrtle, palm and other leafy trees to make booths as it is written.

So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves each on his roof and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God and in the square at the water gate and in the square at the gate of Ephraim and all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so.

Jeshua is just another way of spelling Joshua so it had been a thousand years since Israel had kept this feast and there was very great rejoicing verse 18 and day by day from the first day to the last day of the feast Ezra read from the book of the law of God and they kept the feast seven days and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the rule.

The Feast of Booths and Life in Christ

So the last couple of minutes that I have here let me explain very briefly the feast of booths. So this was the most joyous feast that Israel celebrated and it was to remember the time that they spent in the wilderness after God brought them out of Egypt and then brought them into the land of Canaan and while they were there in the wilderness they lived in these booths in these huts that were also called Sukkot.

So today this feast of booths is also called Sukkot if you've ever heard somebody who is Hebrew or Jewish say hey it's the time of the feast of Sukkot which would fall around September or October that's what it is that they're celebrating the feast of booths and you would do that for seven days and this was a reminder of the salvation that God had given his people delivering them from Egypt and into a promised land.

So they would also decorate these booths with a lot of fruit because of the provision that they received in the land of Canaan that was also part of these booths that they dwelled in. So they gave up the comforts that they lived in in their own homes and they would dwell in these booths and it was a reminder that in order to be redeemed the people of the Lord must give up certain things.

They must give up certain worldly possessions and comforts as we may understand it now we give up the comforts of our sin and unless we repent we cannot be saved. So we give up the things of this world and we rely fully upon God our Savior to provide us with all good things.

And so as the people of Israel had understood this one way so we in Christ Jesus who fulfilled all the law and the prophets understand this a different way we do not have a physical celebration in which we are dwelling in huts to remember the sin that God has brought us out of.

But every single day we submit ourselves fully unto the Lord knowing that spiritually we have been rescued from sin and death and the wages of sin and we are delivered into the eternal kingdom of God which we will receive on that day when the Lord returns in glory.

Let us conclude with prayer. We thank you God for the salvation that we have in Christ. And I pray that we would understand how to practically apply our belief in the gospel to our everyday situation.

How it applies to our job how it applies to the way that we interact with others or love our families help us to understand how the gospel changes us fully into men and women of God who commit our entire lives to you.

For our lives were nothing they were worthless. They were ready to be thrown into the fire until the Spirit intervened and brought us from being dead to life in Jesus Christ. And it's in his name that we pray.

Amen.

We grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.