2 So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand. 3 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. 5 Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the LORD your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.12 So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them.
-Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5, 8-9, 12.
What we have happening in these passages is true revival. I'm talking about a true change of heart of the people. We haven't seen a revival like this in quite some time. We need to pray that God moves like this once again in our world.
The people of Jerusalem had assembled to hear the Word of the Lord. They had been in captivity, and their city in ruin. Yet now, the walls and gates have been rebuilt, and they wanted to hear from God. Verse 1 teaches us that "they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given Israel to obey." They wanted to hear the Word of the Lord. Do you see that? They had a hunger for the Word of God. Do we have a hunger like that? Do we really want to hear the Word, or are we only listening to what we want to hear, ignoring the hard parts, or the parts we don't want to hear about? Verse 2-3 teach us that Ezra brought the Book of the Law and "from early morning till noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law." Ezra read from the law from early morning till noon, maybe for 6 to 7 hours, and all the people listened closely! They wanted to hear the Words of God, they wanted the pure words of life. Verse 8 tells us that the Levites, or Pastors in today's church, explained what was being read, so the people could understand what was being read to them. Does this sound familiar? Anyway, we see at the end of verse 9, "For he people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law." They had realized that they had sinned, had broke the law, and were weeping. Maybe for the first time in their lives, they really listened to the Word, and they saw where they went astray.
Do you see what we so desperately need today? We need true revival. For far too long, we have been making God who we want Him to be. We pay just enough attention to Him so He doesn't leave us, all the while fulfilling our own lusts and desires. We tell Him, "OK now, I'll give you this one hour on Sunday. I don't want to hear about how bad I am. I don't want to hear about how I'm a sinner. I just want to feel like I've been in your presence, but don't give out too much. I really like my life the way it is, so just let me live my life like I want. Is that too much to ask!" Friends, we need revival. We need true revival. What happened when people heard the true Word of God. They weeped because they had understood how they broke the law. We need to hear the true Word of God today. We need to hear the Word of God. Do you want to hear from Him today? Think About It.
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