Nehemiah 8: 13-18 | The Joy of the Lord in the Lives of His People
Have you ever asked your kids to clean their room?
What response were you expecting when you did? What if after you went to inspect to see if your directions had been obeyed and you saw the room wasn’t clean your kids would have told you they wanted to understand what it mean to clean a room, so they prayed, they did a word study on clean and room, they called their friends over and they pondered the meaning of cleaning the room together.
Sometimes we make things more complicated then they need to be. The people in Nehemiah have heard and understood God’s word, they have responded with weeping and rejoicing, and now they respond with joyful obedience to the Lord.
Main Idea:
Obedience to God’s word is a good thing
Why (transformational intent of the passage)?:
So that we would find great joy in obedience to the Lord through His word
Nehemiah 8:13: Studying the WordSetting the Stage
- Heads of father’s house….
- The priests, levites, and Ezra
There is a hunger in the hearts of the men of Israel for the the word that has been rediscovered
Nehemiah 8:14-16: Obedience to the Word
- The people learn of a feast in the law of God they are to keep
- The preparations are made…
The Feast of Booths
Leviticus 23:33-43
- A week long feast of thanksgiving
- God has faithfully provided for His people
- The people need to remember now they are here as inheritors of the promises of Yahweh.
The response to what the people learned in God’s word lead them to obedience of what He had command
Nehemiah 8:17-18 – The Joy of Following the Word
- “The people of Israel have not done so”…
…but the Feast of Booths had been celebrated? Ezra 3:3-7
- There was great rejoicing!
Nehemiah 8:13-18 – Application
Salvation isn’t found through obedience, it is found in Christ. Keep the Word central or obedience will not be joyful and will be misguided.
- Proper obedience to the Lord can’t be done in our own strength, we need the Holy Spirit in us…We need to be born again
- Study the Word of God
- We are still dwelling in tents….
Pursue joyful obedience to our Lord and savior who gave His life for us as we wait for Him to bring us to our land of promise
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