8/30/2011 7:56:43 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: We must obey the Word
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Nehemiah 8:13-18
Message of the verses: “13 ¶ Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law. 14 They found written in the law how the LORD had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month. 15 So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written." 16 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. 17 The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing. 18 He read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance.”
I believed that I mentioned in an earlier SD that the celebration of the Day of Atonement was on the first day of the seventh month, but that is not correct as it was celebrated on the tenth day of the month and the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated from the fifteenth to the twenty-first of the month. With that said there was not much time to get the word out to the people to gather the branches that were needed in order to celebrate the feast as described in this passage.
One of the themes that has been present in this eight chapter of Nehemiah is joy and that has been a discussion point for the last couple of days. The theme of the book of Philippians is joy as that word joy or joyful is used many times throughout the book of Philippians. After the Law was read to these Jewish exiles they were convicted and filled with sorrow, but now because of this celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles they were filled with joy. Dr. Wiersbe writes “To the believer without joy the will of God is punishment; but to the believer happy in the Lord the will of God is nourishment.”
As one looks at these verses they will see a revival that is happening to these people. The question is raised will this revival last? The answer is not it will not last, but it is good to have a revival. The famous evangelist Billy Sunday was asked if revivals lasted to which he replied “No neither does a bath; but it’s good to have one occasionally!”
The Lord Jesus used an illustration of joy as a woman who has just had a baby, and even though the birth was very painful this same painful experience produced joy in her life because of the birth of her baby. “20 "Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. 21 "Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 "Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you (John 16:20-22).” Dr. Wiersbe writes “The difficult circumstances of life are ‘pregnant’ with joy, and by faith we must give that joy time to be born.” He goes on to say, “The world’s joy is temporary and artificial; and when the joy is gone, people are left with even greater weakness and emptiness. But the joy that comes from the Lord is real and lasting and enriches our lives. God doesn’t give us joy instead of sorrow, or joy in spite of sorrow, but joy in the midst of sorrow. It is not substitution but transformation.”
I mentioned in an earlier SD that the Feast of Tabernacles was a time for the children of Israel to look back at the wanderings in the wilderness by their forefathers, but it was more than that. It was also a time of looking around at the harvest that God had given them, for after all this celebration took place during the time of harvest. This feast was also a time of looking forward to the kingdom age which will be a glorious and joyful time.
This celebration was not only a joyful time but a time of enrichment and encouragement too. Nehemiah 8:10 says “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
This celebration described in these verses had never been celebrated like this since the days of Joshua, but it surely had been celebrated before.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have written before that it seems to me that joy has not been one of the things that has been present in my life to the way that it should be. I do know that giving to others produces joy in my life and I hope that learning about joy as I have researched this chapter will help produce more joy in my life in the way that the Bible teaches that it should be there.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Continue to learn about biblical joy.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
8/30/2011 8:49:46 AM
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