Joy Found in Obedience
From Ruins to Revival • Sermon • Submitted
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· 15 viewsAfter Ezra reads the law some gather to gain understanding of the Law. As they search the scriptures they find joy in complete obedience to the command to celebrate the feast of booths. We learn that joy can be found in understanding and obeying the Word of God.
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Introduction
Introduction
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13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law. 14 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,
13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law. 14 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
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15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.” 16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim.
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16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. 17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. 18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.
17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. 18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.
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Seek Insight From Scriptures
Seek Insight From Scriptures
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Nehemiah 8:13
13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law.
Understanding of the scriptures must be sought out
It is not enough to hear the word of God
It must be understood or it means nothing to us
Understanding sometimes takes a deeper looking
Understanding = insight, comprehension — the sense of studying intently or paying special mind to
This was the second day after Ezra opened up the Law and read it for the people
It is believed that by this time most of the people had returned to their houses
Except some did not - they desired to understand more deeply to know more intimately
Sometimes we may hear information and we can regurgitate the information but that doesnt mean we understand or have grasped the concepts principles or precepts
We know that God has chosen to hide nuggets of truth within His word and only those diligent enough to seek will find Him
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17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
Proverbs 8:17
Those who lead or serve must especially seek insight from the scriptures
While we must all develop the desire to seek insight and deeper understanding from the scriptures - so much more so for those who lead or serve
Jeremiah 29:13
We see listed here heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people
Father’s and Men you are specially called to be spiritual leaders of your home
Your obedience will have a direct affect on your family’s obedience
It is actually surprising perhaps to hear these stats
According to data collected by Promise Keepers and Baptist Press, if a father does not go to church, even if his wife does, only 1 child in 50 will become a regular worshiper. If a father does go regularly, regardless of what the mother does, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will attend church as adults. If a father attends church irregularly, between half and two-thirds of their kids will attend church with some regularity as adults.
If a mother does not go to church, but a father does, a minimum of two-thirds of their children will end up attending church. In contrast, if a father does not go to church, but the mother does, on average two-thirds of their children will not attend church.
If a mother does not go to church, but a father does, a minimum of two-thirds of their children will end up attending church. In contrast, if a father does not go to church, but the mother does, on average two-thirds of their children will not attend church.
Another study, focused on Sunday School, found similar results on the impact of fathers:
Another study, focused on Sunday School, found similar results on the impact of fathers:
When both parents attend Bible study in addition to the Sunday service, 72% of their children attend Sunday school when grown.When only the father attends Sunday school, 55% of the children attend when grown.When only the mother attends Sunday school, 15% of the children attend when grown.When neither parent attends Sunday school, only 6% of the children attend when grown.
When both parents attend Bible study in addition to the Sunday service, 72% of their children attend Sunday school when grown.When only the father attends Sunday school, 55% of the children attend when grown.When only the mother attends Sunday school, 15% of the children attend when grown.When neither parent attends Sunday school, only 6% of the children attend when grown.
Another survey found that if a child is the first person in a household to become a Christian, there is a 3.5% probability everyone else in the household will follow. If the mother is the first to become a Christian, there is a 17% probability everyone else in the household will follow. However, when the father is first, there is a 93% probability everyone else in the household will follow.
Another survey found that if a child is the first person in a household to become a Christian, there is a 3.5% probability everyone else in the household will follow. If the mother is the first to become a Christian, there is a 17% probability everyone else in the household will follow. However, when the father is first, there is a 93% probability everyone else in the household will follow.
Here’s the point of all these statistics: Dad’s impact on the kids’ faith and practice is HUGE.
Here’s the point of all these statistics: Dad’s impact on the kids’ faith and practice is HUGE.
One of the reasons suggested for this distinction is that children tend to take their cues about domestic life from Mom while their conceptions of the world outside come from Dad. If Dad takes faith in God seriously then the message to their children is that God should be taken seriously.
One of the reasons suggested for this distinction is that children tend to take their cues about domestic life from Mom while their conceptions of the world outside come from Dad. If Dad takes faith in God seriously then the message to their children is that God should be taken seriously.
We see also priests and Levites listed here
Those whom were appointed - need to be instructed in leading the worship and knowing God’s Word
Leaders and those whom want to have influence will be lifelong learners always seeking better understanding
Leaders have a special need to understand and walk in God’s word for they are the ones who will be the example
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1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1
their ignorance or disobedience will result in many whom they have influence on following them
Searching the word is part of your responsibility in your walk with the LORD
We must be like those here in Nehemiah seeking understanding of the scriptures - wrestling with what we read or hear
We must also be as the Bereans of
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10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
Search the scriptures and find
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14 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,
14 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
14 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,
“And they found written in the Law...”
Diligent searching will lead to finding
The first 4 words of verse 14 “And they found written...”
As they sought understanding they found commanded things for them to do in the Law
Command from God Himself through Moses
Children of Israel (Who?) shall dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month
Also they should announce and proclaim in all the cities and in Jerusalem
the people go out to the mountain and bring
olive branches
branches of oil trees
myrtle branches
palm branches
and branches of leafy trees
then the people are to make booths with these branches
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Completely Obey the Scriptures
Completely Obey the Scriptures
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16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. 17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.
Nehemiah 8:
They obeyed immediately
Notice what happened - the fathers and Levites and priests found written in the law , what to do “as it was written...” on the end of verse 15 and verse 16 - “Then the people went out and brought them and made booths”
There was no hesitation, there was no questioning - they did exactly what they found written in the scripture
Verse 16
They went out and brought branches and made booths
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Hearing the word of God is ok, but powerless without obedience
They obeyed completely
The whole people obeyed
“each one” on the roof of his house
So the whole assembly - of those who returned from captivity made booths and sat under booths
They obeyed for the complete observance of the Feast of Tabernacles
Since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day - the children of Israel had not done so
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Rely on God’s Word and not on history or tradition
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7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Matthew 15:9
This is important to pick up on
What is being said here isnt that Israel has not celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles
There are two parts to the Feast of Tabernacles
it was an agricultural festival to commemorate the “ingathering” of the harvest
it was also a memorial celebration of the wilderness wanderings
Through the years the harvest application has been emphasized and observed, but the living in booths to remember wilderness wanderings had been neglected/ignored
As they read in scripture they realized they had been missing out on part of the celebration
And again in complete obedience they celebrated the WHOLE of the festival
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A side-effect of the continued and complete study of the Word of God is that we are confronted with the need to adjust our traditions to worship according to the divine standard.
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Joy is Found in Obedience
Joy is Found in Obedience
Joy is Found in Obedience
Joy is Found in Obedience
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18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.
Nehemiah 8:18
“And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the fast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner”
In obedience there is joy
Verse 17 ends with “and there was VERY GREAT GLADNESS”
When the people began to celebrate the feast with their new understanding and a new complete obedience they had great joy
The meaning of the feast of booths had great meaning once again for them as they were returning from Exile and so there was great gladness
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Often times we are deceived that obedience leads to pain and misery and loss of joy, but gladness and freedom come only from obedience
The people obeyed the law not with sullen severity but with an exuberant celebration! Again remembering that they returned from Exile
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13 “You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. 14 And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. 15 Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.
Deuteronomy
The Joy of the Lord is not the Joy of the World
The joy of the lord is your strength - verse 10 tells us
The world’s joy is temporary and artificial - when their joy (really happiness) is gone people are left with an even greater weakness or emptiness
The joy of the Lord is lasting and real
SLIDE Wiersbe in Be Determined
God doesnt 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!
The joy comes from is not a one day deal of obedience or even from partial obedience
Revival is not one time huge event - it involves everyday and builds on everyday
It involves the monotonous as well as the extraordinary
Many times we believe that revival is something that sweeps a nation and is for “other” people
We neglect that revival occurs one at a time and involves US as well
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Joy of revival always includes obedience to the Word of God though
They kept the feast in the PRESCRIBED manner
manner is authoritative rule or regulation
They didnt modify it it or change it - but EXACTLY as it was written
When they kept it in the prescribed manner - they found it was relevant to their lives and their current situation and in that their joy was increased through obedience!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Every day during the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests would make their way to the pool of Siloam. There, they would draw water from the pool and pour it out on the temple mount, commemorating how God had supplied water for His people in the wilderness. But on the last day, the solemn assembly day, the priests would go to Siloam and return with empty pitchers, signifying the One who was to come. You see Siloam means “Sent one,” and the people knew that One would be coming who would give them refreshment, who would set them free. Thus, when, on the eighth day, the priests would pour out their empty pitchers and quote Isaiah’s prophecy that God would pour out His Spirit upon them (, ), the people would pray that Messiah would come. In , we see the answer to their prayer, for it was on the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles that, as the people prayed silently, Jesus declared, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and out of his innermost being shall gush forth torrents of living water” (, ). The pitchers would never need to be empty again. And neither do we, for truly Jesus—the fulfillment of every feast, the culmination of every festival—supplies our every need. Jon Courson Application Commentary
tells us there were actually seven feasts and these feasts have significance, not only to the people of God historically, but to us prophetically…
The first feast was Passover, It was to be celebrated in the spring, the fourteenth day of Nissan, or our April. The Passover was when the lamb was slain, commemorating how God delivered His people from bondage in Egypt, as well as to portray Jesus, the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world (). At the very time the Passover lamb was being slain in the temple, the Son of God, God’s holy Lamb would be pinned to the tree of Calvary.
The next feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, took place the day after Passover. Leaven is a picture of sin. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was in the tomb the day after Passover, and if there was sin in Him, He would not have risen from the dead, for the wages of sin is nothing other than death ().
The third feast, the Feast of Firstfruits, took place on the first day of the week after Passover. At the Feast of Firstfruits, the people would offer their firstfruits to the Lord. Jesus rose from the dead on that day as the Firstfruit of many to come, for because He lives, we shall live also.
Fifty days after Passover was the Feast of Pentecost. Among other things, Pentecost was a celebration of the Law being given. When the Law was given, 3,000 people died because of their sin (). Conversely, fifty days after Jesus died, when the Holy Spirit came upon the one hundred and twenty in the Upper Room, the church was birthed and 3,000 were saved ().
The fifth feast was the Feast of Trumpets, which took place on the first day of the seventh month, corresponding with our month of October. One day not too far away, we’re going to hear the trump of God and be whisked away in the Rapture ().
The sixth feast, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, took place nine days after the Feast of Trumpets. Yom Kippur was a time of sorrow and repentance. So, too, after the church is raptured, the Tribulation will break out on earth and, during that time, the Jewish people will understand to a great degree that Jesus is indeed their Messiah.
The last feast is the one we see here: the Feast of Tabernacles. In , we read that after the Lord comes and establishes His kingdom on the earth, all people will be invited to celebrate this feast and in so doing say, “Thank You, Lord. You saw us through and brought us home.”
There is joy in hearing the Word of God, but greater joy in obeying it. We begin to see the relevance and find joy in that the Lord has provided for us
When we seek understanding we can obey according to the PRESCRIBED manner and our joy will be full as we see the relevance of what God has commanded and how He intends for our good.