Study the Word

Pastor Thom Keller: Today on Study the Word from Pastor Thom Keller. Nehemiah, who has been silent until now, now says, “This is not a day to sorrow, but this is a day to rejoice.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to spend portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that had been declared to them.

Now, of this, Gaebelein, the commentator says, “The powerful exposition of God's Word can bring deep conviction of sin. But repentance must not degenerate into a self-centered remorse, but must instead transition into joy due to God's forgiving good news.”

Great to have you as we once again meet for Study the Word, the radio ministry of Calvary Chapel Lebanon. Our Bible teacher is Pastor Thom Keller. Today, we learned that the people began mourning and weeping as they were instructed in the Law of Moses. Such is the convicting effect God's Word can have in our lives.

But as Nehemiah declared to them, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Walking in the joy of God's forgiveness pleases Him and gives us strength to continue on. You're welcome to join our study where Nehemiah chapter 8, verses 9 through 12.

So, as a review and to bring you up to speed if you're new here, in chapter 8, verse 1 to 4, it says this: All the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square, just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given for Israel to obey. So, on October 8th, Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and the women and all the children old enough to understand.

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. Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. And then verse 5 says this: 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. And then verse 7 and 8.

The Levites, all those people, then instructed the people in the law, while everyone remained in their places. 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 word.

Now, this is where we ended the last time, and now picking up today in verse 9, it says this: “Then Nehemiah, the governor, and Ezra the priest, the scribe, 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.’ And Nehemiah continued, ‘Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”

And the Levites too quieted the people, telling them, “Hush, don't weep, for this is a sacred day.” 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 Word and understood them. What a blessing.

So, why were the people weeping? Well, because it would appear as though the Jews had not heard the reading of the Word of God any time through their entire lifetime, until now. And as they hear the Word, they are in shock. Remember, the only books of the Bible at this point were Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, five books, the Pentateuch. And that is law, law, law, law. All of the ‘thou shalt nots’ plus all the ‘thou shalt’.

And they realize as Ezra reads the law, and as the Levites go down into the crowds to explain the law and answer questions, the people know that they and their parents have really, really blown it. I suspect, I suspect what really got them weeping was when they got to the very end of the last of the fifth book, Deuteronomy, chapter 28, where Moses lists the curses that God would visit upon Israel if they disobeyed.

And as they heard these curses being read to them, they knew that both they and their parents had broken God's law and, as a consequence, had lived through the exact curses that Moses said would happen to them if they disobeyed. Listen to what they heard being read to them. Picture them understanding being taken into captivity, knowing the destruction of the temple, the murdering of Jews. And then hearing this after the fact.

Deuteronomy 28:15. Moses speaking, God through Moses: “But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commandments and decrees I'm giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you. Your towns and your fields will be cursed. Your fruit baskets and bread boards will be cursed. Your children and your crops will be cursed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be cursed. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be cursed. The Lord Himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning Me.”

Same chapter, five verses later. “The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” Verse 32, same chapter. “You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won't be able to help them. A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment.” Verse 36.

“The Lord will exile you.” That happened. “And your king to an un a nation unknown to you.” That happened to Assyria and then later Babylon. “And your ancestors. There in exile, you will worship gods of wood and stone.” And then verse 49. Drastic. “The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture.” This is Babylon. “It is a nation whose language you do not understand, a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young. Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed.” Listen to this.

“They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death. They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land, the walls you trusted to protect you, are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land of the Lord your God has given you. The siege and the terrible distress of the enemies' attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.” And the Jewish annals reflected that actually happened.

“The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, his surviving children. He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring, the flesh of one of his own children because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict upon your towns. The most tender and delicate woman among you, so delicate that she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot, will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. Listen, she will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has born so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and the terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on you in all of your towns.”

And these Jews now living in Jerusalem saw how completely this had taken place. And this is the first time they're seeing that God promised this would fall on those if they disregarded the law. In fact, that is the purpose for the law. Romans 3:20, it says this: “For no one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it.” And then Romans 5:20 says this: It says, “God's law was given so that all the people could see how sinful they were.” That's the purpose for the law: to show us how unable we are to maintain, to keep God's standard of perfection. And they realized that.

Now, we all know that the outcome of all of this, this guilt and sorrow and grief, should be repentance. And that does occur in the next chapter. After they hear this, they do repent. Nehemiah, who has been silent until now, now says, “This is not a day to sorrow, but this is a day to rejoice.” Then Nehemiah and all the people went their way to eat and drink and to spend portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that had been declared to them.

Now, of this, Gaebelein, the commentator says, “The powerful exposition of God's Word can bring deep conviction of sin. But repentance must not degenerate into a self-centered remorse, but must instead transition into joy due to God's forgiving good news.”

And so, the people all go to celebrate with a meal. The ESV translation adds this, it says, “They went their way to eat and drink and to spend send portions, to send portions to make great rejoicing.” The idea is that they gave food to those who had little or no food so they could all feast together.

And the idea is why all of this joy? In verse 12, it says this: “Because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.” And folks, that really is joy when we discover God's Word and the application it has in our lives. And then the very next day, Ezra has a Bible study with Nehemiah's leadership team and the family heads. In verse 13, it says this: “On October 9, the family leaders of all the people, together with the priests and Levites, met with Ezra the scribe to go over the law in greater detail.”

Ezra sure was committed to teaching the people the Word of God, wasn't he? And this is in fact why Ezra left Babylon and came to Jerusalem in the first place 13 years earlier in 458 BC. Back in the Book of Ezra, the book right in front of Nehemiah, we read this, chapter 7. “Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in August of that year. He had arranged to leave Babylon on April 8th, the first day of the new year, and he arrived at Jerusalem in August 4, for the gracious hand of his God was with him.”

This was because Ezra, listen, Ezra had determined to study and obey the law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel. Teaching the Word of God to the people of Israel was Ezra's burden and calling. And among the Jews back then and even today, the Jews hold Ezra in very high regard, even referring to, even today, Ezra as a second Moses, because both Moses and Ezra brought the Word of God to people who were absent of the law.

Now, a little background on Ezra. He's the priest, he's teaching the word. And in Ezra 7, we discover that Ezra was a direct descendant of Aaron, the high priest, the brother of Moses. So, he was not only a Levite, he was also of the high of the priestly line of Aaron. And in Ezra, we learn that he was also a scribe. 7:6 says, “This Ezra was a scribe who was well versed in the Law of Moses.”

And as a scribe back in Persia, it was very likely that Ezra might have been a part of the Persian government, because it was common for ancient Near East governments to train and employ scribes who served as lawyers, diplomats, clerks, and secretaries who were used to interpret incoming documents and correspondence from outlying conquered regions. It was a critical position. And we know that this was true of Ezra because just like Nehemiah, Ezra had access to the king of Persia.

The same king Nehemiah had served as cupbearer. And Ezra 7:6, we find that: “This Ezra was a scribe who was well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel had given to the people of Israel. He came up to Jerusalem from Babylon, and the king gave him everything he asked for because the gracious hand of the Lord his God was on him.” That's a relationship with the king. Verse 11, same chapter. “King Artaxerxes had given a copy of the following letter to Ezra, the priest and scribe, who studied and taught the commandments and decrees of the Lord of Israel.”

“This is what Artaxerxes wrote, 'From Artaxerxes, the King of Kings, to Ezra the priest, the teacher of the law of the God of Heaven, greetings.'” And then verse 21. “I, Artaxerxes the King,” this is favor. “I, Artaxerxes the King, hereby send this decree to all the treasures in the province west of the Euphrates River. You are to give Ezra the priest and teacher of the law of the God of Heaven whatever he requests of you.” He had favor with the king.

And verse 10 represents the very genesis for the creation by Ezra of what will become an incredibly powerful group of Jewish leaders known as the scribes. We find them spoken of in the Gospel, and although this group of scribes was denounced by Jesus, their origin, their beginning under Ezra was pure and righteous and good. Much of Ezra's drive in teaching the Word of God is in keeping with the Jewish idiom: never again.

When the temple was destroyed, and Ezra discovered that the horrible destruction of the temple and the deportation of the Jews was all prophesied in the Bible and was because of the people failing to read and know and follow the Word of God, and that the curses that God promised would happen if they disobeyed occurred, Ezra said to himself, “Never again. Never again.”

History records that once the Jews were dispersed, foreign influence was now intertwined with Jewish life and culture, with Greek culture threatening the very existence of Judaism. So Ezra began gathering scholars determined to preserve the Word of God and to keep it in front of the people with a most zealous care. And in order to preserve the Word of God, it needed to be studied carefully, and all of its statutes and regulations needed to be given application according to the ever-changing way of public and private life in Israel was taking place.

And this mandate to make the Word of God known to all Israel led to the creation of Jewish houses of assembly, known as synagogues. The word synagogue being from a Greek root word which means, “to bring together.” The synagogue served as a place for study, sacred meals, court proceedings, depositing community funds, and political and social meetings.

And so, because the Jews were dispersed and could not attend Temple worship in Jerusalem anymore, they instead met in synagogues. And the role of the scribes was to read the Torah in the synagogues, give commentary, and lecture their disciples. Now, the scribes are also called lawyers and doctors. Remember, there was no civil law. All law was handled by the religious leaders. There was no secular law, it was all done. So, if there was a lawsuit, it happened there. If there was property transfer, it was done there.

The role of the scribes was to read the Torah in the synagogues, give commentary and lecture. The scribes were also called lawyers and doctors of the law. They were highly educated from a young age, and at an appropriate age, many say 30 years old, they could then be elected to the office of scribe. They were not only copiers of the law, they would copy the law, but they were also the preservers of the oral tradition, which included the commentaries on the Mosaic law.

This oral tradition accumulated over the course of time into a great mass of detail and was regarded by the scribes. This detail of the law was regarded by the scribes to be equal to or even greater than the law itself. So their commentary on the law, they said was equal to Moses' law, or even greater than. And this was their logic. They said, “If the law is true, how much more the detail of the law?”

And so because of the destruction of the temple, these houses of education were built for study and prayer where the Jews would gather. But it is of incredible significance that Ezra's time in Jerusalem was a turning point. Because, folks, the monarchy was gone. King Zedekiah was the last king that would ever reign over the Jews until Christ. He was hauled off in the Babylon in bronze chains and the monarchy was over, which gave all of the power now to the priests.

Now the priests were in charge of the temple, while the scribes were in charge of the synagogues. And it was around this same time that the Sadducee party emerged as a band of power-seeking, power-brokering priests. These Sadducees became extremely powerful in the vacuum of the monarchy. And for all practical purposes, ruled over the nation of Israel once the kings were gone and the temple was rebuilt.

And so, over time, these two distinct groups, the scribes and the Sadducees, grew more and more powerful. The Sadducees made the temple the focus of Jewish faith and practice, whereas the scribes worked to make the local synagogue the center of Jewish life. And so for the very first time, the temple was not the only institution promoting Jewish practice. Now there were also synagogues. Synagogues did not exist prior to the time of Ezra.

Now this dual system of sacrifice at the temple and study at the synagogue worked well throughout Ezra and Nehemiah's lifetimes. But about 120 years later, a rift developed between the scribes and the Sadducees. And by the time we get to the New Testament, these two groups actually despised one another. Why? Because the scribes and the Pharisees, Pharisees means separated ones. The scribes made up the detail of the law, and the Pharisees devoted their lives to keeping the detail of the law.

By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the scribes and Pharisees despised the Sadducees, calling the Sadducees secular humanists, which in fact they were. The Sadducees only believed in the first five books of the Bible. Therefore, no biblical prophecy. The Sadducees, listen, did not believe in Heaven, did not believe in Hell. They did not believe in any life after this life. They did not believe in angels or demons. Those were the Sadducees.

The scribes, however, taught out of all of the Old Testament books and prophecy, and they believed in life after death, Heaven and Hell, and angels and demons. So, the scribes called the Sadducees, those in charge of the temple, secular heretics. And the Sadducees called the scribes and Pharisees raving mad fanatics obsessed with demanding obedience to their man-made petty rules.

So here in Ezra and Nehemiah, we see the very beginning of this school of the scribes. But let's fast forward 500 years and you find Jesus denouncing these men. Matthew 23:25. Jesus said, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.” Verse 33, same chapter. “Serpents,” Jesus speaking of the scribes and Pharisees, “Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell?”

That was 500 year forward, but backing up again 500 years earlier than Jesus saying that, we discover this is not how the scribes started out. This back to the Bible movement began with a very godly man, a very sincere man, wanting to teach the people the Word of God. But over time, as you know happens, these men abandoned the heart and love of God and instead followed their own man-made traditions.

Thanks for joining us today for Study the Word with Pastor Thom Keller. We're in the book of Nehemiah right now. Hey, to give this a second listen, either go to our website at ccleb.com or visit our YouTube page. Subscribe to our channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon, and you can watch our services live or on demand. We can also send you a CD copy if you'll call 717-273-5633. Once again, that's 717-273-5633.

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