Creating opportunities for Scripture to come alive (Neh 8:13-18)

Who hasn’t experienced the joy when our circumstances or an event brought home to us the meaning of a passage in new ways? Suddenly we realised the significance of what we read so that a dry portion of Scripture came alive for us. For the exiles, their recent captivity in Babylon (Neh 8:17) must have brought into sharper focus the difference between being displaced, without roots and home (as the Israelites were when coming out of Egypt) and their present re-settling in the land. Thus, the practice of living in booths or temporary shelters for a week every year as a reminder of that earlier historic event (Lev 23:40) gained new meaning in the light of their present experiences. Seemingly this aspect of the feast has not been done since the time of Joshua (Neh 8:17),[1] though it is possible that booths were used in earlier times (after all the festival is named Tabernacles for this reason), but they may have been simply the shelters raised by the harvesters without the historic significance attached to them by the law.[2] Although such moments when Scripture comes alive do not happen every day, how may we ensure that they can occur?

Thirst and commitment

The gathering of the civil and religious leaders for further study (Neh 8:13) reflects a desire for gaining insight and a commitment to spend time exploring God’s will. When we thirst for God and expectantly wait to hear from Him, we are more likely to encounter Him, whereas hurried morning devotions with one eye on the clock and the chores of the day ahead do not create the environment where we can absorb God’s message to us. Despite busy lives, when the desire is there, we can find creative ways to make time with God. For some, a longer commute to work is an opportunity to listen to an audio Bible in the car, to think and pray. For others, it may have to be a quiet moment snatched here and there during the day depending on schedules and family commitments, or in the evening when the house quietens.

Studying in groups, learning the whole counsel of God

It is also noteworthy that the leadership gathers around the gifted and knowledgeable teacher, Ezra (v.13) and engages in study in a group. For the exiles, the ancient Mosaic laws formulated in different circumstances from their own were as strange and alien a world, as much of the Bible (especially the Old Testament) is for us. We, like them, need help in understanding its customs, the conventions it uses to communicate God’s message and learning to apply it to our lives. Increasingly, the Bible is falling into disuse in the church so that many sermons are based around a theme and lack faithful exposition of specific Bible passages and home groups often favour topical studies or videos without Christians doing the hard work of directly engaging with Scripture. Thus, we are increasingly losing the skills to read the Bible well even in an age when resources for study are plentiful.

Further, today’s reading shows that Ezra was able to join for people the various aspects of the law into a comprehensible whole. The table below highlights where the different details for the celebration of Tabernacles came from and demonstrates the importance of being able to link biblical passages as they expand or explain other parts of Scripture.

Source for an aspect of the feast	Practice in Nehemiah
Lev 23:39 – length of feast (8 days)	Neh 8:18
Lev 23:40 – foliage used[3]	Neh 8:15
Deut 16:13-15 – in the place the LORD your God chooses (Jerusalem) – v.15 – rejoicing (vv.14, 15)	Neh 8:16 (Jerusalem implied) Neh 8:17 (rejoicing)
Deut 31:10-13 – public reading of law every 7 yrs	Neh 8:18

Acting on God’s Word

Finally, the exiles not only thirst for deeper insight, commit time to it, study in groups and work towards knowing the whole counsel of God, but also act on what they have discovered. The message goes out and Jerusalem becomes dotted with booths, attached to houses, erected on flat roofs for people who already live in the city, and set up in the temple courts and near gates with open spaces, presumably for those travelling up from the countryside (Neh 8:15-16). Likewise, the rejoicing and public reading of the law (Neh 8:17-18) are aspects of obedience to hearing God’s Word. It is only as we take on board what we read that true transformation can happen strengthening our relationship with God for future encounters.

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[1] Solomon dedicated the first temple during Tabernacles (1 Kings 8:2; it was such an important event that it is often just called ‘The Feast’) and the exiles observed it after laying the second temple’s foundations (Ezra 3:4), so the new element cannot be the feast itself.

[2] H.G.M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, WBC 16 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1985), 296.

[3] Lev 23:40 mentions fruit trees, palms, leafy trees and willows, though there is no explicit connection made there to using these for building the shelters (the branches may have been waved about in celebration). The list in Neh 8:15 is not exactly the same; perhaps not all the trees listed in the law were available, so they are replaced by others, and they are linked specifically to setting up booths. Interestingly, Num 29:12-38 that lists the expected sacrifices to be offered are not mentioned here (though no doubt they were offered as required) but are prominent in Ezra 3:4 when the temple foundations were laid. This shows how certain aspects of the Bible become especially meaningful depending on circumstances.

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