March 1, 2015
Scripture
Scripture:
Hymn 201 - When we walk with the Lord
Prayer
Nehemiah has built the walls of Jerusalem and put up the gates. In this chapter, it says that the Children of Israel had “very great gladness.” Today we will see three steps to that great gladness.
Nehemiah 8:1 - 18
The people had gathered together by the water gate to hear Ezra speak. Ezra was a scribe who had come back after Zerubbabel. He was the man who had prepared his heart to seek God. Ezra knew a lot about the law of Moses. The people wanted Ezra to read the law to them. Ezra had come to read, and the Children of Israel had come to hear the law of God. They read it by the Water Gate. They read from the morning until mid-day (noon). He read to the ones that understood. The people were all attentive. This is the first step: read.
Ezra was standing on a platform made for that occasion; there were other people standing with him. As Ezra read, the people were reverencing God. They were bowing down in worship. They had never heard the things Ezra was reading. They didn’t have Bibles like we do. But what they were doing was important. They were reading and listening. As they read, others helped the people to understand what was being read. They were reading the Word, which is important. It’s important for us to.
2.Timothy 3:14-16
Timothy had, from a child, known the scriptures. The scriptures bring salvation. God’s Word is very important. The Children of Israel had realized and Timothy had known that the scriptures were important to know.
This is the second step: understanding. They were taking in what was read. Sometimes when you read you don’t pay attention. We need the Holy Spirit to help understand the scriptures and apply them. Some of the Children of Israel needed help to understand what was being read. This took place in the beginning of the seventh month. There were three feasts in the seventh month. As they were reading they realized they hadn’t done what God had asked them to do in keeping the feasts. When they realized this they began to weep. They Levites told them not to weep, but to be joyful. They followed what they Lord had told them to do and prepared a feast.
The next day they all came again to hear Ezra. They found out that for one of the feasts in the seventh month they were to dwell in booths. Booths were like little stands. They were to dwell in them to remind them of their deliverance from Egypt. They had to go gather branches to make these booths. The Jews still do this today. It is written in the law and they followed and follow it.
So they had read or heard, and they had understood. Now the third step was they did it. They performed what was written.
From the time of Joshua no one had followed this feast. All through the kings no one had observed the feast of booths. Now, realizing what God had written, they did it. The feast of booths lasted for seven days.
It makes me think of our song. “Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” God’s Word will be light to us. It will show us the way. If we try to apply God’s words to our heart, it brings joy and great gladness.
Acts 25
In this chapter we have a new governor, Festus, who took over from Felix. Felix had left Paul bound for two years, but the Jews still wanted him dead (a big theme in this chapter). This story is part of the web of events that landed Paul in Rome, as was God’s will.
The Jews told Festus about Paul, and tried to get him to bring Paul down to Jerusalem; planning to kill him on the way of course. Festus said no, and told the Jews to come down to Caesarea. They did, but couldn’t prove their complaints against Paul. Meanwhile, Paul answered for himself and denied their charges.
Festus was very political, and might not have totally understood the issues being discussed. Willing to please the Jews, he asked Paul if he would go up to Jerusalem to be judged by him. Instead, Paul used his Roman rights and appealed to Caesar; Festus agreed to send him.
Then King Agrippa and his wife Bernice visited Festus. Festus told them about Paul, and said that he wasn’t sure what to write to Caeser about him. He said that the Jews wanted him dead, but that he was surprised at their accusations: questions about their “system of worship” (Darby) and a dead man named Jesus. Festus had hardly heard of Jesus, but from what he told Agrippa, Paul’s issue was clearly Jesus and the resurrection.
Agrippa wanted to hear Paul, and Festus agreed. The next day they assembled themselves with great pomp, and Festus introduced Paul, and told again how the Jews desired his blood. He told again how Paul wanted to go to Augustus, but hadn’t really done anything wrong, so he was unsure of what to write. Thus the examination. This was the second or third time that Paul would tell his testimony; this time to the Gentiles.
We don’t get a lot of doctrine from these narratives, but it is interesting to see the state of things. The Jews weren’t in power in their own country, and consequently Paul wasn’t killed. The Roman rulers didn’t want to upset the Jews, though. God used this to accomplish His will. Paul had gone on several missionary journeys, but he was now a prisoner; and yet not killed. God had protected him, as on other occasions that Luke recorded.
Hymn 182 – O Jesus, Friend unfailing
Prayer