On Sunday, Dad spoke of Nehemiah 8:10 and today my morning devotion was about Nehemiah 8:10.
On Sunday, Dad’s sermon was about our Happiness and our pursuit of it. He used scripture to point us to the Word of God as a means to achieve that Happiness. He emphasized that the things in this life are perishable, unstable, and vanity. But the Word of God is a deep well of which we will draw up life, joy and peace if we read it, understand it and allow it to change us from within. He used many examples, one being Mary and Martha… Martha was busy serving and preparing for the crowd listening to Jesus. Mary was at Jesus’ feet attentive to His Word not allowing anything to distract her. (I can Imagine Martha pestering her to get up and come help! Haha) But Jesus’ said Mary has chosen the good part and it will not be taken from her. She chose to be attentive to the Words of her Lord.

 

He spoke of Jerem 29: 12-14 When we seed the Lord we will find Him, when we search with all our hearts, we will find Him and He promises to bring us back from our captivity. When we go to Him, and hold on to His word, He will not forsake us, He will never leave us. Mat 7:7-9 He who seeks finds… Matt 6:31-34 Seek first the Kingdom of God… Phil 4:4-9 … Pray about everything… Let your requests be known to God and He will guard your hearts and minds…

 

Also coincidently the story in Nehemiah 8 has many parallels to the message Dad shared on Sunday. (At least in my mind… I hope I do a good job of comparing them for you!) In my morning devotion I learned that the word Understand in this scripture meant- to stand in the midst of. The author of this devotion elaborated: “When I think of this word, I think of 2005, when I saw the destruction of Hurricane Katrina on TV. My heart broke for the people and the destruction. But it was nothing compared to the day that I arrived there. When I stood in a neighborhood without a single house standing on its foundation, nothing but concrete slabs and utter demolition -Then I stood in the midst of, Then, I understood.”

 

 

Here at the water gate, at the newly built wall, the people of God listened to the Word of God. They paid attention as the teachers explained it and made it clear, and the people perhaps for the first time in their lives understood. They understood God’s plan, Gods purposes, His phenomenal promises, the righteousness and justice of His laws and understood how Gods people turned away again and again. As this generation listened to their story, as they heard the laws and the prophecies their forefathers had ignored. They lived and stood amidst the ruin their forefather’s ignorance had brought. And they experienced God bringing someone to rebuild the Temple, rebuild the wall, and they were a part of the restoration of Jerusalem. Upon understanding this, there before the water gate, the people began to weep. -They understood. They understood Gods Mercy, His grace, His love and praised Him for His promises for His people.

 

The Words they read that day were the stories of Gods creation, and the gifts to mankind, to the fall, to Abraham, chosen by God to make a covenant, to Jacobs wanderings and wrestling, to Gods great escape plan in the Exodus, to the law -Gods righteous rules, and then the Kings and a new covenant with David, and the failure of Kings, and then destruction and exile… and then their restoration.

 

 

As the people are weeping, standing in the midst of Gods law and Gods story, Nehemiah tells them –Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, ‘This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

 

 

 

In the story of Nehemiah, when the people brought out the Word of God, they found that coincidently, A Festival was 2 weeks away! A perfect amount of time for the people to prepare and participate. So they all went on to gather their supplies and participate in this festival. The festival was The Feast of Booths. Leviticus 23:33-43 …

 

To my surprise, I looked online to see when this Feast is celebrated today and…
As far as I have found… We are currently in that week of celebration!

It’s also really interesting that this scripture, message and devotion all came to me and the very celebration that I read about is being celebrated right now.

 

It is a time of rejoicing, a time of Joy (dad’s message about Happiness) A time of remembering all that God has done for us. A time of thanking Him for His goodness! A time (for those in Nehemiah) of restoration! When the people sought out God’s Word, paid close attention to it and it changed their lives!!! A time when the people of God understood the Word of God. And a time of remembering Gods protection, His covering, His glory going before His people and In the midst of His people!

Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He Is near. Isa 55:6

 

It was a remembrance of the wanderings in the desert, during this time they had no permanent home, no place to stay and grow roots, they were constantly moving from place to place. They had the Lord’s divine presence accompanying them, visible in a sheltering cloud for cooling shade by day and in a warming fire for light by night. They could now rejoice that they are home, and can build shelter, plant garden and eat from their produce. The sukkah they were to build symbolized the sheltering Glory of God that went with them. (The day of Atonement, or repentance had just ended… Interestingly enough that the people were repentant – suggested by their acts of weeping and praising the Lord when hearing the Word of God) It celebrated Gods goodness in providing a year of good harvest. Psalms 113-118 and 120-134 Were read throughout this feast.

 

**disclaimer** Please do your own research and don’t rely on me!! ha-ha I am NOT an expert. Just someone reading about a subject that I find interesting!