Today's Reading:

Nehemiah 8
Nehemiah 9
Nehemiah 10

Moses’ generation had the census and atonement offering set at half a shekel. Now this later generation pledges a third, an adjusted gift. This was not the same tax, and Scripture never gave a reason for the decrease. Nehemiah’s annual gift was what the remnant had put upon themselves after exile. They were poorer. The smaller gift fits the time, and people versus a wilderness census. The shekel weight may also not have matched ounce for ounce over the era. The point is not that God lowered the price of worship, but that the people bound themselves to keep the temple and worship going. They supplied what was needed at a rate that they could sustain after the king’s tax, mortgaging their fields, and selling off their children. Worship of God continues even when you are poor and giving your last shekel. We must remember to worship wholly, freely, and gladly.

If money is tight, what is one gift you can still give God gladly, instead of waiting until worship feels cheap or easy?

The people were finally moved into their homes in Jerusalem. They had a meeting at the Water Gate, which was one of the larger areas on the east side where everyone could meet in a public space and be able to hear the priest. This fits with Ezra’s reading of the Law to the remnant. The Water Gate was also where the city’s water was located, a symbol of living water already meant for Jerusalem, and no one could say the reading was for the priests and leaders only. Ezra, the priest, was on a wooden platform for all to see; he opened the Book of the Law at dawn to read, and the people stood until noon as he blessed the Lord, and they praised and worshipped God. This was a long assembly and the epitome of a church service. The Levites were teaching and explaining the Book the entire time. Hearing turned into understanding. The people were crying, but Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites told them to stop because this was not a funeral. The day was to be holy. Eat, drink, and share with those who have nothing. After the struggle with famine and taxes, they were told to have a feast, which was a picture of mercy. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The family heads gathered the second day and realized the feast of booths had not been celebrated in almost 1,000 years, since the time of Joshua as commander. For the next seven days, they read the Law and lived in the temporary shelters, then held a gathering on the eighth day. Ezra was the reader of the Book of the Law, Nehemiah was the governor, and the Levites were the teachers. All was coming back together.

On the second day after the feast, they were in sackcloth mourning again. The celebration did not cancel confession. Ezra was preaching from the Book of the Law, and the people who “separated themselves from foreigners” were listening. They would spend a quarter of the day listening to the Word, then a quarter of the day confessing their sins. The Levites gave a prayer which was almost the whole Old Testament wrapped up in a bow: creation, Abraham, Egypt, the Red Sea, Mount Sinai, the golden calf, manna, water from the rock, the Promised Land, judges, kings, prophets, and exile. This showed that God was just and gracious and the people were rebellious. The prayer ended with a humble word of repentance. They are still slaves in the land the Lord gave to their forefathers.

The Persian kings had turned them into military personnel and ruled over their livestock and harvest, keeping it for the king. The people turned their promise to God into a covenant, in writing. God had never forgotten all that had happened, but the Israelites had. Nehemiah, the governor, went first, then the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the leaders all pressed their names into clay to create a seal or a stamp of their name to legally bind them to the promise. The rest of the people who had separated themselves from the foreigners also took on the oath and the curse. The pledge was no pagan marriages, keep the Sabbath, let the land rest in the seventh year, give the temple tax, give wood for the altar, and give their firstfruits and tithes. The promise given was: “We will not neglect the house of our God.”

Today's Discussion question:

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