In our churches we prioritise the expository teaching of God’s Word. We do not take themes and find a random Bible verse which sounds like it might apply to the theme (is that “Bible washing?”). We work our way through passages, explaining the text and then applying it to our lives. We believe that this is the approach the Apostles taught and demonstrated, and that Scripture itself teaches.
Passages like Nehemiah 8:1-8 demonstrate this principle of expository teaching. Ezra the Scribe, who led an earlier return of Jews from exile, is called upon by the people to read God’s Law to them. Ezra and his Levite assistants then explain the Scriptures that have been read, so that they can understand them and apply them to their personal lives. Not to live their best lives now, but to praise God and enjoy their best eternal life.
Just days prior, the great construction project of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls was completed. Now the real mission of Nehemiah and Ezra started to become clear; to lead a reformation and renewal of the spiritual life of God’s People.
So with a special pulpit constructed, “the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate” (v.1). It was time for God’s People to become reacquainted with the Law. After decades of neglect, Nehemiah and Ezra were going to ensure that the people understood their role in God’s salvation plan.
The people certainly had a desire placed on their hearts to hear God’s Word. “And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month” (vv.1-2). Perhaps the only ones missing were the very elderly and the mothers with nursing babies. Everyone else was there, and expected to listen, and to learn.
And listen they did, for an extended session that would leave us squirming in our seats as “he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law” (v.3).
Ezra read from a special platform constructed for this purpose, shadowed by key leaders (v.4). As he read, the people showed their reverence for the Scriptures by standing for its reading (v.5). While this is not a command we must follow, it does show us the importance we should place on the reading of the Scriptures.
This was not a poetry recital. “Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground” (v.6). The reading of God’s Word was accompanied by worship of God. Worship which all of God’s People enthusiastically participated in, bringing praise and worship to God.
Nor was the Word left unexplained, as if it was secret knowledge only the specially trained could handle. “The Levites helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (vv.7-8).
The Word was proclaimed, it was also explained. Ezra and the Levites helped God’s People to understand what was being said as Ezra read various parts of God’s Word. By explaining it, they could place it into practice in their own lives.
This shows us that the purpose of reading and explaining the Scripture is not for entertainment, but to glorify God. Worshipping God was at the centre of this six hour marathon session.
We may not ever participate in the same sort of length of session where a hunger for God’s Word holds us captive for hours, but it shows the importance of attentiveness that can come when we hear the preaching of the Word. This was a genuine work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, to renew and reform them.
This is not an excuse for lazy, rambling preaching, but it does remind us that the days of itchy feet because the sermon goes longer than twenty minutes says more about us than about the preacher. The Word must be read and the sense explained for us to understand it properly.
Do you hunger for a desire to hear God’s Word like those people did? We should pray that God gives us a desire for his Word proclaimed and explained, and give us the patience and listening ears to enjoy it.
As we spend more time having the Scriptures explained to us through preaching, the Holy Spirit will work in our lives to transform us to be more like Jesus, to reflect God’s heart to each other and the world, and to glorify God in praise and worship.