The Feast of Tabernacles
March 10, 2022
Commentary
3. Obedience to His Word (vv 13-18) – After Ezra read God’s laws to the people they continued to study them as they desired a deeper and more intimate understanding of what God desired (v. 13). A careful reading of scripture always calls for a response such as: what should I do with this knowledge? or how should my life change?During the seven days of the feast, the Jews lived in booths made of branches (v. 14). This was a time of looking back and remembering the nation’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness when they lived in temporary shelters (v. 14). They were to think about God’s protection and guidance during their years of wandering and the fact that God would still protect them and guide them if they obeyed His Word. It was a time to remember where they came from, where they were that day, and what they would do in the future.
An example of biblical preaching can be found in Nehemiah 8, where Ezra not only read the law but also explained it. Ezra continued the Bible conference during the entire week of the feast as he read and explained the Word of God day by day (v. 18). The combination of joyful fellowship, feasting, and hearing the Word must have strengthened the people greatly. We might ask, “Did the celebration last?” The answer is, yes, for a time, but the people eventually became careless again and the leaders had to bring them back to the Word of God. It is reported that someone asked Billy Sunday if revivals lasted, and he replied, “No, and neither does a bath; but it is good to have one occasionally!”
Application
It is helpful to remember where I came from in order to appreciate where I am today. As I think back to where God has led me I thank Him for His continuing work in my life.
Nehemiah 8:13– 18 (NET)
13 On the second day of the month the family leaders met with Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law. 14 They discovered written in the law that the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month, 15 and that they should make a proclamation and disseminate this message in all their cities and in Jerusalem: “Go to the hill country and bring back olive branches and branches of wild olive trees, myrtle trees, date palms, and other leafy trees to construct temporary shelters, as it is written.”
16 So the people went out and brought these things back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate. 17 So all the assembly which had returned from the exile constructed temporary shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. Everyone experienced very great joy. 18 Ezra read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last. They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly as was required.
Illustration: John Newton’s Testimony of “Amazing Grace”
In Olney, England, stands a granite tombstone with this inscription: “John Newton, clerk [pastor], once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.” You may not remember his name, but all of us know the song he wrote as a testimony of his life: “Amazing Grace.” (Robert Renberg Jr., Sermon Central).