Applying the Word Bible study (Nehemiah 8:13-18)

 Applying the Word Bible study

 

 

  

 

 

[Nehemiah 8:13-18]

 

 

 

It is said that there are words that came about when unemployment among middle-aged and elderly people soared in Korea 2003 due to the economic recession (Internet): 'O-ryuk-do' (thieves who work until the age of 56) and 'Sa-o-jeong' (retirement age at 45) became popular, and as unemployment among young people became serious, ‘Lee Tae-baek’ (mostly in their 20s were unemployed) and ‘Sam-pal-sun’ (early retirement at the age of 38).  Originally, 'Sa-o-jeong' was said to be one of the escort monsters (?) of the third Xuanzang in Journey to the West.  However, the current Sa-o-jeong is used to refer to 'a person who misunderstands words' and 'a person with a different thought pattern'.  It is used to mean that a person does not listen properly and says something else.  There is a series of Sa-o-jeong that I found in the Bible: A woman was caught committing adultery.  People seized her and brought her to Jesus.  People were making a lot of noise to test Jesus.  But Jesus sat quietly on the floor and wrote something.  Then people just started to disperse.  Someone in the middle said, ‘Why are you going?’  People... 'Um... he said that the man without a stone should hit her ...'  Then another said: ‘No, look at that writing!  He used the names of the men who went to her house!'  So, people were freaking out and were just leaving.  But suddenly Sa-o-jeong was running towards them with a stone in his hand.  People asked Sa-o-jeong: ‘What are you doing?’  Then Sa-o-jeong: “Isn’t that Stephan over there? (Internet)

 

I don't know if the Sa-o-jeong series found in this Bible can make us laugh a little.  But I think it's something that can never be laughed at.  In particular, if we interpret the words of the Bible according to our own will and live our lives claiming that we have received grace according to our own will, how can we laugh at this?  It's something to weep over.  But now this is happening.  It is common to live by interpreting the Word of God according to one's own will and furthermore, applying it according to one's own will.  What should we do?  We must study the Bible properly.  We must study the Bible diligently.  So, I would like to think about three principles for Bible study based on the words of Nehemiah 8:13-18.

 

The first principle of the applying the Word Bible study is to gain insight into the words of God.

 

Look at Nehemiah 8:13 – “Then on the second day the heads of fathers' households of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law.”  ‘On the second day’ that is, the first day of the seventh month, which is the first day of Nehemiah 8:1-12, the Lord’s holy day, the second day after the Sabbath, we now see the Israelites gathering again to gain insight into the words of the Law of Moses.  To put it in words now, the whole congregation gathered during the 11:00 worship service on a Sunday to listen to the word of God through the pastor and return home in an enlightenment.  On the following Monday, we can think that the leaders of the church and the head of the family gathered to study the Bible in order to gain the insight into the Word of God.  This is the result of true renewal.  On the first day, the holy day of the Lord, the Israelites listened to the Law of Moses for about six hours.  Through this renewal, true reformation took place for those who had fallen over and mourned and wept over their disobedience because they were convicted of their sins through the law.  Spiritual awakening comes first, followed by reformation. I n other words, when repentance and a new life begin, reformation will follow (White).  This is exactly what happened to the Israelites in the days of Nehemiah.  A spiritual awakening, tears of repentance, and the beginning of a new life created a longing for the Word of God.  As they repented of their disobedience and cleared their lives, the true reformation in their hearts, the work of returning to the Word of God, began.  Why did they regroup around Ezra the priest and the scribe?  The reason is because they believed the words of Deuteronomy 8:3 – “…  to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

 

Pastor Dong-won Lee said: ‘The procession of people staggering toward this word of truth, discovering that my soul can never be renewed through this word unless this word touches my soul deeply.  This is revival’ (Lee).  I dream of this procession of revival.  A procession of people running toward the word of the Lord.  To do so, first of all, pastors, church leaders, and teachers must have a keen interest in and understanding of the Word of God that they want to gain insight (White).  We must experience the sweet taste of God's Word.

 

The second principle of the applying the Word Bible study is to obey the commands of God.

 

Look at Nehemiah 8:14 – “They found written in the law how the LORD had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month.”  The Israelites who gathered around Ezra the priest and the scribe in order to gain insight into the words of the law found God's commands in the book of the law.  That command was none other than the word, ‘On the Feast of Tabernacles, build and dwell in booths.’  So, the Israelites obeyed God's command.  Here we have to think about something called “the Feast of Tabernacles”.  This holiday, called “Sukkot” in Hebrew, begins on the fifth day after the Day of Atonement and lasts for seven days.  The Day of Atonement has a solemn atmosphere as an awe-inspiring day, while the Feast of Tabernacles, a festival, creates a much more joyful atmosphere.  The most noteworthy thing about the Feast of Tabernacles is the making of a hut or tent called 'Sukha' in Hebrew.  The reason for making booths is to let people know that God made them dwell in booths when he brought them out of the land of Egypt (Lev. 23:43) (Internet).  It was an event to commemorate the fact that the ancestors of the Israelites lived in tents in the wilderness after leaving Egypt (Park).  That's why we see the Israelites obeying God's command to build booths to keep the Feast of Tabernacles: “So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written’” (v. 15, commandment) and “So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim’ (v. 16, obedience). 

 

A famous theologian said this: ‘When you hold on to the Bible, then you start studying the Bible.  And that is how I started my life of faith.  But when the Bible holds you back, you enter into a life of faith in earnest, and that is the completion of Bible study’ (Lee).  That makes sense.  At first, I run to hold on to the Bible.  But in the end, the Bible study is complete when the words hold onto me and cause me to run.  It is no longer I who have lived, but the Word of God is living and working in me.  A Christian who is led by the Word while experiencing the power and power of the Word is the fruit of true Bible study.  I sincerely hope and pray that this work of Bible study will be in our church this year.

 

The second principle of the applying the Word Bible study is to taste great joy in applying the Word of God.

 

Look at Nehemiah 8:17 – “The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day And there was great rejoicing.”  Why did the Israelites rejoice greatly?  The leaders who gathered around Ezra, the priest and the scribe, gained insight into words of the law of Moses, rejoiced greatly because they obeyed God's command to build and dwell in booths on the Feast of Tabernacles.  In order to better understand the Israelites who rejoiced greatly in obeying the Word, we need to know another important meaning of “the Feast of Tabernacles.”  Another important meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles was thanksgiving and praise to God who made the land bear fruit and made the land exist.  Therefore, the Feast of Tabernacles is also called the 'Feast of Thanksgiving'.  Remembrance of the tabernacles and thanksgiving for the harvest are combined into one and expressed as the time of joy.  Thanksgiving of true joy comes from faith in God, who gives us harvests in the midst of successive seasons and also enables our ancestors to survive the trials (Internet).  ‘The reason why they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with joy is that through the commemorative event, they recall the love and power of Jehovah revealed in the wilderness and move forward in faith (Park).  Also, after reaching the promised land in the wilderness and tasting the fruit there, at the time of harvest, the Israelites were to build a tent with palm branches and leaves and stay in it for a week (Leviticus 23:33-43).  The Israelites build a hut and stayed in it for a week, rejoicing greatly (White).  In particular, since this was the first time the Israelites had celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles together in such a grand manner from the time of Joshua to that day, they were very happy.  This was the fundamental cause of the great joy of the Israelites who kept the Feast of Tabernacles according to the Law of Moses.  It was none other than the joy of obeying the law.  The eighth day, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, is called 'Simchat Torah' in Hebrew, which means 'the joy of the Torah'.  On this day, the most solemn ceremony of the year is celebrated in the synagogue, where all the scrolls of the Torah are removed from their chests and paraded around the synagogue seven or more times.  Children also participate in the procession, carrying flags and singing songs.  After the service, children were given candy or sweet fruit as a reminder of Psalms 19:10 – “They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb” (Internet).  So, as in today's text, Nehemiah 8:18, one of the Feast of Tabernacles God gave to the Israelites, Ezra read the book of the law of God every day from the first day to the end, and the Israelites listened to the words of God that were sweeter than much gold and sweeter than clusters of honey.

 

Do we have this great joy now?  Just as the Israelites kept the Feast of Tabernacles with great joy because they all obeyed the Law of Moses, do we really have great joy in keeping this holy Sunday, the Lord's Day?  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Lord of the Lord’s Day, we are advancing toward the land of promise, the heavenly city, and we celebrate this week with gratitude for the love and power of the Lord who abundantly fills us with grace to help in times of need in a world like the wilderness.  Are we celebrating with great joy?  Although we are living in this wilderness-like world and are wearing the tabernacle of the flesh, sooner or later, on the day of the Lord's return, on the day we meet the Lord, we will take off this tabernacle of the body and build a house that God built, not made with hands, but an eternal house in the heavens.  Because we have the faith to enter into the house build by God in heaven (2 Cor. 5:1), we are truly celebrating together with great joy as we praise and worship God this Sunday.  We will dwell there for eternity, not for seven days, in the eternal tabernacle that God has built in heaven.  We will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles forever in heaven, not in this world.