Nehemiah 7&8

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Nehemiah 7&8

By Kendrick and Lisa Bishop

These two chapters provide an awe-inspiring picture of God’s spirit coming to the people within the re-established walls of Jerusalem. There is a revived interest in God’s word prompted by the spirit that brings repentance and then celebration.

            The first verses of chapter seven show a picture of both the practical and spiritual preparations made as the wall is completed.  There are gatekeepers placed on the wall to protect the people and there are Levites and singers put in place to lead the people into worship. The vision God gave Nehemiah, of restoring the wall, was for a great purpose. God wanted to bring his people out of bondage to a place where they could worship and celebrate Him freely and without restraint.

This is how our lives should look as well! God brings us through our trials and hardships and we arrive at a place where we can experience greater joy and rest in Him. As we go through our lives experiencing the tough times the world throws at us we can respond differently than those around us who don’t have the confidence in our deliverer we do. In chapter eight there is a great picture of God’s people living in a manner counter to the culture preceding them.

There is an awesome picture of the people keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in verses 14-18. The people gather and for seven days feasting and reading from God’s word. It is noted this practice had not been kept since the days of Joshua. So, God’s people are doing something not done for some time and was not a tradition. However, instructions were in God’s word and they simply obeyed and as a result experienced “great gladness!” We should take note of this and realize as we obey God, and take Him at His Word, we will experience this great gladness. We may do things differently than culture around us, or even different than those who came before us, but if we are obeying God’s word what better place to be!