The First Group Bible Study

The First Group Bible Study

When all else fails, read the directions.

THE PREVIOUS day all of Israel had heard God’s Law read to them. Realizing how ignorant they were of it, the family leaders, priests, and Levites met with Ezra on October 9, 445 B.C., to go over the Law in greater detail.

As they gathered around Ezra in the first group Bible study recorded in Scripture, they came to Leviticus 23:39-43. They read there that they were to build shelters or booths in which to live during the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was less than two weeks away. They apparently had been offering the prescribed sacrifices at the Feast of Tabernacles (Ezra 3:4) but had forgotten the commandment to live outside in handmade shelters to remind them of God’s provision for them during their wilderness wanderings.

Realizing that his people were being disobedient to God’s Law out of ignorance, Ezra commanded that a proclamation be made in Jerusalem and throughout all the Jewish towns telling the people to go to the hills to gather branches for making shelters. They would live in them during the Feast of Tabernacles, which would begin on October 22.

The people had almost two weeks to make their preparations, but it would be a busy time because October 17, just five days before the Feast of Tabernacles, was the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. This was the one fast day stipulated in the Old Testament. No work was to be done on this day, and although men from other cities were not required to appear in Jerusalem, there was to be a sacred assembly of the Jewish men who were already there (Leviticus 23:27-28).

The Day of Atonement was the “Good Friday” of the Old Testament. On this day the high priest entered the Holy of Holies in the temple and made atonement for the sins of God’s people. A sinner himself, the high priest first shed his usual garments, bathed himself, and then dressed in a white garment without ornamentation, symbolizing his role as a supplicant seeking forgiveness and also picturing the purity required of one entering God’s presence. He then entered the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood of a sacrificial animal on the ark of the covenant, where the presence of God dwelt, thereby making atonement for the sins of God’s people (16:1-34). This was a symbol of what the Lord Jesus would one day do. “Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

From the reading of the Law the previous day, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Jewish leaders realized that they had forgotten to follow all of God’s Law in the observance in the Feast of Tabernacles, so they sought to rectify it immediately.

Reflection

Ezra and the Jewish leaders of his day realized the necessity of understanding all that God had revealed in order to serve him faithfully. Their knowledge of God’s plan for the world was limited compared to what God subsequently revealed to us in the New Testament, but they sought to be faithful to him by understanding and obeying what they did have. Do you share that desire to be faithful to God’s Word?

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight to life. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to those who hear them; there is great reward for those who obey them.

Psalm 19:7-11