Listen Closely

In October, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had given for Israel to obey. So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand. He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law. Nehemiah 7:73–8:3

SOMETIMES THE BIBLE can seem to us like such an ancient book. Interestingly, it was already an ancient book to these people gathered at the Water Gate in Jerusalem. The Book of the Law of Moses —Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy —was one thousand years old. Yet the Israelites were hungry for it, confident it would speak to them, challenge them, and satisfy them. “All the people listened closely.” They did not show up for this reading while letting their thoughts run elsewhere (which, can we admit, is often the case for us when we gather to hear the Word read and taught?). They took in God’s Word, thought it through, and sought to understand and apply it.

Picture the scene: Ezra stood on a wooden platform flanked by thirteen Levites and surrounded by fifty thousand men, women, and children. From dawn until about noon, they listened to Ezra read from the scrolls, which were written in Hebrew. Since the people coming back from exile spoke Aramaic, it had to be translated. But more than that, it had to be explained. Ezra was surrounded by thirteen Levites. These men “read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage” (verse 8).

And how did the people gathered there respond? “All the people chanted, ‘Amen! Amen!’ as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground” (verse 6).This was no token “amen.” With their lips and with their whole bodies, they expressed submission to what they heard.

Lord, we need you to save our family from week-by-week church attendance with no real longing for or listening to your Word. We need hearts that will take it in, minds that will think it over, hands that can’t help but be lifted to you, and faces that bow before you. Only you can make us this alive to your Word.