God’s Word
Nehemiah 8(:1-6)

In the late 1970’s the Africa nation of Somalia went without rain for 3 consecutive yrs. Relief agencies sprang up in this dried up country & established camps where the people could receive aid. In one camp, called Halba, the director took on the task of teaching Halba’s children to fish in the Juba River, a fast growing species of fish called talapia abounds. Somalis in the camp had never tasted fish—100’s had starved to death within sight of a river glutted with fish.

Israel faced a similar problem in Nehemiah’s day,  After 70 consecutive yrs. in captivity, many Israelites had never really tasted God’s WORD, or had the opportunity to worship in Spirit, Truth & Freedom.

Have you had the chance to taste the WORD?

How do you respond to the Word?  

A. There is no way to overestimate the power of God’s Word.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this

prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Some Special Quotes: “England has two books, the Bible & Shakespeare.

England made Shakespeare, but the Bible made England.”- Victor Hugo
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible"

--George Washington
"That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests" --Andrew Jackson
Almost every man who by his life-work added to the sum of human achievement of which the race & people are proud, almost every such man has based his

life-work largely upon the teachings of the Bible --Theodore Roosevelt
B. Construction is finished. Family lines are established.

It is the 7th month, which was their new year. They started the year right with the reading of God’s Word! They gathered at the Water Gate,

representing cleansing, & called Ezra to come & read the Word of God!
Here are 4 things the people did with the Word of God:
I. They HONORED the Word– vs. 1-5
The people gathered in an open square to hear Ezra read the Scriptures.
A. They honored the Word with their attendance!-8:1
1. The people gathered together to hear the reading of God’s Word!
When you faithfully attend services where the Word is being preached you honor the Word! You are saying that everything else on your agenda takes second place to God and His Word! At least on this day!
Heb 10:24-25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
B. They honored the Word with their attention!- 8:3
1. They listened to the Word being read for 5 or 6 hours per day.

This continued for one week. This was also the Pentateuch.
2. When you sit in church give full attention to the Word,

Don’t let distractions pull you away. GOD’s WORD is life….
  Pro 4:20 My son,give attention to my words;Incline your ear to my sayings   21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart  22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.

 23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life

The Bible in 50 Words -- "God made, Adam bit, Noah arked,

Abraham split, Joseph ruled, Jacob fooled, bush talked, Moses balked, 

   Pharaoh plagued, people walked, sea divided, tablets guided, promise landed Saul freaked, David peeked, prophets warned, Jesus born, God walked,

Love talked, anger crucified, hope died, Love rose, Spirit flamed,

Word spread, God remained
C. They honored the Word with their attitude
When the Word was read, they responded- 8:6
Preacher’s love those Amen’s—Hebrew = “True & FAITHFUL”
Mostly because we know your Getting something…...

II. They sought to understand the Word- vs. 4-8
It’s not enough just to hear the Word. We need to understand to do us good.
  Acts 18:26..he (Apollos) began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila & Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
A. They (WE) understood through public proclamation
1. This is like our “preaching service.” This is important for the people    to gather together corporately & worship God. He promised to be here.
2. Back then the common man didn’t have a copy of the Bible.  This was his only way of hearing the Scriptures read.

3. Sometimes we take for granted (don’t realize) the times we live in.
B. They understood through personal instruction
1. AHBC we emphasize the preaching service AND Bible Study.

There are some things you will only learn in a smaller group setting with more personal instruction! Sunday School
2. Nehemiah had teachers on hand who helped the people learn. 8:7
Acts 8:30-32 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"  31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

III. They rejoiced in the Word- vs. 9-12
Jer 15:16 Your words were found, & I ate them, & Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.
A. The people’s initial reaction was to mourn and weep.

1. When we hear the WORD in our Heart. (heart is desperately wicked)

2. We are confronted with our own sin.

Isa 6:5  So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of un clean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts."

B. They were encouraged to rejoice in God’s word!
“The joy of the Lord is our strength.” His Forgiveness changes us.
There is a time to rejoice and a time to weep.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years. Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers."

REJOICE!
IV. They obeyed the Word- vs. 13-18
Their obedience was exampled in a celebration called feast of tabernacles.
For this feast they built booths of branches, usually on top of their house.

God leads us to all kinds of activities to know HIM and to know us….

A. A Way of Looking back- they wandered through the wilderness
God has much to teach us from all the Past, including your’s, SEE HIM

B. A Way of Looking around– at the blessings God bestowed on them
God wants us to be aware of LIVING in the MOMENT.

To Seize the day. Phi 3:12

C. A Way Looking ahead- to the coming glory of the Lord
To live HOPEFILLED, and full of FAITH.

V. The Impact of the Word.   Isa 55:11  So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

A. The last thing to point out is the Israelite’s commitment to change, To get things right, To not ask forgiveness, then go do the same things To follow God, To be humble, not proud, To be obedient, not stubborn, To be God-centered and not self-centered.

Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away:but my words shall not pass away.

B. When all the skeptics are dead, the Word of God will still be here!

The Best Way to know the WORD, is to know JESUS

Joh 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Invitation Hymn #177 “There’s Something About that Name”