Reading The Word

Nehemiah 7, 8

Reading the Word

“And he read therein [book of the law] before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.” (Nehemiah 8:3)

After the walls were rebuilt under Nehemiah’s leadership, the people gathered in Jerusalem for a time of Scripture reading. Without Bibles like we have today, the people had to rely upon the public reading of the Scripture in order to learn the Word of God. The one doing the reading in our text was Ezra, a godly scribe who earlier had led a group of Israelites back to the land from Babylon. From our verse for today we note the location for the reading, the length of time for the reading, and the listeners of the reading.

Location for the reading. “He read therein before the street that was before the water gate.” This location was in the southeastern part of Jerusalem on a wide street which could accommodate a large crowd. It would do our land a world of good if we at times had large areas blocked off on public streets to read the Word. Today the city streets are used for rallies of all kinds, but seldom if ever are they used for the reading or preaching of the Word of God.

Length of time for the reading. “From morning until midday.” A great deal of time was involved in reading the Scripture. It would be hard to get folk to listen that long to the Word today. Most folk find an hour church service almost too long for them. But the same people often get glued to the TV for hours at a time. When folk start reading the Word of God as many hours as they watch TV, there will be a great spiritual revival in our churches.

Listeners of the reading. “The ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.” Here we note the striking feature about the listeners—they were attentive to the Word. They listened with respect and heeded the Word in their conduct. Later verses confirm this attentiveness to the Word. They were more than listeners, for they also lived the Word. They were doers as well as hearers (James 1:22).

Daily Bible Reading: Sermonettes #1.