The first 6 chapters of Nehemiah describe the rebuilding of the walls of the city. The remaining chapters describe the renewal of the community within the city.
Chapter 8 is the account of a community in revival. There are 3 lessons in this chapter for revival people.
1. Revival people are unified around an open Bible. (1-8)
The city of Jerusalem came together around their common identity – not God. The Spirit moved in their hearts to create a shared reverence of the Lord, the great God. They called Ezra to bring out the Word of God and attentively listened for his voice in its reading. The leaders read the Word, made it clear and gave the meaning so that the people could understand. Revival is sparked in prayer and fed by the fuel of an open Bible.
2. Revival people are joyful wounded by Word of God. (9-12)
As the Word was read, the Spirit convicted the crowd of their disobedience and unfaithfulness. They were overwhelmed with grief. Ezra wisely redirected their hearts from sadness to joy. Conviction of sin is a gift from God but can become corrupted by condemnation and obsessive self-reflection. True conviction leads us out of our selves and our sin and into the arms of our merciful God. The end result of true conviction is joyful feasting. Holiness is a feast. The city of Jerusalem was filled with the sounds of celebration that night.
3. Revival people are eager to change according to the Word of God. (13-18)
The next day the heads of households came together for more in-depth study of the Torah. They were eager to test their lives against the Word. They found that they were missing key elements of the holiday known as the Feast of Booths and adjusted accordingly. The people were called together for 7 days of obedient worship and feasting.
The end result of all of this was great rejoicing. In the words of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “days of heaven on earth.” Some of you read these words and your hearts burn with desire to experience this kind of revival.
Would you join me in praying this simple prayer, “Revive us Lord!”
Tom Brown is the planting pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Wichita. Tom and his wife, Mandy, have worked together in ministry for 18 years and have four children. More about Pastor Tom Brown