In Jason Dohm's sermon titled 'The Word and Worship,' the focus is on Nehemiah chapter 8, which highlights the gathering of the people of Israel to hear the Book of the Law read by Ezra. The sermon emphasizes the profound connection between the Word of God and worship, noting that worship cannot be genuine without a true understanding of God's Word. The timing of the events, on the first day of the seventh month, aligns with significant Jewish worship events, such as the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. The sermon underscores the intentional nature of these events, as prescribed in Deuteronomy 31 and Leviticus 23, suggesting that the gathering was in obedience to God's ordained worship calendar. Ezra's role is pivotal, as he reads the law to a unified, attentive congregation, alongside other Levites who help the people understand the text. Dohm stresses the importance of the Word of God being accessible to all people, including men, women, and children, as it is meant for the entire community of believers. The sermon concludes with a call to honor God's Word more deeply, both privately and publicly, and to allow it to lead believers into authentic worship.

This morning's text is Nehemiah chapter 8 verses 1 through 8. Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate, from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose. And beside him at his right hand stood Matatthaya, Shema, Anaya, Urija, Hilkiya, and Meyessiah. And at his left hand, Padaya, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashem, Hashpedana, Zechariah, and Meshulam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up.

And Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. Then all the people answered, Amen, Amen, while lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebayah, Jamin, Akub, Shebethaeah, Hodija, Maessiah, Kalita, Azariah, Jozebat, Hainan, Peliah, and the Levites helped the people to understand the law and the people stood in their place. So they read distinctly from the book in the law of God and they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading. Father, may you equip and enable Jason to help us understand the reading and understand and receive the message you have for us today as We commit this time to you, your mercy, and your grace, and our benefit.

In Jesus' name, amen. The title of the sermon this morning is The Word and Worship. In our text here in Nehemiah chapter 8, we have the relationship of these two great things, the Word of God, what God has spoken, and the worship of God. And how one is so dependent upon the other, really in both directions. Last week the title of the sermon was, now what?

There had been this great preoccupation with getting the most urgent things done, and the most urgent things done for a people who were living in great distress and reproach was to close the gaps in the wall, to get the wall repaired and rebuilt. And so they've been focused on doing that and getting the doors hung and appointing men to watch over the entrances of the city and so the focus of the text last week was now that the most urgent things have been done what is to happen next and we saw that Nehemiah immediately once the most urgent things have been attended to and completed he moves on to the next most urgent things, which in Nehemiah's mind was additional godly, faithful, God-fearing leadership for Jerusalem. He appoints two men to share with him in the government of Jerusalem and then ongoing security he puts in place a very wise plan for Jerusalem being secure on an ongoing basis and then finally population adding to the population of Jerusalem And this is what the genealogy and the repeating of Ezra chapter 2 and this long genealogy was about. It's about restoring a healthy population within the walls of Jerusalem.

I define that a healthy population in Jerusalem is enough of the right kind of people. It won't do to just add bodies to Jerusalem, but they need to be Israelites. They need to be true Israelites. There needs to be a healthy population if Jerusalem is to be secure for the future. That means there needs to be enough people, but enough of the right kind of people.

That is what the genealogy is about. Ultimately, that is a picture. Jerusalem is a picture of the New Jerusalem. It points forward to a time when all things will be made new, when old things will pass away, and a new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven. And it has a genealogy too.

It has a long list too. It's called the Lamb's Book of Life and so we ended last week with the question, are you fit to be on the list for inhabiting Jerusalem? Only faith in Jesus Christ makes you fit for that. Nothing else will. As we go to the text, this week's text, Let's go to the text in prayer.

Oh Lord, I pray that the spirit of worship and the honor of your Word that we see in this week's text would be here among us in abundance. Oh God, let us have a heart for worshiping you. Not just one day a week, but every day of the week. May our hearts drink deeply of true worship of the true and living God and may our hearts have a special place of honor for every word that you have ever said to your people. Help us to honor your word.

I pray that you would use this text in our hearts for these two great purposes. In Jesus' name, amen. So instead of going verse by verse as we normally do, I decided to focus on what I think are the four key themes of the text and just draw them out and use the words of the text to develop them. So that's what we'll be doing this Sunday. The first of those is the place on the calendar.

So if you're taking notes on the handout, you're filling in blanks. It's calendar. The place on the calendar. Verse 2 says that it's now the first day of the seventh month. Well let's orient ourselves.

What does that mean? What was the last time marker? We had the last time marker in chapter 6 verse 15 which said that the wall had been completed on the 25th day of Elul which is the sixth month. Okay So our last time marker in chapter 6 verse 15 was the 25th day of the sixth month. Now we are at the first day of the seventh month, Meaning that only a couple of days, only a few days, less than a week has passed by.

It appears to me that Nehemiah and Ezra have been angling towards being done by the seventh month. Okay, I don't think it's coincidental that the wall was completed on the 25th day of the sixth month and that this gathering of the multitudes is happening on the first day of the seventh month. Why do I think that? Why do I think this is very intentional? You have to understand how significant the seventh month is to the people of God under the Mosaic covenant.

So God has given His people under the Mosaic Covenant, under the Law of Moses, a calendar of worship. There are specific worship events that are sprinkled throughout the 12 months, But not all months are created equal, and the seventh month is really in many ways the apex. The first month with Passover and the seventh month are definitely the apex, the mountain peaks of the calendar of the Old Testament calendar. Here's a summary. You get a summary of the worship calendar in Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 16.

Listen to Deuteronomy 16 16. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which he chooses." So it didn't have to be just males, but the males were required to be there. At the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Passover begins, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it's a week. The Feast of Weeks, Pentecost is the culmination of the Feast of Weeks. And the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Tabernacles is in the seventh month.

And we'll get to it in two weeks in our text. We'll see the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. And it's surrounded by a number of very important worship events. When you want to know the specifics about the seventh month in the Jewish calendar, in the worship calendar, the go-to place is Leviticus chapter 23. If you go to Leviticus chapter 23 verses 23 through 44, by the way, the seventh month on this worship calendar spans part of our September and October.

So think mid-September to mid-October, the fall of the year. What you find in Leviticus chapter 23 when you get into the details of the seventh month of the worship calendar are three great worship events. On the first day of the month, and remember in Nehemiah chapter 8 that's exactly what we're talking about, The first day of the month you have a memorial of blowing trumpets. It's called the Feast of Trumpets. In Leviticus chapter 23 it says a memorial, a time for remembrance of blowing trumpets.

And there was to be no customary work. It's actually called a Sabbath. It's not the sixth day Sabbath, but it's called a Sabbath because you were refrained from all your customary work and you're supposed to rest and worship on that day. And there was to be an offering by fire. So that is what is supposed to happen according to what God prescribes in Leviticus chapter 23, the Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the month.

Then on the tenth day of the month, you have the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement. And the phrase in Leviticus 23 that is associated with the Day of Atonement is, afflict your souls. And when we get to next week and talking about how the people respond to the reading of the Word on this first day. The thought of the tenth of the month being set aside to afflict your souls, to think about the sinfulness of yourself and of the other members of the people of God and to have sorrow over sin on that day and then to bring a great sacrifice of atonement of course pointing forward to the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

It sheds light on the weeping that happens in verse 9, which we'll talk about next week. So the first of the month is the Feast of Trumpets. On that day, the tenth of the month is the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur, a day to afflict your souls. And then on the 15th of the month begins the Feast of Tabernacles. Two weeks from now we will be tackling that in Nehemiah chapter 8.

That's the back end of the chapter where they observe the feast of tabernacles in a way that had not been done since the time of Joshua. It is a time to remember the Exodus from Egypt. They were slaves, but God set them free and brought them out by a mighty hand. So this is the seventh month. It's not just another month.

It's a vitally important month on the worship calendar and it begins on the first day of the month with a memorial of blowing trumpets, the feast of trumpets. So what we have here in Nehemiah chapter 8 is not a spontaneous gathering. It is the people obeying the prescribed will of the Lord. In other words, what God has put in black and white in his words to his people through the law of Moses. They're obeying the will of God that he's given to them in his word.

Also when we read Nehemiah 8 we should Consider Deuteronomy chapter 31. So turn your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 31. I want you to see this with your own eyes how similar what God prescribes, commands in Deuteronomy 31, how similar it is to Nehemiah chapter 8. Deuteronomy chapter 31, verses 9 through 13. So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the feast of tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which he chooses, You shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing, gathering the people together, men and women and little ones and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law and that their children who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess." Here in Deuteronomy 31 Moses commands the people every seven years at the time of the feast of tabernacles and when we get to the the back end of Nehemiah chapter 8 we're going to see this exact thing happens. This is really a jump start to that. It's commanded that all the people gather every seven years for a comprehensive reading of the law of God. Of course in the interim they're to teach their children when they sit in their house, when they walk by the way, when they lie down, and when they rise up, but every seven years God has prescribed, God has commanded for all the people to gather together for a great reading of the law of God.

Men and women and little ones. Why? So that everyone would grow in their fear of the Lord. This great assembly of reading the law of Moses is supposed to have a mighty effect to cause us to fear God more and to cause little children who've never been to one of these. There are six-year-old children who've never been present than five-year-old and four-year-old and three-year-old and babies who have never been president one of these and now they're president one of these and the law of God is being read and everyone's giving it honor and it results in an increase in the fear of the Lord.

How wise of God. This is what's happening here. What's prescribed in Deuteronomy 31 by God through Moses is happening here. So again we don't have a spontaneous event. This didn't just pop up out of the ground.

This is part of the worship of God that he has given to his people through the law of Moses. Finally, consider how much in God's providence this mirrors Ezra chapter 2 and 3. So turn to Ezra chapter 2. Turn to Ezra chapter 3. So last week we essentially read Ezra chapter 2.

Nehemiah chapter 7 and that long genealogy is almost word for word what we find in Ezra chapter 2. In fact, the last sentence of Nehemiah chapter 7, You can't tell whether it's just a reciting of Ezra 3 verse 1 and when the seventh month had come and the children of Israel were in their cities. That's how Nehemiah 7 ends. So you can't tell whether it's really supposed to be the ending of the genealogy from Ezra or whether it's the beginning of what's happening in Nehemiah. You can't tell because it could be either because in both places it's the seventh month.

In both places it leads right into the first day of the seventh month and there are many more similarities as we'll see in the providence of God in Ezra when the first wave comes back from the captivity in Babylon. They are in their cities and then they come together as one man on the first day of the seventh month just like they do in Nehemiah. Let's read together Ezra chapter 3 verses 1 through 4. And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. It's almost the same words as Nehemiah 8, the people gathering as one man.

Then, Jeshua, the son of Josadach, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Sheel-Tiel, and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries. They set the altar on its bases, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and the evening burnt offerings. They also kept the feast of tabernacles as it is written and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. And then if you just look forward to verse 6 it says, From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord.

So you have almost a complete identical repetition of Ezra 3 and Nehemiah chapter 8. Only they're happening a hundred years apart. It can't be the same event because In Ezra chapter 3 it's Zerubbabel and Jeshua in the first wave. And in Nehemiah chapter 8 it's Nehemiah and Ezra in the third wave, nearly a hundred years later. But God made it that.

God provided for a great deliverance of the people the first wave coming back from captivity in Ezra and the wall being completed and the distress and the reproach of the people being removed in Nehemiah chapter 8, and then he launches them into the month of worship, the month that contains the day of atonement, and the feast of trumpets, and the feast of tabernacles. So this is the place on the calendar, not a random place on the calendar, a very precise place on the calendar with a rich history among the Lord's people. God made it that way. When things happen on the calendar, they're not random. God is taking history to a certain point in time and everything's right on time.

And so we see it in Ezra chapter 8. So that was the place on the calendar. Now we have the place of the Word. The place of the Word of God. If you're taking notes, Word goes in the blank.

The place of the Word. As we've already seen, all the events are in obedience to the Word. So before anyone says anything, we have the whole context of Nehemiah chapter 8 being obedience to the Word of God. Deuteronomy chapter 31 and Leviticus chapter 23 are being obeyed in our text. The Word of God is setting the schedule for the people of God.

In verse 1 we see that There is a people who are hungry for the Word of God. Isn't this beautiful? They told Ezra the scribe to bring the book. Ezra, bring the book. Ezra, read to us from the book.

It's the people who have a hunger to obey God, it's the people who have a hunger to hear from God. If you want to hear from God, you open the book. You read from the book. Up to this point in the book of Nehemiah we've seen so much of the excellent leadership of Nehemiah but now we see the earnestness of the people. It wasn't just Nehemiah.

It's not a book with a single hero. Really, God is the hero of the book. But in human terms, there's so much more than just Nehemiah in the book of Nehemiah. You have this earnest people. We've already seen this in chapter 4 verse 6.

It says, the people had a mind to work and so they get about this project with all their might and They repair and rebuild two miles of wall in 52 days, so we've already seen their earnestness and we see it again this week They come together on the day that the law prescribed, the first day of the seventh month, and they say Ezra bring us the book. Ezra read from the book. And verse 1 says they gathered together as one man. It is a people who are unified in a desire to hear the words of God. Now we are in Nehemiah chapter 8.

And there has not been one single word about Ezra in the first seven chapters. Ezra was such a towering figure in the second wave of return from the return of captivity. So Ezra chapter 7 and forward he was really the central figure aside from God in those texts. He came 13 years earlier. Presumably he's been there ever since.

There's no evidence to the contrary and yet the first seven Chapters of Nehemiah are totally silent about Ezra. How come? Well, the commentators are pretty silent about that too, and it's probably because they don't have much to work with The text just doesn't say anything about Ezra and the commentators don't say much. Here's my guess. My guess is it has strictly to do with the focus of the book.

The focus of the first seven chapters of Nehemiah haven't been about the book. They haven't been about worship and the worship calendar and teaching of the Word of God. They've been about fixing the most urgent problem in and around Jerusalem. And so Ezra's influence and Ezra's activity have been focused elsewhere than the focus of the book. And so we just haven't seen Ezra but we do see signs that Ezra has been here that Ezra has been influential that as the Ezra has been active here's one sign the Levites in this chapter are ready to teach So it's time to come and to read the book of the law for a half a day and to give a sense of it and to impart an understanding of it and the Levites are ready.

The Levites are found in a state of readiness. I think this is an indication that Ezra has been influential, an indication that Ezra has been active. Here's the second sign. When it's time to read the book, who do they call? Ezra.

It probably was unthinkable that any other name would have been called upon. It's the first of the month. It's the Feast of Trumpets. It's time to do this one year and seven great event to bring the Lord's people together to read the law. Who is it?

Ezra. Ezra. Ezra. It can only be Ezra. Remember from Ezra chapter seven as we're being introduced to Ezra.

In Ezra chapter seven verse six we read This Ezra came up from Babylon and he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. So he's introduced as a skilled scribe, one who's skilled in understanding and teaching the law. And then just a couple of verses later in Ezra chapter 7 verse 10, for Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. Ezra had prepared his heart for this moment. He was a seeker of the law of the Lord.

He was a doer of the law of the Lord and he was a teacher of the statutes and ordinances in Israel. When it's time to read the law, It's Ezra time. They call upon Him. The people gather together as one man and they call upon Ezra to bring the book. So what place does the Word of God have in this text and in the lives of his people.

It's the place of honor. That is the place for the Word of God, the place of honor. Verse 1 calls it the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded Israel. Think about what that means. The book of the law of Moses it was given through a man that's true of the scriptures.

There are different authors but every book that we have came through a man, came through a person. It's the book of the law of Moses, or the book of Ezra, or these came through human agents. And yet, when it's described here in verse 1, it's the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded Israel. Behind every human agent is the God who gave every word, every verb tense, whether a word would be singular or plural, down to the jot and tittle, it is God's word. Yes, It came through human agents.

So this, actually this phrase, the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded Israel is very important for our doctrine of scripture. Yes, it came through human agents but ultimately it is the word of God. It is the commandment of God. So when we read these words we do we're not reading the words of man. It came through man but it's not the words of man it is the words of God.

The Word is honored here among his people who are willing to stand and have it read to them from daybreak until midday probably something like six hours of reading the Word of God the place of honor verse 3 the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. This is not just coming and meeting the requirement. Okay, Moses says in Deuteronomy 31, every seven years we have to come and gather together men women children read the book okay there's nothing approaching that sentiment in Nehemiah chapter 8 their ears are attentive The ears of all the people were attentive from morning. The Hebrew word behind morning is the light. So from daybreak, from first light until midday, the ears of all the people were attentive.

You realize the amount of intensity you have to bring to the activity to do that. Do you realize what that takes? You realize how hard it is to listen for one hour to the Word of God. Well multiply that by six. If you come without a sense of earnestness, without bringing intensity to the activity, you can never do this.

It's not possible. The people bring intensity and they are attentive to the book of the law. This isn't just checking it off the list. Deuteronomy 31, every seven years we did it. Check.

They're bringing an eagerness and a hunger for the Word of God to this. In verse 4 it says that there's a platform built for this purpose that elevates Ezra above the people and there's a symbolic element to this. I'm not saying that the intent of the text is to say something that's not really happening. I'm just saying there's something happening here in verse 4 when Ezra is standing above the people and he opens the book of the law that what's happening happening physically is also happening figuratively. The Word of God is being elevated so that it can be seen and heard.

It's being honored. So no secret meaning there but just what is a physical thing that's happening is also happening figuratively. There's an elevation, a magnification, an honoring of the Word of God. Ezra is to be seen and heard because it's the Book. Look at verses 5 and 6.

We should read those again. Ezra 8, 5 and 6. And Ezra opened the Book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

Then all the people answered, Amen, Amen, while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Ezra's standing. There's such a dramatic moment. Ezra's standing there.

He opens the scroll. It would have been a scroll at this time. He opens the Word of God and as He opens it all the people rise in honor of the Word of God and Ezra blesses God. And the people say Amen, Amen. Amen literally means so be it.

It's a confirmation of the words of another. So someone says something that you recognize is true and you want to confirm the truth of what they've said. So you say, so be it. You say amen. It's taking ownership of those words.

That's what it means when you say Amen. You're taking ownership of what was just said. You're saying, that's mine. What he just said is mine. So when Ezra opens the book, the people stand in honor of the Word of God and he blesses the Lord, the great God, and they say, that's mine.

What you just said about God is mine. I take ownership of that. So be it. This is no passive reading of the Word of God. This is no passive worship of God.

People are taking ownership. Ezra comes and he worships God and people say, that worship is mine. And they lift their hands to worship God and they bow with their heads to the ground to worship God. They want to enter into the worship that is happening in the heart of Ezra. They say that is mine.

Amen. Amen. When God speaks through the reading of His Word, we should be attentive. We should bring intensity to Sunday morning. When the Word is read, God is speaking to his people.

Think of what a privilege and a blessing that is. So we should, all the people should be attentive every Sunday when we meet and it should result in heartfelt worship. Okay We shouldn't just call it worship. Why do we meet on Sundays to worship? No, it should be an outpouring of the hearts.

It should be to bless the Lord, the great God. You come ready for that on Sunday morning to attentively hear God speak authoritatively to you, not because there's a preacher, but because He's given a Word that is perfect and authoritative. And it's worthy of our attention. This book, every time it's read, is so worthy of our attention. And it shouldn't stop there.

It shouldn't just stop with an intellectual acquisition of what's been said. It should propel us into worship. It should make us want to bless the Lord the great God and to say amen and take ownership. That's mine. What the preacher just said, what the Word of God just said, that's mine.

I claim that for my own. I'm one of the Lord's people that belongs to me. Do you come with a heart that's like that to Sundays? We should, all of us together should. We should lay claim to what God has given to his people.

This is such a treasure. We have it so freely but the people throughout the centuries have not always had it so freely. They've bled and died to have this book. It should make our hearts burn when we see the people gathering together as one man and saying, Ezra bring the book. It should make us want to say that's mine.

Lay claim to it. Okay we've had the place on the calendar, we've had the place of the Word, place of honor. Now the place of the people, if you're filling in blanks, it's people, the place of the people. Simply put, the place of the people is to have the Word of God. The Word of God is for His people, every single one of His people.

Why do we have the Word of God? So that we can worship the God of the Word. Okay, this is very important. We have the Word of God, the words that God has given us, so that we can worship the God of the Word. People worship many things.

People worship many Jesuses. But the question is, is it the Jesus of the Word? Much idol worship will happen in churches today. When people who have fashioned an idol in their hearts that never offends them, that never contradicts them, that never demands to be obeyed, and has had the name Jesus slapped onto it as a label is worship, It's nothing but idolatry. True worship is to worship the God of the Word, the Jesus of the Word.

You just have to know that there are thousands of idols out there, carefully crafted in the heart of man, that bear the label Jesus Christ, but it's idolatry. It's nothing but love of self. So the people of God have been given the Word of God so that they can worship the God of the Word. This gives us the real God, the God who created all that is, the real Creator, the real Father who sent the Son and the Spirit into the world. This is so central to true worship.

That's why the title, that's why the title is the Word and worship. You can't have worship without this Word. You'll just worship what you love, not what is. Because The word tells us who we ought to worship, who He really is. Do you remember when it dawned on you who the God of the Bible really is and you were just there trembling in His presence?

That's what the idolatry robs you of. If you just Fashion a God in your heart and slap the name Jesus of him. You're you're robbed of real true worship of the real God and You never tremble Because your idol only smiles Your idol loves all the things you love, not surprisingly. So this word tells us who we ought to worship and how we ought to worship Him. Doesn't that make sense that the object of worship ought to retain the right to say how He's worshiped?

Well, our God has done that. He's told us how he ought to be worshiped. So if we're to worship him in spirit and in truth we have to know what the truth is. It's here. It's here.

This is truth. Jesus said sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. The Bible gives us who we ought to worship and how we ought to worship Him. And the Bible, back to Nehemiah and the point being made here, the place of the people, The Bible was never meant to be the exclusive realm of the experts.

Never ever ever. It was always for all of the Lord's people. God does want experts in His Word and He's always set aside people to labor hard and to study and to go deep into His Word. But the only purpose for that is people, the rest of His people, That they could be well taught so that they could go deep too. It was never meant just for the scribes.

God gave His Word to His people. A study of the Reformation shows how bad it is when the Word of God is withheld from the people of God and what a blessing it is when the Word of God is freely available to the people of God. Give me, Give me the risks associated with novices mishandling this word. One thousand times give me the risks of that over being afraid to hand this word to novices. The beauty of the Bible is the great truths of the Bible can be understood by kindergartners.

As soon as you can read, you can understand what is required to be saved. What the big problem with man is and what the big solution is, the work of the cross in Jesus Christ. Babes can understand what is here in the Word. And at the time of the Reformation, the experts wouldn't let you have the Word, because you might not handle it right. There's a place for experts.

It's good when people, when God gives the gift of people who really know His Word. But that doesn't mean that His Word is just for the experts. Know a thousand times a know. It's for all the Lord's people. What kind of people?

All people, men and women and all who could hear with understanding. That's verse 2. Or as we saw in Deuteronomy 31, men, women and little ones. Even the little ones can understand, most of them. What's the age of understanding?

Depends on the one I guess. But little ones should be hearing the Word of God. Men should be. Women should be. The Bible has never been a book for just men.

Never has been. Never will be. The Bible is a book for worshippers. Who should worship? Men?

Yes. Women? Yes. Little ones? Yes.

So who should have a Bible? Men, yes. Women, yes. Little ones, yes. Whoever should worship should have a Bible.

Theology is simply the study of God. So if you don't think you're a theologian, rethink. You should be. You should take upon yourself the mantle of theologian. Men, you should be theologians.

Women, you should be theologians. Children, you should be budding theologians. Learning about God. It's studying our God. He is the God of the Word.

Drink it in. Learn about God, the real God who is. And these people are unified. The phrase, all the people in these eight verses appears six times and the phrase the people two more times. It's essentially one perverse.

All the people, all the people, all the people, all the people. Verse one, all the people gathered together as one man, there's this unity of heart, verse 3, the ears of all the people were attentive, everyone brought intensity to the task at hand, verse 5, all the people stood up out of honor and reverence for the word of God again in verse 5 all the people answered amen amen all the people laid claim to what was happening here So we've had the place on the calendar, we've had the place of the Word, we've had the place of the people, now we have the place of the Levites. You're filling in blanks, Levites, the place of the Levites. Ezra's not a one man show, there's a multitude that are a part of the history in Nehemiah chapter 8. Ezra is flanked by 13 men, 6 on the right, 7 on the left.

In verse 7 lists 13 Levites. The new King James gives you the 13 names in verse 7 and then says and the Levites. The NASB and the ESV instead of saying and the Levites just says comma the Levites. I think that's it can be either. The NASB and the ESV make more sense to me.

That makes more sense to me. Thirteen names, the Levites. It's telling you who those thirteen men are. Verse seven says, the Levites helped the people to understand the law. Now let's read verse eight together, Nehemiah chapter eight, verse eight.

This is right after it said the Levites helped the people to understand the law. So they read distinctly from the book, the Levites read distinctly from the book, in the law of God. And they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading. Apparently Ezra in this six hour stretch had help with the reading of the law. It says these Levites read distinctly from the book, and They gave the sense and they helped them understand.

The range of meaning of the Hebrew word can include translation. So many commentators actually say that translating was part of it because the tongue of the day, the primary tongue of the day was Aramaic. So probably people knew Hebrew but almost it may be even as a second language. That's possible that for many who were listening Hebrew would be a second language. So there might have even been some helping to understand the Hebrew here.

But certainly there is an explanation of the text. There are two things that I want to say about the Levites and how they're operating here. The first is this. This was the function of the Levites among God's people. We think of them as helping the priests in their temple duties.

And that's true, they did help the priests in their temple duties. But teaching was also a critical function always for the Levites among the people of God in the Mosaic Covenant under the law of Moses. In Deuteronomy chapter 33 verses 8 through 10, it's during a section where Moses is blessing every tribe, tribe by tribe by tribe. There's a blessing for each tribe. It's towards the end of Deuteronomy.

In Deuteronomy chapter 23 Verse 10, Moses is blessing the tribe of Levi and it says, They shall teach Jacob your judgments and Israel your law. The Levites shall teach the judgments and the law to Jacob and Israel. And it's part of the blessing of the tribe of Levi. They're blessed with the occupation of teaching Jacob the law and judgments. What a privilege!

It should be there among the blessings that they would be given this great occupation to teach the Lord's people the Lord's Word so that people would understand the judgments and the law of their God. Listen to Malachi chapter 2 verse 7. Malachi 2 7, for the lips of a priest should keep knowledge and the people should seek the law from his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Priests are Levites so using the term broadly every priest is a Levite and in Malachi chapter 2 verse 7 God through the prophet says that the lips of a priest should keep knowledge. That people should be able to seek the law from his mouth.

People should be able to get the truth of the word of God from the mouth of a priest because the priest has been given as a messenger of the Lord of hosts. This was the function of the Levites including the priests among the people of God since the giving of the law. In 2nd Chronicles chapter 17 verses 7 through 9 King Jehoshaphat sends priests and Levites to teach in all the cities of Judah. He sends out this team of teachers, priests and Levites to every city in Judah. That was 2 Chronicles chapter 17 King Jehoshaphat.

Then later in 2 Chronicles chapter 35 King Josiah is giving instructions in 2 Chronicles chapter 35 verse 3 Josiah says, Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, and then there are instructions. So Josiah has gathered the ones who have been given the occupation of teaching all Israel and it is the Levites. So that was the first thing to be said about the Levites is that this was the function. Teaching the law of God to the people of God was always a critical function for the Levites. Secondly, God has always set aside men to labor to help His people benefit from the Word of God.

In other words, even a child can understand the things that are needful to salvation, the big items. Anyone who can read can get them. And yet, the Word of God is such that the most godly, the most wise who have been living Decade after decade under God's care and been discipled still can't plumb the depths of some of it. Some of it is hard to understand. There is depth there.

It's a mile deep. So God has always devoted people to going deep and then bringing His people to a greater depth. God has always desired that. In the Old Covenant, it was Levites. In the New Covenant, It's pastors and teachers that he gives.

But at all points there have been those who were tasked by God to go deep and then bring his people deep. It wasn't to remain with people who just go away and study endlessly and are repositories for truth. They're supposed to be dispensers of truth. Go get it! And this is what happens in the New Testament.

In the New Testament church, the church buys a man's hours and says, go get it, go get depth and sweetness and beauty from the Word of God and bring it to us on Sunday. Bring us along. You go get the depth and then you pull us deeper. That's how it's supposed to work. So men in the New Testament lead, men in the New Testament oversee, But the key work is the ministry of the Word.

That's what you see in Acts chapter 6 with distribution to widows. They find themselves being pulled away from the ministry of the Word, and so they appoint men full of faith and wisdom, so that they can continually devote themselves to the ministry of the Word. The key work of church leaders is the ministry of the Word. Yes they lead and yes they oversee but they lead by the Word. They oversee by the Word.

Nothing is independent of the work. And the key work is to bring people into depth of understanding the Word of God. Week by week, month by month, year by year, we know more of our God, and His goodness, and His ways, and His thoughts, and what He requires, and what He blesses us with. We acquire our spiritual inheritance week by week and month by month and year by year as we go deeper into the Word. Here's Acts chapter 8.

Acts chapter 8 is about a deacon, Philip. Philip in Acts chapter 8 verses 30 and 31, he speaks to the Ethiopian eunuch. He finds him reading Isaiah and he asks the Ethiopian eunuch, do you understand what you're reading? And the Ethiopian eunuch says, how can I unless someone guides me? And he invites Philip up into the chariot with him and he explains Jesus through Isaiah.

And he's saved and he's baptized. The Lord has always brought people alongside to help them understand what is in the Word of God. Okay, two applications. Two applications. Number one, starting today give the Word of God a more honored place in your life.

Starting today. So to the person who has given the Word of God the most honored place of any of us, whoever that is, I'm not sure who it is. Give it a more honored place. Can I say that with confidence? Of course I can.

None of us have given the Word of God the place of honor that it deserves. There's always room to give it a place of higher honor. Give it more honor. Give it more honor in your personal life. When no one's watching, when no one's seeing, when no one knows what you are doing, sneak away, read your Bible, honor it, know that God is speaking to you.

In your public life, when you come here, give it a more honored place than you have. Come more ready, more eager, with more amens on your tongue, not to the preaching, but lay claim to the truth of God in your public life. It is the voice of God speaking to his people. God has told us so many things here. He's given us so much truth.

It is a blessing. It is a privilege to be alive in 2015 where the Bible is like water. So plentiful. Starting today give the Word of God a more honored place in your life. Memorize it.

Meditate on it. Give it more. Bring intensity. Number two. Labor to connect with the living Word.

Hebrews 4 verse 12 says that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, and it divides between soul and spirit, bone and marrow. Okay, it's living and active. So this cannot be dry lifeless Bible study. God forbid. That is not giving the Word of God a place of honor.

Dry lifeless Bible study isn't that. Okay so we're we're laboring to connect with the living Word which drives us into worship so that it's just like Nehemiah chapter 8 when Ezra stands on the platform and he opens the Word of God that the people rise and say amen and amen and they lift their hands to worship God because He has spoken to them and they bow with their faces to the ground to worship Him because He is the God who revealed Himself. They're alive. Our Bible study should be alive. It should propel us into worship of the God of the Bible.

Let's pray. God we thank you for bringing us where we are. We know what we were. Those of us who have received Your grace, repented and believed the Gospel. I can't believe how much progress You've given us and yet we still have This time of looking forward to where we want to be, where we ought to be.

We've come so far and yet they're still so far to go. I pray God that you would help us to honor your word so that we could press on toward the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus. We would be a people who so honor your Word and that it's so far from being dry lifeless Bible study but it propels us into worship that we see you when we come to the Bible we see you as you are and It causes us to tremble but it thrills us too to see that our God is this God. Oh Lord use your word to change us and transform us. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.