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Nehemiah 8
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8 9
10 11
12 13
Nehemiah 8:1
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into
the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto
Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the
Lord had commanded to Israel.
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Ezra was a scribe
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Ezra means help, called ESDRAS in the Apocrypha,
the famous scribe and priest.
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He was a learned and pious priest residing at
Babylon in the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus.
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The origin of his influence with the king
does not appear, but in the seventh year of his
reign he obtained leave to go to Jerusalem, and
to take with him a company of Israelites. (B.C.
457.)
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The journey from Babylon to Jerusalem took just
four months; and the company brought with them a
large freewill offering of gold and silver, and
silver vessels.
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It appears that Ezra's great design was to
effect a religious reformation among the
Palestine Jews.
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His first step was to enforce separation upon
all who had married foreign wives.
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Street = broad or open space
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This was the first time they heard the word of
God in along time, they just came out of Babylon
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When Satan's takes over you're not going hear the
word of God
2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation
both of men and women, and all that could hear with
understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
3 And he read therein 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.
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The word of God was taught.
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The tradition of man was not taught
4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they
had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and
Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his
right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and
Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
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There's fourteen priest
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Fourteen = being a multiple of seven,
being double that number, implies a double
measure of spiritual perfection.
5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for
he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the
people stood up:
6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people
answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they
bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to
the ground.
7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai,
Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and
the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the
people stood in their place.
8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and
gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the
scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all
the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not,
nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of
the law.
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Tirshatha = governor
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Nehemiah was an officer appointed and
commissioned to collect and receive customs,
duties, taxes
10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink
the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is
prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye
sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
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Joy of the Lord is your strength
11 So the Levites stilled all the people,
saying, Hold your peace, for the day is Holy; neither be ye
grieved.
12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and
to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had
understood the words that were declared unto them.
13 And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the
fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto
Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.
14 And they found written in the law which the Lord had
commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in
booths in the feast of the seventh month:
15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their
cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and
fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches,
and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths,
as it is written.
16 So the people went forth, and brought them, and made
themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in
their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the
street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of
Ephraim.
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And = to mark the minuteness of the obedience
17 And all the congregation of them that were come again out of
the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since
the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the
children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
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Jeshua = Another spelling
of Joshua. The one that lead Israel in the
promise land.
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Not . . . done so
= speaks only of the
offerings required by the Law, which Solomon
offered.
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Nothing is said there
of what the People did; so that there is no
"discrepancy", as is alleged.
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Israel = 1 Kings 12:17
But as for the
children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of
Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he
read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast
seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly,
according unto the manner.
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He
= they
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Assembly = restraint:
restraint from work
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Manner = regulation, or
ordinance
• Exactly 2520 years from the exile
of Benjamin, Iceland became an independent nation.
•
The first tribe to be
conquered by the Assyrians was Manasseh,
in 745 B.C. Exactly 2520 years later America became a nation on July 4, 1776.
(Leviticus. 26: 28-46) God warned Israel that if they persisted in continually
breaking His Laws, not only would curses come upon them.
He would punish them for seven times, (a time being 360 years, seven times would
be 2520 years) and would banish them from the land of Palestine and scatter them
among the heathens (like lost sheep)
• Study the book:
Abrahamic Covenant,
(A study outline of the identity of God's people) By E. Raymond Capt
- page 25
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