In this insightful episode of Expository Truths, Dr. John Kyle explores the profound events of Nehemiah chapter 8, where the people of Jerusalem, under Nehemiah’s leadership, experienced a deep spiritual awakening. Amidst the celebration in the city, the reading of God’s Word evoked a powerful response—a collective weeping born of an understanding of their sins and a desire for holy repentance. Listen as Dr. Kyle unravels the significance of this historical moment and its implications for our spiritual journey today.
Welcome to Expository Truths, where we exalt Christ by bringing clarity of truth through the scriptures with Dr. John Kyle, pastor of Faith Community Church in Vacaville. As Christians, we are called to know the truth and be able to proclaim it. We can know the truth when we know the word of God, which is precise, without error, powerful, and effective for both salvation and spiritual growth. Let’s join Pastor Kyle as he takes us verse by verse through the book of Nehemiah, an incredible book showing us how God sovereignly used the faithfulness of Nehemiah to lead the people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the midst of many mighty and powerful enemies.
SPEAKER 01 :
Please join me in our Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 8, verses 9 through 12. Nehemiah 8, 9 through 12. Now remember, Nehemiah was a faithful Jewish man who was living in the capital city of the Persian Empire, Shushan, also known as Susa. And Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. As we saw, the good hand of God was on Nehemiah, and that good hand of God led Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem, where the people were in great distress and reproach, and where the walls of the city were still in ruins. And look, God used Nehemiah to lead the people in rebuilding the wall in 52 days. An absolutely amazing work of the Lord God Almighty. Okay, so now what? Do more to help the city return to its former glory, of course, which Nehemiah will continue to do. But even more, help to bring spiritual reformation for the people who have been living in mediocrity and rebellion for way too long. The good news is that the wall rebuilding project lit a fire under the people. And now at the Feast of Trumpets on the first day of Tishri, which is the seventh month in 444 BC, as the people are gathered together as one man to celebrate in Jerusalem, there is indeed a spiritual hunger in the people. They are eager and they are ready. And they had no problem with Ezra reading God’s word to them for hours. In fact, they loved it. as Ezra read it, and as others helped to properly understand it. Today’s passage gives the people’s response to that most amazing event. Let’s look, verse 9. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites quieted all the people saying, be still for the day is holy. Do not be grieved. Then all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly because they understood the words that were declared to them. Now here in today’s passage we can observe four facts, the first being this, that the law of God was read and it was explained to all the people and that’s just a review from what we looked at last week. Remember that? This is a notched up feast of trumpets. As the wall has just been finished and as all the people are gathered together at the water gate in Jerusalem, right there in the Kidron Valley, perhaps as many as 50,000 people gathered And look, they’re all eager to celebrate the feast. They are eager to hear from God. So Ezra brought out the scroll of the law of God, the first five books of the Old Testament, and then he began reading it. And then the Levites, men from the tribe of Levi, who served in the temple, some of them who were also priests, they moved among the people and they helped them understand what was being read. And that went on for six hours. Six hours. And the people are hungry to hear it, which is a great change. I mean, I’m sure that some, if not many of these people had heard the Bible before as parents would teach their children and as the priests and the Levites most certainly engaged in some sort of public biblical instruction. That said, this day was different. The people came here hungry. The people came here eager. And the sustained… Reading of the Word of God under the powerful influence of the Spirit of God turned the hearts of these people in an amazing way. Second, we see the people’s response. What was that? They wept. That’s very interesting. Again, remember this is a corporate thing. All the people wept. Can you picture that? Thousands of people there gathered together to celebrate God. And after reading and explaining God’s powerful word, all the people are now weeping. Why? I mean, that’s a good question to ask, right? I mean, why did all these people weep like this? Because this isn’t normal. And while I’ve seen weeping at funerals, I’ve never seen it at a celebration and from so many thousands of people together at the same time. So why did all the people weep? Here’s why. Because they were sorrowful over their sin. As the law was read and explained to the people, it was as if God himself was speaking to them and reading their hearts. Perhaps Ezra was reading the Ten Commandments, and as he was reading, the people were really examining themselves like they never have done before. You shall have no other gods before me. Uh-oh. I put all kinds of gods before him. All the time. Myself, my children, my comfort, my sleep, my job, my money. I’m in trouble. I’m in trouble. Perhaps they made it to Deuteronomy 6.5 that says, Then you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Oh no, I’ve never really done that. Not ever. Yeah, I say I love Him, but I’ve never really loved Him like that. I love my sin more than that. Because I choose sin over pleasing Him so much of the time. I revel in mediocrity when He deserves so much more from me. I go through the spiritual motions and I don’t remotely live worthy of being His saved child. Uh-oh. Perhaps that was it. So as Ezra read the law of God, there was much that could have brought on the guilt and the shame and the conviction. And while most people can read God’s Word and pass over, letting it really penetrate into their hearts, this time it was different as all the people really examined themselves and were hypersensitive to the Word of God. And so they responded accordingly with intense weeping. Third, look what the leader said, this day is holy. It’s very interesting, isn’t it? They said it in verse 9 and they said it in verse 10. This day is holy. What does that mean? Holiness means consecrated or set apart. And here it’s referring to the fact that this day was a feast of trumpets or Rosh Hashanah, which was the first of the fall feasts. It literally means head of the year. And it’s observed as a start of the civil year on the Jewish calendar. According to Leviticus 23, 24 through 27, the celebration consisted of a time of rest, an offering made by fire, and the blowing of trumpets or the shofar, which was a ram’s horn. The feast marked the beginning of the ten days of consecration and repentance before God. After that came the day of atonement, Yom Kippur, and then after that came the feast of tabernacles. But this day was the feast of trumpets, and it was a time to celebrate, a time of joy, a time of eating, a time to help the needy, a time to glorify and praise God, not a time of weeping. So Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites said, Hey everyone, you can stop your weeping now. That’s good, right? Weeping is important, but there’s a time to stop. Stop it. This is a consecrated day, a feast day. And because of God’s readiness to forgive those who are repentant, you guys can now stop weeping and you can commence celebrating. Now, please note this. Note that I don’t believe that Ezra, Nehemiah, and the others would have told the people to stop weeping if those tears weren’t heartfelt. But because those tears were clearly heartfelt, and because these people had clearly repented, and because these people had turned back to God with soft, pliable, repentant, fervent hearts, guess what? It’s now time to celebrate, which they could now certainly do. See, the Bible not only condemns sin, but it also gives a remedy. How good is that? These people repented. They went to God with their sin. Yes! And God readily forgave them, which is what God does. Don’t we know it? That’s who we are. By the way, He saved us from hell and wrath. By the way, He continues to forgive us of our many sins. So yes, weep over your sin, but after you wake up and weep and repent and go to God, you then can rejoice because guess what? You stand forgiven. You stand forgiven. This applies to us in two ways. First, in the fact that we who believe are saved. What else matters? Those in Nehemiah’s day looked forward to what Christ would do, and in faith they trusted God to save them, and we today look back at Christ and what He did on the cross to save all who believe. What was that? God the Son, Jesus, left heaven and came here to rescue undeserving sinners like us from eternity in hell. The price for that is costly, but He paid that price to save us out of love when we’re just wallowing around. So He came, He lived a perfect life, He suffered and died on the cross, and three days later He rose up from the dead. Now look, I can’t make myself right with God. All I can do is pay sin’s wages in hell. But the good news is that God can do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. I can’t make myself right with God and be with Him forever in heaven, but God can do it even though I don’t remotely deserve it. How? Jesus. And while I’m not right, Jesus is. He was perfect. He was holy. He met all the requirements from holy God. He never sinned. And through faith in Him, because of what He did on that cross, I can be declared righteous, right, and fit for heaven. Because of Him, I can be cleansed of all my sin. Because of Him, I can be washed clean. And because of Him, I can go to heaven instead of hell. Because of Him and His perfect work on my behalf. How? Look, sin committed against an infinite and eternal God demands infinite and eternal wages. So either you pay for your own sin for an infinite amount of time in hell, or else an infinite and eternal one pays your wages once and for all in your place. Who is able to do that? Who would do that? Anybody? Jesus, God the Son, on the cross, where He took the sin of every believer onto Himself, where He was punished for that sin as your substitute, and where He paid those infinite and eternal wages in your place as God the Father. crushed Him instead of you for all your sin. And look, in return, He gives you His perfect righteousness that fits you perfectly for heaven. That’s the ultimate trade-off, by the way. Your sin for His perfect righteousness. And this trade-off comes by faith. Where you surrender to Christ as Lord and Savior in repentant faith. Where you believe on Him as revealed in the Scriptures in His person and in His work. And you put all your trust in Christ as a living person for forgiveness of all my sin and for eternal life with God. Result? Because of Christ? Forgiveness. Of all your sin. Heaven. Purpose and joy and life. God forever. Eternal glory. Because of Christ. So. Stop your weeping if you have Christ. Weep for a little bit, but stop your weeping. And for those in Nehemiah’s day, stop your weeping if you have put your trust in the Lord for salvation and life. This also applies to the believer though. That while sin can’t condemn us anymore because we have Christ who justifies us in the sight of God, look, sin in our lives can still hurt us. And unrepentant sin in our lives can greatly hinder us and it can greatly hinder our walk with the Lord. Our call when we sin is to repent of that sin right away. To go to God with it and to seek the forgiveness of God which He freely gives. And the last thing we should ever do is wallow around in our sin. To get calloused in our sin. To get hardened in our sin. But too often we wallow around in our sin and we get hardened to it. We indulge it, we cling to it, we treat it like it’s no big deal. We don’t weep and hate sin like we ought to. We embrace sin and we toy around with that sin and we get calloused and indifferent and cold to God like the Israelites were before this day in Nehemiah chapter 8. Stop it. Wake up. see it for what it is, hate that sin, weep over that sin, go to God with that sin, and lay it down at His feet in heartfelt repentance, and then feel His forgiveness and mercy wash over you, which He is always eager to give to those who want it. And then what do you do once you’ve done that? Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! Get on with the celebration, see? Look what Ezra said, verse 10. Go. Go your way. Eat the fat. Drink the sweet. And send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. How good is that? See, now that these people have wept over their sin… Now that these people have repented and gone to God with their sin, go your way and celebrate. Don’t sorrow. The joy of the Lord is your strength. That’s absolutely right. The call here was for the repentant people to get on with the feast. Because now they could truly enjoy the feast. There was no unrepentant sin hindering them anymore. See? See? Hey, weeping over your sin is good. It’s very, very good. But once you’ve done that and gone to God with that, rejoice and get on with it. The high and glorious call to glorify God with your fading life. So for those in Nehemiah’s day, partake of the feast. Eat up. Eat all the turkey and the trimmings. Enjoy that sweet potato casserole with all that sugar on the top. that makes it taste, you know, anybody? Oh, eat up, eat up. Enjoy an extra slice of pumpkin pie. Eat up, drink up, celebrate, because now you have a real reason to celebrate. Note that it was customary with the Israelites to send portions of food and drink on festivals to the houses of the poor that they too might share in the joy of the Lord. So don’t just keep the joy to yourself. No, spread it out to those around you. Because look, the joy of the Lord is your strength. What does that mean? The word strength means a stronghold, a place of refuge, a place of protection. It’s a place where someone turned to for a place of assistance and security. The joy of the Lord is that place. So encourage it. See, always remember the joy that God gives you because when you remember that joy, it’ll be a source of strength and protection for you. God gives true joy. Anybody? True joy. Never forget that. Never lose sight of that. It’s your strength. It’s a protection for you when things get hard. And they will get hard because life is hard. Never forget the joy of the Lord. How much more us today who get to look back at the cross with clarity instead of looking forward dimly. See, true joy is found in Christ, and we in Christ have that. Oh yes, happiness comes and goes with our circumstances. I’m happy until my car breaks down. I’m happy until my team loses. I’m happy until someone is mean to me. Happiness comes and goes, but in Christ, we can have true joy all the time, and we should because we have Christ. Because joy is a deep down confidence and all is well between me and God. And therefore, no matter what happens to me in this life as a Christian, look, I am God’s and God is mine forever. What else matters? 1 Peter 1.8, “…whom having not seen you love, in whom though now you don’t see Christ, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Don’t you see? Spiritual joy transcends circumstances. You in Christ can be joyful even if you’re sick. You can be joyful even if you are in pain. You can be joyful even if earthly things are crumbling down around you. Why? Because we know who we are. We know whose we are. We know where we’re going. We know that life is short, but eternity is long. It’s forever. And we know that no matter what happens, we’re still going to heaven to be with our beloved Lord forever. What else matters? In the Psalms, we’re repeatedly told to be joyful in the Lord. Paul says, rejoice in the Lord always. Always. Again, I say rejoice. Christ says, rejoice for your names are written in heaven. And our relationship to God should bring great joy to our hearts and lives that should be seen. See, we have hope. We know that God loves us and will never leave us nor forsake us, not ever. Never. We know that all the pains of this life won’t compare to the glories of the next life. And joy, even in the midst of hard circumstances, should mark us in Christ. You? Joy comes from the Lord. And in Him, there’s a fountain of joy that can never fail. Rejoicing is a command. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit of God. And it’s to be a continual part of our lives as Christians. And look, it’s our strength. It’s a refuge for us. It’s a protection. How is it a refuge and protection for us? Well, when I remember the joy of the Lord, my trials seem smaller. When I remember the joy of the Lord, my enemies seem way less powerful. When I remember the joy of the Lord, my sins seem a lot less attractive. When I remember the joy of the Lord, God is much bigger and greater in my heart. When I remember the joy of the Lord, my love for Him grows. How could my love for Him not grow when I remember the joy of the Lord? He forgave me, a rebel, a leper, a harlot. He forgave me of all my sin. And look, the best is yet to come because of Him. I can be joyful. Cling to that. Remember that. Don’t ever lose sight of that. It’ll be a stronghold for you when things get hard and when life assaults you. I have the joy of the Lord. Things are crumbling down around me. Oh, yes, but I have the joy of the Lord. And so I rejoice because if you have him, you have everything. So weep, please. We need to weep more over our sin. You need to pray that God would convict you of your sin. That you would hate sin the way God hates sin. That you would see sin the way God sees sin. Yeah, we need to weep over our sin a whole lot more than we do. Weep, yes, but don’t stay there. Because after weeping comes rejoicing for the forgiven people of God. Fourth, the people responded accordingly and rejoiced. Verse 12. All the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly because they understood the words that were declared to them. I love that. See, instead of wallowing around in their tears, they understood God’s mercy and forgiveness, and so they celebrated. I’ll bet they really celebrated greatly on that day. The first day of Tishri in 444 B.C. Don’t you think? I’ll bet they ate and drank. I’ll bet they celebrated well. I’ll bet they shared with the many of the poor around them because they understood God’s grace and mercy as they wept and after they wept and then repented of their sin. And so they feasted accordingly. I’m sure many belts were loosed that day. I’m sure many had to undo the first button. Anybody on their pants? They wore robes. You get the point. They celebrated on that day. And I have no doubt that they celebrated on the days after as well. The joy of the Lord. God forgave me. And He continues to forgive me every day. God loves even me. God is good and gracious to a rebel like me. The best is yet to come for me. Joy. And so they understood the words that were declared to them. How good is that? They understood. I pray we understand today. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand? Answer, no one. But look, we. We can stand. Because He’s a God of forgiveness for all who want it. It’s good to weep over your sin, but again, once you’ve done that, rejoice in Him. The joy of the Lord really is our strength and those who have been forgiven much love much. So the question, I guess, is do you love Him? Lord, help us to see this clearly today. As preacher Thomas Doolittle said, Behold the wounds which He has endured for you. Behold the crown of thorns on His head that there may be a crown of glory upon your head. Behold Him dying that you… might live. Behold Him suffering, that you may be saved. Behold Him poor, that you may be made rich with the best, surest, and most durable of riches. Behold Him condemned, that you may be absolved. Behold Him in agony, that you may have rest and ease in glory. Behold Him bearing the cross and the cross bearing Him, that you might not bear the curse. Behold Him bearing the Father’s wrath, that you might be made the subject of His grace and the object of His everlasting love. So let me ask you again, I’m preparing you, do you love Him? Good. Doesn’t a God like this, a God of grace and mercy and forgiveness and love, doesn’t He deserve your love back today? There we were. wallowing around in our blood. And he came along and he rescued us. He cleaned us up, clothed us. He protects us. He made us beautiful. He gave us a purpose. He gave us himself. He gave us heaven. We didn’t deserve any of it. Not any of it. He died for us. Rebels. He died for us. Response? How about loving him back? Hate your sin. Pursue holiness for the glory of God. Live for the pleasure of God in this fading life and weep often over your wretched sin until finally the day comes where he perfects you in glory.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks for joining us for today’s exposition from the book of Nehemiah on Expository Truths with Dr. John Kyle. We’ll be right back. Join for services at Faith Community Church Sundays at 9 and 1045 a.m. 192 Bella Vista Road, Suite A. To learn more, visit vacavillefaith.org or call 707-451-2026. That’s 707-451-2026. Or visit vacavillefaith.org.
