True Revival / Nehemiah 8-10 / The Appropriate Response of God's People
The Nature of True Revival
Well, welcome to you. I’m glad you’re all hanging out with us here today. If you’ve got your Bible, turn to Nehemiah chapter eight. We’re going to be cruising through to the end of chapter ten. We are in the middle of a two-week series. Last week, we talked in Nehemiah chapter eight about the nature of true revival. We poked a little fun at it, but I think it’s worth circling the wagons again because when you start talking about revival, it depends on who you’re talking to—it can mean all kinds of weird things. It could mean something scheduled on the calendar from six to seven on a certain night. It can mean somebody passing out, barking, or doing some kind of “holy whatever.”
Truthfully, I think the Bible’s picture of revival is much more blue-collar than that. What you find are two fundamental elements of revival. The first, which we discussed last week, is the faithful communication of God’s word. Every revival you find—whether it’s in the history books or buried in the text of Scripture—happens primarily because somebody finds their Bible. Somebody begins to read it, simply articulating what it says.
If you remember from last week, the overwhelming theme mentioned five times in chapter eight was understanding. God’s intent is not that we would just be smarter sinners. He’s not trying to educate us for head knowledge alone so we can impress our buddies with good theology or pop off about some theological term nobody knows. The goal of understanding our Bible is getting it into our heads and ultimately into our hearts. That is the first element of revival.
The Appropriate Response
The second element is the appropriate response of God’s people. Once you hear the word of God, what do you do? How do you respond? What do you do when you come across a text that brings up an issue in your life? We mentioned that the word of God often shines a light into the darkness of our lives—the recesses of our souls where we bury things from God and everyone else. The Bible has a unique way of exposing our junk. Have you noticed that?
In verses nine through the end of chapter ten, we see how the people respond. Their first response when they hear the word of God—after standing for hours hearing Ezra explain the text—is that they mourned and wept. The text says “all the people” did this. It didn’t matter if they had heard the word before or if they were hearing it for the first time; they were wrecked by it.
Nehemiah 8:9 (NASB)
Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and 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 or weep.’ For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.
That’s what the Law does. The purpose of the Law is to reveal our sin. It was never meant to be redemptive. If it were, we wouldn’t have a sacrificial system in the Old Testament. The Old Testament says, “Obey these things,” and then adds, “By the way, since you can’t, here are the sacrifices you need to offer.” In Romans 7, the apostle Paul says God gave the Law to reveal in us a sense of deep moral pain.
Romans 7:7-13 (NASB)
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COVET.’ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin [is] dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become [a cause] [of] death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
As you read your Bible, you are reminded at almost every turn that we are brought forth in sin, that there is none righteous, and that the heart is deceitfully wicked beyond all things.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB)
’The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
The Bible is actually a terrible self-help book. You don’t read the Bible if you want good self-esteem; you read the Bible if you want to worship God. It tells us we are in desperate need and there is nothing good in us apart from Christ in us, the hope of glory. But ultimately, it points to something bigger than us. That’s the power of the Gospel: what the Law could not do because it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son.
Romans 8:3-4 (NASB)
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God [did]: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and [as an offering] for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Feasting Before Fasting
You’ll notice a pattern in verse ten: it’s feasting before fasting. These people are weeping and mourning, but the Levites tell them to go home. They tell them to go have a barbecue. Yes, there are issues in your life. Yes, the word of God is crushing you right now. But go home. Have a fellowship meal. Enjoy the fat portions—the delicacies.
Nehemiah 8:10 (NASB)
Then he said to them, ‘Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.’
They are told to drink “sweet wine.” The idea is to drink of the sweetest. In the Hebrew text, the word “drink” is actually inferred. It just says, “Go and enjoy the sweetest.” Now, in John chapter two, Jesus turned water not just into “Two-Buck Chuck,” but into some really good wine. He saved the good stuff for last.
But interestingly, that same concept of “the sweetest” is used in the Song of Solomon when the woman refers to her husband.
[SCRIPTURE: Song of Solomon 5:16]
This may imply sexual intimacy in the context of marriage. I think God intends for sexuality to be a huge apologetic for His glory when expressed in the proper context. I think he’s saying to these people: Go home. Have a meal. Enjoy your spouse. Revel in the glory and honor of God. Delight in Him. Just relax and enjoy being His. Laugh, eat slowly, tell a good joke, and enjoy the sunset.
As John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Sometimes we take ourselves so seriously, getting all guilt-ridden and shame-ridden, that we become masochistic. We beat ourselves up and talk about what losers we are, and all the while, we forget to just enjoy God and the life He has given us.
Generosity as an Overflow
When you enjoy God, your life begins to overflow. The joy of the Lord becomes your strength. You’ll notice in verse ten they are also told to give to those in need. A consistent hallmark of the people of God is generosity. When you are in intimacy with God, generosity is an overflow because you realize your life is not your own; you’ve been bought with a price.
There is a direct correlation between spiritual vitality and stewardship. It’s a thermometer. Show me someone generous with their stuff, and I’ll show you someone intimate with God. Show me a tightwad, and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t understand the blessing of God.
In verses eleven and twelve, they calm the people down and send them home. They celebrate because they understood what was declared to them.
Nehemiah 8:11-12 (NASB)
So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.’ All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them.
That understanding is contagious. The more you learn, the more questions you ask, and the hungrier you get. In verse thirteen, they gather for a second day. This time, it’s the heads of the households—the leaders of the clans. This is the seed of a Deuteronomy 6 revival, where men lead their families. They sit under Ezra’s teaching to study the Law.
Nehemiah 8:13 (NASB)
Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ [households] of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law.
The Feast of Booths
As they study, they find something in the text they aren’t doing. What do you do when you find a command in the Bible you aren’t following? They find the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles). This was a feast meant to celebrate the harvest and to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt.
Nehemiah 8:14 (NASB)
They found written in the law how the LORD had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month.
The text says they hadn’t celebrated it like this since the days of Joshua. Now, they had probably celebrated the “harvest” part—drinking good wine is easy. But sitting in a tent for a week to remember the Exodus? That’s hard. It’s unsanitary. So they had probably let that part slide. But now, they decide to obey.
Nehemiah 8:16-17 (NASB)
So the people went out and brought [them] and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing.
Look, you don’t have to do everything; you just need to do something. When you see something in the Word of God, just obey whatever little thing it lays out.
Confession and History
What started as feasting ends in fasting. On the twenty-fourth day of the month, they assemble again, but this time with sackcloth and dust on their heads—signs of deep mourning. They recognize the variance between how they are living and what the Word of God calls them to. They separate themselves and begin to confess their sins.
Nehemiah 9:1 (NASB)
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them.
They realized that mingling with the nations had caused them to learn pagan ways.
Psalms 106:35 (NASB)
But they mingled with the nations And learned their practices,
God wasn’t being a racist; He was being a monotheist. He knew that if His people married those with different worldviews, their theology would get skewed. So their first point of repentance is to protect the home—the epicenter of spiritual maturity.
Confession is cathartic. If you’ve never confessed your sins before the Lord, you need to. It triggers a pattern: no matter how dark your life is, if you confess, He is faithful and just to forgive. Jonah knew this pattern. He didn’t want to go to Nineveh because he knew God was gracious and compassionate, and he was afraid God would actually forgive those people if they repented!
In chapter nine, the revival shifts. It’s no longer just the leaders; it’s the whole community. They spend three hours reading the Word and three hours in confession and worship. The Levites then recap the entire history of Israel—from creation to Abraham, the Exodus, the wilderness, and the prophets. They are reminding themselves of who they are responding to: the God of the ages.
Making a Covenant
Repentance isn’t just about stopping a bad behavior; it’s about changing direction. It’s about pursuing something else. In chapter ten, the people make a formal covenant. They make four specific resolutions.
First, they commit to protecting the marriage covenant and their homes.
Nehemiah 10:30 (NASB)
and that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.
(I apologize—I was looking at chapter nine, verse thirty for a second and panicked because it didn’t make sense! Let’s look at chapter ten, verse thirty.)
They recognize that their marital life affects their theology. Closely tied to this is a commitment to the next generation. They can’t fix what Grandpa did, but they can pass on godliness to their kids. I was reading Psalm 71 the other day and it lit me up: “Even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation.”
Psalms 71:18 (NASB)
And even when [I am] old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to [this] generation, Your power to all who are to come.
Second, they commit to the Sabbath. They decide to stop the rat race of the accumulation economy and rest every seventh day and every seventh year.
Nehemiah 10:31 (NASB)
As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego [the crops] the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.
Third, they commit to stewardship. They make an annual contribution to the temple, they bring wood for the altar, and they bring their tithes—the first fruits of their crops.
Nehemiah 10:32-39 (NASB)
We also placed ourselves under obligation to contribute yearly one third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God. Likewise we cast lots for the supply of wood [among] the priests, the Levites and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law; and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the LORD annually, and bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the oil to the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns. The priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine and the oil to the chambers; there are the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers and the singers. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.
Notice the proportion here: they get one verse on marriage, one on the next generation, one on the Sabbath, and eight verses on stewardship. Why? Because there is a direct correlation between your spiritual life and your wallet. If you are growing in this church and you aren’t tithing anywhere else, you need to give something to the Lord—not because we need your money, but because God has called us to be stewards.
Application: What Are Your Issues?
The culmination of their commitment is in verse thirty-nine: “We will not neglect the house of our God.”
So, what are the issues you are wrestling with? If revival requires an appropriate response to God’s Word, what is God bringing up in you?
When I first came to Christ, people talked about a “sin list.” I looked at mine and thought, “This isn’t a list; it’s a novel!” It was daunting. But you don’t have to work on the whole novel at once. Just pick an issue. Maybe it’s a big one, or maybe it’s a small one where you can get a quick victory to encourage you to keep going.
Revival happens when you and I individually say, “God, what do you want me to change?” If you came here looking for perfect people, you’ve got the wrong address. We’ve all got issues. But the exciting part is that we get to do something with the Word we hear.
Don’t be a “forgetful hearer” who looks in the mirror and forgets what he looks like. Be an “effectual doer.”
James 1:22-25 (NASB)
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for [once] he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the [law] of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
Take your faith to the next level. Let the Word shine a light in your soul and then do something about it. Whether it’s how you treat your spouse, how you speak to your roommates, or how you give—respond appropriately.
Let’s pray together.
Father, as we talk about revival, we know it happens at a grassroots level. When we hear Your word, may we be convicted and stirred. Whether it’s how we treat our families, how we give, or how we pray, shine Your light in our souls. Stir us to application. May we be a people who respond appropriately to what we have heard. We thank You for a Savior who makes all things new. In Christ’s name, Amen.