DOES IT MAKE SENSE

Nehemiah 8:8

Morning Meditation 11/9/2012

"So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."

There is no better description of good preaching than is found in this passage. Ezra, the scribe, knew the Word and read it to the people as they stood from morning until noon to hear the Word of God.

I read a story where a man just finished college. He met an unlettered friend and told him how he had become a great orator. When asked what an orator was, he said, “Let me illustrate. When you walk up to a common person like you and ask him how much two and two are, you say four. But if you ask an orator like me, I say, 'when in the course of human events it becomes necessary to take the numeral of the second denomination and add it to the figure two', an orator like me says to you, without fear of successful contradiction, that the result will invariably be four.' That's an orator!”

An orator draws attention to himself. A plain man with the call of God upon him, speaks the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, somehow God overrules his mistakes in grammar, and the people understand what he has to say.

Notice the following in this verse of Scripture:

1. They read out of the right book. What people need today is for someone to speak to them out of the right book. I believe the right book is the King James Version. I attended a meeting of a well known preacher who preached out of the New King James. He was not easy to follow because our Bibles were not the same. If someone tells you there is no difference in these translations, please try to follow them in your King James Bible. You will find it difficult to understand because words verbally inspired in your Bible do not correspond. They have changed the meaning in the new translations.

2. They read to a respectful audience; Nehemiah 8:5, "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:" There are many in our day who have no respect for the Word of God. The Bible is a God-breathed book. It is inerrant in its entirety and verbally (every word) inspired.

3. They read in the book of the law distinctly. The word “distinctly” means, “understandably.” They made the word understandable to the people.

4. They gave the sense. This means they gave “insight, and understanding to the truth of it.

5. The words, “and caused them to understand the reading,” The word “understand” means, “to cause to understand or discern the meaning.” It made sense to them because they had a man of God who carefully read the Word and then clearly declared the Word. They went away from that meeting knowing what God had said in His Word.

What effect did this service have on the people? Verse 9 says, “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.”

Verse ten makes a very interesting statement. Nehemiah 8:10, "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."

Some things about the joy of the Lord:

1. There is strength in the joy of the Lord. The word “strength” means, “place or means of safety, protection, refuge, stronghold.”

2. The joy of the LORD is like a medicine. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Ezekiel 37 is not the only place to find dry bones. They can be found in many churches!!!

3. The joy of the Lord is a gift. John 15:11, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

4. Then we have Paul's exhortation. Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice."

Does God's Word make sense to you? The first step to understanding the Scripture is to know the Author by the New Birth. The second step is to surrender your life to Him. The third step is to avoid complaining about your circumstances; Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White