What Made God's Remnant Faithful? (Part 2)

When people want to hear God’s word, are attentive to it, and have respect for it, their response to it is very predictable (cf. Acts 8:30-38; 10:33-48). In Part 1 of this study, we noted these exact characteristics in the returning remnant under the leadership of Nehemiah (Neh. 8:1-7). In the final part of this study, we will examine the remnant’s response to the word of God, realizing that the church of Christ is God’s remnant today (Rom. 11:5), and in order to be faithful to God, we also must have the attitude and response toward God’s word as did the remnant in Nehemiah 8.

They Were Teachable

Before noting the remnant’s response, it is important to note that because the people wanted to hear God’s word, were attentive to God’s word, and had respect for God’s word, Ezra and the thirteen men that stood with him took advantage of the opportunity to deliver what the remnant wanted and needed to be faithful—the word of God! “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Neh. 8:8). This verse summarizes the kind of preaching God has always wanted. “Read...distinctly” carries the idea of translating at sight and giving the meaning. In the margin of the American Standard Version (1901), an optional translation is given, “read...with an interpretation.” Perhaps we can compare this to a preacher reading the word “propitiation” and immediately explaining it as he continues reading. “Gave the sense” means that Ezra and his companions told their hearers what the text meant, which requires proper handling of the word of God (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15). “Caused [helped, NKJ] them to understand” involved not only clarity in delivering the word, but also clarity in giving the proper application (cf. Acts 8:30-35). Like the remnant, we need to be teachable, and our preachers need to accurately communicate God’s message and its application!

They Inwardly Responded to God's Word

Hearing and being taught God’s word is not enough to be faithful. We must also put to practice what God’s word teaches. Those returning under the leadership of Nehemiah exemplify the proper inward response to God’s word in two ways. First, the people were saddened when they heard the Law of Moses read. After Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites taught the people, the text says that “all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law” (Neh. 8:9b). Obviously, the people’s comparing their present state with the standard God required depressed them. This is a good sign because it shows “godly sorrow” (2 Cor. 7:10). Second, although the people’s being mournful of their failures before God is good (cf. Mt. 5:4; Jas. 4:9-10), the reading of God’s law should also bring joy. Thus, the people were told “This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep...So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved” (Neh. 8:9a, 11). Then, after being given specific instructions to joyously honor the Lord (Neh. 9:10), the people celebrated “because they had understood the words that were declared unto them” (Neh. 9:12). The thought of our sin and its result in separating us from God should break our hearts (Isa. 52:1-2 cf. Ps. 51:1-4). However, we should also be overflowing with joy, knowing that when we truly repent, God has promised, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:34)! 

They Outwardly Responded to God's Word

When the inward response to God’s word is as it ought to be, the outward actions will be as they ought to be. This is unmistakenly seen in the remnant’s outward response to their hearing of God’s word. On the day after the events described above, the leaders of the remnant “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: 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” (Neh. 9:14-15). This instruction concerns keeping the Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, as it was sometimes called (cf. Ex. 34:22; Lev. 23:39-43). Most of the people making up the returning remnant were born and reared in the land of captivity. Thus, it would be understandable that they had not heard this instruction before. However, the text also says that “since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so” (Neh. 8:17b)! That means that for about a thousand years the children of God had not celebrated the Feast as the remnant was now discovering it should be done! How would we have reacted at discovering this? Note that the remnant did not make excuse; they did not harden their hearts to God’s demands; and they did not delay in putting into practice what they were supposed to be doing. The Bible records, “So the people went forth,” and they followed what God required (Neh. 8:16-17a). Their outward response was not just from a sense of duty, but also “there was very great gladness” in that they had an opportunity to correct their old ways and do the will of God (Neh. 8:17c). The Feast was kept for its prescribed duration followed by a “solemn assembly” (Neh. 8:18).

Conclusion

Are we a part of God’s faithful remnant today? Is our present attitude such that we want to hear God’s word, that we are attentive to God’s word, and that we are respectful to God’s word? Do our outward actions reflect the proper inward response to God’s word? When we learn more of God’s word, let’s not make excuse why we do not follow it. Rather, let us correct these areas in our lives and be faithful to God.