3. Learning in the School of Ezra: Preach It!
- Learning In the School of Ezra: Preach it!
“Ezra stood on a high wooden platform built just for this occasion. He read the Torah aloud, the Book of the Teachings of the Lord, teaching the Book from sunrise to noon. All the people could see him because he was standing above them in full view of everyone there. When they saw Ezra open the Book, the people all stood up, immediately rising to their feet. Then Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people chanted, ‘Amen! Amen!’ as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. The Levites instructed the people in the Teachings while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of God’s Teachings, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.” (Nehemiah 8:5-8).
Truth! There is a much-used Hebrew word in the Hebrew Bible that points to its root word “truth.” The Greek in the New Testament also picked it up and used it for “truth” as well. That common Hebrew word is “amen.”
Amen. This biblical word basically means: This is truth! I agree that this is true! Yes! We heartily accept and approve of what was said! We are assured that this is certainly true! So be it! We believe this is trustworthy and we take it to heart!
Amen! Amen! When this was exclaimed after a reading or a prayer, just take what is meant by Amen and double it in intensity. The double Amen means: We absolutely agree that this is the certain truth! These are without a doubt trustworthy words and can have authority in our lives! O Yes, most certainly Yes! May this be the absolute truth! We believe these words with all our heart, mind and soul! These words are without question God’s truth! These words we can most assuredly trust in! So be it, so be it! We see this double Amen fully on display in Nehemiah 8, when the people of Israel heard the Torah read and explained, and they were so struck to the heart that they cried out in unison, Amen! Amen! (Nehemiah 8:6).
Going in the Right Direction, Thanks to Ezra. After 70 years of exile in Babylon for their national punishment, many of the Hebrews were finally allowed to return to their homeland. They badly needed to reestablish the nation of Israel and their identity as the Chosen People of God. In the first few years of settling into the Promised Land of yesteryear, it was clear that the people of Israel had lost touch with their Jewish faith in Yahweh. They were like lost sheep as they tried to figure out how to return to their Israelite roots. Upon their return to Israel, it was obvious that it’s easier to get out of Babylon than it is to get the Babylon out of them. They had been living in a polytheistic culture, a pagan society, and the worship of their one true God was bit foreign to them. Eventually, after about twelve years or so, the people were successful in rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. They still needed leadership and spiritual direction, though, and two special men arrived to help. Ezra and Nehemiah had both risen to impressive posts in Babylon, but they were both called to return home to help in their people’s transition process. These two talented Jewish men were determined to follow God’s call on their lives. Ezra was well-suited for taking the religious leadership role. He was a trained Torah scholar, an interpreter of Torah, a lawyer and a trained instructor of the Teachings of Moses. Ezra was well-prepared in his training to provide what was needed to take the new Israel down the right path.
So we read in Nehemiah 8 how Ezra gathered all the Israelites together during the Jewish New Year in order to establish a new beginning for Israel. He had a special wooden platform built in the big public square so all the people could see him, or at least hear him. From early in the morning till midday, Ezra read aloud from the long-forgotten Law of Moses, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Ezra’s plan was to rebuild Israel by rebuilding the hearts of the people, by reminding them of the Word of the Lord and how vital it is to find their identity in this Word of God. He must have read with authority as he recited portions of the Pentateuch, while all the people stood out of respect. Accompanying Ezra was a number of prepared elders who would not only interpret the Hebrew of the Scripture for all those who only understood the Persian Aramaic, but these elders would also explain and unpack the Scripture as it was being read so the people could understand.
Sacred Time. Ezra said at the beginning of his readings that “This day is holy to the Lord!” And it certainly was. These teaching elders hand-picked by Ezra must have been-well-trained and very talented, because they were amazingly successful in helping the people to understand Ezra’s readings of the Word. Children who were old enough to understand were also included in this assembly, to complicate matters of comprehension for the elders. These elders were the unsung heroes of this powerful scene, for they could not only do language interpretation right on the spot, but also explain the Scripture in understandable terms to the adults, and they could reach the children in attendance as well! The people were said to be especially receptive during the readings, for “the ears of all the people were attentive to the Teachings of Moses.”
Reading the Word Aloud. There is something spiritually powerful about reading the Word of God, in any setting, and the wind of the Holy Spirit certainly seemed to blow through this huge assembly of Israelites. The people shouted, “Amen! Amen!” during the reading. Yes! they exclaimed, O Yes! This is the truth! This is the truth! And their body language, which the Lord can of course understand perfectly well, was telling. Ezra and Nehemiah would certainly confirm and exult in St. John’s beatitude in Revelation…
“Blessed is he who reads aloud in the assembly the word of this prophecy; and blessed are those who hear it read and who keep themselves true to the things which are written in it – for the time for them to be fulfilled is near.” (Revelation 1:3, Amplified).
“Blessed” = makarioi; a rich Greek word with many nuances, all in the context of enjoying God’s favor: fully satisfied; deeply joyful; delightfully content; profoundly happy; blissfully fulfilled. When Jesus declares that you are blessed, He is congratulating you, confidently affirming that God is active in your life. You are blessed when you put yourself in the position to be transformed by God. You are blessed, you are most fortunate, you are to be envied, because you now have the unexpected privilege of participating in the Kingdom of God. When you are blessed, you are aware that your blessedness does not depend on your outer circumstances. You are thus filled with hopeful joy. So when Jesus says that you are blessed, it is time to celebrate, for He is looking upon you with favor. In these Beatitudes, Jesus is saying that God wants us to be blessed, He is for us, He wants good to happen to us.
Beatitudes. At the beginning of Revelation, John offers three beatitudes, three blessings to all those who receive these words. You will be blessed, John promises, if you do three things in response to this revelation. You are in a favorable position, you will be joyfully fulfilled and satisfied, if you do these three things: If you read these words aloud in your assembly; if you are fortunate enough to be one of those who hear them read; and if you keep yourselves true to what is written in this message. So these three things… if you read it aloud, if you hear it read, and if you heed the words, treasuring them in your heart and obeying them. John seems to highlight the fact that these words in his revelation must be read aloud, not secretly or privately. These are words that were meant to be read orally and openly. You will also be blessed if you hear these words, because they are straight from Jesus to you. Finally, you are to be congratulated, happy you will be, if you keep these words, think about them, take them in and embrace them in your life. There is power in reading Scripture aloud in a group setting, and we need to heed John’s advice: When we experience the blessing of hearing the Word, it needs to be translated into one’s life and kept sacred as you live them out. Listen to the Word, and allow it to influence you for eternity. So it’s not surprising that the resettled Jews were powerfully influenced by Ezra’s vocal reading of Torah.