R and R
Devotions for Growing Christians
R and R
Nehemiah 8:1-3 - “All the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.”
Read all of Nehemiah 8.
"R & R" usually means "Rest and Relaxation." In the military, R&R is what exhausted troops need to recuperate from battle. Christians need R & R, too! However, the R & R that most Christians need is not rest and relaxation, but rather, Revival and Renewal!
Contrary to the popular idea, the terms "revival and renewal" do not refer to a special series of evangelistic meetings held in a church or stadium. Revival and renewal actually refers to movements of the Spirit of God among God's people. Revival and renewal is not only something that most Christians need, it is something Christians can have - if they want it!
Can revival and renewal be "programmed" by God's people? Isn't R & R determined exclusively by the sovereign will of God? Certainly revival and renewal are under the sovereign will of God (like everything else), but God's people can choose to have revival and renewal. Yes, R & R among God's people can be "programmed" if God's people are willing - and they really desire to be revived and renewed!
At this point we need to distinguish between these terms: "awakenings" and "revivals" and "renewals." An “awakening” is a movement of the Spirit of God within the ranks of the unsaved, by which unbelievers are brought to salvation in Jesus Christ. A “revival” or “renewal” is a movement of the Spirit of God within believers, through which those who are saved are motivated to recommit themselves wholeheartedly to the Lordship of Christ.
Awakening An awakening generally involves large numbers of conversions as it sweeps across a large segment of the population. The "where and when" of an awakening is determined in the sovereign counsels of God. Certainly prayer and preaching go into the making of an awakening, but we cannot plan and program an awakening.
America has experienced two great awakenings in her 200 year history as a nation, and perhaps by God's grace we will experience a third. How wonderful it would be to see our nation experience an outpouring of the Spirit of God and see massive numbers of conversions among those who are living pagan lifestyles! While we can pray and prepare for another great awakening, we cannot program it. God sets the time and place.
Revival or Renewal By contrast, a revival or renewal among God's people may be large or small. It may cross denominational lines. It may affect a large portion of the body of Christ, or it may be limited to a single church - or even an individual believer. And a revival or renewal among believers can be "programmed.” If God's people follow the principles for revival and renewal that are set forth in God's Word, it will happen! Regardless of whether it is an individual, a family, a church, or numerous churches, God's blueprint for R & R among His people is clearly laid out in Scripture. When the blueprint is followed, revival and renewal will be the result.
God’s blueprint for R&R
God's blueprint for revival and renewal is found in Nehemiah 8. A high view of the Bible is always found at the center of revival and renewal. Revival centers around a reverence for, and obedience to, the Word of God. That has been true for all revivals, throughout Church history. It was clearly the case in the great revival in Judah during King Josiah's reign. (See 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35.) And, as we will see, it was demonstrated in the revival of God's people in Nehemiah's day.
R & R among believers has never taken place in the context of a careless or cavalier attitude to the Bible, or “it’s-just-one-good-book-among-many” view of the Word of God. Revival and renewal is always accompanied by an appreciation of the Bible as unique - the only inspired words of the living God.
Nehemiah 8 records the revival and renewal of God's people that took place at the time of the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. These events happened in the 5th century BC, near the close of the Old Testament history. The Jews had returned from their 70-year captivity in Babylon, and had been reestablished as a nation. The Temple, that was destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies conquered Jerusalem, had been rebuilt, through the motivating ministries of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. But the walls of Jerusalem remained in ruins. For almost 100 years after their return from exile the people were content to live next to the rubble of a ruined wall. But God did not want the city of His Temple to be vulnerable and defenseless. He wanted a strong wall around the His holy city, so He raised up Nehemiah to do the job.
Nehemiah, a Jewish cupbearer to the Persian King, Artaxerxes I, heard about the broken-down condition of the walls of Jerusalem, and he had a burning desire to do something about the situation (Nehemiah 1-2). In answer to Nehemiah’s fervent prayers, God moved in the king’s heart, and he granted Nehemiah permission to return to Jerusalem. Despite many obstacles and setbacks, under Nehemiah's leadership the entire wall was rebuilt in only 52 days! A truly remarkable accomplishment (Nehemiah 4-6)!
The commitment of the people to "Operation Jerusalem Wall" triggered the revival and renewal in Nehemiah 8. Getting involved in the work of the Lord, by the way, is an excellent way to trigger a revival in your own soul! If your spirit life is just "coasting" right now, and you sense the need for R & R, try getting involved in Christian service that will strengthen other believers. Wall-building-type projects and revival still go together!
Although the revival in the days of Nehemiah was stimulated by the rebuilding of the wall, this was not the real focus of the R & R. The heart and soul of the revival and renewal was the people's attitude towards the Word of God. This is God's blueprint and pattern for R & R today.
Appreciating God’s Word
In verses 1-8 we see the great appreciation that God's people had for the Bible. First of all, they suggested a public reading of the Scriptures (v1). Remember - this was long before the time of the printing press! Very few people owned scrolls of Scripture, so the people gathered together in a public place to listen to Ezra the scribe read aloud from the Word of God. Ezra was Nehemiah's contemporary, and God greatly used him to lay the groundwork for the revival, and to bring about reform in the hearts of the people.
The fact that Ezra didn’t have to force the people to attend the public reading of Scripture shows their great appreciation of the Word of God. They requested Ezra to read the Law of God to them! And they listened attentively to it for at least 6 hours! When the Scriptures were opened, the people stood in honor the Word of God - and they may have remained standing for the whole time (v 5-7)! When was the last time we were so hungry for the Word of God listened intently to the reading of Scripture for six hours - while standing?! Some Christians have a difficult time paying attention to a 30 minute sermon, or even a brief devotional Bible reading. No wonder there's so little revival and renewal in ou lives and our churches! How much do we really appreciate the Bible?
Understanding God’s Word
The Scriptures were read - and they were also translated (v7-8). Why? Because the people understood Aramaic better than Hebrew. During the 70-year exile in Babylon, the people had largely lost the use of their native Hebrew tongue. They had begun to use the Aramaic language of their captors. Thus the Hebrew Scriptures had to be translated so that the people could understand. These Aramaic translations, incidentally, were the beginning of the oral tradition behind the written Targums that exist today - the Aramaic manuscripts of Old Testament Scriptures.
Besides being read and translated, the Scriptures were explained so the people would understand the meaning of God's Word (v8). Reading the Word of God is just the beginning. God gave His Word to be understood. Do you have a hard time understanding the teachings of the Bible? Try reading several translations and some good books to help you understand. If the Bible is not understood, there will be no revival. A desire to understand is the mark of a true appreciation of the Word of God. This kind of appreciation of the Bible is at the heart of R and R.
Responding to God’s Word
There was an appropriate response to the reading of the Bible (v9-12). Weeping! The people wept as God's Word brought them to a realization and conviction of their sins (v9). They realized how far short they came to meeting God's standards of holiness, and how badly they had neglected the ceremonial requirements of God's Law. They wept because of their failures and mixed-up priorities. Tears of repentance are always an appropriate response to hearing and understanding God's Word. In fact, without the response of weeping over our sins and shortcomings, there will be no revival and renewal.
But there was another response to the Word - joy and gladness! Ezra and Nehemiah told the people to stop crying - not because weeping was an inappropriate response to the Word of God, but because it was a day for joy and celebration! It was the first day of the seventh month, the Feast of Trumpets (v2). In the Jewish civil calendar, this was the beginning of the New Year, and it was to be a time of celebration before the Lord. According to the Law of God, the people were to send gifts to the poor, with thanksgiving and joy in their hearts for how the Lord had prospered and blessed them (v10-12).
Joy and celebration is our appropriate response when we understand the Scriptures. There's bound to be joy and gladness in the hearts of God's people when they really understand the extent of God's great love and care and provision for His people. Joy, celebration and praise will accompany revival and renewal! It's an essential part of God's pattern for R and R.
Obeying God’s Word
Appreciation, understanding and response to the Bible led to obedience (v13-18). Obedience to the Word is the hallmark of true revival and renewal. When the people learned God's requirements for the Feast of Tabernacles that was to be held later in the month, they immediately began to gather the tree branches to construct the leafy “booths” for the festival. Living for a week in these temporary dwellings vividly reminded the people of God's care for their ancestors during the forty years of traveling through the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land. The Feast of Tabernacles had not been celebrated in the proper way since the days of Joshua - almost 1000 years of negligence!
Perhaps some of the people did not completely understand all the reasons why God required that they cut tree branches and live in leafy "booths" for a week - but they obeyed anyway! Maybe some of the people thought that they could remember God's care for Israel in the wilderness just as well without building those "silly little lean-tos" - but they obeyed anyway! Some of the people may have even thought that cutting down so many tree branches would be destructive of the environment! But still they obeyed! And because they obeyed, God blessed them - and there was revival and renewal.
In the same way, we may not completely understand all the "why's" of God's commands - but we are to obey them anyway. In 2 Peter 3:16 we are reminded that the apostle Paul wrote "some things that are hard to understand." (Who wouldn't agree about that?!) The Scriptures about allowing ourselves to suffer financial loss rather than suing fellow-Christians in a court of law are in Paul's writings (1 Corinthians 6). The difficult Scriptures dealing with the distinct roles of men and women in the church are in Paul's writings (1 Corinthians 11 & 14, 1 Timothy 2). Easier to understand, but often hard to obey, are Paul's writings about how wrong it is for Christians to split up into cliques and factions in the local church (1 Corinthians 3). These may be hard-to-understand and difficult-to-obey Scriptures - but we must obey, because they are the words of God. If we really want God's blessing in our lives - we obey!
The centrality of Scripture continued to characterize the great revival and renewal of Nehemiah's day. Even when the people gathered together for worship and prayers of confession, they spent the first 3 hours in Bible study (9:3)! The centrality of Scripture is always the pattern of revival and renewal.
Appreciation, response and obedience to the Bible is God's blueprint for Revival and Renewal!
- Dave Reid