Nehemiah 8:13-18

< Back to Nehemiah Index


TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Obedience to the Word

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Obedience to the Word of God is the secret of joy and happiness.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Let’s obey the Word even though we way not have all the answers.

  2. Dads, you need to study the Bible more.

QUESTIONS

  1. What is known about the Feast of Tabernacles? Read Leviticus 23.39-42.

  2. How long had it been since the Israelites had celebrated this feast?

  3. What is the secret of joy, happiness, and gladness?

  4. How did the people of Nehemiah’s day find this secret?

  5. Are we responsible to obey the Bible even when we don’t understand it?

  6. Do you think that some of the people in Nehemiah’s day may have had questions about God’s commands, even though they obeyed them?

ANSWERS

  1. The Feast of Tabernacles is held in the seventh month, and lasts for seven days. It commemorates Israel’s forty years in the wilderness when God led, protected and provided for the Jews. Even today Jewish people set up lean-tos (booths) in their gardens or balconies, and some still live or eat in them for during the week-long festival.

  2. Since the days of Joshua – about 1,000 years.

  3. Obedience to God’s word (see Joshua 1:8).

  4. By obeying the Word of God exactly (see 2 Timothy 3:15-16). In this instance, they followed every detail concerning the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles.

  5. Yes, even as we are to obey the laws of the land, although we may not be aware of some of them, or when we disagree with them (see Romans 13:1-7).

  6. They probably had questions, but the bottom line was that they obeyed the word.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Has it been some time since your church participated in a revival? What is your personal experience with revival? Are you familiar with some of the revivals of recent centuries or of those currently happening in various parts of the world?

  2. Consider the roles, as outlined here, of fathers, husbands, and wives.

CHALLENGE

  1. How exact are you in obeying the Word of God? Do you take liberties with it when it doesn’t suit you?

KEY VERSES

  • “They gathered together that they might gain insight into the words of the Law.” Nehemiah 8:13