Nehemiah 7-8 | The Power of Preaching and Reviving A Nation

Nehemiah is an amazing account of one of the great revivals in human history. The Jews had rebelled against God and been overcome by the Babylonians and been in captivity for many, many years.

True to form, God still had His hand on His people, and miraculously moved Cryus, the king, to return the people to their land, and also had allowed (later) Nehemiah to return and rebuild the walls, which was miraculously accomplished in 52 days.

Now the people came to the city to meet together as a nation. What do they do? They made a small, wooden platform and called the godliest one they knew, Ezra, along with other priests, to simply read the word of God and translate it to "give the sense so that they understood the reading" (Nehemiah 8:8). This is called PREACHING. (Notice it was not Nehemiah, the great administrative leader, who led this moment. It was Ezra the spiritual scribe. Both played their part. Both were essential to the beginning of nationwide revival.)

THE POWER OF THE WORD

What are the results when hungry, grateful people pay attention to biblical preaching?

Conviction

As the people realized how far away they had fallen they began to weep and mourn "For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law:" (8:9). They did this "because they understood the words which had been made known to them" (8:12).

We will never return to God as a people until we see our desperate need.

Correction

The people had not done what God desired. They immediately began to correct this, preparing to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This was a feast they were supposed to observe to remind them of what God had done for them in the exodus from Egypt to the Promised land.

God doesn’t merely want us to be convicted about our sin, but to change, to hear the words that will correct us. He wants us to take the steps necessary to return to Him fully.

Repentance

For the next seven days, as prescribed by God in the Word they had heard, they "stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth, they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God" (9:2-3).

Repentance is a profound, Spirit-wrought change of mind that leads to a deliberate return to God and His ways.

Covenant

Then, they wrote a fresh covenant to be faithful before God and the leaders signed it first, then all the people. It was a full, nationwide revival. Although we may not sign a covenant in seasons of revival, we are returning to the covenant with God. We are joining Him again in His agenda and purpose—which is always reaching people of every tongue, and tribe, and nation for His glory. We are worshiping Him and bringing people into a relationship with Christ so they can worship Him also.

Where did this all begin? The God-initiated, timely preaching of the Word of God! Never forget that God's Word is "like a hammer that shatters the rock." It is one of God's primary means to advance His kingdom and accomplish His purposes. We must never neglect nor minimize it. And we should put ourselves under the sound of true, Biblical preaching and bring others we love to do the same.

Father, thank You that You always want to bring us back. You long for us to return to You. You have our good and Your glory in mind. Thank You that You provide leaders to help us rebuild what has been lost and godly preachers who teach the Word of God, regardless of the cultural pressure. Help us to be true to Your Word. Help us listen attentively and respond aggressively so that our land may be brought back to You!