In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up”, and in chapter eight and verse six of Nehemiah, Nehemiah shared how, “Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God” where we read,
And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
The verse reads, “And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands:” Nehemiah began with the words, “and Ezra blessed the LORD” which means “and Ezra whose name means help and was the priest and scribe who led the reforms of the returned exiles in Jerusalem and co-worker with Nehemiah, praised, adored and saluted Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”, “the great God” or “the high, mighty and distinguished Supreme Deity”. “And all the people answered” which means “and each, every, the whole and everyone of the human beings responded and began to shout aloud”, “Amen, Amen” or “truly, truly or so be it , so be it”, “with lifting up their hands” which means “by the use of raising their, the people's, physical hands”. Nehemiah shared how “Ezra” began his discourse by giving praise and adoration to Jehovah God who is the Supreme Deity, and the people of Israel who were gathered shouted “so be it, so be it” while raising their “physical hands”
The verse continues, “and they bowed their heads, and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.” Nehemiah added the words, “and they bowed their heads” or “and they, the people of Israel, bent low and stooped their, the people of Israel's, physical heads”, “and worshiped the LORD” which means “and bowed down and prostrated themselves before Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”, “with their faces to the ground” or “having their physical faces bowed to the earth or arable land”. Nehemiah shared how the people of Israel lowered their heads and gave homage to Jehovah God with their faces bowed to the earth beneath them.
When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah how the people of Israel continued to respond to the “opening” of the “book of the law” by giving adoration and honor to the Supreme Deity Jehovah God. They shouted “so be it, so be it”, raised their hands, lowered their heads and gave honor to Jehovah God with their “faces” bent toward the earth. This was a wonderful way to respond to God's word, and anyone who truly discovers the glory of Jehovah God and His word will give honor, adoration and praise to Him. This Holy God gave His Only Begotten Son to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and He raised Him from the dead three days later so that when we yield our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us a holy reverence for His word and instruction for our lives.
Next time Nehemiah shares how the priests and Levites, “caused the people to understand the law”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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