When God gave Moses the Law he included three special feasts to be held throughout the year. The Passover and Ingathering in the spring time and the tabernacles in the fall. The exiles had forgotten about the feast of tabernacles while they were in captivity. They did not keep the feast, nor did they pass on the truth of God’s deliverance and provision to their children. As Ezra read to them the Law in the seventh month the people realized that they were not keeping the feast. They were overwhelmed with sorrow because of the neglect of God’s Law that had been handed down to them. But Nehemiah and Ezra encouraged them not to dwell on their past failures but to rejoice in the deliverance and provisions that God was raining down on them in the present and the promises that he had laid out for the future. The message is equally true for Christians today. There is a time for godly sorrow and repentance. But after that we are to live in the celebration of the freedom that God has poured into us through Jesus Christ.
It took me about 15 minutes to read this passage; ten minutes for 8-9 and five minutes for chapter 10.
Stuart
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