Nehemiah 8:1–8

Bible Studies for Life 
Adjunct Professor of Biblical Perspectives, Samford University

Return to God’s Word

Nehemiah 8:1–8

Every Sunday at my church, two passages of Scripture are read, after which the rector proclaims, “This is the Word of the Lord.” Those of us in the congregation then respond, “Thanks be to God.” This rhythm has been part of my church life for as long as I can remember. It’s a reminder to me that these texts we read and affirm are not just words on a page. They are not molecules of black ink on white sheets of paper. Rather these words are living and active, as the writer to the Hebrews attests (Heb. 4:12). Moreover these words have taken on flesh in Jesus Christ (John 1:14) and, as a result, these words are to be fleshed within us as well (Heb. 4:12).

Be attentive to God’s Word. (1–4)

During the Second Temple Period (539 B.C.E–70 C.E.), the children of Israel are permitted to return home to Yehud. They are permitted to rebuild the ancient ruins. They are permitted to rebuild their relationships with each other. And they are permitted to rebuild their understanding of God and of what God wants from them through the words He spoke to their forebears long ago and through the leadership of the priest Ezra and the governor, Nehemiah. 

For the first time in a long time the words of God are physically written on scrolls that are available for the entire community. One of Ezra’s key functions within the community of Yehud was to read aloud God’s Word.

Respond to God’s Word with worship and obedience. (5–6)

The people’s response to the Word of the Lord is akin to the response to former leaders such as Moses and Joshua — “Amen.” For contemporary Christian believers, our “amen” or “thanks be to God” is at heart more than verbal affirmation. It is an “amen” that we live daily, gratitude for the Word of God in whatever form it happens to take. 

Theologians such as Eugene Peterson and Barbara Brown Taylor have both affirmed that God’s Word is not merely a thing “external” to us but is rather something that should alter how we live. Taylor said, “The whole purpose of the Bible, it seems to me, is to convince people to set the written Word down in order to become living words in the world for God’s sake. For me, this willing conversion of ink back to blood is the full substance of faith.”

The “thanks be to God” and the “amen” after the reading of the Word is an invitation not only to imbibe what we hear but to allow that Word to change us, to come with us on our journeys where our stories connect with God’s story. 

Similarly Peterson has said, “We are fond of saying that the Bible has all the answers. And that is certainly correct. … But the Bible also has all the questions, many of them we would just as soon were never asked of us, some of which we will spend the rest of our lives doing our best to dodge. The Bible is a most comforting book; it also a most discomfiting book.”

Study God’s Word to ensure your full understanding. (7–8)

Part of the reason we study God’s Word is to understand experientially and not only intellectually. When we do that, we may likely see that Peterson is correct — the Bible is discomfiting for many reasons, chief of which is that the Bible is not only a thing to be read but a thing that reads us. 

To come to a greater understanding of God’s Word is to come to a greater understanding of who we are in light of Jesus Christ.