Day 140. Nehemiah 8-10

So the people of Israel gather in the square before the Water Gate in expectation, and they are not disappointed. Ezra the scribe reads them "the book of the law of Moses"—the Torah or the Pentateuch (The Five Scrolls)—and "the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the Law" (8:3). And during the reading the Levites—we are given their names in our text—move among the people interpreting the text and applying it to their lives. Interpretation of the law is the traditional role of the Levites, together with seeing to that temple worship was conducted rightly and regularly (see Deut.33:10)—"they [give] the people the sense," we are told so that they can understand the reading (8:8).
The people are disposed to "mourn and weep" when they hear the law being read because of their shortcomings, but Nehemiah, the governor, and scribe impress upon them that this is a holy day, and that they should feast and rejoice, and not mourn. "Eat the fat and drink sweet wine," they are told, "and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (8:11). Joy is the proper response to the Word of God—we need to always remember that—and it is our duty to respond with rejoicing when God speaks to us. In our text the returned exiles rejoice because they understand the Law that is being read to them, and understanding brings joy.
The return from exile and the building of the second temple is a formative period for classical Judaism. Great feasts, like Passover, are being reintroduced and regularized after literally centuries of neglect. The celebration of the Feast of Booths—Succoth-- had been commanded by Moses in Lev. 23:33-43, and it is reinstated under the authority of Nehemiah to remind the people of Israel of the wilderness sojourn their ancestors took after escaping from Egypt, the time when the LORD gave them the Law. They are instructed to cut branches from the trees and construct temporary lean-tos and dwell in them for a period of seven days to remind them of the tents in which they lived during their journey to the Promised Land(8:14). (Modern Jews celebrate this feast in much the same way.) Succoth had apparently not been celebrated in Israel since the time of Joshua, but under Nehemiah's regime it is reinstituted, accompanied by the public reading of the Law of
Moses, "from the first day to last day" (8:18).
But after the rejoicing of Succoth comes a period of mourning and fasting with repentance for all of Israel, having received the Law but failing to keep it. "Those of Israelite descent" are commanded to separate "themselves from all foreigners," and to stand and confess "their [own] sins and the iniquities of their ancestors" (9:2). This inward repentance is to be accompanied by outward signs--fasting, wearing rough clothing, and putting dirt on their heads and bodies. As part of their contrition, Ezra leads the people in a long and very powerful recitation of God's gracious acts of love and faithfulness in choosing Abraham, in leading the people out of Egypt to the Land of Promise, and in giving them the law. The LORD is "gracious and merciful" to his people (9:17) —the words recall Exodus 34:6. There is an emphasis upon the giving of the Sabbath, which sets Israel apart from all the other nations (9:14). Sabbath observance becomes
very important in the second temple period; to observe the Sabbath rightly comes to define what it means to be a Jew.
But in response to all God's mighty acts of faithfulness, Israel falls short and fails to keep the covenant. The people refuse "to obey," and are not "mindful of the wonders [the LORD performs] among them" (9:17). There is rhythm established in Ezra's speech between recounting divine faithfulness and mercy and decrying Israel's unfaithfulness, their sin following upon the LORD's grace again and again over the centuries. The LORD is a "great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love" (9:32) who deals faithfully, while his people act wickedly in response to God's goodness (9:33). And the end result is the people's present situation—they are "slaves" of the Persians in their own land (9:36).
Following this ceremony of national confession, the leaders of the people led by Nehemiah (10:1) put their names to a "sealed document" in which they pledge to keep the covenant with the LORD. With an "oath and a curse" they promise not to intermarry with foreigners (10:30), to carefully observe the Sabbath each seventh day, to give the land its Sabbath and "forego the crops of the seventh year" in obedience (10:31), and "to forgive all debts in the seventh year," following the commands of Moses in Exodus 23:10-11 and 21:2-6. They further undertake to observe the feasts, the Sabbaths, and the appointed festivals (10:32), to supply wood to keep the altar burning (10:33), to redeem their first-born sons and give the first fruits of their herds and fields to the LORD (10:37), and give a tithe—one tenth—of all their income to the "the storeroom where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and where the priests that minister, and the
gatekeepers and the singers are," and not to neglect the house" of their God (10:39). In other words, they vow upon their very lives to respond to the grace and mercy of God by being observant Jews.
By the way, it is only after the exile in Babylon that the children of Israel are called "Jews."