The Devices of the Devil (1561)

The Book of Nehemiah tells the story of the rebuilding of the fallen walls of Jerusalem. And at the end of the sixth chapter, the walls were completed. Despite the devil’s attempts to stop them, the people of God prevailed, and built as God instructed them. Nehemiah 7 begins: the job was completed. The people of God were secure, organized, housed, and fed.

But there was something that needed to be done inside these freshly restored city walls: building their community on the Word of God. God blessed His people with a real, genuine revival; one that was rooted in a hunger for the Word of God.

Nehemiah 8:1 says, "And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of the Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel."

There was a famine for the word of God. The people gathered and begged Ezra to preach to them. The revival came about by the hearing of the Word of God. Nehemiah 8:3 says, "And he read therein before the street that was, read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday." Adrian Rogers says, “These people were attentive, not time conscious. They had revival because they were not clock watchers.”

There was an honor given to the Word of God. Our greatest danger is indifference toward Scripture. If we believe the Bible to be true, we ought to honor it as these people did in Nehemiah 8.

There was a proper handling of Scripture. It’s not just enough to read the Bible; someone has to explain it. Preaching Scripture is reading a passage of scripture, then analyzing, organizing, illustrating, and applying it.

Finally, there was a heeding of the word of God. What took place when they began to heed to the word of God?

1. There was mourning over their own sin.
2. There was joy.
3. There was obedience.

A church that is built on the Word of God is one that obeys His commands.

Apply it to your life
Do you have a relationship with Jesus that is built on the Word of God? Until you know Jesus, you won’t understand His Word. And until you understand His Word, you will never truly live.