How did the people listen to the Law read by Ezra? (8:5-6) What did the Levites do while Ezra read? (8:7-8)

The people of Israel stood as Ezra read the Law for hours. This was to better hear the word, reverence God, and praise him. The Levites helped the people to understand what Ezra was reading.

What did Ezra, the Levites, and Nehemiah tell the people to do after they read the Law? Why? (8:9-12)

They told the people to not weep and grieve because this was a day to rejoice. They told them, to go eat and drink and to give food generously. Hearing the words of God means there is an appropriate time to grieve and a time to rejoice. According to Leviticus 23, this was a time to rest and enjoy God’s good gifts.

What feast did the people of Israel keep right after hearing God’s Law? What was the main point of the feast?

They kept the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles. This was to remind the people of the faithfulness of God, how he kept them alive in the wilderness and their time in exile. They were to remember that they were exiles and God brought them back home and into the promised land.

What did the people do 2-3 weeks later when the law was read again? Why did they pray back to God all the stories of the law?

They covered themselves in sackcloth and fasted and had dirt on their heads. This was a time for repenting, confessing sin, and grieving their sins and the sins of their fathers. They prayed all these things back to God to remember his mercy to them and to remember their own faithlessness. They were back in the land but it did not mean they weren’t still in exile.

What did the people sign and seal before the Levites? What was the purpose? (See Neh 10:39)

They sealed and signed the Mosaic Covenant to keep the commands of the Torah. Its purpose was so that they would remember to keep all of its commands especially not neglecting the Temple and the worship of God.

What are the 4 main problems still happening at the end of Nehemiah and how do they point us to our need for something or someone greater?

At the end of the book, we find out that even though they signed and sealed the covenant, they did not remain faithful to it. There were still people breaking the Sabbath, marrying foreign women, neglecting to give tithes to the Priests and Levites, and an ammonite living in the temple and staining its purity. All of this points us to a need for a new heart (Deut 30:6) and someone to come that will permanently cleanse, restore, and be faithful to keep all of God’s laws and love him with their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.

What does this teach us about God the Father and about his Son?

At the end of the book, we find out that even though they signed and sealed the covenant, they did not remain faithful to it. There were still people breaking the Sabbath, marrying foreign women, neglecting to give tithes to the Priests and Levites, and an ammonite living in the temple and staining its purity. All of this points us to a need for a new heart (Deut 30:6) and someone to come that will permanently cleanse, restore, and be faithful to keep all of God’s laws and love him with their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.