HSS_2019_Q4_EP06

♪ theme music ♪

(Puia) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,

an in-depth, interactive study

of the Word of God.

We're glad you have joined us today

as we continue a series of studies

on Ezra and Nehemiah.

These two books were written

over 2,000 years ago,

but we have been learning in this series

that we have so many lessons to learn

from these two books

that have practical implications

for our lives today.

I'm glad you have joined us today,

and welcome to the team.

What a great study, isn't it?

We have been learning so much

from these two books, Ezra and Nehemiah,

and there are some more practical lessons

that we will be learning today.

And, of course, we're always excited

to receive letters from you all.

And today, we will be reading some letters

that we have received.

If you haven't written to us,

write to us at [e-mail].

Our first letter today is from Mario

who is an Indonesian living in China.

What global Hope Sabbath School members
we have, right?

Mario writes, "Greetings..."

(Team) Greetings.

(Puia) "...Hope Sabbath School
participants.

I am Mario from Indonesia

and currently working in Dali in China."

He says, "I'm really thankful
to all of you

for the way you interact in the study.

That gives me an example and encouragement

to keep learning and sharing

in my Sabbath School group discussion.

I watch Hope Sabbath School

during my lunch break at the office,

and it's so refreshing, joyful
and enlightening.

May God continue to bless you

in your ministry to Him."

What a powerful testimony from Mario,

listening to Hope Sabbath School

during lunch break in his work.

Thank you, Mario.

Our next letter is from Chimbule

who is from Zambia; we have

many Hope Sabbath School members
in Zambia.

Chimbule writes, "Hello,

Hope Sabbath School team."

(Team) Hello!

(Puia) I want to congratulate you

for the work you're doing.

I'm enjoying listening

to Hope Sabbath School.

The lessons are very powerful.

They really help me

to make right decisions."

Isn't that what Hope Sabbath School
is all about,

guiding us to make right decisions?

"You're a powerful team," what do we say?

(Team) Amen! Praise God.

(Puia) Praise God.

"May the heavenly Father above in Heaven

bless you abundantly.

Chimbule, from Zambia."

Well, Chimbule, thank you

for writing to us.

Our next letter is from John

who is from Florida in the United States.

Is there anyone from Florida here
on the team?

Or anyone who has been to Florida?

(Puia, Several Team Members) Yes.

(Puia) All right, John writes,

"I enjoy watching Hope Sabbath School.

I want that kind of relationship back.

I once had it, but have

fallen away from it.

I do love Jesus; I'm just

finding it difficult to get back
what I lost.

Please pray for me."

Well, John, we will be praying for you.

In fact, the letters that we receive

are forwarded to all

the Hope Sabbath School team members here,

and we do pray for the prayer requests
that we receive,

so we'll be praying for John.

Our next letter is from a donor couple

who are from the state of New york

in the United States.

They write, "Sir/Madam,

the services provided by Hope Channel

are valuable and necessary

in our present-day circumstances.

When we think of all the people

you have helped already

and the vast number

of people still in need,

we are grateful for your courage
and vision.

I hope this donation provides

at least a small amount of assistance

toward the continuation of your services."

Praise God; thank you.

And they included a gift amount
of 75 dollars.

(Team) Amen.

(Puia) Thank you for your support

financially and through prayer

for this donor-supported ministry,
Hope Channel.

Our next letter is from Cheelo;
I don't know

if I'm pronouncing it correctly.

Cheelo is a Zambian

who is living in China.

Cheelo writes, "Greetings brethren."

What do we say?

(Team) Greetings!

(Puia) "I sincerely thank God
for the initiative

of Hope Sabbath School program
in our church.

As for me, I have never

attended any class lesson

such as this one, since my departure

from my home country, Zambia,

in the year 2017.

The city where I am has literally

no church where I can worship from;

hence, I always rejoice whenever I receive

the updated lesson discussion
from you guys,

as it uplifts me to the throne of God."

(Puia, Team) Amen.

(Puia) "I sit, following all

that is being discussed

as part of my worship routine.

God bless you and bless the entire

Seventh-day Adventist Church, too."
Praise God.

I believe that's all for today.

Thank you for your letters.

If you haven't written to us,

once again, you can write to us,

or, please write to us,

at [e-mail].

We love to hear from you.

And also, as always,

before we begin our study,

we love to sing a Scripture song.

And today we'll be singing

the song from Psalm 25.

And if you haven't learned the song,

you can go to our website,

hopetv.org/hopess,

and you can find the song there,

and you can download it.

And you can learn and join us

as we sing this Scripture song.

♪ music ♪

(Puia) What a powerful song,

a song taken directly out of Scripture.

And today, as we continue our study,

I'm sure that God will bless us.

But before we begin, let us pray.

Father God in Heaven, we come to You

in the name of Jesus,

and we thank You for this opportunity

to study Your Word.

Lord, we pray for the presence

of the Holy Spirit to be with us.

We pray, not just for the Hope
Sabbath School team members

here in the studio,

but we pray for the Hope Sabbath School
members around the world.

Lord, wherever it is

that they are watching this from,

please be with them as well.

And help us all to learn

something new today,

what You want us to learn.

We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Puia) All right, we're now

on lesson number six of this series,

and the title of our study today

is The Reading of the Word of God.

It's going to be a powerful study,

I'm sure, because this series

has been full of practical lessons

that we can learn and apply

in our daily lives.

And up to this point in our study,

just to summarize and give

the context of our study,

we've been looking

at the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

And we have been following

the story of what?

What has been happening?

(Team) Rebuilding the temple, the walls.

(Puia) Right, the rebuilding

of the wall of Jerusalem.

Just to give us the context

of where we are now before we study,

let us read Nehemiah, chapter 6,

verses 15 to 16, and, Stephanie,

if you can start off our study
by reading that,

then we will get right into our study.

(Stephanie) All right, and I'll be reading

from the King James Version:

(Puia) What stands out for you there?

The wall has been finished.

Did anything come to your mind?
Yes, Stephanie.

(Stephanie) The reason

the wall was finished

was because it was God's work,

and nothing that He

puts His hand to do will fail.

(Puia) Powerful. Jason?

(Jason) And even the enemies noticed it,

and they were afraid

because they saw that God had done this.

(Puia) Right. So, in other words,

one can tell that the task

that they had accomplished

was something extraordinary

or something that takes a miracle, right?

They faced many oppositions

from many different sides.

Remember in the previous study

we learned that they had to build the wall

at the same time as fighting
off the enemies.

So, after the wall was

finished being built,

the people were amazed,

even people who did not

really support them at first,

knowing that they are with God,

and God is with them.

How powerful is that?

So, with that understanding,

the wall had been built.

Now, the question is, what happens, right?

What happens after they

have accomplished the goal

that they had set for themselves,

or God has called them to?

All right, let's look at Nehemiah,

chapter 7, verse 73;

let's read until chapter 8 verse 1.

And, Travis, if you can read that for us,

Nehemiah, chapter 7, verse 73,

and on to chapter 8, verse 1.

And we will look at what happens

after the wall was finished.

(Travis) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) All right, so here in this text,

we see that it starts off by saying

that when the seventh month came.

What's so significant

about the seventh month

in the Jewish calendar? Yes, Pedro.

(Pedro) The seventh month,

according to the Feast of Tabernacles,
is Yom Kippur.

The Feast of Tabernacles

is when the people come together

to worship God for this wonderful event

that God has put on this timeline

of history of salvation.

(Puia) Yes. Yes, Travis.

(Travis) This was a time of the trumpets,

and, as Pedro had mentioned,

the Yom Kippur, which is

the Day of Atonement

and also the Feast of Tabernacles.

And this was a time of reconciliation,

a time of gathering together,

a time of coming together

and getting oneself right with God,

a Day of Atonement, being at one with God.

And the Feast of Tabernacles

pointed forward to a day

when the tabernacle of God, Jesus,

would dwell with man on Earth.

(Puia) Powerful, right?

So the seventh month

in the Jewish calendar has so many events,

or we could say the most important events

in their whole year calendar.

So, when the seventh month came,

what did they request to Ezra?

What did it say? Nancy.

(Nancy) That the Book of the Law
be brought to them.

(Puia) That the Book of the Law

be brought to them.

All right, so, let's look at what happens

when the Book of the Law

was brought to them.

And we just read chapter 8, verse 1,

and they requested that, right?

So the question then is,

before we get on to that part,

but the question is why? Yes, Travis.

(Travis) I wanted to make a point

before we get into this, too,

that the Book of the Law,

sometimes we think,

"Oh, it's the Ten Commandments,"

But the Book of the Law is the Torah.

Often we think that when the law
is mentioned

that it's always maybe

the Ten Commandments,

but this is talking about the Torah,

the first five books of the Bible,

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,

Numbers and Deuteronomy.

(Puia) So, the Book of the Law

can be understood as the book

that Moses wrote, then, right,

the first five books of Moses.

The question then is:

Why did they request that?

So, imagine this in that context:

they just finished building the wall,

and the enemies have been defeated,

and the enemies are afraid of them.

They could be celebrating, right?

They could be throwing parties,

but they requested that the Book

of the Law be brought to them.

But before we answer that,

let's read a verse from Deuteronomy,

chapter 31, verses 9 to 13.

And, Gary, if you have that,

please read for us Deuteronomy,

chapter 31, verses 9 to 13.

And we'll answer the question,

why did they request this?

(Gary) Okay, I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Deuteronomy 31:9-13:

(Puia) So, with that verse

that we just read from Deuteronomy,

the question now is,

why did they request that? Yes, Jonathan.

(Jonathan) It seems like

they were instructed to.

I wonder if it wasn't

actually the Book of Deuteronomy

that was read, at least in initial part,

just because, I mean, there are

a lot of things in here

that really capture the whole story

of what they'd been going through,

especially, like, I think it's near
the end of the book,

it's like this is the story
that they've lived.

And now they're experiencing

exactly God's promises coming true

with them coming back to this land
that He had promised

to bring them back to.

(Puia) Right. Travis.

(Travis) This is a time

of reformation and restoration.

You read a letter from somebody earlier

who said, "I just want to have it back

the way that it was before."

I think the children of Israel here

are, like, "The wall is built;

the temple is built;

we just want to worship our God.

We want the relationship with God

that we had before.

Bring the Torah out; teach us again

what God has instructed us to do

that we may be safe in His hands."

(Puia) Thank you. Pedro.

(Pedro) Well, we see here

that they saw that God

had made a miracle.

Even the people outside saw that

there was a miracle of God

for what had happened.

And God is moving through them.

I believe, when God comes,

comes into our hearts,

He leads us to His Word.

And that's what's happening here.

They were so moved by the Spirit;

the Spirit always brings us

to the Word of God.

(Puia) Powerful. I want to go back

to what Jonathan pointed out.

I believe the Book of the Law for them

at that time was more

than just the Book of the Law.

It was their history;

it was their identity, right?

By reading the Book of the Law

on how God has guided them in the past,

they can have the confidence

for the future, right?

Yes, Jonathan, you're smiling.

(Jonathan) It strikes me, like,

I wish we had time to read some of it

because it's just fascinating.

Near the end of Deuteronomy,

it goes through and says

all the things that happened to them,

that you can see.

I mean, they're going to have prophets,

they're going to have these things.

God's going to do everything,

but they're going to turn away.

And so this whole prophecy came true,

and now they can look back and see

how faithful God was

and how now He's brought them back.

And He's going to continue with them.

(Puia) Powerful, powerful. Thank you.

Let's read verse 2 of chapter 8,
the same chapter.

Malaina, if you can please read for us

chapter 8, verse 2.

(Malaina) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Nehemiah, chapter 8, verse 2:

(Puia) So, the question now is,

what is the significance of people,

all who could understand,
gathering together?

In fact, if we went back, in verse 1,

from verse 1 we can understand

that they gathered together

as one, right, as one man, in fact.

What was the significance

of gathering together?

Yes, Stephanie and then Jason.

(Stephanie) I think what it shows me

is that God wants both men and women

to understand the Word of God

and to know it for themselves.

and that's what strikes me there
as the significance.

He's wanting everyone

to understand His Word.

(Puia) Thank you. Jason.

(Jason) For me, I look at the history
and context here.

Leading up to this point,

Nehemiah has dealt with a lot

of division and opposition.

There have been some people

who are on one side

and some people who are on another side,

and there were even situations

where the leaders of the people

were taking interest from them.

And so it's kind of interesting

that now they've all come together.

They've all united, and they've united,

not for a party or celebration
as we referenced,

but they're united to hear

the Book of the Law.

So they're finally spiritually starting

to come together in some type of unity.

(Puia) Thank you. Travis.

(Travis) I'd like to include the children.

We know we have children

watching Hope Sabbath School,

and this was for the children, too.

It said "all who had understanding,"

so there were probably 8-year-olds,

or maybe even 6-year-olds;

they're real smart, too.

So this was for everybody.

It was inclusive, as Stephanie had said.

God loves children, too;
they were included.

(Puia) Right. Powerful.

Nicole, can you please read for us

verse 3 of chapter 8, the same chapter,

and let's see how the story continues.

(Nicole) The Christian Standard Bible
says:

(Puia) So, Travis already pointed out

that this Book of the Law

is not just about the Ten Commandments,

but how long did they read?

(Team) Hours.

(Puia) Yes, from morning until noon.

And what was the attitude
of the listeners?

(Puia, Team) Attentive.

(Puia) Can you imagine that setting?

What about Earth's church today, right?
Yes, Pedro.

(Pedro) That puts them in perspective.

I was talking to a friend this week.

They were attentive

from break of the day to noon,

and sometimes, you know, we go to church -

I myself am as guilty of this process -

and we cannot hold ourselves

to 45 minutes of preaching

or even two hours of service.

When we are drawn by God's Word,

we are hearers of God's Word.

(Puia) That's powerful. Yes, Gary.

(Gary) It reminds me

of in the New Testament

when Jesus had His sermons
or His meetings;

they'd last for hours and days even.

And they would say, "Oh, well, let's see

what we can do for them

because it's been so long," right?

(Puia) Let's continue the story

and read verses 4 through 6,

and let's see how the story continues.

Jason, can you please read for us

Nehemiah, chapter 8, verses 4 to 6.

(Jason) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Nehemiah, chapter 8, verse 4 through 6:

(Puia) What a powerful scene.

Can you imagine yourself in that setting?

Imagine, they were taken captive
to Babylon,

and they came back,

and they had finished building

the wall once again.

And finally now, they can listen

to the Word of God once again,

and they're shouting, "Amen! Amen!"

What a powerful scene. Pedro.

(Pedro) When I see this imagery here,

I cannot help but notice

that this is a heavenly scene.

And sometimes we've lost that sense

of blessing of hearing the Word of God.

They were celebrating

because now God is with them.

They were restored back to what God

originally had purposed for them there.

They were hearing from God's Word,

and they were worshiping Him.

I'd say this is a celebration moment,

and I see the words of Revelation,

when Jesus comes with all glory,

and every knee shall bow and honor God.

We'll be celebrating God is here.

We're going to be able to hear His voice,

and I believe that we can hear His voice.

That's what I think Nehemiah
is telling here,

is in the Word of God you can hear today

so you can have a blessing

of audibly hearing tomorrow.

(Puia) Powerful. Yes, Jonathan.

(Jonathan) I think we can have

some of that now, before then.

I mean, we all have gone astray in ways,

and, you know, maybe not
paid attention to God's Law.

And I think God wants

to bring about this same type of revival

where He works on our hearts

and allows us as a church,

maybe us as a family or whatever,

to come together and to have...

I mean, for how many years

they had rejected all these prophets,

and they had gone astray

in all these different ways.

And here the people's hearts

have been prepared,

and they're ready to fully follow

and listen to everything,

and they seem like they're obeying it,

or they're willing to be rebuked.

And just, if we could have

that heart as a church, as a family,

to fully follow Him,

that would be a beautiful picture.

(Puia) Beautiful. You mentioned a point

about listening attentively, right?

The question is, why is it so important

to listen attentively?

Is there any other way of listening?

You see, they paid all
their 100% of attention

to the words being read.

And we heard many names, right?

I think 13 names that Jason read,

some of them were

pretty difficult to pronounce,

but thank you, Jason.

So the question is, how did

those 13 individuals assist Ezra
in that process,

in that whole worship service,

if we may call it. Yes, Travis.

(Travis) Well, as the Hebrew people,

the Israelite people, came back together,

they had mixed marriages

and had married within the heathen,

and now they're brought back together,

so they're not all speaking Hebrew.

So these men helped translate

the Word of God, the Law,

the Books of Moses that were written,

they helped translate them

so that they could all understand.

(Puia) Yes, Jonathan.

(Jonathan) I would question

whether that's this verse

or the one coming up in a little bit.

Are these guys saying anything?

I thought they were just standing there.

(Puia) Anyone want to clarify that?

(Heide) Yeah, you're correct;

it's about to say it.

(Jonathan) I think a different group.

I think these were just standing there.

(Travis) Oh, maybe I...I could
stand corrected.

(Puia) I believe they were

divided into two groups.

It seems like the first group

did help in the reading,

and we'll go on to the second group,

which Travis mentioned,

which helped interpreting, right?
Yes, Jason.

(Jason) Also, is it possible,

because these are a bunch of scrolls,

that they could be assisting
in the process

of bringing the physical items,

and, you know, there's a platform

that's been prepared.

And I'm guessing Ezra

didn't do this all by himself.

So there's clearly assistance

in the process, either way,

with the whole presentation.

So we know that they're assisting

in some different levels.

(Puia) Thank you. Stephanie.

(Stephanie) I just look

at this worship service.

You know, they stand up to read,

and all the people -

when the Word of God is read -

all the people stood up,

just this reverence for the Word of God

and their passion that is shown here.

They lift up their hands, they say,

"Amen! Amen!" bowing their heads,

and they worshiped God.

And I guess what came to my mind is,

do we have that kind of a worship service

in the sense of our reverence

for the Word of God

and our passion and love for it,

that we could listen,

as Pedro says, we have a hard time,

45 minutes, sometimes two hours,

but that we could listen and just absorb

the Word of God with such joy
and excitement?

(Puia) Pedro.

(Pedro) I think Stephanie

kind of took a little bit of my thunder

of what I was going to say,

but that's what I see,

is a worship service.

And it is important that they were

so eager to hear, I believe,

because they know

where they're coming from.

They know their situation.

We spoke previously

of their condition before,

and they know where God brought them,

the grace of God that came
upon their lives.

And now they know

the condition they're in now
because of God.

And I believe, you know, as a team here,

and those that are seeing us online,
we're a family.

We're here because we love each other.

We're taking time, we're spending

a good time studying the Word of God

because, first, we love God,

and we want to hear from Him.

And, second, we enjoy the fellowship

because we all have been blessed

through the grace of God.

(Puia) Powerful. So, is there any verse

that comes to your mind

when it comes to the importance

of listening to the Word of God

or studying the Word of God?

Is there any verse that comes to your mind

that you'd like to share

with the rest of the group or to the rest

of the Hope Sabbath School members

around the world?

Any verse? Stephanie. Oh, Ranela, yes.

(Ranela) Psalm chapter 1 is one
that I really love.

Psalm chapter 1, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

verses 1 and 2; it says:

And if I could just say something.

It kind of goes with a thought
I had before

when we were talking

about why don't we have that great love

and that great excitement

and attentiveness to God's Word?

And in verse 1 here it says,

"Blessed is the man who doesn't walk

in the counsel of the ungodly,

doesn't stand in the path of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of the scornful."

I think for myself personally,

sometimes I find my love

for God and His Word waning

when my thoughts are so focused

on the world and the things of the world.

It really is a trap of the enemy

to pull away your heart

from the things that really matter.

And so you have, you know, times

where the Word seems dry,

and especially sometimes

those of us living in America,

we don't sense our need.

We're so caught up

with everything that's happening,

the busy-ness, everything

that's happening in the world.

But these people and their
worship service,

they sense their need.

And that's always the question,

"God, how can I sense my need more
of Your Word?"

And I think there's obviously

a blessing here as we delight
in God's Word.

(Puia) Yes. Pedro.

(Pedro) I want to read a verse here.

This verse basically fits

very well with this context.

It's Revelation 22:14.

(Puia) Revelation?

(Pedro) Yes, 22:14.

(Puia) Can you give us a minute
to find that?

(Pedro) Yes.

(Puia) Revelation, chapter 22.

(Pedro) The book is already giving

a blessing for those who read and hear

and keep the words of the books

of the Bible, the Word of God,

but here there's a blessing.

And I think that's the blessing

that they are receiving

and also the blessing

that God wants to give us.

I'll be reading from the New
King James Version,

Revelation 22, verse 14; it says:

We see here that they are in the City;

they're receiving the blessing.

And we can see that they

were faithful to God.

They received the blessing of hearing

the commandments of God, the Law of God,

and they were able to take the joy.

And I think there's a blessing here;

we can also take this joy

if we hear the Word of God.

(Puia) Right. Thank you.

If I may summarize your two verses.

It seems like, for people
who love the Lord,

following His commandments is what?

A delight, right? It's not a burden.

And you pointed out that verse

in Revelation about God bringing

those people who follow His commandments
into the city.

It does seem like there is a connection

between God's ultimate purpose in eternity

and His commandments, His Law, right?

It will be a group of people

who love the Lord and who don't

see His Laws as a burden but as a delight.

And I believe that attitude can only come

through a personal relationship with God.
Yes, Gary.

(Gary) One such verse

is in Psalm 19, verses 7 to 10.

(Puia) Psalm 19? Please give us

a moment to find that.

Psalm 19, verses?

(Gary) 7 to 10, I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

And just back to your point,

it's a delight, it's a joy,

it's sweet to our souls

when we follow and listen to His Word.

(Puia) And that verse, I believe,

pointed to the fact that

the Law of God changes us, right?

it changes our lives.

It turns us around.

So, in this context, in the story,

we're seeing now that the people

gather together to listen attentively

to the Word of God being read to them.

And they're standing up with reverence,

and they're saying, "Amen!"

And they're worshiping God

with their faces on the ground.

So, for our context today,

what are some practical ways

you have found to listen

to the Word of God attentively?

What has helped you

in your practical journey with God?
Yes, Evelyn.

(Evelyn) Nowadays, with technology,

it's so easy to access the Word of God.

I mean, we have applications

we can download on our phone

where the Bible is read aloud to us.

I have an app on my phone

that I can play when I'm driving,

and it's a dramatic reading of the Bible,

so it's like you can hear the voices

of different characters

reading certain parts,

and it's the most practical way,

I believe, to just hear
the Bible whenever.

(Puia) Amen. Yes, they do help.

In fact, I believe there's

a Bible app, right,

that anyone can download now,

and they have recorded a dramatic version

or different versions of the Bible

that you can listen

and just play from your phone

in different languages.

All right. Nancy, you had a hand up?

(Nancy) Yes, I was going to say that, too;

I listen on the way

as I'm dropping off my children to school.

But also, what's really helpful to me is

at work we have a little Bible study group

that meets, and we just go really deep

into verses, sometimes verses that we

don't normally study about in church,

things that you've kind of read through

and wondered about.

But we go deeply,

and it's been such a blessing to me

because we can see God's love

in everything, in every piece
of Scripture.

We've discovered passages

that have been transformational to me.

(Puia) Amen. Nicole.

(Nicole) I was going to tag
onto what Nancy said,

but I think small Bible studies
are very helpful

because you really get to explore

and talk about God's Word

in a way that you don't do, like,

in a large fellowship hall.

So, I actually agree with that.

I have a small group also
that I meet with,

and we go over - we pick one word,

and we talk about that word

and different texts that relate
to that word,

and it just gives you

a very different understanding

of the Word of God and how it all

just kind of comes together.

(Puia) Amen. That's a very practical way

of learning the Word. Yes, Travis.

(Travis) I think, too, is,

when we're reading,

is to be attentive to what we're
reading, too.

We just read that they were

attentive to listen.

And so, when we're reading the Bible,

we need to be attentive and realize

these are the words of God speaking to us.

So we can ask God,

"What are You trying to tell me today?"

when we're reading,

and be attentive to it.

Maybe take a couple verses at a time

and say, "God, what are You

really trying to show me?"

Listen for His voice,

"What are You trying to tell me, God?"

(Puia) That's a good question
to ask, right?

Instead of simply just reading it through,

ask the question, "What are You

trying to tell me, God?"

Yes, Stephanie, another way.

(Stephanie) I know, for me,

I like to study my Bible now,

and I say now because there was a time

in my life that I had no interest

in studying the Bible.

It was boring to me.

And what I discovered was

one of the reasons was because I was

using other forms of entertainment

that took me or fed a different nature
in my life,

and so it was distasteful to me.

But when I changed the way

I fed my eyes and my ears,

what I listen to for music
and what I read,

then the Bible came alive.

And it was something that I savored.

So I think even before that,

we need to start feeding the new man

that we might be, I think,

as you were saying,

that we might have that taste
for God's Word.

(Puia) That's powerful.

Let's continue our story here

and read Nehemiah,

chapter 8, verses 7 and 8,

and we'll see another group of people

who helped in this worship service

that we found in the previous verses.

Jason, if you can read for us

Nehemiah, chapter 8, verses 7 and 8.

(Jason) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Nehemiah, chapter 8, verses 7 and 8:

(Puia) Amen. Travis, you pointed out

the function of this group earlier.

Can you repeat that quickly?

(Travis) Yeah, and I guess the reason

I thought it was linked to the other group

was because it said "also."

So, "also" implies that the other group

was also sharing with this...

(Puia) Maybe they were all
in the same group.

(Travis) Yeah, that's what I was thinking;

they were all in the same group
because when it said "also,"

I thought, well, they're connected
with this group sharing.

But because the languages

weren't all the same

because they were marrying, prior to this,

prior to going into captivity,

they were marrying with heathens,

and some of them had been left behind

and married into, you know,

maybe with the Ammonites

or the Perizzites, or, it's hard

for me to pronounce some of the names.

But they'd married, and so there were
different languages,

but they still yearned

to hear the Word of God,

and it needed to be explained to them.

(Puia) Thank you. Jonathan.

(Jonathan) I just want to point out

that I think it was more

than just translation.

I think it was also kind of...

I mean, when we hear things,

we have to understand

what does that mean.

Like, how does that apply to my life?

And so it seems like there was
some of that going on.

It was almost like a miniature Bible study

going on where they're like...

while the people were standing,

instructing them in the Law

that they might understand it.

So it was kind of this,

"Do you understand that?"

"Do you understand?"

And giving application, "This goes here."

So it was this in-depth, interactive
Bible study

of the Word of God.

(Puia) I see what you did there.
Yes, Heide.

(Heide) ... after years of maybe

not having seen this book at all

or heard from it at all.

(Puia) Powerful. So we see

two groups of people

assisting in this worship service, right?

One group was helping with the reading.

It said, we read that they read

from morning until noon, right?

For one person to read

the whole Books of Moses,

it might have been a little bit difficult.

As Jason pointed out, they were scrolls,

so they probably needed someone

to help them carry it

and another group helping

to explain, translate.

This is a worship service,

letting people understand.

Nancy, you had your hand up.

(Nancy) It doesn't say this here,

but I have the sense that they

broke them up into smaller groups

and had smaller studies

so that you could go deeper and explain.

They had so many teachers.

And also, I wondered,

when there's such a huge group of people,

they didn't have microphones back then,

so I can't imagine one person

standing up here to thousands of people

and being heard

unless supernaturally they were.

But I just think that maybe

they broke into smaller groups.

(Puia) Maybe, we may never know,

but I believe it is, indeed, possible.

Jonathan pointed out that it is important

for us not to only listen

but to also understand.

Pedro, you want to comment on that?

(Pedro) I want to mention something here.

It's the understanding; it's important,

and I think I want

to make an illustration here

because if we don't pay attention,

we might overlook a couple of things.

I see two names here

that are very familiar

that came to my attention

as I was reading it,

even though sometimes

we overlook those names.

And I see Azariah and also I see Mishael,

and I was like, oh, the only thing

that's missing is Hananiah.

We can come to the assumption

that it might be them,

but we know, well, it's too long

of a timeline for them

to be living at this time.

It might be their sons,

could they not maybe take their names.

So, when we come to the Word of God,

it's asking the question and analyzing it

and seeing that it comes alive

and becomes a story that you
can relate to.

Well, it might be the sons

of Azariah and Mishael that were captive.

Now they're worshiping the God of Heaven.

And I can be also, one day,

with my sons and daughters in Heaven

and my family, worshiping

the God of Heaven.

(Puia) Amen. So we see here

Ezra delegating the roles, right,

to help him in this ministry.

So why did Ezra do that?

He was able to read it by himself, right?

Did he need the help,

or why did he delegate

the roles for that ministry? Ranela?

(Ranela) I think the same,

what happened then is true for us today,

and that is that we are

in a place of all believers,

and it's important for every single person

to be able to understand

how to teach others as well.

And so I think, probably when Ezra

was delegating this responsibility,

obviously he couldn't do it all
on his own.

I mean, you need that help.

But it's also for the benefit

of those that were helping

and being able to share.

You know, like you're doing right now,

and all of us are contributing right now.

Being a part of sharing God's Word

is so important

for our own spiritual growth.

And it's one of, just, the secrets

of being able to continue
to grow spiritually.

(Puia) Yes, thank you. Heide?

(Heide) Just really quickly.

I learn from this.

Sometimes in sermons,

and they vary from one church to another,

but sometimes it seems like

they've become almost a way

to try to entertain people

or tell them what they want to hear.

You know what I mean?

And here I see what God truly intends

is just the simplicity

of going into His Word and that's it,

and understanding it,

and that's all that the focus should be.

(Puia) Thank you.

The next question I want to ask is,

in your personal study of the Word of God,

who has helped you to fully understand

or to better understand

the Word of God? Jonathan.

(Jonathan) The person that leads

the Bible study that Nancy mentioned,

it's a friend of mine, he's actually

been on this show,

but he has studied the Word of God deeply,

and there are so many things,

that, because of his

in-depth personal study,

he comes back with things

that he's mined out

that have greatly transformed my life.

And so I've very much appreciated

how much he has invested

and continues to invest in all of us

that come to his Bible study

and in his own personal time

that you see in his own life.

But also there are things,

that when you mine out God's Word,

that gems come out that can have

a great transformation on someone else.

(Puia) Thank you.

Can somebody share an experience

when someone explained the Word,

it could be in that context

as well as in a Bible study setting

or another context, when someone

explained something to you,

and your understanding

of the Word of God changed dramatically?

Has anyone had any experience

in that kind of way? Yes, Ranela?

(Ranela) I grew up in the church,

but when I was around 16

I joined a program where we were

sharing God's Word, going door to door.

And my leader, his name is Taj Pacleb,

I remember him giving

Bible studies every morning.

And even though I grew up in the church,

my understanding of God's character

wasn't fully there.

And so, as he would break down

different parts of the Bible

in the Gospels and even in Revelation,

I remember sitting there just crying

because my understanding of God

was just much more opened,

and God became to me

a God I could love,

and Someone that I really understood

was not out to get me

and out to just condemn me all the time

but was on my side.

And, yeah, that was a beautiful experience

when I was a teenager.

(Puia) Thank you for sharing that.

I think you brought up an important point

that is, many people,

even among Christians who read the Bible

think that God is a God of judgment,

and that all He cares about is punishing

people who are not following

His commandments or laws.

But you pointed out

that by understanding the Scripture

in a correct manner,

we can understand that God

is actually a God of love, right?

And that changes our whole perspective

of God and the way we live our lives.
Yes, Nicole.

(Nicole) I have a girl friend

who, actually, when I was
in medical school,

took me under her wing

and did Bible studies with me,

and we went over the Gospels.

And I'll never forget her talking

about Jesus and the love of Jesus

and how that comes through in the Gospels,

and the need to know who He is.

And so that really just enhanced my life

and just really helped me

understand that God loves us.

He sent Jesus to us for that reason.

And every day it's like a,

"Thank You, Jesus, for coming to us,"

and that's shared in the Gospels.

(Puia) Amen. Thank you for sharing that.
Yes, Travis.

(Travis) I was just going to say

that even judgment is good news.

You know, Satan is the accuser
of the brethren,

and he's accusing people, day and night.

And Jesus says when He judges,

He's judging in favor of the saints.

So judgment is good news as well.

(Puia) And we don't need
to be afraid of judgment

if we have Jesus on our side. Jason.

(Jason) At a recent time,

I had some relationship counseling
with a pastor,

and he was going through Genesis,

the first part of Genesis,

and I'd heard the stories before.

I knew about Adam and Eve
and the creation.

I mean, I pretty much had it memorized.

But the pastor, because he understood

the Hebrew context

and understood what was happening,

he was able to show me a whole lot more

what my role is as a man in a relationship

from Genesis 1 and 2

and some of these first chapters.

So it was just fascinating to see

the Scriptures come alive in a way

that was so much more practical to me

and how I live my life

outside the church, if you will,

just in daily living.

(Puia) Thank you.

So we can say that this is teamwork.

We help each other better understand

what the Word of God is telling us.

Evelyn, can you continue our study

by reading Nehemiah, chapter 8, verse 9?

We will see here the response

from the people, now that they have heard

the Word of God being read to them.

So, what is the response

that they are giving or they are feeling?

(Evelyn) Nehemiah, chapter 8, verse 9,

and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) Wow. "All the people wept"?

Why did that happen?

Why did the people weep? Yes, Pedro.

(Pedro) Well, if you open

the Law of God and the Torah,

there are curses and blessings

that Moses proclaimed from God
at the mountain.

And when they saw, you know,

I believe that when he read the curses,

they could see, "That's why

those things happened.

It was not God trying to punish us,

it was just what we let

on our ways, over disobedience."

And also I believe I could weep

to see the love of God

come into my life and see

how gracious this God is

that's willing to forgive and forget,

to continue this relationship with me.

(Puia) Thank you. Jonathan.

(Jonathan) On that same point,

I remember reading

through Deuteronomy, I think it's 28

and 29, that section that's just touching

to hear exactly how clearly

God is kind of mourning and saying

that, "My people will turn...,"

He's not saying they will,
"but if you do,"

but they end up doing exactly.

So God had warned them

from the very beginning

to not go this way,

and they can see their history.

They can see all the ways

that their fathers have done.

And then they can see,

there's a text that says, like,

"When you are in another country,

you pray to Me, and you turn

your heart back to Me,

I will return you to your land,"

and all these things.

So, to me, that would be very touching

to see that as a promise.

Yeah, I hope that that promise

still applies today in a similar pattern.

God can take us back.

(Puia) I believe so.

And I also believe that they wept

because they were convicted

of their sins, right?

That's what the Holy Spirit does.

When we read the Word of God,

and when we study,

the Word of God tells us

of our shortcomings and our sins.

And the people were weeping

because they looked back on their history,

and they realized that they had

turned away from God so many times.

And looking at their story,

they understand that it was their sin,

and with the conviction.

And we will see how the leader
responded, right?

Before that, Ranela.

(Ranela) Oh, no. We're going

to keep going onto...I think

I'm getting ahead of myself.

(Puia) Can you please read
for us verse 10?

(Ranela) Sure, verse 10,

Nehemiah, chapter 8 and verse 10,

and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) Wow. So, in this story,

they're weeping because they

just heard the Word of God,

and they felt convicted

of their sinfulness,

and they are being sorrowful

with true repentance

in what the leader said.

(Ranela) I just love how he said,

"This day is holy to the Lord.

Do not mourn or weep.

Go out and do good."

And sometimes when you think

of that word "holy,"

we think, "Oh, I need to be

straight-faced and somber,"

but God is like, "Don't cry.

This day is holy to God.

You're supposed to be celebrating."

And I love that he's encouraging them

to celebrate what God is doing
in their lives.

(Puia) Yes. Yes, Pedro.

(Pedro) I like what Ranela said,

and I'd like to put it in a picture.

I don't know if you have seen

some broken relationships

where probably friends that stopped

talking to each other for something

that was not doing right.

But when they reconcile,

they were able to sort things out.

I see God reconciling to us.

We have done wrong to Him.

He says, "I forgive you,"

and we want to come back to Him,
and He reconciles.

Like the father who embraces his son

when he comes back from the world

as the Prodigal Son.

And I see this word "holy."

To understand that, you know, sometimes

we confuse the word "holy"

with other things that might not be.

We're to set apart and be separate.

It's something that is special.

Like, I would say my wedding day

is a holy day every year.

It's a day that I set apart;

I make it special.

God said it's His special day,

"It's a day that we reconnect fully.

My city is built; the walls are firm."

"We are recommitting ourselves
to You, God,

because we have heard Your Word,

and we want to follow."

(Puia) So, despite their shortcomings,

despite their sinfulness in the past,

the lesson that they are being taught here

is they can rejoice in the fact

that God has forgiven them of their sins.

It's a powerful message.

The Word was being read to them.

They heard it, they listened attentively,

and they understood it

with the help of the explanations

that they were offered.

And as a result, they felt

convicted of their sins,

and they wept, being sorrowful,

and that led them to true repentance.

And they were being told, "Rejoice,

for the joy," what did it say?

(Puia, Team) "...of the Lord
is your strength."

(Puia) Can anyone share an experience

where you experienced the joy in the Lord,

and it changes the way

you felt about your life

or how you lived your life? Anyone?

Any moment where in your life

you have experienced the joy of the Lord?
Yes, Jason.

(Jason) Well, for me, the joy of the Lord

personally comes a lot through music,

particularly...including

Scripture songs even,

because sometimes I can be

going through difficult times

or maybe I've gone through a struggle,

and I think of Scripture songs

or I think of spiritually uplifting music.

And whether I listen to that or sing that,

that just reminds me again

of God's goodness and His love,

and I can't help but be joyful

when I think about those things.

(Puia) Thank you.

Have you ever wondered

how we often pray as Christians?

Many of our prayers are

all about asking God.

Like, "God, give me this,"

"give me that," "give me this."

What if, instead of that,

we focus more on thanking God,

being joyful for what He already

blessed us with, right? Nicole.

(Nicole) It's interesting you said that
because just about two weeks ago,

I had my prayer partner,
and she told me

that I have to promise her that every day
I'm going to thank God

for what He's going to do for me
and stop the,

"Please do X, Y, Z," but just thank Him.

And that's actually changed
my outlook on the day

because now I'm thanking Him...

I'm looking forward to whatever

He's going to do for me,

and I'm thankful for that.

And so that's actually changed my outlook.

(Puia) Wow. Thank you.

I wish we had more time

to continue reading the story,

but in the end, we found that the people

actually wanted to learn more.

They came back the next day,

and they wanted to listen more.

That's what the Word of God does.

What a powerful study.

Thank you for joining us today.

We have learned that the people of God,

after coming back from captivity,

they would listen to the Word of God

being read to them.

And as a result, they felt

convicted of their sins,

and they repented, and God forgave them.

What a powerful study.

Let us pray that God will convict us

through His Word today once again,

and let us commit our lives,

to live our lives according to His will

in our personal walk with Him.

Let us pray; Father in Heaven,

thank You for the time that we had today.

We studied important practical lessons

that we can apply in our lives.

And most of all, Lord, we learned

that Your Word, the reading of Your Word,

the hearing of Your Word,

the understanding of Your Word,

can transform our lives.

Please speak to us through Your Word today

as we read Your Word.

We thank You; in Jesus' name we pray.

(Team) Amen.

(Puia) All right, what a powerful study
we had today.

Let us continue to read the Word of God,

study every single day,

and read and read and read.

And as we read more, we will see

the character of God more and more.

And as a result, that will

convict us of our sins.

And then it will lead us to repentance.

It is good news of God's forgiveness.

Let's not keep this to ourselves,

but share it with those around us.

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