Theme: Worship, the
History of Ezra
Nehemiah
8:5-6 “And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people); and
when he opened it, all the people stood up: And Ezra blessed the Lord, the
great God. All the people answered,
Amen, amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and
worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”
What
was it like in the Old Testament for the people of God to worship Him? There was a history that Samaria people were
influence by foreign people to add other gods to worship as well as their One
God. Having more idol gives them more
power to their worship. The idea had influence
Judah as well. Time after time God sent
prophets to warn them to not to add more idols for their worship at the same
time worshiping their one True God.
If
you would notice that the book of 2 Kings Chapter 25 ended with Judah being
carried away with captivity by the king of Babylon. During those 70 years of captivity, God was
with them. When 70 years had passed, God allowed the Israelites to return home and
Ezra led them.
Ezra
had renewed the books of 1st and 2nd Chronicles to bring
back the memory of God’s Covenant. It’s the similar stories from 1st
and 2nd Kings. Ezra had great love of God’s Word and he used the
Word of God as part of worship to listen to.
“When he opened it, all the people stood up: And Ezra blessed the Lord,
the great God. All the people answered,
Amen, amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”
That’s
one of the part of their worship custom, they stood up to respect Ezra’s
reading God’s Word. The people hearing
the Word of God was meant to bless them, to save their souls, enrich their
lives and to bless them richly as long they worship God first.
Today,
we hear the Pastor speak God’s Word or we, (Deaf) see the Pastor signs God’s
Word are part of our worship to Him. In our daily reading God’s Word is part of
our worship to Him. We show respect to
His Word. We honor Him. That’s part of
our worship to Him.
Jesus
said, “They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Reading God’s word is truth. Part of the worship
is reading the Bible, “The Truth.” May God really bless us when we read His
Word so richly and so freely, in Jesus’ name, amen!
Song
that I remember way back in Ohio Deaf Church that I heard one of children’s songs sang like this: Praise Him, Praise Him, all of God’s children, God is
love, God is love. Thank Him, Thank Him, all of God’s children, God is great,
God is great.
May
the Lord bless you as you worship Him and honor Him,
Dorothy
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