Interpreters

      First of all, I would like to thank all of you who read this devotion and in your mind, make the necessary corrections for the words that are not spelled correctly or where letters are left out or arranged differently than they should be.  You are "interpreting" what I say and doing a pretty good job of it.  When I don't spell a word correct, a little red line appears.  That is helpful but it doesn't get all of them.  For example, "Tot he" is listed as being correct when it really should be "To the"  You have been very understanding and for that I thank you very much.  I try to get it right the first time, but sometimes it doesn't appear that I did too well.  In the days of Nehemiah, the people came back to Jerusalem after a captivity of about 70 years.  There was not a lot of time spent in reading God's Word during those 70 years.  If you leave the Bible out of your life for 70 years, you may have a problem remembering all that God wants you to do.  When they got back to Jerusalem, a copy of God's Word was found and Ezra the Scribe gathered them all together to hear what God had to say. Nehemiah 8:3 says, " And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law."  
        They stood when God's Word was read and they stood for the entire time of about three hours.  Others were present at this time to help explain what was being read.  Ezra read probably in Hebrew while the people were accustomed to the language of Babylon.  There were others who were there to give the sense of the word to the people.  They were like walking commentaries on the Word of God.  You may have times in your own life when you neglect the Word of God for a spell and you begin to forget the message of God.  In Ezra's day, this was a whole new generation unfamiliar with Hebrew and with God so they were learning something new and it was very important to them.  May we respect those who stood for over 3 hours to hear God's Word and then to begin to understand what it said to them.  Don't neglect the reading of the Bible in your own life.  It is easy to put off reading it until a more convenient time but you will find that the zeal for His Word begins to fade.  May we praise God today for His provision of His Word for our lives.  It will lead us to heaven and instruct us on the course of our lives.