The Importance of Clarity

OT: Nehemiah 7-8
NT: Romans 10:5-17

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Nehemiah 7:73, 8:1-3, 7-8 — When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. The Levites ... instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

Have you ever felt like you were speaking into dead air, or as if there was a huge expanse of water between your mouth and the closest set of ears? How did that failure to communicate make you feel? When it came to the Law of Moses, it was easy for the people of Israel to fail to understand what all the rules and regulations meant. I mean, when was the last time you read through a legal or tax code and understood it perfectly? One of the first things Nehemiah did after the walls of Jerusalem were completed was to assemble the nation at the great city for the taking of a census and for a renewing of the Mosaic Covenant. It was important for the reassembled remnant of Israel to get off to an organized start after 70 years of exile and a few decades of resettling in the land. An organized start required two things: a census and a religious revival. So Nehemiah had Ezra the high priest read the Law of Moses for the people and then they ratified it.

This was no ordinary congregational activity. Ezra stood on a high platform above the thousands gathered at the temple and read the Law out loud. Levites were stationed at intervals to repeat what Ezra read tot he people. Consider it public address 101 for the ancient world. But the Levites did not just read word-for-word. No, they knew that this was the best opportunity to drive home what the Law meant. And so expository preaching was born. The Levites clarified (not changed) the Law so that the people understood it. They acted as official interpretors and brought clarity to the message Ezra read. You know, sometimes it is easy for believers to get caught up in speaking "churchese" or using biblical terminology in trying to teach or witness. In the process of using such jargon, we can easily confuse our audience. What is needed is clarity, for an explanation of the message, so that our hearers can better grasp the meaning. Clarity means everything when sharing the Gospel. The fewer stumbling blocks we place in the path of the hearer, the better response we will get.

Be God's.