Following another 6-hour church service, the people rediscovered their own history and religious traditions. We know that the Israelites had not kept the Law or observed the Sabbaths or festivals before the captivity, and can only imagine how much farther they had grown from him in the generations that had passed during the exile. It sounds as though they were hearing some of the Scriptures for the first time! They had no knowledge of the Festival of Shelters, put in place to commemorate their desert wanderings when they lived in tents. So after this spiritual renewal, they made vows to the Lord, to refuse marriage to non-Israelites, to offer a temple tax and to bring the firstfruits of their harvest as offerings, and to give a tithe off of everything they had.
Tomorrow's reading: Neh. 11:1-12:26; 1 Chron. 9:1-34
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