Rejoice Before the LORD

A whole city is crying. Thousands of men, women and children standing in a square, tears running down their faces. And their leaders are walking among them, saying: stop. Do not cry. Today is a day for joy.

It is about four hundred and fifty years before Jesus is born. The Jewish people have come back from exile in Babylon. Under Nehemiah's leadership they have just finished rebuilding the broken walls of Jerusalem. Now, in the seventh month of the year, everyone gathers in the square in front of the Water Gate. Ezra, a priest and scholar of God's law, stands on a high wooden platform. He opens the book of the law of Moses, and all the people stand up. From early morning until midday he reads, and the Levites move among the crowd explaining it, giving the sense, so everyone can understand.

And as they understand, they begin to weep. Perhaps they hear how often their ancestors broke God's commands. Perhaps they realise how far they have drifted, and why their nation fell into ruin and exile. The sound of crying spreads through the square. But Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and the Levites who are teaching say to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Don't mourn, nor weep.” Then Nehemiah says, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Don't be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

So the Levites calm everyone down. Hush, today is holy, do not be sad. And the people go away to eat and drink, to send food to those who have none, and to celebrate with great joy. Why? Because they had understood the words that were declared to them. God's word had not only shown them their failures. It had shown them that they were still his people, and he was still their God. Sorrow had its place. But on this day, joy was the right answer, and joy meant sharing.

The next day the family leaders, priests and Levites gather round Ezra to study the law more closely. And they find something written there. During the feast of the seventh month, the people of Israel are to live in booths, little shelters made of branches. So word goes out across the land. Go to the hills. Bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm and other leafy trees. And the people do. They build booths on their rooftops, in their courtyards, in the courts of God's house, in the squares by the Water Gate and the Gate of Ephraim. The whole city is green and leafy. The Bible says they had not done this in that way since the days of Joshua. And there was very great gladness. Day by day, for seven days, Ezra reads from the book of the law, and on the eighth day there is a solemn assembly.

The festival they celebrated is called Sukkot, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. The law in Leviticus told Israel to live in booths for seven days, to remember that God made their ancestors live in shelters when he brought them out of Egypt. Jewish families still keep Sukkot every autumn today, building a sukkah, a shelter with a roof of branches open to the sky, and eating their meals in it.

Rejoice before the Lord. You can read it in Nehemiah chapter eight, verses nine to eighteen. A day that began with tears ended with feasting, gifts for the hungry, and a city full of green shelters. At Christmas, Christians share their tables and send gifts to people who have nothing prepared, and remember that the joy of the Lord is their strength. So here is a question to carry with you. The people were told: the joy of the LORD is your strength. Who could you share your Christmas feast with, so they can be glad too?