1 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,240 You've tuned into a Haga church. We are people hungry to 2 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:11,240 encounter God through worship and His Word, being witnesses to 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:13,760 the world around us. We pray this teaching blesses 4 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:15,440 you and trust God will reveal Himself. 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,760 To you in a new way today and. If you need prayer for healing 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,680 or breakthrough, or to find out more about Omega, get to our 7 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:23,760 website or Facebook page through the links below. 8 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,160 I want to hear a shout of Hallelujah. 9 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:47,040 If you are excited about Nehemiah Chapter 8, how many of 10 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:51,600 you have read it? 1-2 Just two people. 11 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,000 Three. OK, maybe somebody give them the 12 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,360 chocolate. We will encourage them anyway 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:05,040 for putting effort to now to understand Chapter 8, we need to 14 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,000 understand the background and that will open our mind or 15 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:15,840 appreciate what's in Chapter 8. So let's look at the one of the 16 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:20,040 yeah, that's the one. Let's look at this timeline 17 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,760 here. You know, what has happened here 18 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,240 is basically because they neglected the law of God, 19 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,600 because they disobeyed God, because they indulged in 20 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:34,280 idolatry, because they lived sinful life, They have been sent 21 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,800 into captivity. They were sent into Babylon and 22 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:41,560 Astilians came and they took them away. 23 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:43,240 Then Babylonians came, took them away. 24 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:49,480 So now what is happening here is that in three different batches, 25 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,520 the people from the captivity returned to Jerusalem, to Judea 26 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,480 three different times. So the first time they came was, 27 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:02,920 I believe, first wave in 536 BC. The first wave of Jews returned 28 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:04,920 to Israel and begin to rebuild the Temple. 29 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:11,120 Now it took from 5:36 to 5:16. That's about 20 years it took to 30 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,120 rebuild the temple. In between, they were stopped. 31 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,040 In between they were opposed. But there were some prophets who 32 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,680 are encouraging them, Hey Guy and Zechariah, and they came 33 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:23,520 with the message to build the temple. 34 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:28,440 And ultimately they finished building the temple in 516 BC. 35 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:33,400 Temple construction is completed, but you don't find 36 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,360 that the nothing is done about the walls of Jerusalem. 37 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,840 Nothing is done about the gates of Jerusalem which have been 38 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:40,560 burned down, which have been pulled down. 39 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,600 Nothing is being said. So now what is interesting here 40 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:49,360 is you do not see that there is a connection between Ezra and 41 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,600 Nehemiah. Ezra came first, 14 years before 42 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:59,960 Nehemiah, and he is in Jerusalem teaching the law faithfully day 43 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:02,480 in and day out. Whoever wanted to learn, whoever 44 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:07,320 wanted to listen, Ezra was deeply committed to study the 45 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,400 Law and to teach it. Now when you look into the book 46 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,360 of Ezra, you will see all these. I think in particular, chapter 8 47 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:20,040 or somewhere he says his mission is to study the Law and to teach 48 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,400 it. How many of us are committed, 49 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,800 like Ezra, to study the law and to teach it? 50 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,200 This is what is a vision in chapter 8. 51 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,280 What you are seeing here is a revival that's coming into 52 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,400 Judea, a revival that's coming into Jerusalem, because they 53 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:37,760 were committed to study the Word and obey it. 54 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,680 That's very simple, very simple. The whole of the chapter you see 55 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,120 the impact of studying the Word and the revival that comes to 56 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,920 studying the Word. So now Ezra is silently working 57 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:55,760 through for 14 long years, and then the news reaches Nehemiah 58 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,120 in the capital of Sousa that the walls have been broken out. 59 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,400 Did not name and know about it before? 60 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,480 Probably he knew. Did name Maya know when Ezra 61 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,480 came to Jerusalem? He must have known because he 62 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,960 was serving in the, in the, in the course of Persian courts for 63 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,440 more than 20 years. And in the year of 20th year he, 64 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,440 he actually got permission to go back to Jerusalem. 65 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:25,840 So for 20 years he is there, and for 14 years before that is the 66 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:30,280 7th year of art exists. Ezra was given permission to go 67 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:34,040 back to Jerusalem and he was given gold, silver, money, The 68 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,160 utensils that Nebuchadnezzar took away from, from Jerusalem, 69 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,640 they are being restored. And he carried a lot of gold and 70 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,560 silver, tons of it, and came back to Jerusalem and deposited 71 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:47,440 there and reconstructed the temple. 72 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,400 Now we cannot, we cannot underestimate the job of Ezra 73 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:58,000 for those 20 years, the 14 years he was committed to teaching the 74 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,400 world, restore the religious atmosphere, to restore the 75 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,960 temple practices, the sacrifices, reading of the law. 76 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,160 He was doing faithfully that prepared the hearts of the 77 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,320 people. And when Nehemiah heard that the 78 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,640 walls are broken down, burned down, he decided to come and 79 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:19,640 restore the walls. He was not moved by the temple, 80 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,560 not being in good shape, but he was moved by the walls broken 81 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,040 down. But Ezra heart was for the 82 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,280 temple of God and he came back because he wanted to revive the 83 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:31,360 temple, because he wanted to revive the law. 84 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,760 Is are the two contrary things. Temple and the walls of 85 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:38,480 Jerusalem are the two different things. 86 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,040 Its all belong to one people, but God touches people 87 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,280 differently, uses people differently. 88 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,000 I mean are we together? Ezra is moved by what? 89 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:55,960 The temple Nehemiah is moved by what broken down walls and bond 90 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,080 on walls. So whatever way God touches you, 91 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,360 whatever way God instructs you, whatever way God has wired you 92 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,920 to for His Kingdom, that's what we have to find out and do it. 93 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,480 You have to find out your life purpose and do it. 94 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,080 Find out your life purpose and do it. 95 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,720 That's all very important. So after the 516 BC, you have 96 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,200 got so many years again. How many years? 97 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,240 458 BC is how long? How long? 98 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:29,040 424858 years. For 58 years there is a silence. 99 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,320 Nothing is much. Nothing much is happening. 100 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:39,680 And then you see, sorry, in 458 BC, Ezra leaves Babylon to lead 101 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,520 more people to just. That's the second time people 102 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:47,440 come and the third time people come is Nehemiah 444 BC. 103 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:52,240 It says 445 here but basically he must getting ready. 104 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,480 Depends on the people who are writing the commentary and the 105 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,640 calendar they follow. There's always a year of one 106 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,680 year difference so don't worry. Its 444 BC. 107 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:07,880 That's what I know for sure. So 14 years afterwards Nehemiah 108 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,360 comes and rebuilds the walls in two months time. 109 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,800 Just two months now, after all these things have happened 110 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:18,680 because, because when you look at Chapter 7, the last was 111 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,520 there, it says when the 7th month came and the Israelis are 112 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:28,000 settled in their towns, all the people assembled as one man in 113 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,000 the square before the Watergate. Where is the Watergate? 114 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,240 Can we look at the next diagram please? 115 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:43,640 One more Watergate is somewhere here on the right side, you see 116 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,280 a little gap in the green. It is in Watergate. 117 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:52,680 So that is Temple is up up there and Watergate is somewhere on 118 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:57,320 the eastern side of Jerusalem. So you see the Watergate, that 119 00:07:57,320 --> 00:07:59,840 is where the people came at the square. 120 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:07,920 And So what must have happened is Ezra must be standing towards 121 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,360 the wall, you know, where there is a square. 122 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,360 Thank you. So that is the Watergate here. 123 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,240 So you have a square here. You can see a little bit of 124 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,120 square here. It must be. 125 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:26,200 Ezra must be standing here facing westward, not eastward 126 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,760 facing westward. Why this direction is very 127 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,280 important? The temple of God was the 128 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:38,760 entrance of temple on the east but the Gods glory or the holy 129 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,240 of holies on the West. So when you enter the temple you 130 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:46,480 are facing the West. All the religions, Hinduism, 131 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:52,600 Islam they all face was east and whereas the biblical Judaism and 132 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,080 Christianity they face W the presence of God is in the West. 133 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:00,360 So you need to face the West anytime every time you want to. 134 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:03,520 I mean if you want to follow the Old Testament now we are free 135 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,280 from east and West. We are all anywhere, any 136 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,680 direction you face you can pray to God. 137 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,840 But he was conscious that the presence of God is towards the 138 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:16,680 West and he faced towards the West and the walls that built 139 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:20,360 were used to magnify his voice. Probably there must be people 140 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,240 about 40 to 50,000 gathered on this occasion and this occasion 141 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:28,800 is called festival of trumpets. Basically first festival of 142 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:35,560 trumpets is they blow the Rams horn and celebrate the celebrate 143 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:39,200 and rejoice in God because God had set them free from Egypt and 144 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:40,560 brought them into the land of freedom. 145 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,680 So what they are trying to do here is the celebrating the 146 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:48,120 temple, the celebrating gods deliverance by blowing the 147 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,800 trumpets and remembering it. And also in the book of 148 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:59,040 Deuteronomy chapter 31 you will see that once in seven years 149 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,240 they are supposed to gather together and read the book of 150 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,480 the law. What is the book of the law? 151 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,320 The first five books, Genesis to Deuteronomy, they have to read 152 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:14,000 it once in seven years. So now it that must be a 7th 153 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,680 year when they are gathering with the blowing of the 154 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:20,080 trumpets. Now what is happening here? 155 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,560 You see what is your you have to observe this very carefully. 156 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:27,160 They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the book. 157 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:37,360 Who told the people who told Can I hear it people? 158 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,920 How did it happen? 14 long years. 159 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,640 Ezra is telling them, read the law, obey the law, read the law, 160 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:49,560 obey the law, study the law. He's going on, you know, bashing 161 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:50,920 them with that kind of a teaching. 162 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:56,080 And now on this day, the people said we are ready now bring the 163 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:00,280 book. You know, sometimes some of you 164 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:04,440 are still not very proactive when it comes to the Bible study 165 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,240 we are doing like Ezra, bang, bang, bang. 166 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,960 You have to come to Bible study, study the word, obey the word. 167 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,000 That's what we are doing. But a day will come when you 168 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,440 will say I want to do Bible study. 169 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:18,000 You will run after the Bible studies. 170 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:24,840 Why in in that scripture you will find freedom, life, a 171 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,040 release of the Holy Spirit into your spirit as you study the 172 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,880 law. There is power in the law. 173 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:33,960 There is power in the law, power in the Bible. 174 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:41,480 Every word has power in in it. Anyone verse you believe it with 175 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:43,200 all your heart. Your life is going to be 176 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:44,800 changing. Its not going to be the same. 177 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,720 Pick up one verse and believe it, act on it. 178 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,400 Your life will not be the same. That is the power that you see 179 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:57,960 in the in the law. So now they said bring the law, 180 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,880 bring the book. They said they told Israel, the 181 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:05,280 scribe to bring out the book, the law of Moses with the Lord, 182 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:11,160 Lord had commanded for Israel. So now the revival has come not 183 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:15,400 from top down is from down is coming to the top. 184 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,760 It is not the pastor pushing you had to come to Bible study. 185 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:21,960 You have to come to Bible study. They are saying no, we want to 186 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,240 come to Bible study. When I read it, I said this is 187 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,800 what I am doing, longing God. This is what I am longing for. 188 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:32,760 I want this to happen in Omega. Everybody should be there for 189 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:38,520 the Bible study. If you want to visit God, if you 190 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,160 want God to visit your life, it has to come through the Bible. 191 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,960 It will come through the Bible. This is not a single revival in 192 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,000 history where the Bible has been neglected and you had a revival. 193 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,480 No, you cannot have. So we are looking for a revival 194 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,320 to come and that will come to studying the Word and obeying 195 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:57,800 the Word. No other way. 196 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:04,440 There is no other way. So on the first day of the 7th 197 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,480 month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly. 198 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,440 He brought the book, he brought out the book. 199 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:13,720 You know when we say book there is like a scroll. 200 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,960 Its a scroll. Could he have read from Genesis 201 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,840 to Deuteronomy in one week before the public? 202 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:24,920 Is it possible? May not be possible. 203 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:30,720 So Ezra must have taken the important parts or he must have 204 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,360 limited himself to reading the book of Deuteronomy. 205 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:40,160 What is Deuteronomy? Deutero is second law just like 206 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,320 you have Exodus, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. 207 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,200 It is called Deuteronomy because it is a second law. 208 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:51,120 The everything that God has spoken and given as a law in the 209 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:57,280 first four books is reiterated and compressed and it is it is a 210 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,560 second. Second time has been given by 211 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:04,640 Moses to the people of Israel. That's why its called 212 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:12,280 Deuteronomy second law. So now who are the people who 213 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:14,880 are here? Who are the people who are 214 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:18,160 coming up there, which was made-up from men and women and 215 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:23,400 all who were able to understand, who came together at the square, 216 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,600 men, women and all who could understand. 217 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,680 That means somebody is 8 or 10 year old, they can understand 218 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:32,960 the law. They were there. 219 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:37,240 You do not have the categories here. 220 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:42,200 Or let's have women's meeting, let's have a Mens meeting, let's 221 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,760 have Sunday school. No, its one event. 222 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,760 Ezra is standing up on a platform specially built for 223 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:51,960 this purpose. Its a platform. 224 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:56,600 It is just raised up area so that all the people standing can 225 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:00,240 see as far as the last person in the crowd. 226 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,920 If he has to look at Ezra, he cannot be standing on the same 227 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:05,560 level. So they built a platform for 228 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,040 him. He stood on the platform and he 229 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:12,560 opened the scroll and he read it out and he had 13 people 230 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,240 standing with him. There were six on his left, 7 on 231 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,680 his right. Why? 232 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:26,480 If you look at the names which Jenny has skipped while reading, 233 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,960 you look at the names there mentioned there, and when you 234 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:33,800 read Chapter 9, you will see some of those names again as Lee 235 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:38,920 Whites, and Ezra himself was a Lee White. 236 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:44,040 When you look at his genealogy, it goes back to Aaron, one of 237 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,640 his sons, the second son. Through him it goes down and 238 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,200 down and down. Ezra is the descendant of Aaron 239 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:53,960 and he was a Lee White. He was committed to study the 240 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,600 law and to teach it. You know what? 241 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:05,000 History was waiting for one man. Say with me, history was waiting 242 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,600 for one man. Who is that one man? 243 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:14,120 Ezra. Because what Ezra did through 244 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,560 his commitment to study the law and to obey the law and to teach 245 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:23,360 the law was just beyond any description the impact of Ezra's 246 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,520 life. During the time of Jesus, you 247 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:28,560 had a group of people called Pharisees. 248 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,480 They claimed distant lineage from Israel. 249 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:33,400 They were committed to study the law. 250 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,720 That's the reason why they went in their zeal and made-up more 251 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:42,280 laws until they became miserable themselves and made other people 252 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,960 miserable. Jesus had to come back and reach 253 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,320 him and redo the whole thing and sum it up as two laws and a lot 254 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,920 of things he had to do and oppose the Pharisees. 255 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,280 But what began as a good thing has become a bad thing over 256 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,760 centuries. So you have all the things. 257 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,480 When you look at a revival its good, but after a few years it 258 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:09,280 becomes bad. I don't want to name anyone 259 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,040 particular one, but all the revivals they are all good. 260 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:15,920 But over centuries it gets diluted. 261 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,599 It becomes a religion. So we need to do what we need to 262 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:24,800 do in every era, every age of the thing. 263 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,400 We need to be consciously studying the law, obeying the 264 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,440 law, preach the law, teach the law. 265 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,640 This is simple. This is the motto of Ezra. 266 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,520 It should be a motto of every Christian. 267 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,680 It should be a life goal to commit yourself to study the 268 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,880 law, obey the law, teach the law. 269 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:49,920 I must be very young when I heard the message on Ezra but 270 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:54,720 that made an impact on my mind and I said I will do it. 271 00:17:55,760 --> 00:18:00,360 I will do it and I am not ashamed for the decision I made 272 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:10,240 because he has given me a mind to understand the Bible and I 273 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,560 have put lot of effort into it. Hours and hours of study I have 274 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,480 done. I have read many books on how to 275 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,520 study Bible. You need to learn it. 276 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:21,680 Its not just doesn't drop from heaven. 277 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:27,440 You have to put effort to study the law, the word and we that's 278 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,760 the that's what we are trying to do on the Wednesday nights is we 279 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,880 are trying to give you questions that will help you to build that 280 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:39,120 mindset to study the word. So everything we do here is done 281 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,480 with that is what is called a vision. 282 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:45,280 We have the vision for Omega where every member will know 283 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,520 what the Bible says and every member will have a desire to 284 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,200 obey the law and every member will be wanting to teach the law 285 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:57,000 to somebody who wants to listen. There was a time Seema and I 286 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,360 conducted a Bible study for a couple, a husband and a wife for 287 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:03,240 15 months. They didn't bring anybody else, 288 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,680 whether it is two people or 200 people or 2000 people. 289 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,920 My commitment to study the teach is not going to change. 290 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:16,680 I will do if it is only one person, the same amount of 291 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,800 passion I will put into that preparation for one person. 292 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:25,800 So that is how I have lived. And I think all of us must have 293 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:31,400 the same kind of a mind, a commitment to study the law, not 294 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:36,120 just study, obey the law. Without obedience you cannot 295 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:38,640 teach it. We will become a Pharisee. 296 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,360 We don't do it. Cool, let's go on. 297 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:48,160 Go on. So there we see how he read it 298 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,520 aloud from Daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the 299 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,600 Watergate in the presence of the men, women and others who could 300 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:57,840 understand. And all the people listened 301 00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:59,680 attentively to the book of the Law. 302 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,920 They listened attentively. They were not standing and 303 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,480 sleeping. They listened attentively. 304 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,560 And when he stood on the platform, opened the book, they 305 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:13,480 started. They stood up. 306 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,440 Did not say, oh, let's just lie down a little bit, there's some 307 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,360 grass here. No, no, they stood up. 308 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,280 Why? Why did they have to stand up? 309 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:30,800 Because they respect the book. They respected the law and that 310 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,920 Torah that he was holding in his hand when he was unveiling it, 311 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,960 He was just rolling it out. People just stood on their feet 312 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:43,080 because they are not hearing the words of a man, but they're 313 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:48,800 hearing the words of God. They are not there gathered 314 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:53,440 there to listen to a man. They're listening to the voice 315 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,640 of God, the words of God. And they had to respect the 316 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:58,080 words of God. They stood up. 317 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,600 How about standing for one hour and listening to the message? 318 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,480 Just joking. Don't worry about it, I won't 319 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:12,800 make you do it, OK? Ezra the scribe stood on a high 320 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,680 wooden platform built for the occasion. 321 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:19,880 Beside him on his right stood Matitaya Shema, Anaya Oraya 322 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:24,840 Hilkiya Masaiya and on his left were Pedaya Mishael Malkija 323 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:30,240 Hashem Hashba da na is Zechariah and Meshullah. 324 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:39,480 Now you not only bring the book, next thing you have to do is 325 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,400 Ezra opened the book. Everybody say Ezra opened the 326 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:46,920 book. How many of you have got a Bible 327 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,520 somewhere on the shelf somewhere but not opened? 328 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:58,520 No, you haven't not opened. Please open it. 329 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,080 The Lord, the Lord will speak to you and encounter you through 330 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:10,280 his written printed page. So a lot of people when whenever 331 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,320 we hear testimonies, they'll say I had a Bible that was 332 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,120 collecting dust, but one day I opened it. 333 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,360 That's the day God will visit you. 334 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,800 Open the book, open the book. Tell you whenever. 335 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:25,440 Give them a high 5. Say open the book. 336 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,680 All the people could see him because he was standing above 337 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:34,920 them. And as he opened it, the people 338 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,960 all stood up. Ezra, praise the Lord, the great 339 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,000 God. And all the people lifted their 340 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,280 hands and responded. Amen, Amen. 341 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,960 And they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their 342 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,360 faces to the ground. Now, how many different things 343 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:53,880 are happening here? The man is standing on the 344 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,600 platform and he opened the scroll and people saw it, stood 345 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,600 up on their feet, and then what did they do? 346 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,480 They not only have done just standing up. 347 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,120 When then Ezra, praise the Lord of the great God. 348 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:10,280 We often don't do that, but before we should. 349 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,720 Of course, we have a time of singing and worship, but we 350 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,400 should be able to praise God all the time. 351 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,880 And particularly before you read the Word, you praise Him. 352 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,280 And when you praise him, what happens is the revelation comes 353 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:28,080 when you read the book. That's the way so many people 354 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:29,520 say, oh, I don't get any revelation. 355 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,320 I read the book. Nothing happens. 356 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,480 You have to prepare your heart. Praising God prepares your heart 357 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:41,080 and the Holy Spirit was dwelling in you will move in your mind 358 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,240 and make you understand as you praise him, as you worship him. 359 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,680 That's how you prepare yourself. And Ezra has done it every day 360 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,440 of his life. And now as he was doing every 361 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:57,560 day of his life before the public, 4050 thousand people 362 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:02,240 watching him, it just comes naturally to him to praise God 363 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,800 and to worship God. Amen. 364 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:13,400 So what happened? They all shouted saying, I mean, 365 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:18,400 I mean the Hebrew, I mean, and they were saying, I mean, I mean 366 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,000 they're agreeing with that, with what Ezra was saying. 367 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,600 He's praising God. Can they hear 5050 thousand 368 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,200 people gathering in one place? Can they hear when Israel is 369 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:33,800 saying something? How did Ezra manage to teach 370 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,360 4050 thousand people without a microphone, without a sound box? 371 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,040 Its a puzzle. Its a big puzzle. 372 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:47,040 But we will unravel the puzzle little by little. 373 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,160 We will see how what the world has to say about it. 374 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,680 And they bow down and worship the Lord with their faces to the 375 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,120 ground. Now they were sitting down, they 376 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:59,440 see the book, they stand up and they shout Amen, Amen. 377 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,560 And now they are kneeling down and falling on the ground, 378 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,080 worshipping God with their faces to the ground. 379 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,800 How many times we are overpowered by the presence of 380 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,480 God? How many times we are so 381 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:18,120 thankful to God that we are able to fall down before Him? 382 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:22,920 I know a man, his name is AW Tozer. 383 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,760 He would go to the beach. On the beach he would be lying 384 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:31,400 prostate and four hours, 6 hours, 7 hours of time just 385 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:36,640 flies by because he was deeply in adoration of God, worshipping 386 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:44,640 God, loving God, praising God. We should find time to do that. 387 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:47,920 I have tried to do it on the bed. 388 00:25:48,120 --> 00:26:00,960 It doesn't work. The Levites, Joshua, Bani, 389 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:06,640 Sherry, Sherry, Bhaiya, Jameen, Akoob, Shabetai, Huraya, Masaya, 390 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:11,680 Kelita, Azaraya, Josephbad, Hanan and Pelaya instructed the 391 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,560 people in the law. What did they do? 392 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,880 Instructed the people in the law, what? 393 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,560 What does it mean? It means little more. 394 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,320 When we go forward, we will see here. 395 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:25,760 While the people who are standing there, they read from 396 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,440 the book of the law of God, making it clear and giving the 397 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,640 meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. 398 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:37,520 Ha ha ha, what is really happening here? 399 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:44,200 The book is written by Moses in Hebrew, but now, nearly 1000 400 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,280 years later, that Hebrew is not what they are speaking anymore. 401 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:50,800 That is not the language they are speaking anymore. 402 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,840 It has to be interpreted, it has to be explained. 403 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,720 And some of them may not be knowing Hebrew at all. 404 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,280 I'll give you an example. Now look at this one, the one 405 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:08,240 before, please. That's English. 406 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:19,920 Can you read it? Is it English? 407 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:26,640 Yeah. You all know that word. 408 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:28,720 You can make out what that means. 409 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:30,520 Jesus says, come unto me, all you are. 410 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:32,640 Heavy burdens carry heavy burdens. 411 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,400 My burden is light. My yoke is easy. 412 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,160 My burden is light. That's what he's saying in those 413 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,880 words, that all of us can figure it out somehow, isn't it? 414 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:45,720 But is it the same that anybody who doesn't know what Bible says 415 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:47,880 and reads it, can you figure out what the meaning is? 416 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,000 No, even though it's English now, it is from. 417 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:56,520 It is from John Wickley's translation of the first Bible 418 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,840 translation into English. That's part of it. 419 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,840 What am I trying to say here? Has English gone through 420 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,680 changes? Yes, and then after weekly done 421 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,560 weekly, if you come in 1611, you got King James version of 1611. 422 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,480 King James gives an order and they translate the Bible and 423 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,480 that's people think that's inspired by the Holy Spirit 424 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,160 completely, 100%. You cannot have any other 425 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,360 version. You have to read the Bible only 426 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:25,800 in King James. But this is the first 427 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,600 translation. What I, what am I trying to say 428 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:34,560 is language undergoes change. That's the reason why we need 429 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:39,120 modern translations. Why do you need a modern 430 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:41,240 translation? Because of the same reason. 431 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:46,760 At the same time, we want a translation, not a adding and 432 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:51,360 removing things. There are some translations 433 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,120 today existing which add things and remove things. 434 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:55,640 You know, whatever they want to do, they do it. 435 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,920 Please don't go by that. It has to be a dynamic 436 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,080 translation. What is dynamic? 437 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:06,360 It has to convey the meaning properly as the original readers 438 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,960 have understood it and that is called dynamic equivalence and 439 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:15,160 it must be easy to read. If you if you want to have a 440 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,880 accurate translation, go for NASB New American Standard 441 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,160 Bible. It is an accurate translation. 442 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,560 It does not flow easily. Even though English is your 443 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,400 first language, it doesn't flow easily, so you need a little 444 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,480 better than maybe ESV or NIV. And then you need to be careful 445 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,200 that the Bibles translators have a bias. 446 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,480 They have some doctrines they they subscribe to and they try 447 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,720 to bring that doctrine through the translation. 448 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:45,800 Now tell me, do you have to study it? 449 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:49,840 Now do you have to study the Bible? 450 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:56,320 You have to get to the root of it and find out what the Holy 451 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,000 Spirit has written in Hebrew and Greek. 452 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:00,040 That is how you must be committed. 453 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,960 So most some of the organizations they have got a 454 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,240 statement of belief. They say we believe the Bible is 455 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:12,200 inspired by God in the original language as given in Hebrew and 456 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:16,080 Greek and Aramaic. So what happens in English 457 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,080 translation? Its not Gods word, it is gods 458 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:21,800 word. God can speak through any 459 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,920 language. Any translation is not bound by 460 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,560 any language. So translations are good enough 461 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,240 but we don't make one translation the final one 462 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,680 because language keeps changing. Am I here? 463 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,480 We are all here together. So pick up more than one 464 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,160 translation you want to understand better. 465 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,840 So that's the way I do it. I read it whenever something 466 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:52,200 important I come across. I read it in 10/12/16 467 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:58,040 translations and I say oh this phrase is same in five, this 468 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,640 phrase is the same in another 8. So I go like that. 469 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,760 Suss it out exactly what it is they are trying to communicate. 470 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:08,760 So what they did was now you have Ezra standing on the 471 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,440 platform and you've got 13 people standing with him on the 472 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:13,880 platform. That is to say that is to 473 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:18,040 authorize that is to make the reading of the law a very 474 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,480 authentic experience or its something that is there are 475 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:26,840 approving and is it is giving credence to what Ezra is doing 476 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:32,080 by this 13 people standing there and when the people see Ezra 477 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,240 standing up, they stand up and they shout Amen. 478 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:38,200 They fall on their faces. I tell you there has to be a 479 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,800 dynamic interaction with the word of God. 480 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,560 It's not something you read or I I had my quiet time. 481 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:50,360 I read my Bible for today 5 minutes done. 482 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:55,120 You think God, God can he can speak because he is gracious and 483 00:31:55,120 --> 00:32:01,680 merciful, but you have to dig out your dig out and that is how 484 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:03,160 you must be committed to study the word. 485 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:07,520 And then Nema said, and then what happened, Nema, the 486 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,360 governor, Ezra the prescribe the Levites who was instructing the 487 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,160 people said to the mall, this day is sacred to the Lord your 488 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:18,200 God. It is sacred, it is holy. 489 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,480 The day becomes holy because you are studying the law. 490 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,560 You are reading the law, it becomes holy. 491 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,800 And I tell you the Sunday is holy because we are studying the 492 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:32,200 law. That day is holy. 493 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:40,280 Do not mourn or weep, for all the people had been weeping as 494 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:41,680 they listened to the words of the law. 495 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,760 Why they were weeping? They were weeping because they 496 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:50,520 are convicted of sin. I have been reading a biography 497 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:57,880 of Rhys Howells whatever his name from UK and when he went to 498 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,920 Africa the revival came and the revival is part of the revival 499 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:06,400 is he would preach the word and the people would be wailing and 500 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,560 crying and confessing their sins for hours on together, nobodys 501 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,360 forcing them because the power of the Holy Ghost fell upon 502 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,600 them. They were confessing their sins 503 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:19,040 and they were weeping and repenting and after three or 504 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,840 four hours of it they get up completely set free. 505 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:27,280 Nobody is helping them, but we do something called deliverance, 506 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,120 you know, to some people, whoever wants it. 507 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:34,440 And we, we do the same thing. But we are making them repent. 508 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:36,320 We are making them say it. We are. 509 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,480 And after the repentance, after we disconnect the Spirit that's 510 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,360 following them, they are set free and they go out free. 511 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:46,480 So I told a lot last night when I was reading it. 512 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,440 I said we are doing it a lot, but we are in a very small 513 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,880 scale. We are one-on-one, one-on-one, 514 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,960 one person at a time. But I want you to visit Omega. 515 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,800 I want it to happen for everybody in the church by the 516 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,160 power of the Holy Spirit, by His mighty presence. 517 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,160 I want it to happen so deliverance is a process, not 518 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,480 unscriptural. It is what will happen on an 519 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,880 individual basis. But when the revival comes, the 520 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:13,000 Holy Spirit will do on Mass to everybody. 521 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,679 So he had to tell them name. I had to tell them go and enjoy 522 00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:21,840 choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have 523 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:24,960 nothing prepared this day sacred to our Lord. 524 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,440 Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 525 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,960 Everybody say joy of the Lord is your strength. 526 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:39,159 If there is one word that should really you should not forget, 527 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:41,480 remember today from the sermon is this word. 528 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:43,760 The joy of the Lord is your strength. 529 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:50,239 As you joy, as you take joy in God, who he is, as you rejoice 530 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,800 in him. That's what Paul says, rejoice 531 00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:56,719 always. I say rejoice, you rejoice in 532 00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:59,360 God, that becomes a source of strength. 533 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,360 You when you rejoice in God that becomes a source of strength. 534 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,520 I was looking at something and somebody was saying about its 535 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:14,800 like pregnancy. When you are pregnant, you are 536 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:18,720 carrying a burden and comes a time when you are going to have 537 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:23,080 the pain to deliver the baby, but that's the process. 538 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:27,600 And that pain is not the end, but that transforms into joy 539 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,640 because you have brought a human child into the world. 540 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,000 So when you're going through trouble, when you're going 541 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,400 through problem, you're pregnant, when you're going 542 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,360 through tears, when you're crying out God, why? 543 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:43,280 Why? Why? 544 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,960 But when the relief comes from Gods hand, from his presence, 545 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:50,840 this that will be transformed into joy. 546 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,240 I it's difficult for me to explain it, but all of us go 547 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,760 through troubles. I'm 100% sure all of us have 548 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,240 this experience of becoming pregnant with problem. 549 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:08,160 And then when you see God deliver you, you rejoice, you 550 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:11,240 rejoice. So this I was reading about the 551 00:36:11,240 --> 00:36:14,240 recent man again. He when he was had to go 552 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:16,040 somewhere. God says to him, you are 553 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:18,480 preaching to believe in me in all circumstances. 554 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:20,360 Now you have to believe for yourself. 555 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:22,680 Go and sign in the queue to buy the ticket in the railway 556 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,040 station. But he had no money in his hand, 557 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,240 no money in his hand. He goes and stands up in the 558 00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:31,120 queue and the queue is becoming shorter and shorter as he's 559 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:33,240 coming to the counter where he has to pay the money. 560 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,080 There are two people left and nothing, No miracle has 561 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:40,440 happened. And then the guy who is at the 562 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,800 counter who has to pay the money to buy the ticket, he says 563 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:48,120 suddenly I had to open my shop, I had to go home and it comes 564 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:52,560 out of the queue and puts 40 or 50 shillings into his hand and 565 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:59,240 goes away. And he meets the man who suppose 566 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:01,320 whom she supposed to meet when he travels there. 567 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:05,040 And he said I had actually 50 lbs to post it for you, but I 568 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,600 did not do it. He said thank God you did not 569 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:11,240 post it because I would not have experienced the power of God 570 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,160 waiting in the queue without the money to pay for the ticket. 571 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,640 That is what it is. Walking by faith is very 572 00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:26,360 challenging, its rewarding, it does something when you hear God 573 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:29,720 answer your prayer, it changes you from inside, it gives you a 574 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:31,560 New Hope, it gives you a new strength. 575 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:38,600 That's what will happen. So now what happens is the 576 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:41,120 levers calmed all the people saying be still for this is a 577 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,800 sacred day. Do not grieve that all the 578 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:47,360 people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food 579 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,800 and to celebrate with great joy because they now understood the 580 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:53,880 words that had been made known to them. 581 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:57,000 They have understood the message of the law. 582 00:37:57,720 --> 00:37:59,880 That is more important than anything else. 583 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:03,280 You, when you understand what the Bible is saying, your life 584 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,880 is going to be different. It's something you're not the 585 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:07,520 same person. After you understand that 586 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,160 something changes in your spirit, something changes in 587 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:14,880 your soul. And they were sending food to 588 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:16,760 each other. Now this, this may not be 589 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:20,320 understood by New Zealanders. I don't know the Western world 590 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,480 understand it, but its very common in India. 591 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:27,200 In the Middle East on a festival days you will make lots of 592 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:29,440 goodies in the home. You make them in your kitchen 593 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,120 and you give large portions. You put them on a fancy big 594 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:36,520 plate and cover it with a fancy cloth and take it down to your 595 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,680 friends home or your neighbors and give the plate that you're 596 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:43,200 sharing in the festival festivities of sharing the joy 597 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,520 of the festival. By taking it. 598 00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:49,320 We only come. I mean, we, you bake the cake, 599 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:51,720 but unless somebody comes here, how you don't give the cake. 600 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:57,440 OK, That's our culture here now, but the Eastern culture is you 601 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,640 share. So now one of the parts of the 602 00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:06,240 sharing is you share with those who cannot afford it, even in 603 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:10,880 even even the Muslims also when they're having Bakri, then 604 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,680 Ramjan and all those things, they make a lot of food and they 605 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:16,520 send it to each other, send it to each other. 606 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:20,960 Particularly some people make it a point to go to the poor and 607 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,640 give them the food because they cannot afford it. 608 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:29,960 It's a day you're rejoicing in the provision and you must 609 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:31,960 rejoice with those who cannot afford it. 610 00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:35,640 And they did it. They did it. 611 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:40,680 And I think something we had to do differently for the Western 612 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:44,240 world will be to identify yourself with the needy and go 613 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,960 out of your way and share the good things you have with them. 614 00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:53,760 Challenging, very challenging. He is going to push you out of 615 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:56,960 your comfort zone. What is this man teaching for 616 00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:58,960 4050? As I lived my life, I never 617 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:03,240 shared anything with anybody. That's not what we are called to 618 00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:07,560 do. Our Calling is to share the good 619 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:12,920 things you have with the people. OK, on the second day of the 620 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:20,080 month, I had to finish it soon. OK, I'll try to do it on the 621 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:22,160 second day. Now what we have to understand 622 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:23,760 here is again, the background is important. 623 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,480 The first day of the month is a trumpets. 624 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:32,160 You blow the trumpets, read the law and you celebrate second 625 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,760 day. These people came to Ezra and 626 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,120 they said, what did they say to him? 627 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,640 Heads of all the families, along with the priests and the 628 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:45,640 leavers, gathered around Ezra the scribe to give attention to 629 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,600 the words of the law. They said, OK, we had lots of 630 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:50,920 reading yesterday, please read us some more. 631 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:55,000 And they found written in the law, which the Lord had 632 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:57,960 commanded through Moses, that the Israelis were to live in 633 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:01,400 booths. They had to make temporary 634 00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:04,560 shelters and live in it. Did they do this before? 635 00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:07,000 When you see in this chapter, it says never. 636 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:10,440 Was it observed like this from the time of Joshua, hundreds of 637 00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,600 years, they have never celebrated this festival of 638 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:16,440 booths or tabernacles is called Tabernacles Festival of the 639 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,800 Tabernacles. So they go out into the 640 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:23,200 wilderness and cut branches and leaves and come home and mix 641 00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:26,360 temporary shelters. They saw a flat roof, so they 642 00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:30,120 build one on the roof, on the top of the roof and they live in 643 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:34,680 it day and night. Why do they do it? 644 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:39,560 To remember that their ancestors were slaves in Egypt, that God 645 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:43,200 had brought a lot of slavery. Now when you celebrate it, 646 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,440 you're telling your children, children don't think you're 647 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:49,040 you're free. Today has come without a prize. 648 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:51,640 Somebody else paid the price. There were slaves. 649 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:55,360 Your ancestors were slaves and God did a miracle and set them 650 00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:57,680 free and brought them into the land of freedom. 651 00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:59,480 And you are enjoying the freedom today. 652 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:03,000 So you have to worship God. I thank you because of what God 653 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:07,440 has done. And they do it for seven days. 654 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:13,280 So now first day of the 7th month is a festival of trumpets. 655 00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:19,080 Yeah, it's also called blow up. You know, it's just blowing. 656 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:20,560 You have to blow the air into it. 657 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:22,200 So it's a festival of the blowing up. 658 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:25,480 And then on the 10th day is a day of tournament. 659 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:30,040 And from the 15th day to the 22nd day, it's called the 660 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:32,720 Tabernacles. So when the second day, they 661 00:42:32,720 --> 00:42:38,120 come and ask Israel, please tell us they had two weeks to prepare 662 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:42,760 for it and to send this news to all over Judea and to tell 663 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,560 everybody who's living there to come to Jerusalem to celebrate 664 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:47,840 it. So the people come flocking on 665 00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:50,880 this time or time of seven days, that's 15th day of the month to 666 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:53,520 the 22nd of the month. They cut the branches. 667 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:57,720 They came and dwelt in the sea inside the city of Jerusalem and 668 00:42:57,720 --> 00:43:00,560 around the city of Jerusalem, because the city was very small, 669 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:03,920 Jerusalem very, very small. And they were building this 670 00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:07,600 temporary shelters and living in it, rejoicing in God. 671 00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:11,320 You don't rejoice in God, you are celebrating nothing. 672 00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:17,320 You have to rejoice in God. When you rejoice in God, power 673 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:19,840 and blessings are released into your life. 674 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:28,520 So wherever they could find open squares, roof of the house, 675 00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,840 anywhere, they would make temporary shelters, live in it. 676 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,840 So the people went out and brought back branches, built 677 00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:39,640 themselves booths on their own roofs in their courtyards, in 678 00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:41,920 the course of the House of God and the square where the 679 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:46,440 Watergate and the one by the gate of Ephraim, the whole 680 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:50,040 company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in 681 00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:52,200 them. From the days of Joshua son of 682 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:56,400 noon until the day, the Israel had not celebrated it like this. 683 00:43:56,640 --> 00:44:02,400 And their joy was very great. Actually they celebrated it in 684 00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:05,400 516 when the temple was completed. 685 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:11,120 They did celebrate the festival of Tabernacle seven days, but 686 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:15,160 not in this magnitude, not in the spirit in which they 687 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:18,440 celebrated now. That is why the record says, and 688 00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:22,120 from the time of Joshua until now, it was never done this way. 689 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:27,040 And what was the Panchalian? And their joy was very great. 690 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:31,600 That is, that is what it is. Their joy was very great. 691 00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:36,760 That is how it should be to celebrate day after day. 692 00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:39,080 Now I'm going to finish it in next two minutes. 693 00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:43,200 Day after day, from the first day to the last is I read from 694 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,960 the book of the law of God. They celebrated the feast for 695 00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:48,920 seven days and on the eighth day, in accordance with the 696 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:53,440 regulation, there was an assembly every day morning, 6 O 697 00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:58,800 clock, children, men, women come to the square at the Watergate 698 00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:01,440 and Ezra is standing on the platform reading from the book 699 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:04,360 of the Law from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM. 700 00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:09,440 Six hours standing and listening, weeping and crying, 701 00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:14,920 repenting. And for seven days they did it. 702 00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:22,160 And on the 8th day, they rested and celebrated the whole thing. 703 00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:25,600 On the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was 704 00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:27,360 an assembly. That means they all gathered 705 00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:29,160 together to worship God. Praise God. 706 00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:34,560 What a what a kind of revival is coming here. 707 00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:37,600 Was there. Do you think it's a revival? 708 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:45,440 How did it begin? One man, Ezra, was committed to 709 00:45:45,720 --> 00:45:49,040 study the law, obey it and teach it. 710 00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:57,160 Let's say those 3 words. Study, obey, teach again. 711 00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:02,600 Study, obey, teach. Do you want to commit yourself 712 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:09,840 today that to do that? When you do it, you may not know 713 00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:12,920 immediately the impact of it. After six months, you cannot say 714 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:17,160 I have not become an azra yet. After three years you cannot 715 00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:19,520 say, oh I am reading Bible every day. 716 00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:20,920 I am praying and trying to obey God. 717 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:24,880 I have not become a Ezra yet. Ezra did all his life before he 718 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:31,160 saw that great glorious day. You have to do it. 719 00:46:31,880 --> 00:46:38,280 And when Gods time of visitation comes, he knows who to touch, He 720 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,800 knows who to use, He knows who to speak to. 721 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:48,560 Every time the Holy Spirit spoke to me, not because I was reading 722 00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:51,640 on that day, the particular portion, because I have read it 723 00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:55,920 before and preserved in my heart, He was able to explain 724 00:46:55,920 --> 00:47:01,320 that to me. So many encounters I had half a 725 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:05,000 dozen or more. He literally hearing the Holy 726 00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:08,400 Spirit explain the scripture even one dozen times. 727 00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:11,640 But that's because I have studied the law. 728 00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:16,760 I have studied the law and He speaks from that. 729 00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:20,160 He takes it and speaks. I must have read studied the 730 00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:27,480 life of Samson from the book of Judges maybe 2025 years ago. 731 00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:31,280 But in 2010, when the whole is, he spoke to me. 732 00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:36,120 He spoke to me from the life of Samson, from the life of Samson. 733 00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:39,800 Because I knew the story, he was able to speak to me. 734 00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:43,760 So don't think when you read the Bible you're wasting your time. 735 00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:48,480 No, you are investing into the future encounter with God. 736 00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:52,160 Hallelujah. Let's pray. 737 00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:55,920 Father God, we thank you again for your word. 738 00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:59,160 We pray we minister to your children now. 739 00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:04,600 Rahashe sarani mandarasu sabarasta sundarano hora sakte 740 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:06,640 sherini mandarana Sabasta Kurani. 741 00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:11,720 Horabo Ranama Senika saste sastoro bosaba Ranamana 742 00:48:11,720 --> 00:48:16,080 sandarasta Kurani. The Lord says a man may think 743 00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:19,040 his ways hidden from God. God says no, no, no. 744 00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:21,320 I know your ways. I know you're sitting down, I 745 00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:25,840 know you're getting up. Rasta Sorini Maharani ho sharako 746 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:29,840 sip the sanima Sona varanam anasto Sandharani mahaste 747 00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:34,080 shaktasakuroni. But God says I will make my 748 00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:37,440 glory known to him whose heart is after me. 749 00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:43,600 Now I challenge you, children of God, I challenge you to commit 750 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:47,600 yourself to study the world, to obey the world, and to teach the 751 00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:50,720 world if that's what you want to do rest of your life. 752 00:48:50,720 --> 00:48:52,960 From today, just stand where you are. 753 00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:56,600 I'm going to ask God to give you grace, even though some days you 754 00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:59,720 are misreading the world, meditating on it, or doing 755 00:48:59,720 --> 00:49:02,480 something. I will pray now that the Holy 756 00:49:02,480 --> 00:49:07,920 Spirit will not leave you until He accomplishes everything that 757 00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:11,080 He has in His mind in your life. Would you like to commit 758 00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:15,840 yourself to study it, obey it and teach it? 759 00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:22,200 Sabarana masharaste sakta karani mandarasta sabarano horaba 760 00:49:22,200 --> 00:49:26,280 shakti sastaroni Resanama rishandrano Borasta koroni 761 00:49:26,440 --> 00:49:30,800 Horika sakte sanda karani mahastaro Sabdarasta koroni. 762 00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:34,040 My father, I thank you for the children who are standing up on 763 00:49:34,040 --> 00:49:37,160 their feet because it is your word they are honoring. 764 00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:41,240 It is, oh God, they are honoring you as a stand up and they are 765 00:49:41,240 --> 00:49:45,080 wanting to study award and to obey it and to teach it. 766 00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:48,480 And now I ask the Holy Spirit to come with power upon them, great 767 00:49:48,480 --> 00:49:50,880 power and glory. Touch your children now. 768 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:53,320 Touch their heart, touch their mind, touch their heart, touch 769 00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:55,080 their mind, touch their heart, touch their mind. 770 00:49:55,240 --> 00:50:00,080 Change them because they want to invest into your eternal plan 771 00:50:00,080 --> 00:50:04,360 for their life. And Holy Spirit, please be with 772 00:50:04,360 --> 00:50:08,000 them all the days of their life and bring to fulfillment 773 00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:13,440 everything that's written in the book in heaven for them to the 774 00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,120 glory of your name. Release your angels to be with 775 00:50:16,120 --> 00:50:20,560 them, protect them, bless them. Help them to keep this tradition 776 00:50:20,680 --> 00:50:24,200 or the discipline of studying a word, obeying a word and 777 00:50:24,200 --> 00:50:26,120 teaching a word, the glory of your name. 778 00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:30,960 Bless them abundantly in Jesus might name I ask and everybody 779 00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:33,920 says Amen, Amen. Please be seated. 780 00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:40,040 Thanks for joining us at Omega. If you need prayer for healing 781 00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:42,960 or breakthrough, or simply to find out more, please head to 782 00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:45,280 our website or Facebook page in the links below.