Why Did Nehemiah Charge Ezra to Read God's Law to the People in Nehemiah 8:1-8?

     Reading the Bible changes us.  If you don't think so, try it for six months or a year. I'm sure you'll find out that something happens to us when God's word becomes the compass for our living.   And for sure God knows this, and that's probably why He put it in Nehemiah's heart to have Ezra read the law of Moses to all of God's people (Neh. 8:1-8). 

     In chapter 3 of the Life-Study of Ezra and Nehemiah Witness Lee uses the term reconstitution to help his readers understand what God was doing during the time within the hearts of His people.  God knew that because they had been in Babylonian captivity for 70 years, they spontaneously had a Babylonian constitution.  I saw why this mattered when I read this statement on page 18:  

 "The constitution of a person provides the foundation for the constitution of a nation."

     In order for God to regain His testimony on the earth again, God's people had to be reconstituted with the word of God.  I highlighted a lot of parts of this chapter because Witness Lee shares so much about why we need to read the Bible.  I found these excerpts on pages 17-18 very helpful and inspiring: 
 

God's word reconstitutes us.  We all have our own kind of disposition and habitual behavior, but God is able to reconstitute us through His word.  This is why we need to read the Bible.  God's word gradually changes our mind and our way of thinking.  The word of God is one with the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). When the word of God works within us, the Spirit, through the word, spontaneously dispenses God's nature with God's element into our being. We may not even be aware that such a dispensing is taking place within us. By this way we are reconstituted.....In order for God's people to be His testimony, they had to be reconstituted with the word of God. Under Ezra and Nehemiah the returned people of Israel were collectively constituted by and with God through His word to be a nation as God's testimony (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Nehemiah. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1995, Print). 

I hope this encourages you to continue reading the Bible no matter what you're going through. It's changing who we are from the inside out.

 You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther on Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of these books and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

Other Posts from the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther:

From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - How did Watchman Nee & Witness Lee Take a Stand For the Truth?
From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - Why Did God Make Man in His Image?
From the Life-Study of Ezra - How God Used a Gentile King to Fulfill His Purpose
From the Life-Study of Ezra - Why Did Ezra Return to Jerusalem?
How Did God Use Nehemiah's Aggressiveness in Nehemiah 2:20?
Why Did Nehemiah Charge Ezra to Read the Bible to the People in Nehemiah 8:1-8?
What's Really Happening in the Story of Esther?