For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law (Nehemiah 8:9b).

The thing that most intrigues me about Nehemiah 8 is the intensity of the Israelites’ interest in and reaction to the reading of the Law. What, I wonder, accounted for this?

As I write, wildfires rage across our Pacific Coast states. Millions of acres are destroyed and thousands of people left homeless. We wonder: Will the people want to return? Want to rebuild? What about the ones who stayed during the fires? After such trauma what will they do?

After Babylon destroyed Jerusalem surely those inhabitants had to grapple with similar questions. 

The common people, not removed to Babylon, faced the ruin daily. Those elders would have solemnly recounted the story to the younger generation. 

The royal court and the priests, prophets, and scribes had been exiled to Babylon. There they—sorrowful and homesick—would also have told the story to their sons and daughters.

Wherever they had spent the intervening years the trauma of that time would have accompanied them. It likely accompanied them back to and in Jerusalem. Now that the Temple and walls were rebuilt and they were settled in their towns, it was time to face that trauma.

Enter Ezra, the scribe and priest, “…to bring out the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.” And so began the marathon reading and teaching, hearing and understanding, of the Law. 

We are told the people listened attentively, stood with lifted hands, responded with Amens, bowed down in worship, understood what was being said…and wept. Why did they weep?

Weeping is a language which, like all languages, conveys a multitude of messages. Theirs may have conveyed… 

The fear they had lived with for long years.

Their hope of a future back in this land God had given them.  

The understanding of the Law and the conviction of sin it brought them.

The relief that came from their repentance.

The wonder of being forgiven and a fresh start realized. 

Their regret at having long forgotten about God.

The wonder of worship, hearing, and understanding that reintroduced them to God.

Their newly realized longing for God.  

During this intense time, we may need to weep for some of those same reasons. Weeping is a way to open our hearts to God. It can further both our individual and collective rebuilding. Jesus in Luke 6:21b even says, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” (Which then happens in Nehemiah 8!)