Wednesday – History

Reading – Nehemiah 9-10

Highlight Verse:

“On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads.”
‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I admit that when I first read this, I thought, “What a great use for Halloween.”

Of course, this had nothing to do with Halloween other than the date specified in the Hebrew calendar that year corresponded with October 31 that year in our calendar.

If the events of that day sound familiar, that’s because just three weeks earlier was the Day of Atonement. People had started to weep because of their sin.

At that time, Nehemiah, Ezra, and the priests and Levites told the people to not weep as that was a day of celebration.

Here, three weeks later, people were allowed to show their true repentance through mourning.

As they had heard the Book of the Law recently, they would have understood more clearly. With that clearer understanding, they saw the need to mourn their sins.

And they did.

Have you ever repented in tears?
What effect did the grief in repentance have on your life?