Give the Meaning

Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read..

Have you ever watched a news conference on TV and seen the Sign Language interpreter doing their best to translate for the hearing impaired? I remember a few years ago that one of those interpreters wasn’t even translating what was being said, that they didn’t even know Sign Language! But translating on the fly like this is a very difficult job.

I remember preaching in Romania and having to have what I said translated for the local people. I would say a little bit, and the interpreter would translate. I tried to speak in such a way that translating would be easier. I didn’t use slang or figures of speech, since they don’t cross languages very well. I wonder how much of my meaning came across to those hearers?

Any time there are two languages involved, conversation and real communication can be difficult. And this is exactly what is happening in our text. The Book of the Law of God was written in Hebrew. Most of the hearers didn’t speak Hebrew as their first language, the language they used for everyday life. They had been raised in exile, in a foreign country with a different language. They might have understood very simple things in Hebrew, but not much beyond that.

So when it is time to hear and understand what the LORD has said, they need translators. This is exactly what the Levites in this passage are doing for the people. Ezra was the leader of this spiritual assembly. He was the first to read the text of the Scripture, probably a section at a time. Then the Levites would read it in even smaller sections and explain what it meant, how it would be applied in their lives. They did this in their own language, using examples that they would understand.

This is the first instance, and perhaps the best explanation of what preachers and teachers are supposed to do. We read the text, then we explain it in language that makes it understandable. That is the first step: understand what the text meant to those who heard it first. Then they gives examples that help bridge the gap between the original context and modern day life. The same meaning put in our language so we will understand.

But unfortunately, too many preachers and teachers have abandoned this simple practice. My guess is that they really don’t believe that the Scriptures are enough for us. They really don’t trust the Holy Spirit to take the Word of God and prick human hearts in the 21st century.

Or maybe doing this takes more time, energy, study, prayer and wrestling than their schedules provide. Maybe the pressures of pastoring a modern congregation have so skewed the role of the Pastor/Teacher that this is forced down on their priority list. Running the programs of the church and putting our fires push for their attention more than the Scriptures, so they yield.

But I am convinced that the Scriptures are sufficient. I believe with all that I am, that if people are exposed to the Scriptures sufficiently over time that they will be changed. Their whole view of life will shift and become radically different from that of our culture.

But it takes time and effort to be exposed to this level of Scripture. If there were a radiation monitor like those who work in the nuclear energy industry wear that monitored the level of Scripture exposure, very few would register anything at all. One of the great failings of the Western church as a whole is this lack of exposure to the Scriptures to a level that it changes us.

We get moved by the music. We get moved by the lights and excitement. But we rarely get moved by the Scriptures. Shame on the Preachers/Teachers. Our biggest job is to bring the Scriptures to the people. We equip them for the work of the ministry.

But without the Scriptures we are just Social Workers, increasing the human effort to reform ourselves.