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Prophets and Kings
nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye
sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The earlier part of the day was devoted to religious exercises, and
the people spent the remainder of the time in gratefully recounting the
blessings of God and in enjoying the bounties that He had provided.
Portions were also sent to the poor, who had nothing to prepare. There
was great rejoicing because the words of the law had been read and
understood.
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On the following day the reading and explaining of the law were
continued. And at the time appointed—on the tenth day of the seventh
month—the solemn services of the Day of Atonement were performed
according to the command of God.
From the fifteenth to the twenty-second of the same month the
people and their rulers kept once more the Feast of Tabernacles. It was
proclaimed “in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto
the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle
branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make
booths, as it is written. So the people went forth, and brought them,
and made themselves booths, everyone upon the roof of his house, and
in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God.... And there was
very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last
day, he [Ezra] read in the book of the law of God.”
As they had listened from day to day to the words of the law, the
people had been convicted of their transgressions, and of the sins of
their nation in past generations. They saw that it was because of a
departure from God that His protecting care had been withdrawn and
that the children of Abraham had been scattered in foreign lands, and
they determined to seek His mercy and to pledge themselves to walk
in His commandments. Before entering upon this solemn service, held
on the second day after the close of the Feast of Tabernacles, they
separated themselves from the heathen among them.
As the people prostrated themselves before the Lord, confessing
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their sins and pleading for pardon, their leaders encouraged them to
believe that God, according to His promise, heard their prayers. They
must not only mourn and weep, and repent, but they must believe that
God pardoned them. They must show their faith by recounting His
mercies and praising Him for His goodness. “Stand up,” said these
teachers, “and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever.”