Neh 8:3 | KingComments | STEP | The people have gathered before the square which was in front of the Water Gate ( ). There they still are when Ezra comes. To underline the importance of that place, the Holy Spirit again mentions the name of the place where Ezra is going to read now. There is often discussion about the length of the sermon. In such discussions you can hear that a good sermon should not last longer than twenty minutes at the most. According to the ‘scholars’, this is on average the maximum that a person can concentrate. After twenty minutes the attention slackens quickly. That is the argument. Fortunately, in those days they were not familiar with studies with such outcomes and recommendations related to them. Ezra does not give a ‘twenty-minute sermon’. By the way, he does not preach at all. He reads aloud. He does so “from early morning until midday”. And is there any slackening of attention? On the contrary, “all the people were attentive to the book of the law”. They are all ears, afraid to miss a word. Boredom doesn’t get a chance to strike. The attention of everyone present is captured by the Word for at least four hours in succession. This is a beautiful and jealous spirit.

‏ Nehemiah 8:3

Listening to the Word

The people have gathered before the square which was in front of the Water Gate (Neh 8:1). There they still are when Ezra comes. To underline the importance of that place, the Holy Spirit again mentions the name of the place where Ezra is going to read now.

There is often discussion about the length of the sermon. In such discussions you can hear that a good sermon should not last longer than twenty minutes at the most. According to the ‘scholars’, this is on average the maximum that a person can concentrate. After twenty minutes the attention slackens quickly. That is the argument. Fortunately, in those days they were not familiar with studies with such outcomes and recommendations related to them. Ezra does not give a ‘twenty-minute sermon’.

By the way, he does not preach at all. He reads aloud. He does so “from early morning until midday”. And is there any slackening of attention? On the contrary, “all the people were attentive to the book of the law”. They are all ears, afraid to miss a word. Boredom doesn’t get a chance to strike. The attention of everyone present is captured by the Word for at least four hours in succession. This is a beautiful and jealous spirit.