He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. – Nehemiah 8:3

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 6, 2020): Nehemiah 8

In one of our favorite Christmas carols, "The First Noel," it is not just the Wise Men who follow the star to Bethlehem, but also the shepherds. In fact, in the song, it is the shepherds who first notice the star hanging in the sky. But the biblical account of the shepherds does not mention a star; only the story of the Wise Men contains the legend of the Christmas Star. From our perch in history, we suspect that the Magi or Wise men or Kings were men who were adept at teasing out the story of the world that was being written nightly in the stars. The Star of Bethlehem was not just a bright light in the sky; it was a star that appeared in the sky and told a story that the Magi alone were in a position to understand. It is a story that would have gone unnoticed by lowly shepherds.

So why does the author of the First Noel tell a story about the shepherds following the star? It could well be a case of artistic license; what is suitable for the Magi must have been good for the shepherds who spent their nights out under the stars. But most believe that the author of our well-loved lyrics was simply illiterate. The unknown writer of the song had heard the Christmas story about shepherds and Wise Men and had conflated the details. And, at least to the ears of early listeners, the tale made sense, matching what they had heard.

The question of literacy in ancient times is one that is continually argued. In Judah, there seems to have been ebbs and flows to the people's ability to read. The end first Temple period (600 B.C.E) likely represented a high mark in Jewish literacy. But during the exile, fewer and fewer people were able to read. What they knew about God and the law was only what they had heard. And like the story of the writing of the First Noel, sometimes what they had heard got confused.

So, Ezra sits the people down in a public square located by the Water Gate of the city. Everybody gathered, not according to their ability to read, but according to their ability to listen and understand. Ezra feared that these people, unable to read for themselves, had heard about the laws of God, they knew the opinions of what their neighbors might have believed about God but had never experienced the actual laws for themselves. On this day, that would change. Ezra would read, and the people would hear, not someone's edited opinion about what the God would have the people do, but the actual words of Moses by which Ezra hoped that the citizens of Judah would order their lives.

For six hours, Ezra read as the people sat quietly and listened. Men, women, children old enough to understand the import of the words, slaves, and servants from other nations, all gathered to hear the words Moses had written at the beginning of Israel. And it was here, at the Water Gate, that the people had their beliefs in God questioned and affirmed, as Ezra read to them the story of God as understood by the prophet and law-giver Moses.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 9