"Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Torah (Law) of Moses, which Yahweh had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Torah (Law) before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Torah (Law)" (Neh.8:1-3, NKJV).
I am quite sure that if you are my age or older that you will have heard of 'Watergate'. This was a scandal that took place in the United States in the early 1970's leading to the impeachment and resignation of President Richard Nixon and the imprisonment of several members of his administration. What had they done wrong? They had authorised the illegal break-in of the Democratic Party's National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex for the purpose of political espionage.
What a contrast to Ezra's Water Gate! The whole population of Jerusalem was packed into a small pedestrian precinct to listen to the reading of the Torah, Scriptures that had been lost to them for so long and which they were thirsty to hear again. With patience and dedication hard to find in today's modern churches or assemblies, they stood for hours drinking in Yahweh's Word. As Ezra and twelve other cohanim or priests read portions of Torah and then paused to interpret them for the people, an atmosphere of reverence pervaded the whole assembly. Denied the Scriptures for decades whilst in Babylonian captivity, they now hungrily wanted to know the emet (truth).
This was no mere long teaching exercise, though. This was also a sacred moed, one of the annual mandatory festivals of Yahweh known as Sukkot of the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths), and this 'water gate' became a watershed of blessing and the foundation of a new era of spiritual life for Yahweh's chastised people.
We have a stark choice - to engage in the subterfuge and wickedness of the world's 'Watergates', be found out, humiliated and punished (as all those who turn against Yahweh inevitably are) or come in contrition of heart to the fountain of Yahweh's Sukkot blessings and partake in a feast of His Word. The Christian life inevitably suffers when we neglect daily immersion at the well of written revelation. The secret of personal, family and national happiness was, is, and always will be regular prayer coupled with diligent Scripture study. Start (or re-start) today!
