Their Observance Of The Feast Of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:16-18).
The passage now jumps from the second day to the fifteenth day of the month, when the people having gathered their branches, assembled once more in Jerusalem for the seven day Feast of Tabernacles. There they erected booths to dwell in over the period of the Feast. The emphasis in the whole passage is not on outlining the Feasts of the month, (thus the observance of the Day of Atonement, which the people did not directly participate in publicly, is ignored), but on the reading out of and response to the Law followed by the building of booths in Jerusalem, commemorative of the Exodus, for the proper observance of the seven day Feast in fulfilment of that Law.
‘So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one on the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the broad place of the water gate, and in the broad place of the gate of Ephraim.'
As a consequence of what their leaders had learned from the Law (the Torah), as the fifteenth day approached the people gathered branches and assembled in Jerusalem, where they made themselves booths. Those who had houses built the booths on the roofs of their houses, and in the courts of the bigger houses, while others built theirs in the courts of the house of God, and in the broad place by the Water Gate where they had previously assembled on the first day (Nehemiah 8:1), and in the broad place by the Gate of Ephraim. Thus Jerusalem was filled with booths, as they re-enacted the Exodus experience. They felt that they had taken part in a new Exodus.
‘And all the assembly of those who were come again out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths; for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.'
So ‘those who had come out of the captivity' dwelt in booths, just as those who had come out of captivity in Egypt had previously done. They made booths and dwelt in booths in commemoration of the Exodus, just as in Joshua's day the people had done the same. The phrase about those who had come out of captivity is used deliberately. They were thereby celebrating a new deliverance.
‘For since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so.' This is not denying that the Feast of Tabernacles had been observed at various times throughout their history. We know that it had been (Judges 21:19; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Kings 8:2; 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Chronicles 7:9; Zechariah 14:16; Ezra 3:4). Nor is it denying that many of them had made booths during that Feast. Indeed it was a harvest feast and booths were regularly built at harvest times where workers could rest and sleep. Compare how Boaz himself slept overnight at the site of the harvest (Ruth 3:7), although not in a booth. And booths were built during pagan festivities in which Israelites engaged. Indeed booths had no doubt been erected at harvest times by the returnees. But these were in order to aid ingathering (the feast was also called the Feast of Ingathering), and as a means of celebrating harvests, not as a symbol of deliverance from captivity. What is probably in mind is that booths had not been built for the purpose of commemorating the Exodus, and at the place which YHWH chose (the Tabernacle site and then the Temple site). After the time of Joshua Israel's religious observance had gradually deteriorated, and dwelling in booths had been reinterpreted, with probably not all participating, especially in the great cities. But now Israel were being restored to their former faith, and this was to be a recognition that they were the people of God whom He had delivered from captivity.
‘Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the ordinance.'
As well as sleeping in booths the people also listened to the Law (Torah) of Moses being read out to them day by day. On each day of the seven day feast Ezra read out to them sections of the book of the Law of God. And they observed the Feast in accordance with the requirements laid out in that Law (Leviticus 23:33-36; Deuteronomy 31:10-13). Then on the eighth day there was a ‘solemn gathering and observance', just as the Law required. This requirement for the eighth day is found in Leviticus 23:33; Leviticus 23:39; Numbers 29:35-38 so that we know that Ezra was reading at least from Leviticus (compare earlier on Nehemiah 8:14-15 re Leviticus 23). The word translated ‘solemn assembly' is a comparatively rare one. It refers to the whole day as a day of ‘holding back', and includes the thought of rest from servile work. Thus the people gathered, restraining both themselves and their servants from work, so as to celebrate the Day.
This day of complete rest, following immediately on a daily reading of the Law, and enforcing a period of meditation, had its inevitable consequence. The people had restrained their sorrow over sin (Nehemiah 8:9), which had initially been brought about by the reading of the Law, in order to observe the Feast with gladness. But meanwhile that sense of guilt had been increasing due to the hearing of the Law. After the thrill and buoyancy of the Feast came the inevitable emotional collapse. Now they gave full rein to their sense of guilt. And this caused them to remain in Jerusalem beyond the finalising of the Feast. Day by day throughout the Feast they had received more and more revelations out of the Law as it was read and interpreted daily. In consequence their feelings of guilt with regard to their failure to observe it fully would have been impressed on them more and more day by day. And this would no doubt having been exacerbated by the reading of the curses pronounced in Deuteronomy 27-28, which would presumably have been read on the last of the seven days of the Feast. It thus led to a renewed mourning over their sins and their failure to observe the covenant. And this was something which would now lead on to the proposal and acceptance of a renewed covenant (chapter 10).