Friday
Nehemiah 8:13-18

The reading of God’s Word brought the people back to God. One of the passages read before the people described the week long celebration—the Feast of Booths (8:14). So the people brought back this time of thanksgiving and remembrance.

The Feast of Booths/Tabernacles memorialized the journey from Egypt to the Land of Promise during the days of Moses. The people lived in tents during these years of wandering. So families constructed shelters from branches and camped out in them during this time of thanksgiving for God’s provision. The people “had not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing” (8:17).