One big difference bet ween saints and sinners is where they go to satisfy their inner hunger.
One day wasn’t long enough for the heads of these households. They knew there was more in the Word! It’s wonderful to see them spiritually hungry. This is the attitude that brings true revival: I want everything God has for my family! So we read, “On the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law” (Neh 8:13). It was a good thing. They rediscovered the truth that God delights in celebrating. He had instituted a series of special holidays, actually holy days, called festivals. They both looked back to God’s faithful provisions and forward to His faithful promises. And one was due to be celebrated soon— the Feast of Tabernacles. In preparation, the people would “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written” (v 15). The word for “booths” is sukkôt, and they were to commemorate the tents which Israel used on their 40-year trek from Egypt to Canaan, remembering God’s watchcare all the way. It was also called the Feast of Ingathering (Ex 23:16) since it commemorated the end of the harvest, and these booths were used at harvest time for the workers. So it also looked ahead, for, as Jesus said, “the harvest is the end of the age” (Mt 13:39). It anticipates the time when a voice from heaven will cry, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev 21:3). This isn’t the Rapture we’re looking for (1 Thess 4:14-18), but the regathering of a Christ-worshipping Israel to their Land and to their Lord.