In our study of Nehemiah chapter seven, we look at the defense of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem and apply the principles to our walk with Christ.
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After the wall had been rebuilt, and I had set up its doors, and the gatekeepers, singers and L’vi’im had been appointed,
We saw the completion of the wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem in chapter six. Now, we see the appointing of those who would guard the city. The "gatekeepers" were the watchmen who would stand on top of the wall looking outside for approaching danger. We see that he did not only appoint the people for the physical safety of the city but also for the spiritual through the singers and the Levites. The destruction of the city had started with the people turning away from the ways of God. This reminds us of how important it is to have ministers who hold firmly to the Word of God for the spiritual security of the people.
I put my kinsman Hanani in charge of Yerushalayim, along with Hananyah the commander of the citadel. For he was a faithful man, and he feared God more than most.
Here, we see the qualification that Nehemiah used for the one that would be put in charge of the city. It was not a college degree or some other type of certificate but it was based on integrity and fear (awe) of God. He was faithful not educated and the same type of qualifications would be well applied to the "churches" today.
I said to them, “The gates of Yerushalayim are not to be opened until the sun is hot; and while the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors; and you, put up the bars. Appoint watchmen from among those living in Yerushalayim; assign each one his time to guard, and have each one serving near his own house.”
The city was to remain closed up tight until it was good and light (less chance of attack). We also see that the responsibility for the defense of the city was spread out to the residents as well. In this same manner, the responsibility for the gospel of Jesus Christ is spread to all who are Christians. Just as these guards protected the city, we are called to hold firmly to the Word of God and not allow public opinion or compromise to slip in and damage the church.
The city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not been rebuilt. My God put it in my heart to assemble the nobles, the leaders and the people, so that they could be registered according to their genealogies. I located the record of the genealogies of those who had come up at the beginning and found written in it:
The people in Jerusalem had worked on the walls and finished the work to protect the city before starting to rebuild their own homes. There were three groups of people that returned to Jerusalem at different times. The first group was led by Zerubbabel; the second by Ezra, and the third by Nehemiah.
“Here is a list of the people of the province who had been exiled, carried off to Bavel by N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel, but who later returned from exile and went up to Yerushalayim and Y’hudah, each to his own city; they went with Z’rubavel, Yeshua, Nechemyah, ‘Azaryah, Ra‘amyah, Nachmani, Mordekhai, Bilshan, Misperet, Bigvai, N’chum and Ba‘anah. “The number of men from the people of Isra’el:
Now, we are going to see a list of the people of Israel that had returned to the land. We may ask ourselves why it is important and the reason is that it is an encouragement to know that God takes note of us each individually. God knew each and every one of these names just as He knows our names and has written them in the book of life.
descendants of Par‘os 2,172 descendants of Sh’fatyah 372 descendants of Arac 652 descendants of Pachat-Mo’av, from the descendants of Yeshua and Yo’av 2,818 descendants of ‘Eilam 1,254 descendants of Zatu 845 descendants of Zakkai 760 descendants of Binui 648 descendants of B’vai 628 descendants of ‘Azgad 2,322 descendants of Adonikam 667 descendants of Bigvai 2,067 descendants of ‘Adin 655 descendants of Ater, of Y’chizkiyah 98 descendants of Hashum 328 descendants of Betzai 324 descendants of Harif 112 descendants of Giv‘on 95 people of Beit-Lechem and N’tofah 188 people of ‘Anatot 128 people of Beit-‘Azmavet 42 people of Kiryat-Ye‘arim, K’firah and Be’erot 743 people of Ramah and Geva 621 people of Mikhmas 122 people of Beit-El and ‘Ai 123 people from the other N’vo 52 people from the other ‘Eilam 1,254 descendants of Harim 320 descendants of Yericho 345 descendants of Lod, Hadid and Ono 721 descendants of S’na’ah 3,930 “The cohanim: descendants of Y’da‘yah, of the house of Yeshua 973 descendants of Immer 1,052 descendants of Pash’chur 1,247 descendants of Harim 1,017 “The L’vi’im: descendants of Yeshua, of Kadmi’el, of the descendants of Hodvah 74 “The singers: descendants of Asaf 148 “The gatekeepers: descendants of Shalum, descendants of Ater, descendants of Talmon, descendants of ‘Akuv, descendants of Hatita, and descendants of Shovai 138 “The temple servants: descendants of Tzicha, descendants of Hasufa, descendants of Taba‘ot, descendants of Keros, descendants of Si‘a, descendants of Padon, descendants of L’vanah, descendants of Hagava, descendants of Salmai, descendants of Hanan, descendants of Giddel, descendants of Gachar, descendants of Re’ayah, descendants of Retzin, descendants of N’koda, descendants of Gazam, descendants of ‘Uza, descendants of Paseach, descendants of Besai, descendants of Me‘unim, descendants of N’fish’sim, descendants of Bakbuk, descendants of Hakufa, descendants of Harhur, descendants of Batzlit, descendants of M’chida, descendants of Harsha, descendants of Barkos, descendants of Sisra, descendants of Temach, descendants of N’tziach, and descendants of Hatifa. “The descendants of Shlomo’s servants: descendants of Sotai, descendants of Soferet, descendants of P’rida, descendants of Ya‘lah, descendants of Darkon, descendants of Giddel, descendants of Sh’fatyah, descendants of Hatil, descendants of Pokheret-Hatzvayim, and descendants of Amon. “All the temple servants and the descendants of Shlomo’s servants numbered 392 “The following went up from Tel-Melach, Tel-Harsha, K’ruv, Adon and Immer; but they could not state which fathers’ clan they and their children belonged to, [so it was not clear] whether they were from Isra’el: descendants of D’layah, descendants of Toviyah, and descendants of N’koda 642 and of the cohanim: descendants of Havayah, descendants of Hakotz, and descendants of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gil‘adi and was named after them.
If we are honest, we will probably ask ourselves why God would include this list of people in the Bible. First of all, it is encouraging to know that God knows each and every one of His people by name. The second thing is that we see there are divisions based on their service to God and this is a picture of the judgment of rewards that we see in Revelation. God not only knows who we are but He also knows how we have served Him.
“These tried to locate their geneaolgical records, but they weren’t found. Therefore they were considered defiled and were not allowed to serve as cohanim. The Tirshata told them not to eat any of the especially holy food until a cohen appeared who could consult the urim and tumim.
Those that could not trace their family line back to Levi were excluded from the priesthood as that was the tribe set aside by God. Because they were excluded they were not allowed to eat the food that was brought to the temple for the priests. This was to be their fate until a priest could find the will of God by using the Urim and Thummim. Today, all who are in Christ are a part of the priesthood and we have access to the will of God by the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
“The entire assembly numbered 42,360, not including their male and female slaves, of whom there were 7,337. They also had 245 male and female singers. Their horses numbered 736; their mules, 245; their camels, 435; and their donkeys, 6,720.
Here, we are given the number of people that returned to the land and we notice that it was significantly less than the total number of Jews.
“Some from among the heads of fathers’ clans made contributions for the work. The Tirshata contributed to the treasury a thousand gold darkmonim [twenty-one pounds], fifty basins and 530 tunics for the cohanim. Some of the heads of fathers’ clans gave into the treasury for the work 20,000 gold darkmonim [420 pounds] and 2,200 silver manim [one-and-a-third tons]. The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold darkmonim, 2,000 silver manim [about one-and-a-quarter tons] and sixty-seven tunics for the cohanim.
We notice that there was a difference in the giving between the people. We see that the families that had more gave more to the work while those that had less still gave what they could. All of it was put together to pay for the work of the Lord. Today, there are many who sit back and let others fund the work of the kingdom because they do not see how much they have been blessed.
“So the cohanim, the L’vi’im, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants and all Isra’el lived in their towns.”
So, the people went back to their hometowns.
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