Let’s return to the “survey” method for Nehemiah 11-13.
·
Ch. 11 deals with people who dwelt in Jerusalem
rather than in the other cities of Judah.
Most of the people wanted to live near where their jobs were
located. Most of the work was
agricultural so it was beneficial to live near the farm. In addition, Jerusalem was the capital city
and needed an adequate number of people to maintain the city and provide
security. If there was danger of war,
the safe place for the whole nation would be inside the newly rebuilt walls of
Jerusalem. Therefore, there was an
agreement to have a “lottery” of sorts, sending one out of ten to live in Jerusalem
(11:1). In addition, it appears there
were some who volunteered to live in Jerusalem (11:2).
·
12:1-24: Genealogy was important for the
priesthood. Thus Nehemiah contains this
record from both the time of the first return under Zerubbabel and Jeshua (12:1-21)
and the time of Ezra’s return (12:22-26).
You will note Ezra’s name both in v1 and v22. We have noted in the past, it is possible he
had come in the first return, then returned to Babylon and came a second time as
leader of the returning exiles. The
other possibility is that there are two “Ezras."
·
12:25-43 is a wonderful account of the
celebration of thanksgiving at the completion of the walls. It would have been a joy to have been there,
and to hear the antiphonal choirs lifting their praise.
·
12:44-13:31: Chapter 12 finishes with some joyful
temple ministry. Things were organized
after the way King David laid it out so many years before. The people must have been excited at this,
and showed their excitement by supporting the ministry financially. In Ch. 13, Nehemiah dealt with several other
issues.
o
13:1-3: This comes from Deut. 23:3-4. People of these nations were not to have a
part in the assembly of Israel. Having
read this, the people obeyed.
o
13:4-9: While Nehemiah had gone back to Babylon
for awhile some of the Jews who were friendly with the neighboring enemies had
taken over some of the storage rooms in the temple. Nehemiah rectified the situation decisively,
including doing a thorough cleansing of the rooms.
o
13:10-14: In addition, while he was gone, the
system of caring for the priests and Levites fell apart. Again, Nehemiah took appropriate action, and
committed it to God.
o
13:15-22: Then there were Sabbath issues, with
non-Jews gathering at the gates on the Sabbath.
The leaders of Jerusalem allowed this, until Nehemiah intervened and committed
the matter to God.
o 13:23-29:
And then, the intermarriage with pagans again raised its ugly head. So again, Nehemiah took decisive action: “cursed
them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair.” That seems decisive indeed!
The closing words of Nehemiah begin, “I
cleansed them of everything pagan.” In
that we can see that Nehemiah finished well; he didn’t give up, even when there
was a repeated dealing of the same issues.
He was a wonderful leader. There
is a reminder here of what it takes to deal with sin. Even in the NT setting, with all the
blessings of the New Covenant, sin longs to have control. That’s why when Rom. 8:13 talks about putting
sin to death, it’s a Greek form that does not mean “once for all” but rather “continuously”
putting sin to death.
Let us thank God for the blessing of His
Spirit. One of my sons just shared a
thought with me. I was not aware of
this, and have not checked it out. I
have no doubt he is correct. He said
Romans 8, the great chapter of victory in Christ, refers to the Holy Spirit 25
times, and in the entire chapter there are no commands. Meditate on that. It’s quite powerful.
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