Bible Study: February 21, 2024

Okay, so tonight I think the plan will be that we will get through chapters 10, 11, and 12, maybe a little bit of 13 as we, if time allows. Chapter 13 is going to be, I know, a very well-discussed chapter, so we will try to save that for the next time we talk so that we don't shortchange it at all because I know there will be a lot of comments. And there are very many things we can learn in, well, this entire book of Nehemiah. You heard Betsy mention the things that we can learn in the first part of the Nehemiah, how we just do God's will. We just continue to build that wall that He wants us to build. But we'll be in chapter 10. I'll just remind you how we ended last week. We went through chapter 7, which was pretty much a listing of the names.

Oh my gosh, we don't want that. Hello? Okay. There we go. Yeah, last week we mentioned that, God lists all those names in chapter 7, but as He's doing that, we're going to see lists of names tonight. We're not going to list every single name that's in there, but God inspired Ezra to record all those names. The people here in the time of Nehemiah with the rebuilding of the wall and the temple, they were very good examples to us. I think God appreciated that and put their names in the Bible because they did His work. They went out, and as He asked them to do the things, they put their mind to it. They didn't let themselves get distracted. They built that wall, and when they realized that they had sinned against God and had neglected some of His cares and their holy convocations, His holy convocations, they just completely repented and turned to God immediately. That's a tremendous example for us. In chapter 9 last week, well, in chapter 8, you'll remember we looked at how they conducted their Holy Day service.

Not dissimilar to how we conduct our Sabbath services today with Ezra, Nehemiah, and the scribes talking and the people listening, showing respect to God. In chapter 9, we have the prayer that is prayed as the people are fasting in repentance before God. As we end in chapter 9 last week, the end of that prayer, it says in verse 38 of chapter 9, because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it. Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it. So they prayed, and they're signing this covenant, and in chapter 10 we're going to see what that covenant that they're making with God is. Now, as we talk about covenant here, when we get into the latter, like verse 28 of chapter 10, you and I have made a covenant with God too.

The covenant that we make with God is not dissimilar to what they're signing and writing. They weren't baptized, but you and I are baptized. We made a covenant with God that we would follow Him, obey Him, turn ourselves to Him, and commit ourselves to Him. We see them making that very same covenant. So let's pick it up in chapter 10 and verse 1. Again, we have this listing of names. It says, now those who placed their seal on the document were. The first one to sign there is Nehemiah. This is the commitment we make to God. Nehemiah signs, and then all these other people. Verse 9, we see the Levites sign. Verse 10, their brethren sign. And down through the list there, down through verse 27, all those names. Again, that God had is, or recorded as Bible, they made a covenant to God, and their names are there. One day, one day, we will probably meet these people who made that covenant to God, provided that they continue to live their way.

God's way the rest of their lives, and that we do the same. Verse 28, now it says, the rest of the people. All the rest of the people here, these are the people who put their name to it, but the rest of the people were joining in the covenant as well. So it says, the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nephonym. Remember what the Nephonym were? They were the people, the temple servers. They were kind of the servants. I think Xavier pointed out to us last week that, you know, as the Gideonites were brought in, they were going to serve in the temple all the time. That was kind of their job as they worked with Israel, as kind of like slaves and servants of the Israelites. So the rest of the people, including these groups that we just read here in verse 28, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. Everyone who had knowledge and understanding. So we have a whole group of people here. We have the Levites, we have the Nephonym, we have all the temple workers, we have the gatekeepers, and we have everyone who actually separated themselves, who turned to God, who realized what they had done and left the ways of the Persian kingdom behind to live—well, not to live, but we'll see that in the next chapter—to join God and to live according to His way. They had allowed the ways of the world to come into them, and now they were separating themselves from the world to live by the laws of God. I'm going to put up here for just a second.

I'm going to just remind you of this city of these gates that we had seen before. So inside those walls—these are the walls that remember that had been repaired—all the gates—we're going to read about some of those gates tonight as we go through these chapters—all these walls have repaired, and inside that city the way of God was going to be practiced. Inside those gates, like when we read in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, within your gates, within the gates of Jerusalem, the law of God is kept. The way of the world is out, and in those gates the Sabbath is kept exactly the way God wants it to be, and the laws of God are kept in that way. So I'll bring that back up again, but just a visual of the city now that has the gates around it and the wall built around it, much like we build a wall around us and don't let the world in. We do things God's way. This is the picture we have here. All the people who separated themselves. It's like all the people in the church. Everyone who responds to God's call is baptized, who leaves the world behind. This is the picture we have here of the people who are going to join in the covenant. Verse 29 says, These joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse. Now curse, it's an unfortunate translation. When you look at it, it can be translated oath, covenant.

It's a commitment. It's a commitment that you make. They entered into a curse, and it says they're then an oath. So probably it's better into a covenant and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God. So they're coming before God. All these people, they're entering into a covenant. The leaders have signed it, but the people are joining in a covenant and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God and His ordinances and His statutes.

So they were going to basically obey God. The same thing we say. God, we will live by your law. We will follow your principles. We will follow your way. And then they go through some of the things. Now remember that in chapter 8, it was the Feast of Trumpets. This was the first day of the seventh month, and they were reading in the book of the law. And as they read in the book of the law, the things that were being reminded of things hadn't been done. So you'll remember that there was weeping and mourning in that day because they realized they had neglected God, they had disobeyed Him, and they felt very sorry about it. But they were learning because they were reading in the book of the law. We're going to see them recount some of those things they learned in the book of the law that they're now committing to do as we go through the next several verses here. Verse 30 says, We would not give our daughters as wives to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons. So as you will recall, you know, when you read through the Old Testament, you do see God repeating that to His people. Don't give your sons. Don't take their daughters for your sons. Don't give your daughters to them in marriage because, in fact, let's just go back and read Deuteronomy 7 because as they read the book of the law, they came across this verse, and this is why they're committing to God to do that. Deuteronomy 7, verse 3, I think. Yeah, verse 3. Deuteronomy 7 and verse 3. In Deuteronomy 5, of course, we have the Ten Commandments, and then God continues with statutes and ordinances He expects them to follow. In Deuteronomy 7, He says, Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. And then He gives the reason why.

For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods.

So the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

In Malachi 2, we read about the godly offspring. Deuteronomy 6, we read about God saying, Teach your children my way and your family. Teach them of God when you rise up, when you lay down.

Have them know God. Something that we've been stressing a little bit more in the church today, especially in an age that has become so godless and lawless, teach your children every day. Remind them of who they are. Remind them of God's way of life, so that they don't depart from it. Arm them with the truth of God.

Because He says, if you intermarry, more often than not, the spouse is going to take the person into the world and away from God. So God says, They'll take your sons away from following Me. So don't intermarry. And then verse 5, let's just go ahead and read it. It says, But thus you shall deal. God is very—when you go into a land and when you come into the church, leave the ways of the world behind. Thus you shall deal with them. You shall destroy their altars, break down their sacred pillars. Break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. Get rid of the things. Get them out of your light. Put the things of the world behind you and do things the way God says. And He reminds us. He reminds them and reminds us, too, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. And then He says, not because we're a great people, we're so smart and whatever, it's because God chose us. And as we read in Isaiah, He created the people of Israel. He created the descendants of Abraham, who became the nations of Israel, who He blessed. So as the people here, they're committing to follow the commandments of God. They've read those in Deuteronomy 5. They've read about Don't Intermarry, but back a few chapters ago, we've seen they have intermured with the people of the land. We're going to see that again in chapter 13.

And to their credit, they were willing to do what they need to do to rectify that situation.

We'll talk more about that next week. But they recognize we've done these things. We've departed from God, so they make this part of this covenant they make. We won't give our daughters to them, and we won't take their daughters for our sons. Verse 31, then if I'm back, I'm back in Nehemiah 10. And then He talks about the Sabbath. If the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we wouldn't buy it from them on the Sabbath. And so He's talking about doing business there. No different than a farmer's market, right? If we owned a farm, we wouldn't let people come in and set up a farmer's market on our land, even if we weren't the ones working on it. This was business. This was like going to Walmart or whatever the grocery store in your town is. If the peoples of the land brought wares, that's things to buy. They're doing their shopping on the Sabbath, or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we wouldn't buy it from them on the Sabbath. In chapter 13, we'll see how Nehemiah is absent from Jerusalem for a while. When he spends 12 years there, builds the wall, stays there, then he goes back to the king for a while. When he comes back, he's kind of alarmed at how things have happened and how things have deteriorated. We'll see that in chapter 13. But he shuts the gates in chapter 13. No more! No more merchandise selling. No more of this going on. No shopping on the Sabbath. If the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we wouldn't buy it from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we would forego the seventh year's produce and the exacting of every debt. So they're even looking at how they keep the land Sabbath. Because in Deuteronomy 15, God says, every seventh year you shall let the land have a Sabbath. Let it lay fallow. Give it the rest as well. They hadn't been doing that. So as they are making a covenant with God, they're repeating to Him all these things that they have now learned that they haven't been doing. So we'll be following your agricultural laws as well, is what they're saying. Verse 32. Also, we made ordinances for ourselves to exact from ourselves yearly one-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God. They have a tabernacle now, a temple now. It requires some upkeep. That requires some money. They're paying their tithes to the Levites. But there's some money beyond that to keep the temple operating. So they're making a commitment. It will give this other money, this one-third of a shekel, so that the house of God has everything that it needs. So the temple is being operated fully. Now, this is the same thing that Jesus Christ was talking about in Matthew 17. One of those miracles where the Pharisees were trying to trap Him into something.

He went with the temple tax, and He made sure the temple tax is paid, showing us we should be paying our taxes as well to the government. We don't just say we don't pay our taxes. In this case, it was the temple tax. In Matthew 17—no, not Matthew 17. It is Matthew 17 verse 24.

There it says, When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, Does your teacher not pay the temple tax? Well, they're making an accusation. You know, is your master Jesus Christ? Is He paying the temple tax? Peter said, Yes, He does. When He had come into the house, Jesus anticipated Him saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers? Peter said to Him, from strangers. Jesus said to Him, Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, take the fish that comes up first. When you have opened his mouth, you will find a piece of money or a coin, take that, and give it to them for me and you.

So, you know, that's the same temple tax that they're putting into effect here in the time of Nehemiah. The same thing that they carried through to take care of the temple in Jesus' time for the temple as well. You know, I guess we have similar things today, too. People pay their tithes, but, you know, at the Feast of Tabernacles, we do say, you know, if you can, pay extra because we have all these rentals that we have to do for the Feast of Tabernacles to make it available for everyone.

In a way, that's kind of like a temple tax, but it's not really a tax. It's completely voluntary. It's not anything that we are saying you have to do. It's just if you have extra and whatever like that. But it helps to keep the work of God and the physical things going, and that's what this was with the temple. We're going to see that there are some actually, you know, physical things here that the temple had. We see that in verse 33. The temple taxes for the temple, verse 33, for the showgrid, for the regular grain offering, for the regular burnt offering of the Sabbath, the new moons, and the set feasts, for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.

It was a big work. It took a lot of people to do everything. When you read through what went on at that temple, the number of animals that were sacrificed every day, it was in a live place. There was not a free moment for anyone. It was just a very busy place. One of the things that we are learning there is a lot of work to do in God's work. As we look around the world and see the things that need to be done, fulfilling the commission that God wants us to do, we know there is a lot of work that goes into it.

God has provided very well for His Church. We have the funds to be able to go out and do these things and really preach the gospel in all nations in a way that they can receive it, not just the American way, but their way as we are learning these things. As God has given us in the Church a very talented media team that can put together some very interesting ads that attract attention for people.

They'll be working more in the international areas as well, along with the international people. That's an aside. Verse 34, going on, all the work of God, they realize how much work there is to do to please God and to do His will. Verse 34 says, we cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people for bringing the wood offering into the house of our God. There's this wood offering. You might think, what is this wood offering? They cast lots. You bring the wood in. We need to have a constant supply of wood in the temple.

That's for that ever-burning fire that needed to be the perpetual fire that God said He wanted burning in that house. According to our Father's houses, at the appointed times, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God as it is written in the law. Let's go back to Leviticus 6 and read that. As God set up the tabernacle, near the temple, He did make these provisions for things that were going to be perpetually burning, always there.

Those are lessons for our life. There is a fire that is always supposed to be burning in us. The perpetual incense—I'm not going to take the time to go through that. Not too long ago in a sermon, I talked about those things that were perpetual perpetually in the temple. But He set up an ever-burning fire that started by God.

Never let the fire go out. Always have that zeal. We read about that in Leviticus 6 and beginning in verse 12. Leviticus 6 verse 12. It says, "'The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not be put out, and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it, and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. A fire shall always be burning on the altar. It shall never go out.'" And so when they talk about casting lot for people that will, okay, your day is to bring the wood to the tavern, act like it's in the temple, so that that fire can never continue to be burning.

It was never to go out. So the people were responsible for that. That's a big responsibility. You wouldn't want to be the one who it's your day to bring the wood. You didn't show up, and someone had to scramble and get it up, because that would be an affront to God. That it didn't mean that it wasn't that important to you to make sure that that wood was there to keep that fire burning. And we have that responsibility. You know, the ever burning fire, the seal that God puts in us with this Holy Spirit.

You can think about all the examples of fire in the Bible, and how it ignites is you can think about the tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost, that God puts there.

There's this incense that was continually burning night and day. Of course, the incense represents the prayers of the saints. We learn in the Psalms when David says that, as well as in the book of Revelation, when it says the prayers of the saints rise to God as sweet incense before Him. So you have these things in the Old Testament that certainly have their application for us today.

And so this is one of them. And again, they're reading in the book of the law. It's like, okay, we need to be doing these things. So we'll go back to Nehemiah 10.

And you notice how many times it says, as it is written in the law. And I like that it repeats that quite a bit through here, as it is written in the law. Because we do things as it is written in the Word of God. We do things the way that God says what's in the Bible. So we were in verse 34. Let's look at verse 35. It says in verse 35, And we made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruits, all fruit of all trees, year by year to the house of the Lord. So they're the firstfruits. We remember the law of the firstfruits. Bring those to the temple. Give those to the Levites.

They recognize that, and they're committing. We're going to do that. When the firstfruits come up, they're going over there to the Levites. And verse 36, to bring the firstborn of our sons and our cattle, as it is written in the law, as it is written in the law, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks, to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God.

Now, we would know about the firstborn of the cattle. Let's go back to Exodus 13 for just a minute.

And it also says, the firstborn of your sons. And some might say, whoa, the firstborn of our the firstborn of our children we give to God. And in Exodus 13, God shows they're redeemed, if you will. Let me see if I don't think I wrote down that verse. Let me look here in my notes again. Well, let's look at verse 13. Yeah, verse 13. Exodus 13 verse 13.

Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sins you shall redeem. So shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, what is this, that you shall say to him, by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And so, the firstborn of sons is like there's an offering. You don't sacrifice the son. You do give an offering in his place. You redeem him to God. And I know there's a verse in here that explains that more. I don't know why I didn't write it down. But it's the principle of redeeming, just like for the donkey. You don't redeem the donkey. You redeem the donkey with a lamb, and you make that offering to God. You know, in Psalm 127, it says that sons are the blessing God commands. Of course, back in those days, sons were blessings. They worked with the lamb. They did all the hard labor along with the man of the house. It wasn't that the daughters weren't blessings, too, but it was good to have a number of sons when you were working the land. I remember, you know, I was growing up, and we would go to my grandmother's farm, and my uncles, you know. Well, one uncle was there later, but the boys always went out and worked. You know, they were always out there, and even when I was there, I wasn't a farm kid at all. But it's like, if you're there, you're working the farm when you're there for a little bit, because that's just what you do. And the women did their thing, and they kept the house very well as well. But anyway, that's an aside. So let's go back to Nehemiah 10. So to bring the firstborn of our sons and our cattle, as it is written in the law, there we hear it is written, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God. Again, as they read, they're now committing, they're repeating, this is what we're going to do. We've read it, now we're going to do it.

To bring, verse 37, to bring the first fruits of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all kinds of trees, the new wine, the new wine and oil, to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God, and to bring the tithes of our land to the Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes in all our farming communities. Again, repeating the laws of God. Now we know what the way of God is. We're committing and we're entering into this covenant to do what God says. The same type covenant you and I entered into that baptism. And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites, when the Levites should receive tithes. And the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms of the storehouse. So people tithe to the Levites, and then the Levites tithed tithe on the tithe that was given to them. It's just the way of God. It's the same thing. Sometimes people will say, do ministers tithe? Yes, ministers tithe, just like members do. Even though it's the tithes of the people that pay ministers, we pay first tithe, we pay second tithe, we save second tithe, just like you do to pay the expenses of the feast. The principle is here in God's Word. Tithe. Everyone tithes in the increase that God has given them. Verse 39, for the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain of the new wine and the oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are.

For those who have just joined, we're in Nehemiah 10. We're in verse 39.

So to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are, where the priests who minister and the gatekeepers and the singers are. Now we will not neglect the house of our God.

And so he's listening to some of those things. Here's where it's going to be stored.

We've got gatekeepers. We've got singers. In chapter 11, we're going to read about a choir that Nehemiah requests we brought. They'll be conducted. We're going to see in parts of the celebration of the wall that choir being front and center, if you will. So Nehemiah 11.

So now we've got the people. They've separated themselves from the land. They have committed to God. They have repeated to him what they've read in the law. This is what we are going to do. This is how we are going to live within the gates, within Judah, as we commit ourselves to you.

Now Jerusalem has a wall around it, but Jerusalem isn't well populated yet. The people that have settled in the land, they live in all their own cities. We're going to lead—I think we've read that before—but now we're going to populate Jerusalem. It needs some people in it. And so the people by lot are going to be chosen who will live in Jerusalem. We're going to see that it's kind of like their sacrifice. I mean, it is a sacrifice if we need to move some place from where we were to where God wants us to be. And as you would think, that it would be a tremendous honor. Oh wow, I've been selected to live at Jerusalem, but moving in those days wasn't an easy chore. And so we see that by lot, and they believe that when they did these lots, God was choosing the people who would live in Jerusalem, and the tithe of the people who made this commitment are going to be chosen to live in Jerusalem. So chapter 11 and verse 1. The leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem. You'll remember when we had that map up before we did read things like Eliasheb's house and some other people's houses. There were houses that were there. There are other houses that needed to be built as people populated the area. The leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem. So 10% of the population was going to move to Jerusalem. To dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities. And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem. And so they went through the thing, and the people, as they got selected, yes, we will move. Yes, we will change our lives. We will move. We will develop new relationships. Whatever the job is, this. But we will do that in Jerusalem and do what God said. And so the men willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem. These are the heads of the province who dwelt in Jerusalem. But in the cities of Judah, everyone dwelt in his own possession in their cities. Israelites, priests, Levites, the Nethanim, again the temple servants, and descendants of Solomon's servants. Also in Jerusalem, dwelt some of the children of Judah and the children of Benjamin. And then we have this list of names again. So here God, again, here's people who, as it says in verse 2, they willingly offered themselves. God sees a very, a people that's just willing to do whatever God asks them to do. And he inspires Ezra, who wrote this book, or here's the names. It's recorded in there. One day your name will be in something. They did this. They did that. When I showed them my way, they willingly yielded to me to do what it is as an example. And so, you know, we have chapter, verse 4, the children of Judah. And we see the name Uzziah there. He was a king of Israel that we talked about back in the book of Isaiah. Verse 7, we have the sons of Benjamin that are listed. Verse 10, we've got priests. Verse 18, we have all the Levites in the holy city and the number of them. And then in verse 19, we have the gatekeepers. Remember, we've got the east gate, the fountain gate, the water gate, the sheep gate, all those gates that are there. The gatekeepers. And they list them then, 172 of those. And the rest of Israel, of the priests and Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance. So those who were selected, they moved to Jerusalem. Everyone else continued to live in their cities. But the Nephonym dwelt in Ophiel and Zihah and Geshba. And Zihah and Geshba were over the Nephonym.

In verse 22, I'll just read verse 22, there's the name Asaph. Asaph, we should be familiar with him from the Psalms. He was, along with David, he was an author of many of the Psalms. And music is associated with him. We're going to see that here in verse 22. We read that again last week as well.

Also, the overseer of the Levites of Jerusalem was Uzi, the son of Bani, the son of Hashebiah, the son of Mataniah, the son of Micah, of the sons of Asaph, the singers in charge of the service of the house of God. So we have people who are the singers. Asaph, descendants of Ahab.

Often, you see the talent, the singing talent run through a family or the musical talent.

Many times, I know here in Cincinnati, 300 people, and there are just people who are just very, very talented in music. And often, it's within the family, you just kind of marvel how that talent just gets passed on to kids, whether it's piano playing or singing or whatever it is that they're doing. You can see God. That's the gift that he gives them, and they use it well in his service. Verse 23, it was the king's command concerning them that a certain portion be for the singers a quota day by day. So the singers have their allotment. They're important in the worship of God. They're going to be very important when we get into chapter 12, and we begin to see the gladness that is associated with the dedication of the wall. Maybe the rededication of the wall, but we'll get to that in just a minute. So down the rest of chapter 11, we have names. I don't think it adds anything to us. One day, we'll understand who these names are and probably meet some of these people, and we'll understand what these verses are. But I don't think we need to take the time to read them. Certainly, you can read through them. I don't recognize any names as I go through here that we might be able to relate to another part of the Bible. So let's go down to chapter 12. Certainly, if there's anyone who's got a comment or anything you want to draw attention to, I hope you'll just... if I'm not looking at the hands up in the corner of my screen here, please feel free to just start talking. Yeah, Mr. Shaby.

Yeah, greetings. I saw Ziklag there, I think. Wasn't that where King David had to go and rest to his family from Ziklag? That sounds familiar. I had to look it up. I think you're right.

Very good. And my eyes are just falling on Kurjath. I've seen that name before, too. I don't know exactly where Kurjath are, but some of those things, if you ever took the time to go through and list out in the Bible where these cities are, you could kind of record and see what happened in those various areas. Very good. Okay, chapter 12. These are the priests. Verse 1. These are the priests of the Levites who came up with Saruba Bell. We're familiar. He was the governor of Jerusalem before Nehemiah. He came up with Saruba Bell, the son of Shealtiel, and he lists the names here. And then we have this genealogy in the first part of chapter 12.

I'm not sure where this genealogy is going. One day we're going to know. In verse 8, we see this family. These Levites that led this Thanksgiving Psalms. We see Joshua, verse 10. Joshua begot Joyakim and Eliashev. We've seen Eliashev's name. He was one of the priests who had a house in Jerusalem. And then we see Ezra's name down there in verse 13. Same Ezra who was there, who was part of the building of the temple before Nehemiah came to repair the wall. And right on down the line here we see Ido. I think his name is certainly in the book of Zechariah along with Zechariah.

And all these names. But let's wrap down to verse 22 unless someone has something that you would like to point out in those verses in the first part of chapter 12.

Okay, verse 22. During the reign of Darius the Persian, remember even though we're talking about Jerusalem, Jerusalem is under the control of the Persians. Darius is the king. A record was also kept, it says, of the Levites and priests who had been heads of their fathers' houses in the days of Eliashev and these people. The sons of Levi, the heads of the fathers' houses, were written in the book of the Chronicles. Okay, there's even more here. More names. Okay, let's drop down to verse 27.

Here we have the dedication. Some commentaries say this is the rededication of the wall. Apparently this, you know, if I guess the commentators, including our UCG Bible commentary, don't think that this is just a chronological, logical thing that in 52 days the wall was repaired. You had the seventh month and the celebration of the observance of the Holy Days and that this celebration or dedication of the wall happened right then. That there appears to be a period of time. You have the resettling of Jerusalem. You have all the things that are now going on in that city and most, including ours, will say this is probably a resettling of the wall. The Nehemiah is coming back and then the Nehemiah is coming back and they're rededicating the wall of Jerusalem. But whether or not it's a rededication or a dedication, there is an example here of the gladness that occurs and the joy that occurs when you're doing things God's way. Always remember in the Bible, always shows when people do things God's way, they rejoice. That's where rejoicing comes from. That's where Jew joy comes from is in doing God's will. Even if it's not necessarily the thing we want to do, when we do it, it brings joy. So verse 27, it says, At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out the Levites in all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness. When we celebrate God, when we celebrate God, when we think of what He has done, when we remember what He has done for us, and they remember the wall and everything that had happened during that time, it was a miracle that God had allowed them to be that. He was with them every step of the way, even protecting them from the people who would have distracted them, people who would have harmed them, people who would have stopped at any cost that wall was there. But God saw them through. So they came to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. So we have celebration, much like, you know, much like, I guess, parades today. They have Thanksgiving Day parades. They have all the people come out. It's supposed to be a joyous occasion. You have music. You have people marching around. You have the whole city to gather together like this. And the sons, verse 28, of the singers gathered together from the countryside around Jerusalem, from the villages. They all came together to Jerusalem to join in this celebration. They came from Gilgal and from Geba and from Azomath, for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem. And the priests, verse 30, the priests and Levites purified themselves. They purified themselves and they purified the people, the gates, and the wall. You know, purification is a part of God as well. When we are rejoicing in God, when we are doing His will, when we are in that mode that I know we've all been in, where we're just on fire for God, whatever He says, we let Him motivate us. And we want to be calm, and we have that desire to be pure. And of course, back in Old Testament time, they had the purification rights. You know, you can read about those back in Exodus and Leviticus as well, where the priests had to purify themselves before they could go in and serve in the temple. You know, God is building a temple in us, and He says, we need to purify ourselves too. There was ritual washings, washing their clothes, doing all these things that they had to do because they had to come before God clean. And that's what you and I do in our lives. Purification and purity is the goal.

And for the world, if you said purity is the goal, they would look at us kind of like, are you crazy? Purity is the goal. No, the world is like, no, do whatever you want to do. Don't be pure. Don't listen to God. Don't listen to those antiquated things in the Bible. Yet you and I have a desire to be pure, to be with God. And when we're working toward that, it brings the joy.

You know, the New Testament example of that is found back in 1 John 3.

They went through the ritual washings. They did the purification. The priests had to be purified, and they wanted to be purified. The people needed to be purified. They had to go through all those rituals so that they could come before God in purity. And so the singers had to be purified.

1 John 3 is, we work and let God purify us. We have to have that desire, too. So when we stand with Jesus Christ, we stand as people who have been purified. 1 John 3 and verse 1. It says, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God.

Therefore, the world doesn't know us. We're different than them. We have a different goal in the life. We have a different outlook in life. What we desire is different than what the world wants. Therefore, the world doesn't know us because it didn't know Christ. It didn't know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God. And it hasn't yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him. That's the purpose for life. When God calls us, we repent. When we commit to Him, the covenant, and say, We will follow Your well, we ask You to lead us by Your Spirit to become like Him. That's Ephesians 4, 13. That's becoming like Him. Jesus Christ said an example that we should follow in His steps. 1 Peter 2, 21.

We will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him, everyone who wants it, everyone who desires to be there when Jesus Christ returns, and be standing with Him in part of that Bride of Christ that we read about in Revelation 19, everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.

We have the same desire that the people back then had. They were doing it through physical rituals and washings, which they needed to do. But for us, it's a spiritual cleansing and a spiritual washing that God does through the washing of the water of His Word, through His Holy Spirit in our minds. Psalm 51, where David says, purge my mind with hyssop. Cleanse it out, so I don't even have these thoughts or the things that I have allowed to be in my life over these days. Purify me, is what he's saying, so that I can stand before you and be like you. Just as Christ is pure, that's what our goal is to become like Him. When we look at chapter 12, we see that as well. The purification is there. It's part of our honoring God when we love Him.

Let's go back to Nehemiah 12.

The priests and Levites purified themselves. Verse 31, So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs.

One went to the right hand of the wall toward the refuse gate, and after them went Tosea and half of the leaders of Judah and these other people, Ezra, Meshulam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, and some of the pre-sons with trumpets, Zechariah, Jonathan, Shemaiah, son of Mataniah, Makeah, and the son of Zachor, the son of Asaph, again, the family in Asaph, and his brother. Verse 36, So they went there with the musical instruments of David, the man of God.

They saw what David did, how he rejoiced before God, and the instruments that he would have played. We read of the times when David was just rejoicing before God. There was great joy, great joy, and with that great joy in the celebration, there was the music that went along with it, and they're patterning what they did after David, a man after God's own heart. And they were there, it says, by the fountain gate. Let me pull up the map again so we can kind of see where in the city they were.

The fountain gate, you remember, is down here at the southern part of the city.

Between the water gate and the fountain gate, that's where the pool, not the pool, but the Gihon spring was located. You see the tomb of David is right in that area, so as they're thinking of David and gathering in the city of David, which is that southern part there. In fact, I think it even mentions the stairs of the city of David as we read through these verses. You can see all those, you know, see all these areas there again. They have built these walls. They're in the city of Jerusalem, and we have the map of where they are. Understanding the spring of Gihon is there on the east side, the water gate and the fountain gate in that area. There, by the fountain gate, it says, by the fountain gate in front of them, and they went up the stairs of the city of David. So you see where it is? They're down at the southern part of the city. The choir is going there. The instruments are there. The people are assembled on the stairway, the stairs of the city of David, on the stairway of the wall, beyond the house of David, which is probably listed there somewhere. Or maybe the tomb of David is what it's talking about there. As far as the water gate eastward. So they marched right on up that area all the way up to the all the way up to the water gate. The other Thanksgiving choir, that's one of them, right? That's the one that went off to the right. The other Thanksgiving choir went the opposite way, and I was behind them with half of the people on the wall going past the tower of the ovens. Let me see if we can find the tower of the ovens here. Yep, it's there on the west side in the middle of the middle of the city at the tower of the oven. So we got choirs surrounding the city, one going up the east side, one going up the west side. The other Thanksgiving choir was there going past the tower of the ovens as far as the broad wall. And so the broad wall is that straight at the very northwest at the northwest corner up there. So the choirs are marching around. It's kind of like kind of like a parade that's there. The music is filled with city as the people are celebrating as far as the broad wall and above the gate of Ephraim, above the old gate, we see the old Tashana gate, barbing up to the north part of the city there, above the fish gate, the tower of Hananel, the tower of the hundred, as far as the sheep gate. So all the way through there, that other choir was moving all around the city, all around that wall, all with those things that have been repaired and put up. And they stopped by the gate of the prison, which is there somewhere.

So they stopped, but we know they went up by the sheep gate and they probably stopped right up there as they got up to where that number 41 is. Actually, maybe it was maybe that's the inspection and muster gate. That was kind of like the judgment gate, if you will. Maybe that's where they were somewhere in that area. They stopped. So the two Thanksgiving choirs, verse 40, stood in the house of God, and likewise I, Nehemiah, and half of the rulers with me, and the priests, Eliakim, Messiah, Minjaman, Micaiah, Elainai, Zechariah, Hananiah, with trumpets. Quite a scene there as they're gathering before God, the dedication of the wall, and these other men, Messiah, Shemaiah, Eliezer, Uzi, Jehoan, Melchizedek, Elamanezer. The singers sang loudly with Jezeriah the director. Also that day, they offered great sacrifices. Sacrifices was their way. That is how they honored God. Bring the animals there. Offer the sacrifices to God. And with those sacrifices was great joy.

You know, today when we come before God, and we offer an offering to Him. We don't bring cattle, we don't bring lambs to sacrifice, but we do give Him an offering, and there should be great joy in that offering to be able to bring before God something and give to Him on that day. People that whose treasure is in God as opposed to the world, they are happy to bring God an offering, and that's what we see going on here. So there are these sacrifices going on everywhere. They offered great sacrifices and rejoiced. For God had made them rejoice with great joy. The women and the children rejoiced so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. The city was a wonderful place. God was being praised. They were thrilled with what God had done for them. They were giving Him their gratitude. They were praising Him, and the gladness was there.

You know, let's stop there for a moment. Go back to 1 Chronicles. Because we see this same type thing when David was king. We see the joy that was there, and the joy that we should inspire each other as we come before God, as we have these days of celebration, these days of observance, of holy days, that we just look forward to it. Our hearts are just bursting with joy to come before God and do whatever He says. When we look at 1 Chronicles 29, we know we have the story of David. We know that David so badly wanted to build the temple for God. He wanted to build God's house with his whole heart. But God said, no, it's not going to be you, David. It's going to be your son Solomon who builds the house. And David, as you've heard me say, David could have moped around and thought, it's not fair. I want to build you the house. He could have gone into a little bit of despair, disappointment, depression, but he didn't do that. He knows I think about it.

David built the temple that God wanted him to build. He gave God his heart. He built the temple of God the way you and I are to be building the temple of God in our hearts, temples that God would be pleased with. So Solomon would do the physical building. David was certainly doing the spiritual building. But here we have—now, is there a hand up somewhere that I'm not saying I've got this screen up here. Brother Shaby.

Yes, sir, go ahead. Going back to the verse where he talked about the instruments, these were probably more likely instruments that they, that Nebuchadnezzar them had taken also with the temple items. Because it said in 1 Chronicles, there's a 23 verse 5 that gave it a design, a bunch of that, and those had become mainly what they used along with what they always used. And also in Amos, that talks about some people who were idol singing songs with harps and instruments of music for themselves like David. Very good. You're exactly right. Thank you for pointing that out. And it even says when they came back, you know, the king Cyrus gave them everything that Nebuchadnezzar had taken, right?

That would have included all those instruments. So yes, they went in there, they had all those instruments of David. That's exactly right what they were doing. Very good. But in 1 Chronicles 29, then, we have the same thing, right? David, even though he's been told, no, you're not going to build the house for me, Solomon is, David is still joyous. He is still worshiping God. In verses 11 to 15, he gives this tremendous prayer honoring God, saying, God, everything we have comes from you.

We just give it back to you. You're the one who has provided everything for us. And indeed, we know that and understand that. And we should never doubt for a second that it's God who provides everything. If we look at verse 16, it says, O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name is from your hand and is all your own. I know also, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure and uprightness.

As for me and the uprightness of my heart, I have willingly offered all these things. And now with joy I have seen your people who are present here to offer willingly to you. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of your people and fix their heart to you. Fix their heart on you. Here's a people that was rejoicing. If we go back to verse 6, right?

This is a prayer that, of course, comes from David's heart. But in verse 6, the people are taking up an offering. David says, okay, I can't build a house, but let's go ahead and let's bring offerings for the building of the house. And it says in verse 6 of 1 Chronicles 29, the leaders of the fathers' houses, leaders of the tribes of Israel, all these captains with the officers over the king's work, they offered willingly. They weren't forced. David didn't command. They wanted to do it. Their hearts were with God. They gave for the work of the house of God. All this money. I should have looked up and seen what in today's world all this was valued.

You can guarantee it's a staggering amount that they brought. Verse 8, whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord into the house of Jehiel the Gershonite. And verse 9, the people rejoiced. Why? For they had offered willingly. When we offer willingly, when we give our hearts to God, God puts that joy in our hearts because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the Lord and King David also rejoiced greatly. Even though David had been told no, he still rejoiced. And therefore, you know, David blessed the Lord and gave that prayer. That's a beautiful prayer that you can take some time to read, you know, later.

But here we have the same thing going on in Nehemiah. We have this gladness, this joy that's going on here. The people are there. They are all committed to God. They are joy. We long, you know, for that. And God loves to see His people united together in rejoicing before Him, rejoicing as it says in back in Nehemiah 12 and verse 43, with great joy.

Everyone, the men, the women, the children, the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. Verse 44, at the same time, some were appointed. They still got work to do. Everyone was sharing together in the work of Jerusalem. Some were doing the offerings and bringing wood. Some were moving into Jerusalem. Of course, you have all the servants of the temple, but you have other people doing things as well. At the same time, some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities, the portions specified by the law for the priests and Levites, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ministered. The singers, the gatekeepers, kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification according to the command of David and Solomon his son. We're doing things God's way. Everyone's got a part, just like in Ephesians 4, 16 in the New Testament, what every joint supplies. God's called us all for a purpose. We all have a part in doing his work. For in the days of David and Asaphobol, there were chiefs of the singers, songs of praise, and thanksgiving to God. In the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers a portion for each day. And they consecrated holy things for the Levites, and the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron. Let me just finish with verse 1. Always in times of rejoicing, always in times of that, God's Word is there and among us. On that day, they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and it was found, well, if they found something again that they were going to now have to, that they were going to deal with, because some had happened. And it'll be a little surprising what had happened when we look in chapter 13, what they had even allowed into the temple there in the time that Nehemiah was going.

What time is it here? We've been going for an hour. Let's just end there with chapter 12.

Next time, we will talk about chapter 3 and everything that's included in there.

I could have stopped here a long time ago. Let me stop there and open it up for any discussion on anything that anyone wants to talk about, any questions, comments, or anything on what we've read.