Repopulation.
Nehemiah 11
1 Now 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, the holy city, and nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities.
2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.
3 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, Nethinim, and descendants of Solomon's servants.)
4 Also in Jerusalem dwelt some of the children of Judah and of the children of Benjamin. The children of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the children of Perez;
5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Col-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of Shiloni.
6 All the sons of Perez who dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred and sixty-eight valiant men.
7 And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah;
8 and after him Gabbai and Sallai, nine hundred and twenty-eight.
9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Senuah was second over the city.
10 Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, and Jachin;
11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, was the leader of the house of God.
12 Their brethren who did the work of the house were eight hundred and twenty-two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the
son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah,
13 and his brethren, heads of the fathers' houses, were two hundred and forty-two; and Amashai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,
14 and their brethren, mighty men of valor, were one hundred and twenty-eight. Their overseer was Zabdiel the son of one of the great men.
15 Also of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;
16 Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the heads of the Levites, had the oversight of the business outside of the house of God;
17 Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the leader who began the thanksgiving with prayer; Bakbukiah, the second among his brethren; and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.
18 All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred and eighty-four.
19 Moreover the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren who kept the gates, were one hundred and seventy-two.
20 And the rest of Israel, of the priests and Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance.
21 But the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel. And Ziha and Gishpa were over the Nethinim.
22 Also the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha, of the sons of Asaph, the singers in charge of the service of the house of God.
23 For it was the king's command concerning them that a certain portion should be for the singers, a quota day by day.
24 Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was the king's deputy in all matters concerning the people.
25 And as for the villages with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt in Kirjath Arba and its villages, Dibon and its villages, Jekabzeel and its villages;
26 in Jeshua, Moladah, Beth Pelet,
27 Hazar Shual, and Beersheba and its villages;
28 in Ziklag and Meconah and its villages;
29 in En Rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth,
30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages; in Lachish and its fields; in Azekah and its villages. They dwelt from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.
31 Also the children of Benjamin from Geba dwelt in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel, and their villages;
32 in Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah;
33 in Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim;
34 in Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat;
35 in Lod, Ono, and the Valley of Craftsmen.
36 Some of the Judean divisions of Levites were in Benjamin.
.........................................
For many years, at this time, Jerusalem had been a deserted city, no Temple, no walls and no gates.
God had brought the people back from exile. Under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Temple was rebuilt, the walls and gates were rebuilt.
It was now time to repopulate the city with the right people.
Once Jerusalem was established as a purified city, free from all idolatry, surely God would begin to act on their behalf.
It would be seen as a seal on the binding agreement that they had made with God. This is what we see in the covenant made by the people in Nehemiah 10.
The Jews were looking for a promised Messiah who would one day come and set up His Kingdom of righteousness.
It was essential to set things in order, men were needed for the running of the city and the temple.
Men were needed to fulfil the daily responsibilities.
Workers were needed for the daily upkeep of the Temple, not just in the temple but in the city also.
Nehemiah Ch 11 goes into a full list of the people that were to live in Jerusalem. Those that were to repopulate the city.
There were the obvious ones, V1 Now the leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem;
Of course any organization needs leadership, without direction and guidance we would get nowhere.
We as Christians are building a church in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Notice, it is not us but Jesus Himself who is building His church.
We are looking for the return of our Saviour Jesus Christ and we know from scripture that will not happen until the last soul comes into the kingdom. When the bride is ready, the Bridegroom will come.
Each Christian has their part to play in preparing the way for Christ’s coming.
We need the right people in our leadership, men of God, called by God, their responsibility is to lead and protect the flock as shepherds of the sheep.
In Nehemiah 11:1 Jerusalem is called “a holy city”. It needed leaders that would protect it from those that could come in bringing pagan beliefs and idolatrous ways.
So to with the church. There are many heresies around today and many false teachers and we depend on our leaders and teachers to protect us from these errors.
Again this is emphasised in 18 All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred and eighty-four.
Now the term ‘holy city’ had a prophetic background.
It depicted the city as purified and made holy, with every vestige of uncleanness removed. (A sanctified city).
It had in mind the future fulfilment of the purposes of God in bringing about everlasting righteousness.
Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.
It depicted Jerusalem as the holy and pure city of God. And this was Israel’s vision at this time.
Furthermore there was also the danger that those who had previously sought to join with the worship in Jerusalem, but who were involved in idolatrous practises (Ezra 4:2-3; Nehemiah 13:4-9), would take the opportunity to infiltrate Jerusalem.
Exactly how Satan is trying to infiltrate the church today with erroneous heresies.
To bring this about, they, Israel, needed a plan.
Besides leaders, there were others needed.
Nehemiah 11:1b the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities.
V3 the heads of the province.
9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer
12 Their brethren who did the work of the house
14 and their brethren, mighty men of valor
16 Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the heads of the Levites, had the oversight of the business outside of the house of God;
17 Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the leader who began the thanksgiving with prayer;
19 Moreover the gatekeepers
22 Also the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the
son of Micha, of the sons of Asaph, the singers in charge of the service of the house of God.
All these are needed for the smooth running of the temple and city.
My first reaction to this passage was, what can we learn from this list of names? However the more I read it the more I could see. Each one had their part to play.
We are the house of God – Christ is building the church, through us. We are the walls – the lively stones, fitted together as the Body of Christ.
Like the city we are in the process of being made holy, sanctified, we are a holy people. Predestined, called, justified and will eventually be glorified. In the meanwhile we are being sanctified.
1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
The church is just like a city, it needs maintenance, cleaning, finance and support.
It needs Leaders – Elders – Preachers – Teachers. In defence of sound doctrine.
It needs Deacons – responsible stewards, a Secretary, a Treasurer.
It needs Workers in the church, Cleaners – Youth leaders – stay and play workers. Givers – Monetary support ,prayer support and Workers in the field, Evangelists.
There is a lot we can learn.
We can think about what happened in this country during the second world war.
To win the war the country needed a strategy.
Leaders, uniformed officers, it needed soldiers, those that volunteered and those that were conscripts.
It needed workers in the fields and factories. Miners – Ship builders – Munitions workers.
Without these, the country would not have won.
Peter Pett in his commentary on this chapter says this:
Quote:
Indeed we could say that in this chapter we have a wonderful picture of how God would work in later times in establishing a people for Himself, for He has appointed another ‘holy city’, a heavenly city, a new Jerusalem (Galatians 4:21-31; Hebrews 12:22), which, as Revelation 21 makes clear, consists of all the people of God. It is founded on the twelve Apostles. It is protected by the people of God (the twelve tribes of ‘Israel’) who are its gates. That city too started off unpopulated. But God has populated it by choosing out a remnant for Himself, and everyone of them is named before Him, as in this chapter, for each is important to Him. It includes priests (intercessors), Levites (teachers), Singers and Musicians who lead the worship, Gate-keepers who watch for those who enter, Nethinim (humble servants), and ordinary men and women to defend the city, but all of them are chosen by God (Ephesians 1:4). So does history repeat itself, for God is the God of history.
End of Quote.
We see that some from this list in Nehemiah 11, had leadership thrust on them by God.
We see names of those that recognised the call of God and volunteered their service and we see others who were chosen by the casting of lots, and we see those that were workers out in the fields and other places of business, supporting the work of the Lord.
Which ever of these people we see ourselves as, we must recognise that we are all in this together. No one is more important than anyone else.
We are one body, one people, one church.
Twice before in the book of Nehemiah, we have dealt with lists of names.
In chapter 7 we saw the list of those that returned from Babylon.
In chapter 10 we read of all those that signed the covenant with God and again here in chapter 11, we read of the names of all those that were to populate the city.
God has chosen to record all these names in the annuls of history and although our names may not be in the Bible, we can be sure that God knows each one of us in the same way He knew each one of them.
Whilst it is recorded in scripture what these people did, we know that it is recorded in heaven, all the things that we do in the body, good or bad.
One day we shall all stand before the Judgement seat of Christ and what is recorded in heaven will be revealed.
May the things that are recorded about us be worthy of reward on that day.
