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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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NEHEMIAH RESTORES
THE PEOPLE (Neh 7:1‑72) 7/4/10
Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. NEHEMIAH TAKES
PRECAUTIONS FOR FUTURE ATTACKS (1‑3) A. [Intro] In 2Ch 36:14‑23 there is given the
history of God dealing with Israel both in their captivity and their exodus
to Jerusalem: 1. Israel
was repeatedly unfaithful and disobedient to God. After numerous warnings by
the prophets, God brought King Nebuchadnezzar against them to take them into
captivity, first in 606 BC (Daniel), then in 597 BC (Ezekiel), and finally in
586 BC to take into captivity and destroy Jerusalem, it’s temple, and walls
(2Ch 36:14‑21). 2. In 536 BC, seventy years later from the
first captivity, according to God’s promise, Israel was granted permission to
return to Jerusalem. Under Zerubbabel, the temple was rebuilt. Then in 458
BC, Ezra returned and beautified the Temple and led the people into a
revival. It wasn’t until 445 BC that God called Nehemiah to rebuild the
Temple (2Ch 36:22‑23). In Ne 7:7, Nehemiah found the book of genealogy
that recorded the first group of Jews that returned from captivity to
Jerusalem. B. [7:1] Having completed the rebuilding of the
wall and doors around Jerusalem, Nehemiah appointed gatekeepers, singers, and
priests to help guard the wall of the city. Normally the “gatekeepers”
guarded only the temple gates. But here, because Nehemiah was taking special
precautions against his enemies, they were to guard the gates on the wall. C. [7:2]
Nehemiah also appointed men to be in charge of Jerusalem. One of them
was Nehemiah’s brother Hanani, who originally told
Nehemiah about the condition of Jerusalem (Ne 1:2). Another was Hananiah, who was a “faithful man and feared God more
than many.” Nehemiah not only practiced delegation of responsibilities, but
he wisely chose those with godly qualifications. “Faithful” (emeth ‑ firmness or certainty) means
someone who was reliable to accomplish tasks. “Feared God” (yare elohim), means someone whose life, actions, and words
are submitted to the Lord and His Word. Hanani and Hananiah were both such men. D. [7:3]
Nehemiah instructed Hanani and Hananiah not to let the gates be opened from dawn to dusk
as was the common practice, but about midday when the “sun was hot.” Nehemiah
gave them strict orders that the doors were to be shut and bolted at the new
closing time. He instructed Hanani and Hananiah to appoint common folk from Jerusalem to also be
guards. They were to guard the area of the wall in front of their own houses.
Nehemiah included everyone, utilized the resources at hand, and did so in a
wise and practical manner. II. NEHEMIAH BEGINS TO SOLVE
THE VACANCY IN JERUSALEM (4‑6) A. [7:4] The wall and gates were rebuilt but there
were not many inhabitants inside the city. It is easy to understand why the
city was not very populated. First, the city had no walls of protection for aprox. 140 years (586 BC ‑ 445 BC) and therefore
had no protection for its inhabitants. Secondly, there would have been rubble
and debris everywhere and it would have been far from aesthetically pleasing. B. [7:5‑6] Nehemiah came up with an idea how to
replenish the inhabitants of Jerusalem. But note that Nehemiah does not take
the credit for his leadership, He gave the credit to
God (lit. God gave it to my heart). Nehemiah took a census of the
people actually living in Jerusalem at the time. Then he found a book
containing the genealogies of the first returnees from captivity. There were
three purposes for Nehemiah actions: 1. Genealogies
had to be kept in order to verify the lineage of the Messiah. 2. Gathering the Jewish people together
would encourage the people not to intermarry with pagan cultures. 3. Nehemiah would be able to gather the
people according to their lineage into the city. III. NEHEMIAH RECORDS THE FIRST
RETURNEES FROM CAPTIVITY (7‑72) A. Categories of Listings 1. List of
Zerubbabel and other Leaders (7) a) Zerubbabel
led the return and rebuild of the Temple in 536 BC. b) “Zerubbabel” means born in Babylon. The
majority of the Jews that returned to Jerusalem had been born in Babylon and
had never seen Jerusalem. 2. List of
18 Families (8‑25) 3. List of 20 Towns and Villages (26‑38) 4. List of Priests (39‑42) 5. List of Levites (43) 6. List of Singers (44) 7. List of Gatekeepers (45) 8. List of Temple Servants (46‑56) 9. List of Solomon’s Servants (57‑59) 10. List of Solomon’s Temple Servants (60) 11. List of Laymen Without Genealogical Record
(61‑62) 12. List of Priests Without Genealogical Record
(63‑65) 13. Total of People not counting servants and
female singers (66) 14. List of Animals (67‑69) 15. List of Giving (70‑72) B. Discrepancy Between
Nehemiah 7 Record and Ezra 2 1. Minor discrepancies
are possibly due to Ezra listing those who intended to depart, while Nehemiah
listed those who actually arrived; or some other unknown reason. (MacArthur Study Bible) 2. Nehemiah’s grand total of 49,942 people
is very close to Ezra’s total of 49,897 (Ezra 2:64-65). The extra 45 in
Nehemiah’s total are the singers (Nehemiah had 245 whereas Ezra referred to
200). A scribe, in copying Nehemiah 7:67, might have inadvertently picked up
the 245 in verse 68, in reference to mules, and inserted that number for the
200 singers. He then might have mistakenly omitted verse 68 (cf. niv marg.). The total then was probably as Ezra recorded
it—49,897. (Bible Knowledge
Commentary; also John Ward) IV. OBSERVATIONS AND
APPLICATIONS A. Leadership knows that
moment after success is the most dangerous time (Ne 7:2). 1. One of
the main things to avoid after success is pride. Those involved in he success may praise themselves
rather than God. Nehemiah was careful to give credit to God before, during,
and after success. 2. Another way to understand this principle
is that the enemy (Satan) does not like God’s success in our lives. Satan can
step up his level of attack if need be. B. Leadership exercises the
principle and art of the delegation of faithful believers (Ne 7:2). 1. Nehemiah
uses three different Hebrew words for the word “appoint” that illustrate the
principle of delegation: a) In vs. 1,
the Temple ministers were appointed to guard the wall. Here “appoint” is the
Hebrew word, paqad, and means to
attend to or oversee. b) In vs. 2, Nehemiah “appointed” Hanani and Hananiah to be
overseers of Jerusalem. “Appoint” (tsavah)
means to dispense authority and responsibility. c) In vs. 3, Hanani
and Hananiah were to appoint individuals to guard the
gates. “Appoint” here is the word amad and
means to appoint someone to take one’s stand. d) So, the principle of delegation is first
to dispense authority and responsibility to faithful and godly believers.
Then those individuals need to attend and oversee those areas given to them.
The principle is complete when at some point those individuals delegate to
other faithful and godly believers to repeat the process. C. Leadership is delegated to
those whose life, actions, and words are submitted to the Lordship of Christ
(Ne 7:2). 1. Those
who are appointed to leadership or desire to be appointed leadership must be
faithful, godly, passionate for the Lord, and
submitted to the Lordship of Christ. 2. There also needs to be training of
leadership before delegation of leadership. |
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