Nehemiah

Chapters 11-13

Leon L. Combs, B.S., M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.

Chapter Eleven

Neh 11:1-3 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. (2) And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. (3) Now these are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah each lived on his own property in their cities--the Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's servants.

The temple and the wall had been rebuilt but the town of Jerusalem was underpopulated so it was time to bring in people into the city from their towns outside the city. They had to completely rebuild the holy city with a community of believers. The leaders lived in Jerusalem to set an example for the people and to encourage others to live there. Rather than just ask for volunteers, they cast lots to determine the people God wanted to move. The goal was to move one tenth of the people into the city and let the remaining people live in their other cities. The use of the lot was often used in the OT and even in the NT for choosing the substitute for Judas. However in Christian times the Holy Spirit lives in each believer so the will of God can dependably be determined through His Word, inner conviction, and His guidance of circumstances.

Most likely verse two refers to those who were chosen by lot and who then also agreed with the choice and so volunteered to live in Jerusalem. There were some sacrifices made in moving as they had to leave their homes, family, and friends and move to a new location so their sacrifice was blessed by all the people. The author is now going to list those who moved to the city but he stresses that many others lived outside the city. Some of those living outside of the city included some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants. These leaders were not isolated from the people but lived all among them both inside and outside of the city. The author is now giving us the names of people who moved into the holy city. The individual names are important to give identity to these brave people. The list from 4-24 can be compared to the list in 1 Chronicles 9 although there are some differences. Some scholars think the list in 1 Chronicles is of people who moved into the area immediately after the return from the exile.

Neh 11:4-6Some of the sons of Judah and some of the sons of Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. From the sons 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 sons 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 the Shilonite. (6) All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 able men.

1

He now gives the names of some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah for they were the more prominent families in the area. In these verses he gives the names of the sons of Judah. The phrase “able men” usually refers to men who were brave and valiant as it takes such people to move their families into a new place.

Neh 11:7-9Now 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, 928. (9) Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second in command of the city.

Next he gives the names of the sons of Benjamin who moved into the city. The overseer had to do with matters of urban government. Note that Benjamin provided twice the number of men (928) to guard the city as did Judah (468). Judah was second in command of the city. Some translations state that Judah was over the Second District of the city which was a new district to the west of the temple.

Neh 11:10-14From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, (11) Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God, (12) and their kinsmen who performed the work of the temple, 822; 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 kinsmen, heads of fathers' households, 242; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, (14) and their brothers, valiant warriors, 128. And their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of Haggedolim.

This list of priestly families parallels the list in 1 Chron9:10-13. “Jachin” is translated as “Jakin” in some translations and means “he establishes” so it is a description of his duties. The valiant warriors is used mostly to indicate a military group so these were probably men specifically trained to defend the temple area. The word “Haggedolim” is not normally used as a family name but usually is translated “a leading family”. The total number of priests given here is 1,192 whereas in 1 Chronicles 9:13 it is 1,760.

Neh 11:15-19Now from the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; (16) and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the leaders of the Levites, who were in charge of the outside work of the house of God; (17) and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the leader in beginning the thanksgiving at prayer, and 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 284. (19) Also the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brethren who kept watch at the gates, were 172.

He now lists the Levites moving into the city with a total of 284. The small number compared to the total number of priests is reminiscent of the situation of Ezra 8:15-20. The “outside work of

2

the house of God refers to the duties of some Levites in gathering and storing provisions for the temple and caring for the temple building and property. The leader in beginning the thanksgiving at prayer had a huge influence on the community of believers as the worship of God was the central responsibility of the community and had to be done properly. Similarly today the leaders of the church have a responsibility to influence the worship on Sunday and the carrying forward of the worship to the rest of the week. The gatekeepers are not listed as Levites and the passage below gives some of their duties and states that some of them were Levites:

1Ch 9:23-27 So they and their sons had charge of the gates of the house of the LORD, even the house of the tent, as guards. (24) The gatekeepers were on the four sides, to the east, west, north and south. (25) Their relatives in their villages were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them; (26) for the four chief gatekeepers who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the chambers and over the treasuries in the house of God. (27) They spent the night around the house of God, because the watch was committed to them; and they were in charge of opening it morning by morning.

Neh 11:20-24The rest of Israel, of the priests and of the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own inheritance. (21) But the temple servants were living in Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of the temple servants. (22) Now the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, from the sons of Asaph, who were the singers for the service of the house of God. (23) For there was a commandment from the king concerning them and a firm regulation for the song leaders day by day. (24) Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was the king's representative in all matters concerning the people.

This section reminds us that not all of the priests and Levites lived in the holy city as some lived in houses of their own outside of the city. The temple servants were not included in the original list (vv. 3-20) since they already lived in Jerusalem. Ophel is also known as the hill of Ophel and is in the north end of the City of David just south of the temple area. The overseer of the Levites looked after them so that they did their work in ministering to the priests. In verses 22-23 the importance of the worship is again emphasized as some Levites were especially designated as singers. This importance had been established by King David (1 Chron 25; Neh 12:24) but here the king must refer to the Persian king. They were also allotted a certain daily salary that was to be paid from the treasury. As stated several times earlier, the Persian Empire was very much interested in maintaining the religious practices of its people. Pethahiah was probably what we might call the king’s official advisor for Jewish affairs. He would have been responsible for making sure that the Jews were allowed to maintain their worship practices and to keep the king informed as to such events. We are reminded that the Jews were not politically free but under the authority of the Persian Empire. We are also reminded that the king was subject to God:

Ezr 6:14 And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

3

Neh 11:25-36Now as for the villages with their fields, some of the sons of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its towns, in Dibon and its towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, (26) and in Jeshua, in Moladah and Beth-pelet, (27) and in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its towns, (28) and in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns, (29) and in En-rimmon, in Zorah and in Jarmuth, (30) Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom. (31) The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns, (32) at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, (33) Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, (34) Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, (35) Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. (36) From the Levites, some divisions in Judah belonged to Benjamin.

This list has generated a lot of discussion among experts. Many of the places listed are outside of Judah and the purpose seems to be letting the readers know that the Jews were free to move around in the Persian Empire. This is an important list also in that it sets the demarcation of Judah during this time period. Some of the towns can be seen from this map:

Bethel marks the rough northern place in Judah and Beersheba is the southernmost part. Kiriath-arba was the archaic name of Hebron (Gen 23:2; Judg 1:20) located about 20 miles south of Jerusalem. Hebron is the traditional burial place of Abraham, Sarah, and other patriarchs. Jeshua is northeast of Beersheba and Moladah and Beth-pelet were near it. Beersheba is about 30 miles

4

south of Hebron and represented the southernmost limit of population. Ziklag is celebrated as the town given to David and is northeast of Beersheba.

1Sa 27:5-6 Then David said to Achish, "If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?" (6) So Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

Zorah was the home of Manoah, Samson’s father (Judg 13:2) and is seen just east of Bethlehem on the map. Jarmuth is one of five Canaanite cities in the south that tried to stop Joshua’s invasion (Josh 10:3-5). The men of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate (Neh 3:13). Adullam was the city between Jerusalem and Lachish where David hid in a cave from Saul (1 Sam 22:1) and is seen on the map below Bethlehem. Lachish is to the east of Hebron on the map and Azekah is seen just north of the valley of Elah on the map.

Hinnom is the valley southwest of Jerusalem. The distance from Jerusalem to Beersheba is only about 40 miles. Geba is seen on the map about six miles northeast of Jerusalem. Michmash is seen just north of Jericho where Saul and Jonathan fought the Philistines (1 Sam 13-14). Aija is an alternant name for Ai that can be seen just three miles southeast of Bethel, the house of God. Anathoth is three miles north of Jerusalem and is the birthplace of Jeremiah (Jer 1:1). Nob is just north of the Mount of Olives and Ananiah was about two miles east of Jerusalem. From verse 36, some divisions of Levites who had been in Judah were transferred to Benjamin to change the disproportion probably discovered in the census of Nehemiah.

Chapter Twelve

Neh 12:1-7 Now these are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, (2) Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, (3) Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, (4) Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, (5) Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, (6) Shemaiah and Joiarib, Jedaiah, (7) Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their kinsmen in the days of Jeshua.

He first lists the priests who came with Zerubbabel. According to this verse and Ezra 3:2 Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel. Jeshua was the high priest from 560-490 B.C. and Seraiah was called Azariah in 1 Chron 9:11. This Jeremiah is probably not the prophet who could not have lived so long through the captivity but Ezra may be the priest and scribe who did come up with Zerubbabel, return to Babylon, and then come again in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. Amariah, Malluch, and Hattush are listed among those who sealed the covenant (Ne 10:3). Shecaniah is called Shebaniah in Ne 12:14. Rehum is probably Harim whose name has been changed by transposition of Hebrew letters (Ne 12:15; 10:5). The names of the other priests are not well understood but important since they were priests during this important time.

Neh 12:8-11The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving, he and his brothers. (9) Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, stood opposite them in their service divisions. (10) Jeshua became the

5

father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada, (11) and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan became the father of Jaddua.

Now he lists the Levites who lived in this time. Mattaniah and his brothers were the precentors in charge of the daily thanksgiving songs at the daily sacrifices. Bakbukiah is also mentioned in Ne 11:17. The Levites were divided into 24 wards and these were placed one against another. Verse 10 and 11 gives an account of the first six high priests in succession in the second temple. Jeshua was the high priest at the first return from exile and during the time of Haggai and Zechariah. Eliashib was the high priest during the time of Nehemiah so Joiakim must have been high priest some time before perhaps when Ezra arrived in Jerusalem. We have to go to extra biblical sources to study the other names and there is some uncertainty in that knowledge.

Neh 12:12-21Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of fathers' households were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; (13) of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; (14) of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; (15) of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; (16) of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; (17) of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; (18) of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; (19) of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; (20) of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; (21) of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

This list is similar to that found in 10:2-8 but it contains six more names.

Neh 12:22-26As for the Levites, the heads of fathers' households were registered in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan and Jaddua; so were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. (23) The sons of Levi, the heads of fathers' households, were registered in the Book of the Chronicles up to the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. (24) The heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, to praise and give thanks, as prescribed by David the man of God, division corresponding to division. (25) Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping watch at the storehouses of the gates. (26) These served in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest and scribe.

Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, and Obadiah should be included in verse 24 as they were singers (Neh 11:17). The other three in verse 24 were gatekeepers. All these people served during the time of Nehemiah and the time of Ezra. Through these lists God is showing how all the people are to work together as a community of believers. Similarly in Eph 4 we read how God has given separate gifts to individual members of the community and all the gifts must be use for the development of the community. God has a task set before His people and such requires a division of labor and leaders to coordinate and assign projects and goals to the individual members of the group. Nehemiah is an excellent example of a man that God has raised to act as a proper leader of a group of believers.

6

Neh 12:27-30Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they might celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps and lyres. (28) So the sons of the singers were assembled from the district around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites, (29) from Beth-gilgal and from their fields in Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem. (30) The priests and the Levites purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates and the wall.

The completion of the wall deserves a time of celebration. The decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1) had been fulfilled (Ezra 1:5 to Neh 7:73a) and the community restored (Neh 7:73b-12:26). The prophecy of Jeremiah (Ezra 1:1) had begun to be fulfilled and now it is time for the completion of God’s work in Israel:

Jer 31:31-34 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, (32) not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. (33) "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (34) "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

We are not told how long after the completion of the wall the celebration began but we can assume that the celebration began soon after such. The Levites were the worship leaders so the leaders of the celebration sought out them to come from all their places to Jerusalem. The music again is like that ordained by King David as mentioned earlier. It seems that the singers were included among the Levites from this time on and they were brought together from areas around Jerusalem. Netopha was southeast of Bethlehem, Gilgal was near Jericho, and Geba and Azmaveth were northeast of Jerusalem in the area of Bethlehem. Purification is needed to be counted as holy and the priests and Levites proceeded to purify themselves, the people, the gates, and the wall. They had many methods of setting themselves aside for the Lord including fasting, sacrifices, and washings including putting on clean clothes:

Gen 35:2-3 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; (3) and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."

Num 8:21-22 The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. (22) Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

7

2Ch 29:15 They assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse the house of the LORD, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the LORD.

Christians are not bound by strict regulations regarding sacrifices and cleansing: 1John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. However the leaders of God’s people must be conscious of not doing things that defile them as holiness is one of the demands of God:

Rom 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

1Pe 1:15-16 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; (16) because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

2Pe 3:11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

Neh 12:31-30Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I appointed two great choirs, the first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate. (32) Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them, (33) with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, (34) Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, (35) and some of the sons of the priests with trumpets; and Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, (36) and his kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. (37) At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the city of David by the stairway of the wall above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east. (38) The second choir proceeded to the left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of Furnaces, to the Broad Wall, (39) and above the Gate of Ephraim, by the Old Gate, by the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.

We need to refer to the diagram of the wall again to see what Nehemiah is having the leaders and choirs do. He had the first group parade on top of the wall proceeding counterclockwise probably from the Valley Gate toward the Refuse Gate. Ezra was the leader of this group of half the people. The walls were nearly nine feet thick so there was plenty of room for the parade. At the Fountain Gate they then entered within the walled city at the house of David to the Water Gate on the east. We see in verse 38 that the second group with the other half of the people started off to the north and proceeded clockwise on the wall. They started above the Tower of Furnaces (or Ovens) to the Broad Wall, above the Gate of Ephraim by the Old Gate, by the Fish Gate, the Rower of Hananel, the Tower of the Hundred to the Sheep Gate, and stopped at the Gate of the Guard (Muster Gate).

One half of the group went one direction and the other half went in the opposite direction. What a glorious procession with music and singing that would put most parades of today to shame!

8

Neh 12:40-43Then the two choirs took their stand in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials with me; (41) and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah, with the trumpets; (42) and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam and Ezer. And the singers sang, with Jezrahiah their leader, (43) and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, even the women and children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

The two groups then came together to stand at the house of God to sing praises to God with Jezrahiah as their singing leader (name means Yahweh shines forth). They also offered great sacrifices, meaning offerings given in excess of any requirement. Note that God had given them

9

great joy as they recognized that the success of this venture was totally given them by God as He helped them in the building as well as in keeping away the many attempts of their enemies to stop the process. Such a joyous occasion by God’s people had similarly occurred earlier such as when David rejoiced: 1Ch 29:9 Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the LORD with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly. Nehemiah adds that even the women and children rejoiced as all the people were praising God and giving Him the glory. The singing and music of praise was so great that people from a long way away heard the joy of Jerusalem.

Thanksgiving and celebration are still expressed through sacrifice today although differently: Rom 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a

living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Php 4:18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply

supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

Heb 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

Neh 12:44-47On that day men were also appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served. (45) For they performed the worship of their God and the service of purification, together with the singers and the gatekeepers in accordance with the command of David and of his son Solomon. (46) For in the days of David and Asaph, in ancient times, there were leaders of the singers, songs of praise and hymns of thanksgiving to God. (47) So all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah gave the portions due the singers and the gatekeepers as each day required, and set apart the consecrated portion for the Levites, and the Levites set apart the consecrated portion for the sons of Aaron.

They immediately acted to make sure that all items given were properly stored so that the priests and Levites would be properly taken care of. In the NT there is no longer a tax of a tithe given to support the worship leaders. The people gave because they were grateful for God lifting up the men to be priests and Levites. Now the requirement is not 10 % but 100% and certainly we should give to support those who lead us in worship.

2Co 9:7-9 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (8) And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; (9) as it is written, "HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER."

They worshipped God in song and music and with services of purification as had been commanded earlier by David and Solomon. Asaph was a founder of one of the three musical guilds and was a Gershonite Levite to whom David entrusted the services of song in the tabernacle:

10

2Ch 29:30 Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.

2Ch 35:15 The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to depart from their service, because the Levites their brethren prepared for them.

Now that the new community of believers had been established they were careful to return to all the ways God had commanded His leaders regarding worship and praise. All the people who had returned from exile made the proper offerings for support of the singers and gatekeepers and the Levites who then gave the proper “tithe of a tithe” for the support of the priests.

Chapter Thirteen

Neh 13:1-2 On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, (2) because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

This chapter will demonstrate the need for ongoing efforts to maintain order after a revival. These events should be a warning to us today that we need to be constantly aware of the actions of Satan to thwart the efforts of Christians. We know that Satan will not be allowed to completely destroy the church but he can do a lot of damage (Matt 16:18). They probably wasted no time so “that day” certainly refers to a day not long after the glorious worship. Since he refers to the Ammonites and Moabites, the reference to the book of Moses is:

Deu 23:3-6 "No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD, (4) because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. (5) "Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you. (6) "You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.

We have already discussed the intermarriage with these people in Ezra 9:1 and Ezra 10 but the reference here is even stronger as such people are not allowed in the congregational worship of the Israelites. Evidently there were some such foreigners living in Jerusalem but they were now o be excluded from ceremonial worship. The reason for this exclusion relates to the actions of Balaam. Balaam was a seer summoned by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse Israel (Nu, 22-24). God did turn this cursing around so that Balaam blessed them rather than cursing them. But later Balaam was used to lead Israel into worship of the Moabite god at Peor:

Num 25:1-3 While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. (2) For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. (3) So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel.

11

Num 31:16 "Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.

Rev 2:14 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.

In the NT his name is symbolic of covetousness: 2Pe 2:15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of

Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; Jud 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed

headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Neh 13:3-5So when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel. (4) Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, (5) had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.

They had already been pierced to the soul regarding the requirements of the law that they had disobeyed, so when hearing this aspect of the law they immediately acted to exclude all foreigners from Israel. This should not be viewed as racial exclusivism for foreigners could become part of Israel by conversion (Ezra 6:21; Ruth 1:16-17). A similar conflict had occurred but the foreigners then had agreed to serve Yahweh so they were allowed to join the group of believers: Exo 12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. Here evidently the foreigners did not agree to worship Yahweh only.

The identity of Eliashib is not known other than this statement that he was a priest who had been appointed as being in charge of the chambers where many items of worship were stored. Tobiah was an Ammonite official who acted to oppose Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild Jerusalem. He was married to a Jew (Neh 6:18) but was certainly opposed to the Jewish efforts. Remember that he had tried to get Nehemiah to join him for “discussions” so as to stop the project. We do not know how Eliashib was related to Tobiah but it seems strange that he was a priest appointed to watch over the chambers of the temple since he was related to this person who was opposed to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Prior to the reading of the law, Eliashib had given Tobiah one of the large rooms of the chambers to use as he needed.

Neh 13:6-9But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king, (7) and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. (8) It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah's household goods out of the room. (9) Then I

12

gave an order and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.

Nehemiah had been governor in Jerusalem for twelve years (455-433) and then had returned to King Artaxerxes. The thirty-second year of Artaxerxes I was from April 433 to 19 April 432 B.C. We do not know the exact length of his second term but it must have ended before 407 B.C. when Bigvai was governor of Judah. The absence of a strong ruler led to internal conflicts and deviations from obedience to the Law. We are not told how long Nehemiah remained with the King or why he asked to return. He may have heard rumors of problems in Jerusalem and knew that he needed to return. After returning to Jerusalem he learned of the evil done by Eliashib by giving Tobiah a foothold into the very core of the Jewish religion. Zerubbabel’s temple had two courtyards and some historians state that the inner court was 500 cubits long and 100 cubits wide. Within that courtyard were several rooms and Tobiah had been given one of the largest.

To say that this knowledge was displeasing to Nehemiah is a mild way to state it based upon his explosive reaction as he threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. Contrast to thei the reaction of Ezra who sat “appalled”: Ezr 9:3 When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled. This reaction of Nehemiah reminds us of the reaction of Jesus when He saw the misuse of the temple:

Mat 21:12-13 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. (13) And He *said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN."

Mar 11:15-16 Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; (16) and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.

Luk 19:45-46 Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, (46) saying to them, "It is written, 'AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,' but you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."

Nehemiah then gave an order for the room to be cleaned and then since the plural noun was used all of the chamber rooms were cleaned since one of them had been defiled. This cleaning was a religious action and not just some minor cleaning. After the cleaning was complete Nehemiah returned to the rooms the proper items such as the utensils of the temple and the grain offerings and frankincense. It was appropriately appalling to Nehemiah that, after the proper rebuilding of the community of believers, it was so quickly desecrated.

Neh 13:10-11I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field. (11) So I reprimanded the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts.

The Levites were supposed to be supported by gifts from the people for they had not inheritance:

13

Num 18:20 Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

Num 18:23-24 "Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance. (24) "For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, 'They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.'"

Deu 14:29 "The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Deu 18:1 "The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the LORD'S offerings by fire and His portion.

Since they were not receiving the promised support they had gone away to their own lands since it was allowed for them to have such income: Deu 18:8 "They shall eat equal portions, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers' estates. There may have been few Levites in the original exile because they knew they had to depend upon others voluntarily giving for their support so they would rather remain in their own estates. So Nehemiah rebuked the officials who were responsible for the distribution of such funds and then brought all of them back to Jerusalem. Less than a century earlier Haggai had rebuked people for taking care of their houses while neglecting the house of God: Hag 1:9 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.

Neh 13:12-14All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses. (13) In charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen. (14) Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.

The rebuke by Nehemiah brought results as all the people brought the proper tithes of produce into the storehouses. He then appointed four people to be in charge of the storehouses. One was a priest, one a Levite, one a scribe, and one a ranked layman. These were all considered to be trustworthy for properly distributing the supplies. This action was similarly done by the apostles in the early church: Act 6:3 "Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. He then asked God to remember his actions following such evil actions done by some when he was gone. He states that he acted for the sake of the temple and for its services to the people.

Neh 13:15-18In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and

14

all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. So I admonished them on the day they sold food. (16) Also men of Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the sabbath, even in Jerusalem. (17) Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day? (18) "Did not your fathers do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath."

But even more problems will be found! This next sinful action of the people had to do with their actions on the sabbath. Grapes were normally trodden by foot but such was not to be done on the sabbath. People were also working on the sabbath by bringing in sacks of grain that were loaded on donkeys. They also were bringing into Jerusalem wine, grapes, figs, and many other kinds of food on the sabbath. He admonished all of them for these actions on the sabbath. Tyre is about twelve miles north of the border between Israel and Lebanon and had a great maritime trade. It was originally an island but transformed into a peninsula by Alexander:

Tyre was known for their famous cedars used in the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 3:7). They also exported fish that was a staple of the diet of many people in the region. But they were bringing in the fish and other merchandise to be sold on the sabbath. Nehemiah then reprimanded the nobles of Judah and asked why they profaned the sabbath day. He reminded them of such sinful actions of their fathers that was part of the reason that God brought upon them the exile and all the resulting troubles. He was asking them why they did not learn from the past mistakes of their fathers so that the wrath of God would be added to them for profaning the sabbath.

Neh 13:19-22It came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the sabbath day. (20) Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem. (21) Then I warned them and said to

15

them, "Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will use force against you." From that time on they did not come on the sabbath. (22) And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day. For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.

The Israelites and the Babylonians counted their days from sunset to sunset whereas the Egyptians counted their days from dawn to dawn. The evening shadows were just beginning to cast shadows on the gates when Nehemiah commanded them to shut the doors and not to be opened until after the sabbath as a way to at least stop traffic from entering the city on the sabbath. The exact moment of the start of the sabbath was announced by the blowing of a trumpet by a priest. Nehemiah stationed some of his servants at th gates so that there would be no wrongful traffic occurring on the sabbath day. After the gates were closed, some persistent merchants continued to carry on their business for two weeks while spending the night outside the city. After he discovered this activity he warned the merchants to not continue such activities in violation of the sabbath. He also “carried a big stick” as he warned them that if they did not cease such activities he would use force to stop them. This last warning seemed to stop their violation of the rules of the sabbath.

He then commanded the Levites to purify themselves and act as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day. The scribes then learned about other sabbath behavior from:

Isa 58:13-14 "If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, (14) Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Nehemiah then similarly asked God to remember his actions regarding this sinful behavior of the people so that He would have compassion on him.

Neh 13:23-25In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. (24) As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people. (25) So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

But he continued to see other sinful actions that had developed among the people during his absence. He had dealt with this wrongful marriage problem some thirty years earlier. As noted earlier we observed the following when commenting on chapter four: Jerusalem was now surrounded by attackers: the Samaritans on the north, The Ammonites on the east, the Arabians on the south, and the people of Ashdod on the west. After the Assyrians had conquered Palestine that territory was known as Ashdod. So these surrounding areas again were causing problems as the Jews were marrying some of their women. The intermarriage produces children who were not able to speak Hebrew. This is expected because the children were usually taught language

16

skills by their mothers and, in this case, the mothers were not Hebrews. It seems the language of Ashdod was particularly rampant among the children. We are not certain the structure of that language but it is probably some dialect of Aramaic. All people having the same language was essential for all actions. God brought a curse upon people when he caused people to not all speak the same language:

Gen 11:6-9 The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. (7) "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech." (8) So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. (9) Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

Nehemiah took drastic action quickly to stop this intermarriage. Ezra reacted to a similar situation by pulling his own hair (Ezra 9:3). Pulling out the hair of a beard was an action to show scorn and anger toward the person as seen in: 2Sam 10:4 So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. The action by Nehemiah was to prevent further intermarriages whereas that of Ezra was to dissolve any existing marriages.

Neh 13:26-27"Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin. (27) "Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?"

Solomon was certainly a great king and he was very guilty of such intermarriages. He reigned for forty years (1 King2 11:42), built the magnificent temple (1 Kings 6:1-38) and built an even greater palace for himself (1 Kings 7:1). His international prestige is demonstrated by the only instance in which an Egyptian king gave one of his daughters for marriage to an alien (1 Kings 3:1; 7:8; 9:16, 24; 11:1). Solomon also had seven hundred wives and three hundreds concubines (1 Kings 11:3) and they were Ammonite, Moabite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women (1 Kings 11:1).

God certainly did love him as in the first part of his reign he asked for wisdom from the Lord ( 1 Kings 3:3-15) but later his wives caused him to worship other gods. He even built a high place for Chemosh, the Moabite god on the Mount of Olives (1 Kings 11:7). The mother of Rehoboam, Solomon’s successor, was an Ammonite princess and his wife erected an image to Asherah in the city (1 Kings 15:10-13). There are other examples of how his foreign wives caused him to sin. The point Nehemiah is making is that even someone with great wisdom and power can still be led into sin because of his intermarriages. Nehemiah then asked the rhetorical question of verse 27. History teaches that God will punish those who make this mistake of intermarriage. So why do you commit such a great evil by marrying foreign women? The NT does not prohibit intermarriage between races but it does teach against intermarriage with an unbeliever which is the point of these verses also.

17

Neh 13:28-31Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me. (29) Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. (30) Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task, (31) and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

This sin of interfaith marriage affected even the family of the high priest. It seems that this son was a brother of the man who succeeded the current high priest who was married to a daughter of Sanballat. This union would then have been especially abhorrent to Nehemiah because of the enmity of Sanballat: Neh 2:10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. Nehemiah reacted to this knowledge by sending that son away. He then prayed for God to remember their sin of defiling the priesthood and its covenant with the Levites. He then purified the priests and their families by taking away from them all that was foreign to their religion and appointed tasks for the priest and Levites according to the tasks that they had been assigned. They were to keep busy with their work and remove themselves from the temptation to marry pagan women. Nehemiah then attended to some of his duties by arranging for the wood offering to be kept at the appointed times and for the first fruits to be offered properly. He ends this book by asking for God to remember him for good. Since we have been studying this book we know that God did indeed remember him for good.

We can learn many practical lessons in Christian leadership from the example of Nehemiah. We note that he was a layman who worked with a scribe, Ezra, to cooperatively rebuild the temple, the wall, and the city of Jerusalem. We also see that reform and revival require constant renewal and courage since work is required to maintain the correct priorities. Sin will easily permeate a community of believers to lead it into behavior that will tear it apart. We have an example of a man who triumphed over many obstacles and did so with compassion and integrity. His opponents tried the following:

Ridicule: Neh 4:3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, "Even what they are building--if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!"

Attempted slander: Neh 6:4-7 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way. (5) Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. (6) In it was written, "It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. (7) "You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, 'A king is in Judah!' And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together."

Spreading misleading messages: Neh 6:10-14 When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, "Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night." (11) But I said, "Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I

18

will not go in." (12) Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. (13) He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. (14) Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.

He faced all this opposition by prayer even in the presence of a king:Neh 2:4-5 Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. (5) I said to the king, "If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it."

We can praise God for His gift of Nehemiah and Ezra. Their actions speak loudly to us even these thousands of years later. Unfortunately we know from history that these people continued to repeat the cycle of the Judges:

When we study Malachi we will see the low state into which the remnant fell and then the Gospels and Acts will show that the children of these who returned from captivity rejected both the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. We must pray that God will not let us similarly fall from grace.

19