So, I was reading in Nehemiah 12 today and some amazing things stood out to me. For the back-story: Nehemiah was a Jewish exile and a cup bearer for the Persian emperor. He heard that Jerusalem's wall was broken down and his people there were in "great distress and reproach"; Nehemiah was utterly grieved at the news so he wept, fasted, and prayed to God (Neh. 1). One day the king noticed that he was sad and asked why, Nehemiah explained everything to him and the king replied simply, "What do you request?" At this God-given opportunity Nehemiah asked for permission and supplies from the king to go and rebuild the wall in Jerusalem (Neh 2). Nehemiah took his task seriously and he trusted in the strength of God to complete this work. Under his leadership the wall was built in just 52 days, and he called for repentance from the Jewish people who had not been taking their covenant with God seriously (Neh 3-6). A spiritual revival occurred in Jerusalem and the people rejoiced and worshiped before God and returned to the laws He had given them.
Now, back to chapter 12, this chapter describes the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem and I love what the people did. Verses 27 and 28 say, "they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. And the sons of the singers gathered together..." The Israelites celebrated with music, with worship! I love that! Nehemiah also appointed two thanksgiving choirs to commemorate the completion of the wall. He led the choir, the musicians, the leaders, and half the people up on the wall and they sang loudly songs of thanksgiving. Can you imagine that? Two choirs with half the people almost surrounding the city singing praise to God! What an amazing sound that must have been! I can imagine the gladness and rejoicing of the people during this exciting dedication of the wall they had rebuilt with their own hands. This was a time of spiritual refreshing for them and they showed it. Verse 43 says, "they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off." Did you catch that? The joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off! So amazing!
Another cool thing that was happening during this time was a refocus on maintaining the house of God, the temple, and returning to God's commandments in the law. The captives had neglected the house of God and its servants; they were not giving their first fruits or tithes. They had also disregarded God's commands by exacting interest on borrowed money, and selling their sons and daughters as slaves (Neh 5). Nehemiah called them out on this, and the people repented and renewed their covenant with God, agreeing to return to the Lords commandments, ordinances, and statutes for them (Neh 10).
Returning to chapter 12 once again, verse 44 says, "And at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the first fruits, and 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." What stands out to me from this passage is that the people rejoiced for their spiritual leaders and gladly gave their first fruits, tithes and offerings. For modern-day application, consider this: do we honor and rejoice for our pastors and leaders in our churches? God has placed them in these positions and, like the priests and Levites who didn't work in the fields or in a trade, our pastors and leaders often are not working regular nine-to-five jobs, and if they are, they are also putting in as much if not more time to serve the church. God provided for the priests in Nehemiah's day with the peoples offerings, just as he provides for today's servant-leaders through our offerings.
One more passage stood out to me from this chapter, and it comes from verses 46-47, "For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and 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..." This particular passage stood out to me personally because I recently moved to Arizona to help with worship at a church here. I moved without the promise of a job and with limited means. I don't say this to commend myself or sound sorry for myself, but to take the opportunity to glorify God in His faithfulness toward me. God provided through Israel a portion for the singers for their daily needs, just as I trust God to provide my daily needs. God has already provided by giving me a place to stay, some cash to get here, and job interviews to show me that he has a perfect plan prepared. I am reminded of Proverbs 30:8-9, "... give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." God knows exactly my daily needs as well as yours, and He promises to provide. We can take him at his word, he has been and always will be faithful.
I will end with a little story about my drive over here. I was on the road that winds down through the mountains to the valley where Scottsdale is, the sun was setting and I was singing at the top of my lungs to an album I had downloaded for the trip. As I was rounding this one curve in the road, the sunset was spread out like a golden, shimmering ocean framed by two mountain peaks. Those few moments that I was going around the curve seemed like minutes as I marveled at the beauty God chose to share with me for that particular instant, as if he was telling me, "Welcome, I have everything ready for you here, enjoy it and enjoy Me," The lyrics that I was singing at the top of my lungs were, "To Him who sits on the throne, to Him who reigns forever, to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who reigns on high!" The biggest, most triumphantly worshipful part of the song was playing as God revealed this masterpiece for a few moments of time if anything just to show me how much he loves me... It was amazing.
Like Nehemiah, God has given me a task to perform here, and He will provide through His own resources And like the Israelites, I will praise God with thanksgiving for his continued faithfulness toward me.
"The singers... kept the charge of their God." Nehemiah 12:45
So I will keep the charge of my God.
