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thanksgiving processions
20250505 Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com thanksgiving processions Nehemiah 12:27-47 Nehemiah 12:27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.Nehemiah 12:28 The singers gathered from the region around…
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a tithe of the people
20250504 Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com a tithe of the people Nehemiah 11:1-12:26 Nehemiah 11:1 Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine-tenths remained in their towns.Nehemiah 11:2 The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.Nehemiah…
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Daily Bible walk: Day 285
Nehemiah’s Religious Reforms
“Nehemiah continues to govern Israel over the next 11 years , and at the end of his term of appointment, returns to Artaxerxes in Susa. It is not known how long Nehemiah stayed in Susa, but it was long enough for some of the…
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Daily Bible walk: Day 283
Redistribution of Population
“Now that the wall has been completed, it occurs to Nehemiah that the city is too large for the number of people inhabiting it; it would take a larger population to defend it properly and to maintain it. Therefore Nehemiah…
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Nehemiah 12:43
NIV
And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.
KJV
Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.
ESV
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
NLT
Many sacrifices were offered on that joyous day, for God had given the people cause for great joy. The women and children also participated in the celebration, and the joy of the people of Jerusalem could be heard far away.
I love this verse, because it so perfectly illustrates the way that these people loved God. Their joy and worship was so overwhelming that it could be heard at a great distance. It reminds me of people who are described as being overflowing with joy. You can just instantly tell when you meet them that they are joyful people. I want the love of God to spill out of me so that everyone can see Him reflected in me. I want His love in His people to be so loud that the whole world can hear it.
Purification and Worship
I highly recommend checking out David Guzik's study guide for this week's study on Nehemiah Chapter 12.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?AuthorID=2&contentID=7696&commInfo=31&topic=Nehemiah
It is full of great breakdowns of the important concepts, and I love the way he explains the need to purified before we can truly worship God.
2. (30) Purification.
Then the priests and Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
a. Then the priests and Levites purified themselves: They did this first. They could not effectively lead the people in worship of God unless they walked in purity before the Lord.
b. And purified the people: The next did this. They brought cleansing to the people the way the Bible said to, knowing that only a purified people could really worship and praise God.
i. Some might silently object here; they may say, “I know a person who goes to church and seems to be lost in beautiful praise and worship to God, and I also know their life is rather impure outside the church walls. It sure seems they are worshipping God, but are personally impure.”
ii. Something is wrong there; probably, their worship is not a true worship of God in spirit and in truth, but instead a “soulish” experience. All that inwardly moves a person in a deep way is not necessarily of the spirit; it can be of the soul. One of the great works of the Word of God is to divide between that which is truly spiritual and that which is merely soulish (Hebrews 4:12).
iii. Without purity, we can’t worship God in spirit and in truth, as Jesus commanded us to (John 4:24). Psalm 24:3-4asks, Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pureheart, and it means it in the sense of bringing praise to God.
iv. We can be made pure and clean before God today, right now, by doing what the Bible says to do - not in following an Old Testament ceremony, but by receiving the word of the New Testament: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Nehemiah 12:27
NIV
At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.
KJV
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.
ESV
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.
NLT
For the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem, the Levites throughout the land were asked to come to Jerusalem to assist in the ceremonies. They were to take part in the joyous occasion with their songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps, and lyres.
QT Day Twenty-One: Nehemiah 12
Observation: I noticed that there are so many interesting people with a wide variety of names. Normally, you'd think with so many common names in this world, there's not a lot of creativity and variety in the naming of children these days. A lot of immigrants often choose to have common western names in the new language but wouldn't this count for loss of culture and indirect/unconscious assimilation into another culture?
From this point of view I realized that the God we serve must be an amazing God to be able to give each and every human being an unique name as well as an unique mind and body. The Babel Tower and the confusion of language wasn't an accident but served its purpose in creating cultures and race.
Aside from this observation, I also noted that Nehemiah goes through a lot of wall dedication and regulations to ensure temple worship is proper and formalized. It was also surprising to learn that the people would stand on the wall and dedicate it by praising God in this way. Exactly how high was the wall in the first place? o_o
Interpretation: Even the smallest to the largest of details, a leader should make every use of his resources and make quick but wise decisions at all times to ensure that no time is wasted. Nehemiah does all of that and more. I figure if I want to become a SJ, I will need to meditate on God's word more and pray more regularly to be more fully prepared and ready to be one of His chosen leaders for His people.
Application: In preparation for SJ, I will study the Word of God more regularly and pray and fast and meditate during the excess of time that He gave me while I study for school.
