We shall conclude
the study of the book of Nehemiah of
the Old Testament this week.
Nehemiah began listing the names of priests and Levites among the batch of returnees that accompanied Zerubbabel and then he extended the list to name those descendants who continued to serve in his time. As much as they were names, most of which are not necessarily familiar to us, let’s quietly read through the list and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us in its reading:
(1) First, in vv. 1-9 he listed the names of the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel and it is important to remember that most of these are family names and should not be confused with the names of individuals. Therefore Ezra in v. 1 would not be the Ezra who returned some 20 years later, but the family name of one of the priest families. With this long list of names, somehow Nehemiah singled out some of them to tell us that they were “in charge of the songs of thanksgiving” (12:8). What might be the reason for such an emphasis? (See 11:23)
(2) Then, in vv. 10-11, he gave us a list of the high priests, from Jeshua to Jaddua, roughly from 538 B.C. to well after 400 B.C. As we have already studied the book of Ezra and are drawing near the end of the book of Nehemiah, consider the following:
a. Can you recall any role or impact any of these high priests had, either in the rebuilding of the temple or the rebuilding of the walls of the city?
b. As the High Priest, what role should they have played?
c. You may want to look up Zechariah 3 to get a sense of the spiritual condition of these high priests, as one of them was confronted by Satan before God.
(3) In vv. 12-21, he then listed the priests serving closer to his time. It is interesting to note that of the 22 family names mentioned in vv. 1-7, the family of Hattush was missing from this current list, probably signifying that by the time of Nehemiah, this family had ceased to yield male descendants to continue their priestly lineage. Food for thought.
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) In vv. 22-26, he then listed the Levites serving closer to his time. It is interesting to note that:
a. Their names were required to be recorded during the reign of Darius.
b. These names were also registered in the Book of the Chronicles (which may or may not refer to the Chronicles of the Bible).
c. Again, the fact that some were assigned to sing praises and thanksgiving was particularly mentioned.
What might be some of the reasons that Nehemiah chose to highlight the above?
(2) Vv. 27-30 gives us the connection as to why Nehemiah listed the names above, because these Levites (including priests) were drawn out from their dwelling places, even from outside of Jerusalem, to come back and participate at the dedication ceremony of the wall of Jerusalem. The geographical locations so mentioned indicated that they were spread across the land of Judah and of Benjamin. V. 27 says, “At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived”. What does it mean?
(3) In any case, whether they resided in Jerusalem or elsewhere, all had to purify themselves before participating at the dedication ceremony. For the priests and Levites, it probably meant “fasting, abstaining from sexual intercourse and a sin offering, and for the laymen the washing of garments, bathing etc.” (Fensham, 255/6).
a. Why was such purification required before their participation at the dedication ceremony?
b. What is the message for us today?
c. Have you taken drawing close to God in worship or celebration as seriously as they did?
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) The dedication of the wall of Jerusalem took place both at the wall and inside the temple — the Ezra-led procession went up from the right, while Nehemiah’s procession went up from the opposite end, both were flanked by a large choir. When the two choirs reached the top, they gave thanks (12:40), then took their places back in the temple where more songs were sung and sacrifices were made. Nehemiah remarked that God had given them great joy and the sound of rejoicing could be heard from afar:
a. Put yourselves in their shoes and try to give all the reasons that they should give thanks to the Lord under such a circumstance?
b. What might be the greatest reason for their great joy?
c. Many commentators opine that Psalm 147 in fact originated from this dedication ceremony, especially 147:2 and 13. Read Psalm 147 and see what reasons might be given for their great rejoicing.
(2) After describing the dedication of the people to the strict observance of the Law of Moses, followed by the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, Nehemiah purposely highlighted a few things that they did, obviously in response to the oath they made back in 10:28-39. Let us try to relate these few things back to the oath they made:
a. What part of their oath does v. 44 refer to?
b. What is the significance of such compliance?
c. What does the remark that “for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites” mean?
d. What part of the oath does v. 45 refer to?
e. What kind of a picture does this paint concerning the pre-oath days of worship in the temple?
f. What part of the oath does v. 46 refer to?
g. What kind of a picture does this depict concerning the pre-oath days of the lives of the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers?
(3) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
In this concluding chapter, Nehemiah shared with us that the reform under him was not all smooth sailing; it took persistent (and in some cases, disciplinary) efforts to ensure that the vows so taken would be followed. Commentators in general see all of these corrections as having been made upon Nehemiah’s return after his absence from Jerusalem in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes (i.e. 433 B.C., exactly 12 years after Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem). Here are the incidents cited:
(1) Vv. 1-3 deal with exclusion of any foreigners, presumably from their religious assembly.
a. Read Deuteronomy 23:4-6 to see what was the exact prohibition imposed by the Law.
b. Why did they apply it to all foreigners beyond the Ammonites and Moabites?
c. The prohibition says, “even down to the 10th generation” (Deut. 23:3). Does it mean never? (Note that the Gentiles who aspired to worship Yahweh were presumably allowed to gather at the “court of the gentiles” in the 2nd temple and Ruth was a Moabite.)
d. Why did Nehemiah see the necessity to enforce such laws to their “extreme”?
e. What can we learn from him?
(2) Vv. 4-5 deal with favor given to the enemy of Israel, Tobiah:
a. Who was Tobiah? How did he oppose Nehemiah? (See Neh. 2:19; 4:3, 7-8; 6:1-7, 12-19)
b. How influential was Tobiah (see Neh. 6:17-18)?
c. For what purpose was the room that Eliashib allowed Tobiah to use?
d. If Ammonites were to be excluded from the assembly, what kind of sin was being committed here?
e. Why did the priest (if he is not Eliashib the High Priest, he probably was related to him) do this to a known enemy of the Israelites?
(3) Vv. 6-9 deal with action taken by Nehemiah upon his return from the Persian court:
a. We are not told about his reception by the king after a 12-year absence. What does the fact that he was granted a leave of absence to come back again to Jerusalem reflect his status with the king?
b. Why do you think he wanted to come back to Jerusalem again?
c. How did he deal with “the evil thing Eliashib had done”?
d. What impact would his action have on the priests, the leaders and the people in general?
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Vv. 10-14 deal with the neglect by the priests and the Levites in the proper collection and storage of the people’s offering:
(1) Why did “all the Levites and singers” go back to their own fields, meaning that they did not serve in the temple on a regular basis, but returned to be farmers in the fields outside of Jerusalem?
(2) Whose fault was it?
(3) What impact might such negligence have on the people (12:44)?
(4) How did Nehemiah correct the situation?
(5) Nehemiah presumably had to return to the king’s court eventually; how then could he ensure continuous compliance by the people, especially by these religious leaders?
(6) What does his prayer in v. 14 indicate?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Vv. 15-22 deal with the breach in their oath to keep Sabbath:
(1) In their solemn oath to observe the Law of Moses carefully, what did they specify concerning the observance of Sabbath? (10:31)
(2) How did they, the men of Judah break the law that they so passionately vowed to keep?
(3) Why would they dare to break the Sabbath:
a. Did they not respect the Law anymore?
b. Were they not afraid of the leaders or the High Priest?
c. Were they not afraid of inviting the wrath of God as their fathers did?
(4) What did the people from Tyre do on Sabbath?
(5) Why did Nehemiah put the blame on the nobles of Judah?
(6) What did Nehemiah do to correct the situation?
(7) Why did he have to put his own men to guard the gates?
(8) What warning did he give to the merchants, likely foreigners? (Presumably, upon his return to Jerusalem, he still was holding the position of governor)
(9) When the threat to breach Sabbath was gone, he replaced his own men with the Levites on a permanent basis. What was the charge he gave the Levites in this respect?
(10) Do you think by so doing, the people, the nobles, the priests and the Levites would truly honor Sabbath?
(11) What does his prayer in v. 22 indicate?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Vv. 23-31 end with Nehemiah’s dealing with inter-marriage with gentiles:
(1) In their solemn oath to observe the Law of Moses carefully, what did they specify concerning the separation from the neighboring people? (10:28-30)
(2) How did the men of Judah break this vow?
(3) What had Ezra done previously in an attempt to eradicate this problem in Ezra 10?
(4) Why was Nehemiah so concerned that their children spoke a foreign language and did not know how to speak Hebrew? Was he being nationalistic or were there important ramifications concerning the worship of Yahweh? (See the example he gave about Solomon.)
(5) How did he correct such a situation?
(6) Why would he use force (presumably such authority was conferred upon him in the exercise of the local law as the governor)?
(7) Why was he particularly harsh on the grandson of the high priest (see Lev. 21:14 and his prayer here in 13:29)?
(8) What did he do to restore the neglect of the priesthood and the worship at the temple?
(9) Although the last prayer he said and recorded was brief, what does it reveal about Nehemiah?
(10) What can you learn from his effort not only to rebuild the wall to protect the Holy City, but to bring his people back to the true worship of Yahweh?
(11) What is the main message of this book to you and how may you apply it to your life?