Week 97, Day 4: Remember Me!
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 13:1-31
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
The end of Nehemiah’s account leaves me with mixed feelings. Nehemiah asks the Lord to remember him for the many faithful deeds that he did to help steer the Jews back to faithful service to God. He lists out a few of the things. Nehemiah showed great courage and strength to stand up for what was right and lead the people. But what leaves me with mixed feelings is how quickly it appears that things began to go bad again. While Nehemiah is away in Babylong, there is corruption that comes back among the temple service. We are not told how long exactly Nehemiah was gone for but it doesn’t sound like long. And yet there were priests who went off in their duties to keep the temple clean. This shows us how important Nehemiah’s leadership was and how quickly things can be perverted.
Nehemiah’s labors serve as a testimony to his faith and dedication to God. May we each strive to lead others to serve God and be strong in our service to God.
Question: What do you think made Nehemiah such a good leader?
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Week 97, Day 3: The Dedication
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 12:1-47
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
We are taken back to the time when the wall is dedicated. As would be expected from those who are trying to faithfully seek God, the dedication ceremony centers around praise unto God. There are two groups of singers present at the temple and all the people rejoiced to the point that the sound could be heard from afar. I want to encourage you to think about this event. God has brought back a remnant, just as He promised. By His faithfulness they have now overcome the opposition and rebuilt the walls. Jerusalem is beginning to be a prominent city again. Their rejoicing, singing and sacrifices reflect a scene of extreme happiness because of what God had done for them. We should take time to think about these scenes to remind ourselves that God keeps His promises and we should always rejoice in God’s faithfulness. Even during dark times or trying periods of life remember God’s goodness and trust in Him.
Question: Why was it so important to register and keep track of who was a part of the Levites?
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Week 97, Day 2: Jerusalem Inhabited
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 11:1-36
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
Chapter 11 takes on a slightly different pace. After the completion of the wall around Jerusalem we were told of several things that required Nehemiah’s attention. There was the census taken, the keeping of the feast of booths restored, the covenant to rededicate themselves to God was made, and now we are told about how Jerusalem was populated. It makes since that many of the workers who constructed the walls were people from the surrounding areas. Now that the work was done it was time for some of them to go back home. But we are told that 1 out of 10 agreed to stay in Jerusalem. It seems a little strange that there would be a discussion about who would volunteer to stay in Jerusalem. The way many think today you would think that everyone would clamor to be the ones to stay. But the people had their own lands to return to. It is also mentioned about the fact that some of the priests and Levites continued to live outside Jerusalem.
I find it somewhat interesting to see that there are only a few tribes that are mentioned specifically among the remnant. Judah and Benjamin are the only two. This does nont mean that people from the other tribes did not return but it does emphasize that the promise to bring them back was primarily fulfilled with regard to the southern tribes. There were very few from the northern tribes who had remained faithful to Jehovah.
Question: Why do you think there was specific regulations from the king concerning the singers in the temple (vs. 22-23)?
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Week 97, Day 1: Terms of the Agreement
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 10:1-39
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
Chapter 10 goes into some details about the covenant that the people made in chapter 9. This agreement or covenant was put into writting to detail what they pledged to do. This was a pledge to renew their dedication to serving God. One of the things they pledged to do was bring in the firstfuits of their ground and fruit trees. I had not ever thought about how challenging this might be. With the tithe you give 10 percent of everything. That can be challenging enough as it is especially when you are talking about an agriculture based society. But how much is the firstfruits. With grain or such crops that are harvested after all of it are ripe it might be easier. But even then, how much do you give as the portion of the firstfuits? With fruit trees or such plants, how many are to be considered the first fruits? I cannot remember a place that specifies. So it would seem that the Jews were left to offer this amount as sort of a freewill offering. How much depended on the person and how they determined to give. The firstfruits offering is intriguing to me because of the question, “What is its purpose”. I see it as they were to offer God the first of their crop to say thank you for providing a crop. And also this offering was given with trust and reliance on God that He would provide a good healthy, abundant crop to come. We take it for granted that if the crop doesn’t come in then it will be okay, we’ll just go down to the store or such. But for them, giving up the first of their produce seems to hold significance because how do you know a pestilence isn’t going to hit or that the rains are going to come on time. Therefore I see giving God the first as a way of recognizing that these things are gifts from His hand and trusting that He will always provide for His people.
Question: How do we express these same sentiments in our giving? Do we express these sentiments when we give?
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Week 96, Day 5: The People Worship
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 9:1-38
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
The people now assemble together to worship God and to confess their sins. This chapter makes me wonder about the condition of the Jews. Things sound really good here that they are turning back to God and are going to start really devoting themselves to the Lord. Ezra has already been trying to make reforms among the priests. Sometime in this same time frame we have Malachi speaking to the people. But did they really shape up? At some point over the next few hundred years you have the rise of the Pharisees and Sadducees. So there were deffinitely those who strove to be diligent to keep the commands of God and see to it that others kept them as well. I have a hard time fitting Malachi’s message of their vain worship, poor attitudes towards worshipping God and the way they defiled the altar by sacrificing blemished animals. Time wise how does this fit with what is happening here with this image of them worshipping and turning to God? There are times like these that I wish we had some better time markers within the text to specify exactly who spoke in what order. If Malachi spoke to the people after Nehemiah’s reforms then the people were not sincere in their agreements made with God. But if Malachi spoke before this confession then his message might have helped spur the people on to repent and renew their devotion to God. It is all interesting to consider.
Question: How can we gain from seeing the cycles that Israel went through? They were faithful, devoted at one point but then at another they were distracted and unfaithful to God. How can we benefit from seeing such cycles? For example: How can we strive to make sure that we do not fall into the cycle of unfaithfulness to God?
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Week 96, Day 4: Complete Reform
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-18
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
This chapter is full of details that are impressive to think about. We are told that Ezra was called to read the law from early morning until midday. So while Nehemiah has been leading and directing reforms, Ezra has also been enacting reforms among the priests. The affect is such that the people are moved to observe the feast of booths. We are told that this had not been done so since the days of Joshua. That is so sad. I wonder if this passage is making a comment on the extent of their observance, everyone observed it more so than before, or if the keeping of this feast had simply not been observed since Joshua’s leadership. That is so impressive. Not even under David’s leadership did the Israelites obey God like they did at this time. I have been thoroughly impressed that it was not just the captivity that had awoken the Jews to such devotion but also it was in part due to the godly men who helped lead the needed reformations.
Question: Why do you think the mourning was commanded to be stopped or postponed (vs. 9)?
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Week 96, Day 3: Updating the books
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 7:1-73
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
Having finished the task at hand, Nehemiah now turns to a matter that is very important to the Jews. He turns his attention to updating their genealogy records. Their people had been scattered to the wind. Their cities and many of their records were destroyed. Now that the city has been made secure Nehemiah can address some of these other important things. Tracing who they are was of the utmost importance to the Jews. The land had been orignally been divided based on which tribe they belonged to and to each family. It is not clear for how long the Jews had neglected to observe the Jubilee, this was the time when the land was to be returned to the original family as an heritage. But it is clear that the Jews still regarded their genealogy very highly. In particular the lineage of the priests and Levites was very important. If they couldn’t confirm their heritage then they were excluded from being able to serve in the Temple.
Question: Why will keeping good records of genealogy become an even more important item later in the New Testament?
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Week 96, Day 2: The Plot Thickens
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 6:1-19
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
The wall around Jerusalem is now finished after 52 days of labor. This happened despite the attempts made by the leading Gentiles to lure Nehemiah out to harm him. These Gentiles recognized that Nehemiah was the key. Strike the shepherd and the work would be dispelled. But Nehemiah held true and firm and took strength in God.
We also see just how complex the situation was for Nehemiah here. He faced opposition from the Gentiles, problems with mistreatment of the people – usuary, bad allegiances among the nobles with the Gentiles, and even false prophets & prophetesses. The dangers were all around him. I like how Nehemiah continues to turn to God to deal with these things and help him overcome. He says “remember, O God.” God would be the one to avenge these things. Nehemiah knew it was in God’s hands. He also said “but now, O God, strengthen my hands.” May we each be like Nehemiah.
Question: How can we become stronger and better at dealing with adversity?
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Week 96, Day 1: Corrections
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 5:1-19
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
The progress on the wall continues. But as the work is ongoing and facing opposition from the Gentiles, Nehemiah is confronted with another problem. There is a lot of usury taking place. Many of the people are being forced into a situation where they have to sell their lands, vineyards and even children. This is being done by none other than their own fellow Jews. So they have escaped captivity to only end up becoming the slaves of other Jews. What I also find interesting to see is that the priests are part of the problem. This seems very odd when you think about the image that we have of priests. And yet here, even after the captivity, there are still some major problems among even the priests.
Question: What was wrong with usury here (Exo 22:25)?
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Week 95, Day 5: More Conflict
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 4:1-23
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
The Gentiles in the surrounding area are not satisfied with their previous attempts to halt the progress made in Jerusalem. In particular, those in Samaria hear word of the progress being made in building the wall and begin to plot to come by stealth and attack the Jews in order to stop the work. This is a stark reality. These people apparently hate the Jews so much that they will go to the extent of killing the Jews in Jerusalem in order to put a stop to the building of the walls. These Gentiles realize how important it is to the Jews for Jerusalem to be rebuilt.
But Nehemiah will not be halted. Instead of faltering in his determination and trust in God, he orders that half the people arm themselves and keep watch while the other half continue building. So the Gentiles succeed in slowing down the work but they cannot halt it without outright battle.
Question: How easy do you think it would have been to stop the work? What would have been accomplished by trying to find a compromise with the Gentiles?
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