Nehemiah 12: Witnessing Through Worship

Priests and Levites

As we come into chapter 12, just a heads up that there are a TON of names

Nehemiah was a great record-keeper

I’m not going to read them all and I’ll be skipping around some

12:1 These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua:

Pause just for a moment

Zerubbabel was one of the first ones who had come back from captivity

in fact, he was the governor of Judah before Nehemiah was

He was tasked with being instrumental in building the temple

If you read the book of Ezra, you will find that they ran into some opposition in the building of the temple

And they sort of ran out of steam

And got discouraged

But God wasn’t done with Zerubbabel…God had a message for him

in Zechariah 4, the prophet Zechariah has a vision

And in his vision, he sees a golden lampstand

The Jews would call it a menorah..a lampstand with 7 lamps upon it

It was what you would find in the tabernacle, and later on in the Temple

Normally this lampstand was kept burning by the Levites coming in and making sure that the little bowls were kept supplied with oil

But this lampstand is apparently one that never has to be serviced

It has a bowl above it from which oil flows down and feeds the wicks

And that bowl is connected to two olive trees that supply it with oil—a never ending supply of oil

it was a lampstand that didn’t need any human effort to keep it going

And the angel that was talking with Zechariah asked him, “Do you know what this means?”

And Zechariah said, “No, I sure don’t!”

And the angel said, “This is a message of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts

Zerubbabel, you might be tired and discouraged from building the temple, but let me tell you. Just rest! It’s not by your might, it’s not by your power. But it’s by the Spirit of the LORD!

And just like this golden lampstand that I’ve shown you, the supply of the power of my Spirit is never ending!

How awesome is that! And man, do I ever need that reminder so often in my life!

My confession is that I tend to get discouraged easily and overwhelmed by adversity

And I so need this reminder to just rest. It’s not by my strength and power. It’s not by my great abilities or talents, whatever they may be. It’s by the Spirit of the LORD!

But anyway, back to Nehemiah

So, the guys that came up with Zerubbabel were:

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.

8 And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.

Isn’t this cool that they had these guys who were specifically in charge of songs of thanksgiving?

There are a number of places in this book where it calls special attention to those who were in charge of the music

Then in verses 9-24, it lists all of these priests and Levites who were in charge of the spiritual welfare of the people

And, like I said, I’m not goign to read all of these names

But look at verse 25

25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at the storehouses of the gates.

Isn’t this cool that these guys, the gatekeepers, were recognized and their names preserved for us?

You know, the job of a gatekeeper was probably a mundane, “boring” kind of job

These guys probably didn’t get a lot of recognition

They were probably overlooked quite a bit

As far as temple gate keepers, they were probably the first to arrive and open things up, and then they were the last to leave

But they were actually a privileged group.

Because they got to serve in the presence of God

And they got to serve God’s people

and really, it was a privilege to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord

Psalm 84:1–2 “1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

Psalm 84:10 “10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

Does this echo your heart as well?

I don’t care how lowly my position is. I would rather take the lowest position available than to be apart from God

To walk with Him, to hear from Him, to be in fellowship with Him, is the best thing that I could have

My soul yearns for Him. Without HIm, I feel that I would faint

And indeed, this is open to each and everyone of us

Because we have the very indwelling presence of God Himself. The Holy Spirit

If this psalmist could express those thoughts, how much more should we feel the same way

I think these gate keepers are included in Nehemiah’s list to remind us that

Even though they were probably overlooked many times, they had a really good thing going

And that was to serve in the presence of God every single day

and you and have that privilege as well

Let’s go on in verse 27

Dedication of the Wall

27 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. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29 also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

So, they are gathering the singers and the music people together from all of their villages

They are about to have a tremendous celebration

31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. 32 And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, 33 and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, 35 and certain of the priests' sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; 36 and his relatives, 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 up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.

38 The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall, 39 and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Gate of Yeshanah,[a] and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard. 40 So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; 41 and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 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.

Wow, this must have been quite a scene! What an incredible celebration it was!

Nehemiah formed two great choirs. I wonder how big they were

And they both went up on the wall in different parts of the city

First Choir

went up on the wall on the southern part of the city

Went counterclockwise back up toward the north

Second choir

Went up on the wall on the northern part of the city

Went clockwise

And they had an orchestra following them

It says that they had a bunch of guys following them with trumpets

And then it says that there were a bunch of guys that were playing musical instruments of David that had been preserved from about 500 years earlier

And I can imagine both of these choirs and orchestras playing

One of the things that Hebrews did was to sing

antiphonally

You would have two or more choirs singing back and forth to each other

That means it was like a call and response

Back and forth

Psalm 136 is probably an example of this

Where one choir would sing

“Give thanks to the LORD for he is good”

and the other choir would sing

“for his steadfast love endures forever”

And the first choir would sing

“Give thanks to the God of gods”

“for his steadfast love endures forever”

back and forth

when you read it, it tends to get a little monotonous,

But if you sing it, it sounds beautiful

This is a technique that composers have used over the years

ONe of the most famous was a man named Giovani Gabrieli who lived in Italy during the 1500’s.

He composed a lot of music to be performed in the great cathedrals

Cathedrals were always layed out like a cross

And he would station two more more choirs in various sections of the cathedral and he composed music that would be sung back and forth across the cathedral

It sounded something like this:

So, here you have these two orchestras and choirs in Jerusalem singing and playing above the city

Calling back and forth above the people below

Making their way around the city

What an incredible sight and sound this must have been!

And both choirs ended up in the Temple, the House of God, where Nehemiah and the other officials were waiting for them

And then both choirs joined together and they sang with Jezrahiah as their leader

And they offered great sacrifices (v. 43) and rejoicede

Why? because God had made them rejoice with great joy.

And it wasn’t just the men. It was everyone. The women, the children, everyone joined in

And listen to what it says. Here’s how big the celebration was.

The joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

Yeah! I’ll bet it was!

Here’s something interesting to note

Remember how earlier in the book of Nehemiah when they were building the wall

And there were these guys living close by that kept making fun and mocking what they were doing

Do you remember what Tobiah said about the wall?

“Even a fox could knock that thing down!”

It’s such a flimsy piece of construction, that even a little critter could knock it down!

Yet, here we have two large choirs up there on the wall marching around

You think Tobiah saw this?

I’ll bet he did. And I wonder what was going through his head at that time!

One thing is for certain, he was hearing the praises of the LORD being sung

And if there was any doubt in his mind before, he had to have known at that point in time that he was beaten

All of his efforts to discourage the work being done had come to nothing

If there was any doubt in his mind that God is a powerful and almighty God

And if there was any doubt in his mind that God was actively involved in the life of His people

Those doubts had to be put to rest

Because it says that the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away

And I can imagine Tobiah going about his business (whatever that might be) in his own village which probably wasn’t terribly far from Jerusalem

And as he is going about his business

He begins to be aware of a commotion going on,

It’s like a hum

It sounds like a huge crowd shouting and singing

And what’s that? It sounds like trumpets and harps and cymbals and other instruments

And he turns and squints his eyes

And what’s that he sees? It looks like a bunch of people up there on the wall and they are walking around!

Oh, and it looks like there’s another group over there

and in back of them there are guys with trumpets and harps and cymbals

And they are singing at the top of their voice back and forth to each other

And the orchestra is playing

And there are other voices joining in…voices from people that he can’t see down inside the city

And these choirs and orchestras are walking on the walls that he said would fall down as soon as a little critter walked on them

But there they are rejoicing, and God’s power and faithfulness was being broadcast all over the city, and all over the surrounding areas

And Tobiah receives the message loud and clear: God is alive, He is powerful and faithful, and He is worthy to be praised

You know church music is something that in our day and age has caused a lot of conflict within the church

We have conflicts about the style of music that we sing

hymns

Choruses

Modern worship songs

Some people prefer the red book, some people prefer the blue book, others prefer the black book

We get tense over the kinds of instruments that are used

Some people say no instruments

Others say well piano only

Others say no drums allowed

Whether or not there is a worship team up front

We get excited about whether or not there should be a worship team

Or just one person leading

Or, we feel superior or inferior to other churches because of our “worship style”

Well, I just can’t go to that church. I don’t like their worship style

Now most of these things are probably good things to think about at some point or another

But when it comes to church music, why is it that this is one of the biggest things that churches fight about

Why do you think that is?

Can I tell you why I think it is?

It’s because satan knows that music sung and played by God’s people is

one of the most powerful expressions of worship that there is

Why do we call the time in our service in which we sing together, “praise and worship”?

I think if we were honest, we would have to admit that music is not the only worship that we do, at least I hope it isn’t

But why do we call it praise and worship? Because music has a way of drawing our hearts and emotions (yes, I said emotions) to God like very few things do

Music connects to something down deep and it moves us.

it can move us to tears

To smile, to laugh

To action

The poetic thoughts that we sing in worship have a way of grabbing our attention and imagination

The rhythms of music capture the physical part of us, and we clap, or raise our hands, or close our eyes

In short, music can capture all of who we are at one time. Not just our minds, not just our mouth, but all of us

And when we are led in music that is written to the glory of God, and we sing for the glory of God, we worship with all that we have

Music is a powerful expression of worship

Music is one of the most powerful expressions of unity that there is

If there is one thing that must be done in unity, it’s music

In an orchestra, you can’t have the violins playing the Hallelujah chorus, and the brass playing Jingle Bells

In a church, you can’t have the women singing Oh How I love Jesus, and the men singing Lion of Judah which are both good song

But no, it has to be done together: the melodies, the harmonies, the instrumentation, the rhythms, all working together with one goal in mind

It’s such a beautiful, expressive picture of the way the Body of Christ should be

you have high voices, and low voices. different harmonies, different instruments, all with their unique sound, but all blending together with one goal

To produce a piece of music that glorifies God

And it’s difficult to worship together in music when some folks love the style and other folks are grumpy about the style

but isn’t that such a clear picture of the Body of Christ?

One of the most effective witnessing tools that there is

A witness is someone who has experienced something and wants to tell others about it

Music flows out of the hearts of people who have experienced God. They know what it is to walk with Jesus

And they put those experiences into song

And it witnesses to the hearts of those who hear or sing the music

How many times has someone given their heart to the LORD at a music concert

How many hearts have been drawn to God through the message of a song

How many times have you been reminded of who God is and what He has done as you listened to a song

And you’ve been convicted or encouraged

Music is often what sustained our anabaptist forefathers through persecution and death

Many of the songs that they wrote have been passed down and are still sung in the Amish church

Other more recent examples

Horatio Spafford who wrote “It is well with my soul”

He had lost all of his daughters after the ship that they were on, had a wreck and sunk

but, later, he wrote that beautiful song, “It is well with my soul”

They are songs that witness to us that even in the midst of the most severe persecution, God is faithful, He loves us and desires us to stay faithful

These songs are a powerful witnessing tool

Music is something that will be part of our story even through eternity

When we read the book of Revelation and the doors are opened into the heavenly places

What is it that that those who have been redeemed are doing?

They are singing

Is it any wonder that Satan wants to attack the church of Jesus Christ

By making believers fight and disagree about how we worship our God

He realizes the power there is in Believers coming together and delcaring the greatness of God through song

He realizes the power that there is in the unity of believers singing together

He knows that our praise declares to others the greatness of God, and he isn’t happy about it.

The question is, do you realize it

Do we realize it?

do we realize the power that there is in worshiping together in song

You know, we tend to view our praise and our singing as a private matter

It happens just “among us”.

And sometimes it does. But that’s not all there is to it. Not by far

It should be a clear witness to anyone coming through those doors

Or who otherwise hears us worshiping that

Our worship is a witness to the world that God is a God of faithfulness,

Righteousness

Justice

Everlasting love

And that He has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ

And He invites all to be reconciled to Him

Psalm 96