The Dedication

Today we are going to cover 2 chapters in Nehemiah. These are both celebratory chapters at the completion of the wall. There are a lot of names in these chapters and as I did a few weeks ago, I am not going to read all of the names.

I do want to note something about that though. These names are all very important to the history of the nation of Israel. People of Jewish descent are able to trace their lineage back and can see the reference of their ancestors in this text.

We do this today with our memorials. I saw the Vietnam memorial a few years ago in DC and all the names of those who died in that struggle. It’s overwhelming. It’s important for us to remember the past.

For today though, in this format, it makes sense for us to not dwell on the individual names and instead get a big picture of the story being told. We’ll take these two chapters and pull out three main passages...

We are going to start reading at the beginning of chapter 11…through verse 4

While you turn there, let’s do a quick recap.

Nehemiah gets a bad report from his brother about the condition of Jerusalem and his heart breaks. He prays, he plans and he perseveres through seeing Jerusalem’s walls rebuilt.

Not only were the walls rebuilt, but there is a renewed passion for God’s word and doing what it says. The last two weeks we saw how they committed themselves in honoring God’s word to them.

Let’s read now in chapter 11…

Nehemiah 11:1–4 (NIV)

1 Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns.

2 The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

3 These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem (now some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants lived in the towns of Judah, each on their own property in the various towns,

4 while other people from both Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem): From the descendants of Judah...

The conditions in Jerusalem were not great at this time. While the wall was rebuilt, there were still so many houses in ruin and the infrastructure of the city was still not fully up and running. It was a city is ruins still and needed a lot of work to be rebuilt. Upon completion of the wall, this is how the city would be resettled those in this chapter were to live in the city.

We see through the end of the chapter the lists and counts of men who returned to the city - there were 3,044 when adding all of the totals given. We see some of their roles and the tribes they descended from. We don’t see a count of the women and children who returned, but they were there as well.

We see that in verse 1, 1 in 10 were chosen, by lot to live in Jerusalem, but then in the next verse it says they volunteered. There were so many that volunteered that they had to select them by random. If there were 3,044 who were chosen, that means there were upwards of 30,000 people living in the towns around the city who volunteered to go.

Remember, this was not a vacation destination…this was going to be hard work living in the city. They had to move from the houses and towns they lived in to be part of rebuilding. This was not an easy task, yet so many wanted the honor of participating.

What these men and families were volunteering for was a mission. A mission to see God’s holy city rebuilt. To see the temple functioning as it should as a house of prayer for the world. This was not about their own comfort or well being, this was for the sake of God’s glory and his house.

3,000 men and their families took part in this process. To put that into perspective, there are now just under 1 million people in the city of Jerusalem.

Now when people look back on this time, they can thank the names in this chapter for being part of the mission and remnant of people who sought to rebuild God’s city.

Let’s jump ahead to chapter 12...We’ve seen the dedication to the mission, now we’ll The dedication of Praise.

Chapter 12 starts with another list of names, this time it’s names of priest and Levites, but the list starts with those who returned in an earlier time, nearly 100 years prior to the completion of the wall. This effort to see the city rebuilt didn’t just start with Nehemiah…it start many, many years before. Nehemiah gets to see the completion of the wall, but would not have see that if not for these priest and Levites setting a foundation.

Likewise, we are so fortunate to have this church to worship in, but we have so many who have come before us to thank. That is what Nehemiah is doing here. He is paying respect and honor to those who came before to begin the process of restoring Jerusalem.

Let’s start with verse 27 and see the dedication of Praise...

Nehemiah 12:27–43 NIV

27 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. 28 The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall. 31 I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, 33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 35 as well as some priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zakkur, the son of Asaph, 36 and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani—with musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the teacher of the Law led the procession. 37 At the Fountain Gate they continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the site of David’s palace to the Water Gate on the east. 38 The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction. I followed them on top of the wall, together with half the people—past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. At the Gate of the Guard they stopped. 40 The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials, 41 as well as the priests—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah with their trumpets— 42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer. The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah. 43 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.

Remember from Chapter 6…the wall was completed in 52 days. I’m building a small little fence for my dogs and it seems like it’s taken that long…this wall was by most accounts 2.5 miles long and at least 6.5 ft wide on the top. We can see the testimony of that because this choir and band and procession had to be able to walk on the top of it.

I have a picture to show you that summarizes the path of the choirs. ***Talk briefly about***

They would surround the city with praise. Two choirs led the way. Who knows what they sang. They had all kinds of instruments and they praised God on top of this wall around the city.

Let’s put verse 43 back up....

Nehemiah 12:43 NIV

43 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.

The sound of rejoicing could be heard far away. What a day that must have been. What a day of praise and celebration.

We’ve seen the Dedication to the mission, the Dedication of Praise, and lastly we’ll see the Dedication to serve. Let’s continue reading through the end of the chapter.

Nehemiah 12:44–47 NIV

44 At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites. 45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the musicians and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the musicians and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the musicians and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.

The praise ended with everyone in the temple. While they were all there, they appointed godly men who would manage the finances in the temple. They would ensure that it was all accounted for and used properly for taking care of the priest and the temple servants (musicians and gatekeepers).

There was a willingness and an eagerness to serve in whatever ways were needed. People gave to keep the temple functioning and men served to make sure it stayed that way.

The passage ends by saying that during the time of Nehemiah and Zerubbabel the city of Jerusalem was back on the right track. It is believed that Nehemiah served as the governor of Jerusalem for around 12 years or so before returning back to Persia.

During this 12 year time, we don’t get a lot of detail, but it sounds like they we committed to fulfilling God’s word for them in the city.

Next week, when we look at chapter 13, we’ll see what happens after Nehemiah returns to the city after a period of time away. A little spoiler…it wasn’t good.

Doesn’t this seem to be the story of people? Without a strong, holy leader they return to their evil ways. I’m so thankful that as we follow Christ, we have something the people of Israel didn’t have…the Holy Spirit in us.

We’ve seen where Nehemiah led the people in the dedication of this wall and the work. I summarized with these three points...

The Dedication to the Mission

The Dedication of Praise

The Dedication to Serve

All of these summarize who we are as a church. We have four main values and things that we are about.

We Worship Jesus Together

We Grow in our Faith in Jesus Together

We Serve others for Jesus Together

We Tell others about Jesus Together

Just like the city in Nehemiah’s day, when they were dedicated to the mission, to praise and to serve, they found themselves pleasing God and glorifying him.

By God’s grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we too can please God and glorify Him with our lives.