Nehamiah 12:12

Nehemiah 12:12 says, And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the chief of the fathers: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;  Matthew Henry says these are some of the chief priests who succeeded those who were first mentioned.  We need to proclaim the gospel today so that the next generation will have followers of Christ, but they can never be so just because we as their parents are. We may look back to past generations to see examples of great Christians though.

Verse thirteen adds, Of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 

Verse fourteen continues, Of Melicu, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;   

Verse fifteen states, Of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 

Verse sixteen adds, Of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 

Verse seventeen continues, Of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai: 

Verse eighteen says, Of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 

Verse nineteen adds, And of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 

Verse twenty continues, Of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 

Verse twenty-one concludes, Of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethaneel.  I guess all that this tells us today is that as parents, though we cannot do anything to spiritually save our children other than to tell them about salvation, often children do follow their parents by accepting Him. Also. sometimes children of preachers may follow them into the ministry, but if they do, they must be called by God individually and not just assume that since their father was a preacher that they automatically should be.

Nehemiah 12:1

Nehemiah 12:1 says, Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,  Matthew Henry says that we are given a record of some of the priests and Levites who were there to help in the work, though the reason why this was done is not totally clear.  He said it may have been to acknowledge them for their good works, but I believe it was done because God said for it to be done.  We may never be acknowledged by men for the good works we do for God, but we should do them simply because He calls us to do them.  We may never totally understand everything the Bible tells us or even why it includes certain things, but we either believe it is the inspired word of God, or it is of no real value to us.  He also points out that the Jeremiah and Ezra mentioned here were not the prophet and scribe that we know of in the Bible.  The next several verses are just a listing of some of these priests and Levites. 

Verse two adds, Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 

Verse three continues, Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,   

Verse four states, Iddo, Ginnetho, Abijah,   

Verse five adds, Miamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 

Verse six continues, Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah, 

Verse seven concludes, Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chief of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua.  These first mentioned were said to be the chief priests and the next few verses were the Levites.  I don’t believe that the priests were superior to the Levites spiritually, but they just had different responsibilities in doing God’s work, just as preachers and teachers are not morally superior to any other Christian today. 

Verse eight says, Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, which was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren. 

Verse nine adds, Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, were over against them in the watches.

Verse ten continues, And Jeshua begat Joiakim, Joiakim also begat Eliashib, and Eliashib begat Joiada,  

Verse eleven concludes, And Joiada begat Jonathan, and Jonathan begat Jaddua.  Matthew Henry says these last two verse were the succession of the high priests. 

Nehemiah 11:25

Nehemiah 11:25 says, And for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and in the villages thereof, and at Dibon, and in the villages thereof, and at Jekabzeel, and in the villages thereof,  The next several verses just list those in the villages who were a part of God’s people.  We may not have a role of leadership in the church as followers of Christ, but we are all a part of the family of God and need to identify ourselves as such. 

Verse twenty-six adds, And at Jeshua, and at Moladah, and at Bethphelet, 

Verse twenty-seven continues, And at Hazarshual, and at Beersheba, and in the villages thereof, 

Verse twenty-eight states, And at Ziklag, and at Mekonah, and in the villages thereof, 

Verse twenty-nine adds. And at Enrimmon, and at Zareah, and at Jarmuth,   

Verse thirty continues, Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beersheba unto the valley of Hinnom. We do have an addition here telling us where this particular group lived. 

Verse thirty-one says, The children also of Benjamin from Geba dwelt at Michmash, and Aija, and Bethel, and in their villages. 

Verse thirty-two adds, And at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 

Verse thirty-three continues, Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 

Verse thirty-four states, Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 

Verse thirty-five adds, Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen.   

Verse thirty-six concludes, And of the Levites were divisions in Judah, and in Benjamin.  We may not know how many followers of Christ there are in the world today, but if we are, we need to be at work for His kingdom. There are never as many as there should be.

Nehemiah 11:13

Nehemiah 11:13 says, And his brethren, chief of the fathers, two hundred forty and two: and Amashai the son of Azareel, the son of Ahasai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, This verse and the next several is a listing of the people who were to live in Jerusalem.  There were another two-hundred forty-two in this group.  Matthew Henry points out that there seemed to have been plenty of workers.  Jesus told His disciples that the fields were white to harvest but that the workers were few.  That is why it was so important to spread the gospel, so not only could those who believed be saved, but they could then reach out to others with the gospel.  This is still true today. 

Verse fourteen adds, And their brethren, mighty men of valour, an hundred twenty and eight: and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of one of the great men.  In this group, there were one-hundred twenty-eight, who were said to be mighty men of valor.  As followers of Christ today, we need to be courageous in our faith.  We cannot let fear stop us from doing what God has called us to do. 

Verse fifteen continues, Also of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hashub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;  We now have a listing of Levites.  

Verse sixteen states, And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites, had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God. 

Verse seventeen adds, And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 

Verse eighteen continues, All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred fourscore and four.  There were a total of two-hundred eighty-four Levites in Jerusalem.  It was their duty to do the work that needed doing in the temple. Today, God calls those needed to do His work in the church and we as Christians need to pray that we will know what He has called us to do, and then we need to do it to the best of our ability under the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. 

Verse nineteen says, Moreover the porters, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren that kept the gates, were an hundred seventy and two.  The porters in the temple are listed next, and there were one-hundred and seventy-two of them, and they also served in keeping order in the temple. 

Verse twenty adds, And the residue of Israel, of the priests, and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.  The rest of the priests and Levites were in the rest of Judah where they served God, since not all the people were in Jerusalem.  We need to not only be working in the church in one particular area of the world, but we need to be spreading the gospel throughout the world by going where God calls us. 

Verse twenty-one continues, But the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel: and Ziha and Gispa were over the Nethinims. There was an exception to those serving throughout Judah listed here, and these were the descendants of Gideon who served on the wall in Jerusalem to do the servile work of the temple, according to Matthew Henry. 

Verse twenty-two states, The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God.  There was an overseer of the Levites as well as the singers who were said to be over the business of the house of God.  They did more than just sing, and we may be called to more than one role in the church today.  I personally believe we should all sing praises to God when we gather to worship, but that is not all we should do. 

Verse twenty-three adds, For it was the king's commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day.  We are also told that a certain portion should be given to the singers to sustain them by the king’s commandment above the offerings of the people.  Matthew Henry says he did this because he had an affinity for the singers.  People may still give gifts designated for a particular person or purpose today, but I believe as a general rule we should just bring our tithes and offerings to God and not put specifications on how they should be used.  I know we sometimes have donations to building funds and such, but I am not sure this is what God expects us to do.  Of course, that is just my opinion. 

Verse twenty-four continues, And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people.  There was also someone appointed to be at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people of Israel.  He was to help settle disputes according to Matthew Henry.  We really don’t have someone specific to represent us before the government today, but we do need to try to live at peace with those in power as long as it doesn’t compromise our faith to do so.