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CHAPTER 7 (ESV)
1 Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, 2 I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. 3 And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” 4 The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.
5 Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it:
6 These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. 7 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.
REFLECTION:
The population of Jerusalem was still scarce 100 years after the first return led by Zerubbabel. In order to encourage the people, Nehemiah enrolled them by genealogy. The name list was extended from the one created by Ezra (Ezra 2) indicating a continuation of the past. This census carried special meaning when people almost lost everything and became hopeless. Nehemiah showed people the name list of those who followed Zerubbabel in the first return to Jerusalem in order for them to understand their identity. They were God’s people who were willing to sacrifice for God from the beginning to the present. Today, do you always remember you are God’s people? Do you understand the nobleness of your identity and the corresponding responsibilities?
PRAYER:
Come before God with a thankful heart and thank Him for adopting you as His child. Ask God to help you know deeply the nobleness and authority of being His child, and clearly understand the corresponding responsibilities. You belong to God! Ask God to bless you, protect you, discipline you, and walk with you everyday.
HYMN:
Who You Say I Am – www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcC1Bp13n_4
