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Nehemiah 7 Deep Diving Bible Study

 

Good Morning Siblings!
Today’s readings are Nehemiah 7

Click here to read today’s passages on BibleGateway.

Today’s reading is relatively short and my rabbit trails will follow suit.

Rabbit Trails

Neh 7:2 Note how Nehemiah puts the ones who fear the Father more than most in charge.

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. New 7:2

This follows the pattern of the Father, to be sure.

Neh 7:3 Interesting note: This sentence was originally structured in Hebrew, which is different from English, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense. However, many scholars agree that Nehemiah is instructing the guards to close the city’s defensive gates at the hottest time of day. You need to read it a few times to see that possibility. Why would this be? It was customary that guards rested, perhaps had a meal, and had what was almost akin to a siesta at this time of day, to get out of the heat. This may have been to accommodate that from a security standpoint, or to allow that from a compassion standpoint. Then again, all of this is conjecture but I think it’s a pretty good theory grounded in what we know of history.

Nehemiah 7:61-64 always hurts my heart to read. These are the people who can’t prove their genealogies or even whether or not they belong to Israel. It could be that these were of illegitimate origin, perhaps their mothers were unmarried, perhaps they had been abandoned or any number of possibilities. Either way, if you know and hold dear someone who doesn’t know their father, or even if you don’t, no doubt your heart aches at reading this as well.

You know, the Father has adopted us all as His own. We are never without guidance, a strong Father to protect us, and a loving and wise Father to counsel us. We can walk up to that table and they can look for our name and it doesn’t matter if they find it or not, we are still every bit His.

I will give in my house and within my walls
    a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.

And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    and holds fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.”
The Lord God,
    who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
    besides those already gathered.”

Isaiah 56:5-8

His is a promise we can trust in. 
Nehemiah 7:73 We end our reading by being told that it was the seventh month and the people of Israel are in their towns. Why is this important? The seventh month is very significant and after keeping the feasts a while you’ll come to instantly feel an association of it with the Feasts. This is when Trumpets, the day of Atonement, and Sukkot take place. Sukkot is often referred to as the season of our joy! Tomorrow we will see the people celebrating these feasts. I’m going to tell you a lot more about those and a little about their connection to Messiah tomorrow.


Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!