Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / October 22 - Nehemiah 7

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October 22 - Nehemiah 7 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is, Tuesday, it's the
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  22nd of October, and you have invited me into your day.
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  And for that, friends, I am so grateful because you and I get
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  to continue reading through the story.
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  Well, yesterday we kind of hit that peak, the climax where
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  Nehemiah finished building the wall around Jerusalem and all of
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  his enemies, the neighbours who had just peeved that they were
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  trying to do this. Well, they didn't get their way
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  and they couldn't stop Nehemiah and his crew.
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  So here we are on the other end of this, and now it's time for
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  Nehemiah to get on with what governors do, which is
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  registering all the people who have come there and completed
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  this work. And so here in this chapter, we
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  have another one of these chapters with long lists of
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  families and the number of people in those families.
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  And I don't want you to get bogged down in all these names
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  and numbers, but what I want you to do is hear God's faithfulness
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  to these people. These are God's people that
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  lived at that time and were led to achieve this incredible
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  thing. When God is faithful to them and
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  their families and bringing them home.
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  Perhaps you can reflect as we read through these things on the
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  people in your life that God has been faithful to and the
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  promises that he has made to them and to us.
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  Yes, this God is still active and alive and very much a part
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  of the world and our lives. So let us reflect on that as we
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  read this chapter together, which is Nehemiah Chapter 7.
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  After the wall was finished and I had set up the doors and the
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  gates, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.
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  I gave the responsibility of governing Jerusalem to my
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  brother Hananiah, along with Hananiah, the commander of the
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  fortress, for he was a faithful man who feared God more than
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  most. I said to them, Do not leave the
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  gates open during the hottest part of the day, and even while
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  the gatekeepers are on duty, have them shut and bar the
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  doors. Appoint the residents of
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  Jerusalem to act as guards, everyone on a regular watch,
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  some will serve as sentry posts, and some in front of their own
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  homes. And that time the city was large
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  and spacious, but the population was small and none of the houses
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  had been rebuilt. So my God gave me the idea to
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  call together all the nobles and leaders of the city along with
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  the ordinary citizens for registration.
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  I had found the genealogical record of those who had first
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  returned to Judah. This is what was written there.
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  Here is the list of the Jewish exiles of the provinces who
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  returned from their captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar had deported
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  them to Babylon, but now they returned to Jerusalem and the
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  other towns in Judah where they originally lived.
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  Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Soraya,
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  Reliah, Naamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Misbah, Bigvi, Rehem,
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  and Barna. This is the number of men of
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  Israel who returned from exile. The family of Porosh, 2172 The
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  family of Shepataya. 372 The family of Ayra. 652 The family
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  of Pahath Moab, Descendants of Jeshua and Joab, 2818 The family
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  of Elam, 1254. The family of Zatu, 845.
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  The family of Zakai, 760. The family of Banai, 648.
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  The family of Babai, 628. The family of Asgad, 2322.
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  The family of Adonicum 667. The family of Big VI, 2067.
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  The family of Aden, 6055. The family of ATA.
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  Descendants of Hezekiah 98 The family of Hashem 328 The family
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  of Bezai. 324 The family of Jorah. 112 The family of Gibbah.
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  95 The people of Bethlehem and Netafah. 188 The people of
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  Anathoth. 128 The people of Beth Asmaveth. 42 The people of
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  Kiryathjiram, Kefira, and Beroth. 743 The people of Rama
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  and Giba. 621 The people of Mikmash. 122 The people of
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  Bethel and A 123 The people of West Nebo. 52 The citizens of
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  West Elam. 1254 The citizens of Haram. 320 The citizens of
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  Jericho. 345 The citizens of Lod, Hadid and Ono. 721 The
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  citizens of Senna. 3930 These are the priests who returned
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  from exile. The family of Jediah through the
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  line of Jeshua. 973 The family of IMA. 1052 The family of
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  Pashur. 1247 The family of Haram. 1017 These are the
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  Levites who returned from exile. The families of Jeshua and
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  Cadmil, descendants of Hodovaya. 74 The singers of the family of
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  Asaph. 148 The gatekeepers of the families of Shalom, Atta,
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  Talmon, Achab, Hatata and Shabba. 138 The descendants of
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  the following temple servants returned from exile.
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  Zia Hassafar, Tibayoth, Kerios Saya Pedon Lebanon, Hagabah
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  Shalmai, Hanan Gidel Gaha Raya Resin nekada gazam uzza, Pasiya,
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  Basai, Myanm, Nephisim, Bakbak, Hakafah, Harur, Baslath,
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  Mehrdah, Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Tamar, Naziah and Hatafah.
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  The descendants of these servants of King Solomon
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  returned from exile. Satai, Hassifereth, Peruda,
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  Jala, Darkon, Gidel, Shephatiah, Hatal, Pokareth, Hazabaim, and
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  AMI in all the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's
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  servants numbered 392. Another group returned at this
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  time from the towns of Telmala, Telhasha, Karab, Adan, and IMA.
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  However, they could not prove that they or their families were
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  descendants of Israel. This group included the families
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  of Delilah, Tobiah, and Nakoda, a total of 642 people.
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  Three families of priests Hebiah, Hakos and Barzalai also
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  returned. This Barzalai had married a
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  woman who was a descendant of Barzalai of Gilead, and he had
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  taken her family name. They searched for their names in
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  the genealogical records, but they were not found, so they
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  were disqualified from serving as priests.
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  The governor told them not to eat the priest's share of food
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  from the sacrifices until a priest could consult the Lord
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  about the matter by using the Urim and Thummim, the sacred
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  lots. So a total of 42,360 people
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  returned to Judah, in addition to 7337 servants and 245
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  singers, both men and women. They took with them 736 horses,
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  245 mules, 453 camels and 6720 donkeys.
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  Some of the family leaders gave gifts for the work.
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  The governor gave to the treasury 1000 gold coins, 50
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  gold basins and 530 robes for the priests.
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  The other leaders gave to the treasury a total of 20,000 gold
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  coins and some 2750 lbs of silver for the work.
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  The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold coins, about 2500
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  lbs of silver, and 67 robes for the priests.
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  So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the
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  temple servants, and some of the common people settled near
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  Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned
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  to their own towns throughout Israel in October when the
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  Israelites had settled in their towns.
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  Our loving Godfather, Son, and Holy Spirit, we pray to you
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  today with great gratitude and thanks for everything that you
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  do for us, but more importantly, for who you are.
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  Our God, our Father, for all that you have done through time
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  and space to show us your love for us, including the gift of
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  your Son, Jesus. Jesus, for all you did for us,
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  for that sacrifice that you gave, and for showing us the
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  true heart of who you are, who the Father is by the way, that
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  you loved and gave of yourself for us.
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  And today we thank you for your Holy Spirit, this Spirit that
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  moved in those people all that time ago as they moved back to
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  their homelands and rebuilt that wall around their city to set up
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  their lives once again in the land that you provided for them.
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  Our Holy Spirit, here you are in US, moving us each day,
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  comforting us and teaching us everything we need to know about
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  Jesus. Come Holy Spirit, grow in US,
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  transform us not just our minds to know more and more about
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  Jesus and His will for us, but also transforming our hearts so
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  that we choose in a deeper and deeper way on a daily basis to
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  live for you. And that your fruits would ripen
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  in us to become so evident to everyone around us so that they
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  are captured by you and your heart for them.
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  Now we pray all of this in the saving name of Jesus, Amen.