Nehemiah 7
After the walls of Jerusalem were repaired and the gates set in place, the men were to take turns as watchmen on the walls, and some men were to be porters at the gates, which were to be kept shut while dark, that none could enter without being seen.
Nehemiah had promised to return to the king, so he could not be with the people all the time and his brother and another man were given charge of all necessary matters in the city.
There was also a record made of the names of the men and the family to which each belonged. Nehemiah had found a record which had been written before this, of the people who had come back to Jerusalem from Babylon, and it seems that a new record would start from that one, so he wrote out that record again.
There were many hard names in those records which we do not need to learn. Yet we can understand why It was so important for the Jewish people to keep careful records. Because, to have land, the men must prove from which family they were; those who cared for the temple were to be of the family of Levi; the singers in the temple were to be of a certain family, Asaph; no man could be a priest except he was from a son of Aaron; and no rightful king could rule except from the family of David.
At that time there was no such king, the king of another land ruled over theirs, but God had said a great King should come for them, so if no record were kept they could not prove a true claim. God had such records kept until Jesus came (Matt. 1).
How many porters were there to take turns keeping the gates of Jerusalem? (See Neh. 11:19).
Who had first told Nehemiah of the ruins in Jerusalem and what charge was he given in the city, and why was the man given such a charge? (Neh. 1:2, 3; Neh. 7:2).
Was there room for more people in Jerusalem? (See Neh. 7:4).
Had records of the men of Israel been kept before? (See 1 Chron. 9:1).
Who “put it in Nehemiah’s heart to make a record of the Jewish families?” (See Neh. 7:5).
Since the Lord Jesus came to earth, God has not said a record of any family must be kept, but all who read God’s words may know if they belong to His family, which is the highest place possible.
“As many as received Him (Jesus) to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:12.
ML 01/07/1940