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91.
Nehemiah 7: “Gathering the Family of God”
South
Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, NJ –Men’s Evening Chapel on 6/17/2018
(edited
October 2021)
[note: This message was originally
shared on Father’s Day. We gave each man a Scripture bookmark from
Aldine Church at the end of the service.]
Four weeks ago we studied Nehemiah chapter 3 with
a theme of “Rebuilding the Walls” of Ancient Jerusalem. I spoke to you then
about doing the Lord’s work and building His Kingdom in ourselves and in our
world today. Like our study then, this passage in Nehemiah chapter 7 has many,
many names and details I don’t totally understand. But one thing is clear –
these people weren’t just some religious group. Ancient Israel was a real
family.
Verses 1- 3: “Now it
came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the
porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed, That I gave my brother
Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was
a faithful man, and feared God above many. And I said unto them, Let not the
gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand by, let
them shut the doors, and bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house.”
With the walls of the city restored and all the gates
installed for protection, it was time to get to work inside the city of Jerusalem.
The dangers they were facing were very real, as Nehemiah attests to in great
detail in the chapters between last month’s chapter and this one.
Verses 4-7: “Now the
city was large and great: but the people were few therein, and the houses were
not builded. And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and
the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I
found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found
written therein, These are the children of the province, that
went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to
Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city; Who
came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai,
Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the
people of Israel was this;”
God called Nehemiah to take a census and, as much as
possible, to gather the Nation together. At least, what was left of the nation
after 70 years of foreign captivity.
Verses 8-13: “The children of
Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two. The children of Shephatiah,
three hundred seventy and two. The children of Arah, six hundred fifty and two.
The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand
and eight hundred and eighteen. The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred
fifty and four. The children of Zattu, eight hundred forty and five.”
The roll call is by FAMILIES. The phrase “the children
of” will occur 18 times. Now, I won’t
lie to you, I don’t know too much about any of these names or these folks. But,
God does. And He knows your name and mine very well, also! Let’s rejoice in
that:
Verses 14-25: “The children of
Zaccai, seven hundred and threescore. The children of Binnui,
six hundred forty and eight. The children of Bebai, six
hundred twenty and eight. The children of Azgad, two thousand three hundred
twenty and two. The children of Adonikam, six hundred
threescore and seven. The children of Bigvai, two thousand
threescore and seven. The children of Adin, six hundred fifty
and five. The children of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety and eight. The children of
Hashum, three hundred twenty and eight. The children of Bezai, three hundred
twenty and four. The children of Hariph, an hundred and twelve. The children of
Gibeon, ninety and five.”
The Lord God cherished His family, His Children on the Earth. And
He still does.
Verses 26-33: “The men of Bethlehem
and Netophah, an hundred fourscore and eight. The men of Anathoth, an hundred
twenty and eight. The men of Bethazmaveth, forty and two. The
men of Kirjathjearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty and three. The
men of Ramah and Gaba, six hundred twenty and one. The men of
Michmas, an hundred and twenty and two. The men of Bethel and
Ai, an hundred twenty and three. The men of the other Nebo,
fifty and two.”
You know, I haven’t often thought of this, but I believe the Lord
knows our towns and our neighborhoods today, too. And He cares about the places
where we live and ALL those who live there!
Verses 34-56: “The children of the
other Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four. The children of Harim, three
hundred and twenty. The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five. The
children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty and one. The children of
Senaah, three thousand nine hundred and thirty. The priests:
the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and
three. The children of Immer, a thousand fifty and two. The
children of Pashur, a thousand two hundred forty and seven. The children of
Harim, a thousand and seventeen. The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of
Kadmiel, and of the children of Hodevah, seventy and four. The singers: the
children of Asaph, an hundred forty and eight. The porters: the children of
Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub,
the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, an hundred thirty and eight. The
Nethinims: the children of Ziha, the children of Hashupha, the children of
Tabbaoth, The children of Keros, the children of Sia, the
children of Padon, The children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children
of Shalmai, The children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children of
Gahar, The children of Reaiah, the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda, The
children of Gazzam, the children of Uzza, the children of Phaseah, The children
of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim, The children of
Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur, The children of
Bazlith, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha, The children of
Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Tamah, The children of Neziah,
the children of Hatipha.”
If I was the author of this part of the Bible, I think I might
have skipped some these names. But the Lord does not skip them. Each family was
worth mentioning, according to God. And if the Lord gathered Israel, back then,
by FAMILY (and He did it that way more than once—see Moses’ records in the book
of Numbers, for instance) then, what I get out of all this is that the Lord
wants His People to be, most of all, a family—HIS FAMILY!
Let’s look at a few more of these verses:
Verses 57-65: “The children of
Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the
children of Perida, The children of Jaala, the children of Darkon, the children
of Giddel, The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of
Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Amon. All the Nethinims, and the children
of Solomon's servants, were three hundred ninety and two. And these were they
which went up also from Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but
they could not shew their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of
Israel. The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the
children of Nekoda, six hundred forty and two. And of the priests: the children
of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai, which took one of
the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite to wife, and was called after their
name. These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy,
but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the
priesthood. And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the
most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.”
Wow, with God, FAMILY MATTERS! That’s the point. And if you
believe in Christ then you are part of the Family of God’s Children on the Earth
today.
By the way, that Urim and Thummim is an interesting thing. My
opinion, based on reading and what I’ve heard is that it was something like a
lottery in which they let God guide them into the best answer for the really
toughest questions. But that’s just my best guess about it.
Verses 66-73: “The whole
congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, Beside
their manservants and their maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand
three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred forty and five singing
men and singing women. Their horses, seven hundred thirty and six:
their mules, two hundred forty and five: Their camels, four
hundred thirty and five: six thousand seven hundred and twenty asses. And some
of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the
treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty
priests' garments. And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of
the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound
of silver. And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drams
of gold, and two thousand pound of silver, and threescore and seven priests'
garments. So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and
the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt
in their cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were
in their cities.”
If you study the Old Testament Books of Kings and Chronicles you will
find ample evidence that Ancient Israel had done a lot to cause the Family of
God to self-destruct. Satan helped out, of course, as he will today if we
aren’t careful. But, even after the fall of Israel, we see here that it is
still God’s will to restore His Family and to hold it together!
As you can see, we are out of verses in Nehemiah chapter 7 but, in
closing, there is a little more I would like to say about the Family of God,
today. I’ll keep it moving, as I know we are pressed for time:
1. You don’t have to be Jewish by birth or in the physical genealogy
of Abraham to belong to God’s Family now (as a gentile believer, I thank the
Lord for that!). Look at what Paul, writing in the New Testament, told all
the believers in Rome:
Romans 2:28-29
“For
he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;
and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;
whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
2. The Apostle John was Christ’s “buddy.”
At the time of His death, Jesus left His own mother, Mary, in John’s care. That’s
right, when Jesus walked this Earth, He had a friend named John. There was
nothing sinister or unfair about it. But, after the Resurrection of Christ, look
at how John thought about what his relationship to the Lord ought to be. He
does not say friend, does he? Look:
I
John 3:1-8
“Behold, what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he
is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law:
for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to
take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not:
whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no
man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is
righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from
the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil.”
John now recognizes his
earthly friend, Jesus, as the Savior of all true believers. (Dare I say this? John
also teaches us here that Satan has a family too. And none of that is beneath
me. I’ve been part of both families, now, and I can definitely say to you that
God’s is the one I whole-heartedly recommend!)
3. Abraham believed God and
acted on that faith. We are Abraham’s Spiritual Children today if we believe on
Jesus and accept His Holy Spirit into our hearts by faith. And when you accept
Christ today, two things happen:
A. You are immediately ADOPTED by God the Father
Romans 8:13-15
“For if ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.”
And you will be ASSURANCE
that you are now His child
Romans 8:16-19
“The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”
B. BUT, eventually, you will also be thrust into the middle of a
very, very ugly Paternity Dispute
I John 3:9-10
“Whosoever is born of
God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the
children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither
he that loveth not his brother.”
If you accept Christ, you are Born Again and adopted into the
Family of God. But, at some point, the Devil will begin to question the
legitimacy of your new relationship with God. And what I’ve found is that I sometimes
leave the door wide open for those accusations. I do that by sinning. Then
Satan can accuse and question my relationship with and my Faith in the Lord.
But, as John just told us, there is another side to it. Something wonderful, I
think. It is this: while we are not saved by obeying God’s commands we are
free, after we believe, not only to have faith but ALSO to obey the Lord. John tells
us that when this happens “HIS seed remains in us!” So we are adopted by faith,
but when, with faith, we obey God then we discover that we aren’t only adopted,
we actually have the HEAVENLY FATHER’S DNA in us! Then John reminds us, in the
very next verse, of the commandment we need to obey, in order for this to be so:
I John 3:11
“For
this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one
another.”
It’s a challenge, isn’t it? It is for me. But when we trust AND
obey God, then no matter what the Devil says, the Lord can look down from
Heaven and say “That’s MY child!”
Let’s believe Him, beloved, but let’s also obey Him! Let’s let
EVERYBODY know, without ANY doubt that we are the Children of God! Then they
can draw all the DNA samples they want, and none of it will matter. Let’s pray.
__________