JERUSALEM comes ALIVE

 

Nehemiah 7:4

King James Version

4 Now the city was large and great: 

but the people were few therein, 

and the houses were not builded.

Now that the walls and gates have been built, what was needed?

To secure them.

Here's what Nehemiah did:

Nehemiah 7:1-3

King James Version

7 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,

2 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.

3 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.

Another issue presented itself.

The city needed people.

So Nehemiah got the job done.

Nehemiah 7:5-6

King James Version

5 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,

6 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;

A full account of the genealogy and number can be found here.

To have an idea what can be found in Jerusalem then, check this out:

Nehemiah 7:66-73

King James Version

66 The whole congregation together 

was forty and two thousand 

three hundred and threescore,

67 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.

68 Their horses, seven hundred thirty and six: 

their mules, two hundred forty and five:

69 Their camels, four hundred thirty and five: 

six thousand seven hundred and twenty asses.

70 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.

71 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.

72 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.

73 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.

GOD inspired Nehemiah to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem.

He helped him re-populate Israel.

An interesting chapter tells us who lived in Jerusalem.

And who lived in the cities of Judah.

Such is the Bible, the WORD of GOD.

Pure, perfect, practical, and precise.

Giving us great detail about GOD's people.

Of course, after rebuilding, something else had to be done.

The task of acknowledging GOD's help.

And that's for the next post.

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