People Asked to Move Inside The City
April 29, 2021
Commentary
Since Jerusalem’s walls had been rebuilt, it was necessary for a sufficient number of people to inhabit the city. Perhaps this included people to defend the city, carry on business, etc. People already dwelt in the city, but it was decided that they needed one tenth of the population, so they cast lots to decide which people would live there. The other nine tenths were to dwell in the other cities of the land. Since this required many people to make sacrifices (such as moving and perhaps leaving their inherited possession in the land) they decided to draw lots.
The following verses list the different kinds of people who lived in Jerusalem. Many were descendants of Judah, others were of the tribe of Benjamin (vv 1-3). There is a list of leaders of the tribe of Judah who lived in Jerusalem (vv. 4-6). A total of 468 valiant men lived there. Then there is a list of leaders of the people of the tribe of Benjamin who lived in Jerusalem (vv. 7-9). The total men of the tribe of Benjamin was 928. Also there is a list of leaders of the priests who lived in Jerusalem (vv. 10-14). The numbers in this case are 822, 242, and 128, but I am not sure exactly what the distinction was between these different numbers. The priests, of course, had to be descendants of Aaron, and they led in the worship in the temple (v. 11). Following this is a list of the leaders of the Levites who lived in Jerusalem (vv. 15-18). These had oversight of the business outside the temple (v16). In addition Mattaniah is named as leading the thanksgiving in prayer (v. 17). The total Levites were 284. If the tallies are followed (vv. 6,8,12,13,14,18,19), we have 3,044, so that, including wives and children, one could estimate a population between 10,000-12,000.
Application
All of the above would involve in some cases a change of work, of means of livelihood, etc. Anyway, a sacrifice was made for the people of God. This poses a question: If I am ever called on to make a move like this, where self-denial must take precedence would I be willing to do it?
Nehemiah 11:1– 19 (NET)
1 So the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, while the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to settle in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine remained in other cities. 2 The people gave their blessing on all the men who volunteered to settle in Jerusalem.
3 These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem. (While other Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple attendants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon settled in the cities of Judah, each on his own property in their cities, 4 some of the descendants of Judah and some of the descendants of Benjamin settled in Jerusalem.) Of the descendants of Judah:
5 and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, from the descendants of Shelah. 6 The sum total of the descendants of Perez who were settling in Jerusalem was 468 exceptional men.
7 These are the descendants of Benjamin:
8 and his followers, Gabbai and Sallai—928 in all. 9 Joel son of Zicri was the officer in charge of them, and Judah son of Hassenuah was second-in-command over the city.
10 From the priests:
11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, supervisor in the temple of God, 12 and their colleagues who were carrying out work for the temple—822; and Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, 13 and his colleagues who were heads of families —242; and Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 14 and his colleagues who were exceptional men—128. The officer over them was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.
15 From the Levites:
16 Shabbethai and Jozabad, leaders of the Levites, were in charge of the external work for the temple of God; 17 Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the praise leader who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his colleagues; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 18 The sum total of the Levites in the holy city was 284.
19 And the gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon and their colleagues who were guarding the gates—172.
Illustration: Lambie Went to India As a Medical Missionary
Dr. Thomas Lambie went to Ethiopia as a medical missionary. He wanted to buy land for a mission station. An Ethiopian law said that no land could be sold to foreigners. Because Dr. Lambie had great love for Christ and the Ethiopians, he gave up his American citizenship and became an Ethiopian citizen. Then he bought the properties needed for his work. The U.S.A., glad to honor him because of his great work in Ethiopia, restored his American citizenship to Dr. Lambie. (Source Unknown).