The first 6 chapters of Nehemiah are about the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.
The remaining half of the book is about the restoration of the community within the walls.
Chapter 7 describes the registration of the roughly 50,000 people involved in that restoration.
Three qualities of their community rise to the surface in the chapter.
First – it is a worshipping community.
The first act of Nehemiah following the completion of the walls is to install three groups of people. The gatekeepers, the singers and the Levites who managed the sacrificial system. What do they have in common? They are responsible for the services of the temple. Nehemiah first concern for a newly fortified city is to fill the walls with worship. The streets were filled once again with the sounds of sacrifice and singing. Every major renewal in Old Testament times includes a revival of music. What does that tell us?
Second – it is a well-led community.
Only after the work of the temple is insured, Nehemiah appoints leadership to govern the city. Two men are chosen – Henani and Henaniah. It’s important to note that Nehemiah’s qualifications for the governing positions are not skill-based. He chose them because they were faithful and feared God more than most. Nehemiah’s requirements were character based. (Just like Paul’s requirements for elders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.) A man who fears God understands that God is holy and that God is always in the room with him. God-fearing leadership is a gift and a safeguard to any community. Every leadership scandal you have heard about in the news involved a failure to fear God.
Third – it is a well-known community.
Thirty three family units are recorded in this chapter. It isn’t exactly a thrilling section of Scripture for most of us. But the more familiar you are with the God of the Scriptures the more you think these passage thrill him. Every name recorded in this chapter represents a life and a story of great worth to God. Nehemiah’s lists remind us of God’s great love for the individual. They remind us that every one is essential to the community of God. Everyone has a part to play. They also establish continuity with the past – with God’s covenant promises to Abraham and his great faithfulness to those promises.
Those promises were ultimately fulfilled in Jesus – the lamb of God. In Nehemiah’s day – participation in the community was dependent upon birth and established by written records. In Christ our participation is dependent upon a new birth and established by the living witness of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Tom Brown is the planting pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Wichita. Tom and his wife, Mandy, have worked together in ministry for 18 years and have four children. More about Pastor Tom Brown