Nehemiah 7:5-65 The People
Nehemiah goes through the people and updates the genealogy rolls. Some don’t have proof of their heritage and are given provisional status.
Oooh, how I LOVE genealogy; NOT. But here we are again. It’s time for the children of God to take stock and be counted again. This time it isn’t to see how much military might they have or for some project. It is to see how many of them remain. Those that present themselves must show PROOF of their heritage to be included in the rolls.
One day, in the not too distant future, God is going to take a ‘head count’ too. Instead of looking to each individual to prove that they belong, He will be looking to His Son and asking if He recognizes them. And he will be looking in the Book of Life to find our names there. No entry into the Book means no entry into Heaven. ‘Family history’ won’t get you in. Only ‘personal history’ with the Son will open the gates for each of us.
I was wondering if this list overlapped with the ones of Ezra. Actually, it is nearly identical to the one in Ezra 2. After I typed this I went through the two chapters line by line, name by name and number by number. I found spelling differences, a couple of names that were in only one of the two lists, and quite a few number differences. The total difference between the two numbers was 1,416. Most of the differences were 100 or less. One was over 1,000. That one shocked me.
The TOTAL group numbers still remained the same. That is probably because they counted everyone in this number, including women and children. ALL that belonged to the nation of Israel were counted.
I thought this was a list that Nehemiah compiled. Being it is the same list from more than 100 years earlier I’m inclined to think that it was compiled before him. I’m not certain why it is repeated as though Nehemiah did the work. Maybe the people came and reported their numbers to him a second time. That might explain the differences in the numbers.
For someone who doesn’t like going through these types of passages I sure get involved in them. I guess it is my perfectionist/OCD personality showing. I’m going to be kind and not post my spreadsheet with the differences.
On another note, I’m VERY grateful the Spirit shared something with me early on that allowed me to dig through this passage. I’m certain He has something to motivate me through the next one. It is actually the second half of Ezra 2. I really miss the stories.
Father God, I know that ALL of Your words are for my benefit. There is NOTHING in Your word that I will skip over. Thank You for motivating me today to dig a little deeper and actually read the text instead of skimming it. Keep me digging Father and uncovering the treasure You have waiting for me when I do.
