Nehemiah 7:4-73
Another Genealogy - Why?
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Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP Church in Southeast Iowa. We want to thank you for listening today and we pray that you’ll be blessed by both hearing God's Word as well as having it applied to your life and your heart.
Well, please turn over in your Bibles with me to the book of Nehemiah chapter 7. Nehemiah chapter 7, and we'll be beginning this morning at verse 4 and reading through the end of the chapter. I want you to browse through Nehemiah 7 with me real quickly. We're not going to spend the entire time this morning at the front reading it, but we're going to work through it together as we go.
But I want you to see how it starts. “Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt. Then my God put into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return, and found written in it:” And then comes what you all dread. Let’s be honest here. And then comes another genealogy of names that we have a hard time pronouncing. Why does God give these genealogies? Why does God give these lists of names and numbers and names and numbers and names and numbers, especially here, where this genealogy is a repetition of what was given in Ezra chapter 2, already? Well, I want to break out, as we look at this in sections, why God gives us genealogies and what it matters to us. And we're going to see the richness of the story of God's redemptive plans and keeping His promises as we read through this genealogy together.
See, Nehemiah has it in his heart. The walls are built. The doors are set. The enemies are defended against. But nobody's living in the city. Nobody's living in the city. How are they supposed to defend themselves? How is the city supposed to have enough people to care for it? How is the administration going to work? How is the temple going to be cared for? Nehemiah is the governor, the administrator, and he's worried about these questions. And as he's thinking about these questions of how the economy of God is going to work, the Lord puts something in his heart. What does he do? “Then God put it into my heart,” verse five, “Then God put it in my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy.” It's important that Nehemiah notes that he is doing this, registered by genealogy, is something that God has put in his heart. Remember, David, late in his life, had been tempted by Satan, and by his own pride, that he wanted to see how big his army was, and so he tried to number the people, and God punished them for that. But here is a different motive. God puts it in his heart because Nehemiah wants to be a faithful administrator. But before he's even able to call the people together, he goes into the records and he finds the list. He finds the genealogy of Ezra chapter 2. And there's more information here. It's not an exact copy. Some of the names are a little bit different and some of the numbers are a little bit different, but it's remarkably similar.
And so, we start with verses 6 through 7 with the leaders of God's people when they return from exile. “These are the people,” verse 6, “These are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city. Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel.” We have here the leaders who come back. The leaders who are coming back, who are leading God's people during the first return. See, the book of Nehemiah isn't the first return of the people from Babylon. The book of Nehemiah is the second return. The Temple’s already been built. Some of God's people have already returned. And now Nehemiah is back looking at that first return.
But I want you to think about these people’s situation. It hasn't been too many decades ago, it has not been too long ago, it was their parents' generation, some of them might have been kids at this time during Ezra's return. When they saw the ramparts built up. The siege ramps against Jerusalem. When they saw the 10,000s upon 10,000s of the Babylonian kings who sought to kill their family. Those who lived inside the city of Jerusalem and saw their families ravaged by famine, because all their food supply was cut off. Do you remember what the Bible says the siege of Jerusalem was like? Parents, can you imagine eating your children you were that starving? Children, could you imagine eating your parents’ dead bodies, because you were that starving? That's what the siege of Jerusalem was like. And the Babylonians completely destroyed the city. They broke down the walls, they broke down the Temple, they defiled the Holy Place, they ruined the fields, they destroyed everything. They destroyed everything. And that memory is right there at the back of these people's minds. They remember the sky turning amber red, because the flames of their homes being lit on fire. And yet, they’re returning. What would cause them to return? What would cause them to return?
It's not just the rulers. There's lay people who come. Verses 8-38, look with me there.
“The sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two;
the sons of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two;
the sons of Arah, six hundred and fifty-two;
the sons of Pahath-Moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen;
the sons of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four;
the sons of Zattu, eight hundred and forty-five;
the sons of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty;
the sons of Binnui, six hundred and forty-eight;
the sons of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-eight;
the sons of Azgad, two thousand three hundred and twenty-two;
the sons of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-seven;
the sons of Bigvai, two thousand and sixty-seven;
the sons of Adin, six hundred and fifty-five;
the sons of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety-eight;
the sons of Hashum, three hundred and twenty-eight;
the sons of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-four;
the sons of Hariph, one hundred and twelve;
the sons of Gibeon, ninety-five;
the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, one hundred and eighty-eight;
the men of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight;
the men of Beth Azmaveth, forty-two;
the men of Kirjath Jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three;
the men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one;
the men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two;
the men of Bethel and Ai, one hundred and twenty-three;
the men of the other Nebo, fifty-two;
the sons of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four;
the sons of Harim, three hundred and twenty;
the sons of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five;
the sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one;
the sons of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred and thirty.”
Why all these numbers? I want you to look at something that happens here. Look with me at verses 7-25. It’s the sons of. “The sons of…” They remember their lineage, because their lineage ties them back to Abraham. They remember their lineage, because their lineage ties them back to Isaac. They remember their lineage, because their lineage ties them back to Jacob. They remember their lineage, because they remember that they are the sons of Israelites, because they are the children of the covenant. This is their identity. Even though they have been in a foreign land, they’re the sons of the covenant.
I want you to think about: Imagine you were living here in Morning Sun. And you found out that there was an army coming in. And that army was going to completely wipe out Burlington. And that's what they did. They didn't spare a woman, they didn't spare a child, they didn't spare a man, they didn't spare any cattle, they didn't spare anybody. Everyone in Burlington was gone. Dead. Removed, forever. So, you went and you made a pact, an agreement, with the invaders of Burlington. And you even tricked them into signing that. You said, “Oh, we came all the way down from Minnesota, don't you know?” And you came down and you made a covenant with them saying, “Don't kill us, we're from a faraway land.” And then the people of Burlington found out. “Hold on. Y’all are just from Morning Sun. You tricked us! But we made a covenant and we're going to keep up our covenant. But because you tricked us, you're going to be our slaves forever.” Hard work all the time. And that's what your family did for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. Second class citizens. Slaves.
Now imagine you were freed from that. A new army came in, wiped out the Burlingtonites, and you were freed from that slavery. You might rejoice! But that’s not what the Gibeonites do. Look with me at verse 25, “the sons of Gibeon, 95.” The Gibeonites were those in Joshua 9 and 10 who had come to Joshua and had said that we come from a faraway land and they brought worn out clothes and worn-out water bottles, or skins, and they brought moldy bread. They tricked them. And then because of that tricky, Joshua made them slaves forever. You would think that when an invading army came in, they would rejoice and scatter forever and never want anything to do with the Israelites again. But we find here a remnant. We find here, there's people who are not God's people, is listed as one of the sons of Gibeon. God's people had become their people. And their God had become their God. They have fully embraced the covenant and over hundreds of years, even though they were legally free, they were there with God's people.
And then, in the second part of all these names, verses 26 through 38, we find the men of such and such towns. Look with me at that, 26, “the men of Bethlehem,” 27, “the men of Anathoth,” verse 28, “the men of Beth Azmaveth,” 29, “the men of Kirjath Jearim.” And it goes on. “The men of, the men of, the men of…” See, the people hadn't been gone that long. They remembered their hometowns. It wasn't just Jerusalem that was destroyed. As the Babylonian army had swept, from the north to the south, and down to Jerusalem, and then all the way down to the south, eventually down by the Egyptian border, they were destroying everything that they could. Any part of resistance they destroyed. These people remembered their hometowns. My parents came from Ramah. My dad was raised in Bethlehem. But there's nothing left of Bethlehem that was once there. There's nothing left of Ramah that was once the fields that their grandfathers had once plowed are weeds. Their homes that they once lived in, and remembered fond memories with their grandparents, are nothing but heaps of rubble. They are going back to nothing. Why would they return? Why would they come back? Why would they come back 70 years later to rubble and weeds?
Well, it’s not just the sons of, and it's not just the men of, but the next section, verses 39-42, show us that there's another class of people who return. The priests. Verse 39, “The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three; the sons of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two; the sons of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven; the sons of Harim, one thousand and seventeen.” The priests come back in huge numbers. Over 4,000 priests, 4,289 priests come back. Remember, these are just the sons of Aaron. Just the sons of one small family. 4,000 of them return. Why? I mean, the temple is rebuilt, but it doesn't look anything like Solomon's Temple! Actually, in the book of Ezra, it said that those who came back and remembered Solomon's Temple, when they saw the new Temple, they wept. Not with joy, but because the new temple did not have nearly as much splendor and glory as the old Temple. So why would 4,000 priests come back to a sub-par temple? Why? Why would this many priests return?
But something even more striking, verse 43, “The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, and of the sons of Hodevah, 74.” The Levites, an entire tribe of Judah, an entire tribe, this isn't just one family, this is an entire tribe. This is 10,000 upon 10,000 upon 10,000 of people at the first exodus. Now of the Levites: 74. 74. 4,289 priests return. Those who actually make the sacrifices. But those who should be coming from Levi, the Merarites, the Gershonites, and the Kohathites, of all three of those clans, a couple dozen. 74. What kept them in Babylon? Why wouldn't they come back? Why wouldn't they come back?
Verses 44-45 there's more classes of people. We're going to group these all together as people who are working in the tabernacle. Verse 44-60, “The singers: the sons of Asaph, one hundred and forty-eight. The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, one hundred and thirty-eight. The Nethinim: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon, the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Salmai, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephishesim, the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Tamah, the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha. The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida, the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth of Zebaim, and the sons of Amon. All the Nethinim, and the sons of Solomon’s servants, were three hundred and ninety-two.”
392 people who came, who were servants of the temple. They weren't Levites. They weren't allowed to touch any of the holy things. They weren't of the lineage of Aaron. They weren't allowed to make sacrifices. These are people who are just supporting the temple. These are the singers. These are the gatekeepers. These are Solomon's servants who he’s appointed to offices to work in the temple. They have sub-servant offices. And over 300 of them come back. Why? Why would they come back to a subpar temple? Why would they give up their lives in Babylon? Why would they come back?
There's another group of people, our last group of people, verses 61 through 65. “And these were the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not identify their father's house nor their lineage, whether they were of Israel: the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two; and of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Koz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name. These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but it was not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled. And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could consult with the Urim and Thummim.” In verse 61 through verse 65, is a people who can't identify their genealogy. Some of them say, “We're even of the priestly class!” But they can't prove their genealogy.
Let me ask you, if your house was to catch fire today, if your house was to catch fire right now, and you had to run into your house and save your most valuable possessions, what would you grab? For some of you, it might be your children's baby books. For some of you, it might be your favorite sports memorabilia. For some of you, it might be your family photo albums. But I know some of you have a special book tucked away on a shelf. I’ve read the McDonald's book, and I've seen the Baird book, and I've seen the McElhaney book. And I bet some of you, that would be on the top of your list. Go get the book, go grab the genealogy book. This is exactly what they would have done. The Jews kept meticulous care of whose son they were, what family line they came in. And while they were fleeing from Jerusalem, while the army of Babylon was waging war, and they had to choose their most valuable possessions as they marched to a foreign land, what was worth the weight on their backs? The scrolls that said where they came from. The parchment that said, “My father was from this line. My parents came from this land.” Why? Because that genealogy tied them back to the covenants. But why would they come back? Why would these people come back knowing that they can't prove their genealogy? Why would they come back?
We find that answer in our last few verses. Look with me at verses 66 through 72, “Altogether the whole assembly was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, besides their male and female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five men and women singers. Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules 245, their camels four hundred and thirty-five, and donkeys six thousand seven hundred and twenty. And some of the heads of the fathers’ houses gave to the work.” That’s talking about the building of the Temple. “Some of the heads of the father’s houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand gold drachmas, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priestly garments. Some of the heads of the fathers’ houses gave to the treasury of the work twenty thousand gold drachmas, and two thousand two hundred silver minas. And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand gold drachmas, two thousand silver minas, and sixty-seven priestly garments.”
Why would you come back to the place where your parents were slaughtered? Why would you come back to a heap of rubbles and fields of weeds? Why would you come back to the place that had so much bad memories? Why would you return to the land where you saw your family murdered? Because the work was there. Why would they return? Because they desired to sing what we sang in Psalm 122 this morning. They longed for something that was greater than all the miseries that they might face in this world. They long to hear God's people singing. They long to see God's promises fulfilled.
I want you to turn over in your Bibles with me to Jeremiah 29. See, God had promised that even though this was going to happen, He would return His people, Jeremiah 29:10. Jeremiah 29:10, page 695, “For thus says the Lord: After 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word towards you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and pray to Me and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I've driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I caused you to be carried away.”
Why would the people come back? Because God promised they would come back. And what was the promise? I want to be very careful in what the promise is. The promise is not just that they’re going to return to their dad's farm. The promise is not just that they're going to inherit their good things that their parents left. No. Look with me again at verse 11, “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” And what is that future? What is that hope that God gives them? Verse 12, “That you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” See, God has promised them that He will still be their God. God has promised them when you will repent of your sin, while you're being driven out of Jerusalem, I have good plans for you. And your good plans for you is that I will not leave you, nor forsake you, but I will bring you back to Myself and when you pray, I'll be there. When you search for Me, you will find Me.
Brothers and sisters, are you turning away from the sinful things of this world? Are you turning away from all the pleasures that Babylon might be able to provide you, and do the irrational thing, according to this world, and turning to God with all your heart? Would you be willing to give away all the pleasantries of Susa? Would you be willing to put away all the good riches that you would have in a comfortable life, and forsake all things for the surpassing glory of knowing Christ Jesus your Lord? Is He your desire?
That's why God gives us this genealogy in Nehemiah chapter 7. Why would these people return? It wasn't because they desired Jerusalem, but they desired the God of Jerusalem. They were not returning because they wanted the land, they wanted the inheritance that the land represented. That God would be their God, and that He would be with them. Brothers and sisters, are you clinging to the promises of God? Is He the one, that even in your darkest of hours, when your memories haunt you, that you would run to Him, knowing that His plans are not to harm you, but only to prosper you. That He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. Do you see God's attitude towards you? The people were willing to return to the place where their families were slaughtered because God was worth it. They knew that this had happened as God had declared it would. And these people repented of their sins.
Thank you for listening to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP church in Morning Sun, Iowa. We pray that you would be blessed as you grow in your love for God, your love for His Word, as well as your love for His people. Until next week, God bless you.