Nehemiah 7:61-73
Ne 7:61
And these were they which went up also from
Tel-melah, Tel-haresha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but they could not shew their
father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel.
Since genealogies were important in ancient Israel, there
were those who came back from Babylon that did not have any listing.
Therefore they were considered polluted and could not partake in any of
the temple services if they were priests.
And these
were they which went up from
Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan,
and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, and their seed,
whether they were of Israel:
(Ezra 2:59) Tel-Melah was a
city in Babylon. Tel-haresha wasa
town in Babylon but the location is unknown.
Cherub, Addon, and Immer could not produce anything which showed they
were legitimately part of the stock of Israel.
Ne 7:62
The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the
children of Nekoda, six hundred forty and two.
Then the list continued with those lineages which could
not be proven according to the genealogy of Zerubbabel.
Ne 7:63
And of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children
of Koz, the children of Barzillai, which took one of the daughters of
Barzillai the Gileadite to wife, and was called after their name.
Then the next list of names were those who were
practicing priests while they were in captivity.
Ne 7:64
These sought their register among those that were
reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted,
put from the priesthood.
Since their names were not found in the register, they
were considered Gentiles and therefore polluted and could no longer perform the
duties of a priest which was reserved for the Levites in the lineage of Aaron.
According to Revelation 13:8 & 17:8 the names of all the true believers
were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
It is the Heavenly Register of all true believers and only true believers
have the authority to go forth and bring the true gospel.
The unbelievers who play church do not have the authority and are unsaved
which means they are Gentiles according to the flesh.
16 But unto the wicked
God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or
that thou shouldest take my
covenant in thy mouth? 17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest
my words behind thee. (Psalm 50:16-17)
Gentiles in the Old Testament were separate from Israel because they were
the unsaved, outside of the true body of believers.
These Old Testament Genealogies and Registers are the earthly
representations of the Heavenly Register known as the Lamb’s Book of Life.
But ye
are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light: (1 Peter 2:9) The true
believers are called “a royal priesthood” which means they are the only ones
commissioned to bring the true gospel which also means the unbeliever is
unqualified to bring it. In other
words, they are “put from the priesthood” as they were under Nehemiah.
Ne 7:65
And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not
eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and
Thummim.
Tirshatha is the title of the Persian Governor of Judah.
And the Tirshatha said unto them,
that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest
with Urim and with Thummim. (Ezra 2:63)
These people whose lineage could not be found were to excluded from the
priesthood until they could find a priest with Urim and Thummim.
And thou shalt put in the
breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's
heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of
the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually. (Exodus
28:30) The Urim and Thummim were used by priests to seek the LORD when a
decision of some kind had to be made.
Instead of Nehemiah risking the fact that he could be in violation of the
law if he let an unqualified person perform the duties of a priest, he instead
would rather wait upon the Lord.
This was what got King Saul in trouble when he offered the burnt offering
instead of waiting for Samuel. Then
King Saul suffered the consequence of his ungodly action, he lost his kingdom.
1 Samuel 13:8-14.
8 And he tarried seven days, according to the
set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and
the people were scattered from him. 9 And Saul said, Bring hither a
burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.
10 And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of
offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him,
that he might salute him. 11 And Samuel said, What hast thou done?
And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that
thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines
gathered themselves together at Michmash; 12 Therefore said I, The
Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made
supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt
offering. 13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou
hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for
now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. 14
But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his
own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people,
because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee. (1 Samuel
13:8-14)
Ne 7:66
The whole congregation together was forty and two
thousand three hundred and threescore,
The whole
congregation together was forty
and two thousand three hundred and
threescore, (Ezra 2:64) The
totality of the people who came back with Zerubbabel was 42,360.
Ne 7:67
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.
Then Nehemiah counts the servants which came out to
7,337. Then the 245 Choristers
which were probably secular in nature since they were not named among the
Levites. These were those who
returned with Zerubbabel 70 years prior.
Beside their servants and their
maids, of whom there were seven
thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and
there were among them two
hundred singing men and singing women. (Ezra 2:65)
Ne 7:68
Their horses, seven hundred thirty and six: their mules,
two hundred forty and five:
This shows you how meticulous the register was that it
even included the animals.
Everything was counted and registered.
Their horses
were seven hundred thirty and
six; their mules, two hundred forty and five; (Ezra 2:66)
Ne 7:69
Their camels, four hundred thirty and five: six
thousand seven hundred and twenty asses.
Their camels, four hundred thirty and five; their
asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty. (Ezra 2:67)
Ne 7:70
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.
This is a different collection than the one in Ezra 2
because that one was the one taken up in the time of Zerubbabel.
Here we have the offering.
The dram was a gold Persian coin and was 12 ounces Troy in weight.
By today’s value (5/9/20) that would come out to $20,434,800.
The basins were what caught the blood of the sacrifices in the temple.
Then they were given 530 sets of the priests garments for the work of the
temple. No doubt they were probably
stored somewhere in the temple until needed.
Ne 7:71
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.
These donations were to be used in the service of the
temple. Twenty thousand drams of
gold at today’s value (5/9/20) would be $408,696,000 and two thousand two
hundred pounds of silver according to today’s value would be $398,112.
These amounts should put some people to shame because in many churches
how hard it is to get some people to put in more than $1.
Ne 7:72
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.
Then the rest of the people gave of their own small
wealth. Remember, prior to this
time the wealthy folks had taken the land and fields of the poorer people and
they had nothing. Since then
Nehemiah had shamed them and they returned all the money to the people and now
the people were able to give out of what they had or else they would not have
been able to give anything. They
were very happy that the Lord blessed them financially and did not allow the
rich folks from selling them into slavery.
It was a time of great joy even among the poorer people.
The people were able to take up a healthy collection for the temple
service of the LORD. The 20,000
drams of gold was equal to $408,696,000 and the 2,000 pounds of silver was equal
to $361,920. All together the chief
fathers and the people gave $838,586,832 for the work of the Lord.
That is almost 1 Billion dollars!
In addition they donated 67 sets of priests garments bringing that total
to 597 sets. The people were
showing their thankfulness to the Lord for all he had done for them.
Ne 7:73
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.