Nehemiah 7 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
Nehemiah 7 Short Summary:
God prompted Nehemiah to register all the people of Jerusalem and make a genealogy. In the process, he found a book containing the names of those who were the first to return to Judah following the end of the Babylonian captivity (538 BC). The majority of Nehemiah 7 is a record of the registry Nehemiah discovered in that book. It is very similar to the registry recorded in Ezra 2.
Nehemiah 7 Summary
WHEN:
538-537 BC – Cyrus the Great of Persia frees the Jews from their Babylonian captivity.
516 BC – The rebuilding of the Temple is completed in Jerusalem.
457 BC – Ezra arrives in Jerusalem.
445-444 BC – Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Nehemiah – The former Jewish cupbearer to the king of Persia. He motivated the Jews to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He was appointed governor of Judah.
Hanani – Nehemiah appointed him to oversee Jerusalem after the walls had been reconstructed.
Jewish Captives – The nation of Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians beginning in 607 BC. They lived in the lands of the Kingdom of Babylon until they were released by King Cyrus of Persia.
WHERE:
Jerusalem – The capital of the Kingdom of Judah and the location of God’s Temple.
Babylon – The capital of the Babylonian Empire. It was conquered by Cyrus King of Persia in 539 BC.
A journey from Babylonia to Jerusalem would be approximately 900 miles (1450 km). The journey followed the rivers northwest before turning south to Judah.
OUTLINE:
NEHEMIAH’S ORDERS CONCERNING THE GATES OF JERUSALEM (7:1-4):
When the Jews had finished rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem, Nehemiah appointed a God-fearing man named Hanani to be in charge of the city.
Nehemiah instructed Hanani to open the gates of Jerusalem late in the morning and close them early. Considering the recent threats they had received from men like Sanballat and Tobiah, the city needed to be carefully protected.
Men from the city were to be appointed guards.
The text informs us that Jerusalem was large, but the people within it were few, and they had not yet built permanent homes for themselves within the walls.
A RECORD OF THE JEWS WHO RETURNED FROM BABYLON (7:5-73):
God prompted Nehemiah to register all the people of Jerusalem and make a genealogy. In the process, he found a book containing the names of those who were the first to return to Judah following the end of the Babylonian captivity (538 BC).
The rest of Nehemiah 7 is a record of the registry Nehemiah discovered in that book. It is very similar to the registry recorded in Ezra 2.
There were 42,360 Israelites (Jews) who made the journey.
The families that descended from the tribe of Levi, specifically the priestly families, are highlighted. They were important because the priests would be instrumental in the construction and daily administration of the new Temple.
The priestly families served God in the holy things at the Temple, but several other groups assisted them in their work. The text gives attention to the other families of Levi, the Temple gatekeepers, and the Temple servants.
There were a few hundred people who claimed to be from the tribes of Israel but were unable to prove their linage.
Some claimed to be from priestly families, but the decision was made to exclude them from priestly duties until their linage could be proved. The test of their claims was the Urim and Thummim. The Urim and Thummim were tools the priests used to discern the will of God (Ex 28:30; Lev 8:8; Num 27:21; 1 Sam 14:41; 1 Sam 28:6).
In addition to the humans who made the journey, 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys made the trip.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, many of the men contributed to the rebuilding of the Temple. The quantities of their gifts are recorded in verses 70-73.
APPLICATION
When Cyrus king of Persia gave the Jews permission to return to Judah (the Promised Land), its estimated that the initial returnees only amounted to between 2-6% of the total Jewish population.
This is a shocking number considering many of God’s promises to the Jews centered around their ancestral homeland.
But after spending 70 years in Babylon, many of the Jews had found a new home, and they weren’t particularly interested in going back to the ruin that was Jerusalem.
While Jerusalem wasn’t the nicest place in the world, it was their home, and its Temple was supposed to be a key part of their religious life.
The 2-6% of people that endured the hardships of the initial return deserve credit for sacrificing easier lives in Babylonia for lives that brought them closer to their God.
Not everybody who wears the name of Jesus is serious enough about Him to sacrifice for Him.
Amongst those who call themselves Christians, few are willing to abandon their comforts for a life that draws them closer to God.
For application today, ask yourself honestly, “Would I be among the 2-6% that returned? Would I make a sacrifice like that if that’s what it would take to draw closer to God? Am I really committed? Or would I be part of the 95% that wasn’t willing to leave Babylon behind?
