relationships (Nehemiah 10:1-39) Working Together

(Nehemiah 10:1-39)  Now on the sealed document were the names of: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, and Kadmiel; 10 also their brothers Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu. 14 The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

28 Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, 29 are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to comply with all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and statutes; 30 and that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day; and we will forgo the crops of the seventh year and every debt.

32 We also imposed on ourselves the obligation to contribute yearly a third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, for the appointed times, for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.

34 Likewise we cast lots for the supply of wood among the priests, the Levites, and the people so that they could bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at set times annually, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law; 35 and so that they could bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the Lord annually, 36 and bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the Law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. 37 We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine, and the oil to the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns. 38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the chambers; the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers, and the singers are there. So we will not neglect the house of our God.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

"The house of our God" is not to be neglected!  If we have made Jesus our Lord God and Savior - then we, along with all other believers, have an ownership in God's kingdom - the Church at large as well as the church we attend.  But let us not become arrogant or entitled.  As children of God and heirs, we have responsibilities, not just at church, but in every aspect of our lives, because wherever we find ourselves, we are ambassadors - representatives - for Christ.

As far as our relationships with other believers, notice that the Israelites considered their dedicated walk with the Lord an oath, which came with "a curse".  This sounds terrible, but it is "merely" an intentional level of accountability.  Especially in church and at home, when one of us decides to walk away from God and His very sound and reasonable laws... not only will that person suffer, but that person's actions can bring consequences to everyone else.

Practically speaking, imagine that you worked at a company, and you just decided to kick back and have a party.  At your station.  Everyday.  And it actually doesn't matter what your role is.  Without an active CEO, there wouldn't be direction or oversight.  Without an assembly-line-worker, products would stop being produced.  Without the shipper-receiver, materials would be missing in order to make the parts, and the parts already made would not get out to customers.  Without the custodian, bathrooms could become completely unusable... And if you got other coworkers to join you, although you'd be having fun, temporarily, there would be even more consequences inside and outside the company.  And eventually, you and the fellow-party-partakers would be without income... spouses would be angry, children would go hungry... You get the picture.

This is not to say that we are to be heavy-handedly-bossy over others.  Absolutely not!  We are always to be loving, tenderhearted, compassionate, encouraging, etc. towards each other.  In fact, this is part of God's law.  In this, we can then see how reasonable God's will is!!!  Therefore, individually and collectively, our obedience, serving and giving goes towards building the kingdom of the Lord, together in love and unity, which honors and glorifies God!!!