Nehemiah 7
This chapter of Nehemiah brings to conclusion the main narrative of the book: the building of the Jerusalem wall. Though Nehemiah and his crew faced opposition in the work God called them to, and though Nehemiah wasn’t the perfect leader, the wall was completed.
Nehemiah also includes this long list of people who were there. This likely doesn’t hold a lot of significance for us, and was probably a bit boring to read (no shame in skimming). But for the original audience, who was feeling disconnected from their people group during exile, this record was important.
It’s time for the exiles to move back into their towns now that they are finally back together in their city, giving their story of exile a moment of resolution. Let’s turn our attention to the last verse of this passage, which illustrates this feeling of resolution:
“The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the musicians and the temple servants, along with certain of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns”
It appears that Nehemiah is pointing his readers back to another story, can you guess which one?
As written in Genesis 1 and 2, when God ordered the cosmos and created a place to dwell with his people, he did this work in a period of six days, and on the seventh day, he rested. This was a holy day - the day that God completed his work and initiated a time and space for Him to be with His creation. The Hebrew word for rest used in Genesis 2 often has a connotation of celebration and throughout the bible, the number 7 is a symbol of completeness or wholeness. It brings a sense of resolution to a story. Nehemiah links these ideas of completeness, wholeness, and celebration to his story of the wall being finished and the exiles having a home.
Interestingly, the book does not stop here. In the following chapters, you can expect to read about the Israelites reorienting themselves to the ways of God. The original Jewish audience sees this coming, as the seventh month is when the Day of Atonement happens, which is a day where Israel repents of their sin and makes sacrifices to God. Now that the Israelites had access to their spiritual community and home, it was time to repent and seek God together.
Similarly, we as disciples of Jesus have been given the ultimate rest, and this communion with God spurs us as the Church on to seek Him and His ways even more. Hebrews 4:9-11 says it like this:
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,[e] just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
The rest and community received by the Israelites foreshadows the rest and community that we now have as followers of Jesus. As you meditate on this passage, respond to the following questions:
God desires to dwell with his people - this was his intention in Genesis two, and through Jesus, we now have complete access to him. Today, how do you need to respond to the truth that God wants to dwell with you?
Through the building of the Jerusalem wall, Nehemiah helped to unify his community. Is there something God is asking you to do to bring more unity around you? Ask him to reveal this to you.
