“So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.”
~ Nehemiah 12:47
Hi James and Ellen,
What do you do when you are really happy? Do you jump up and down when you are really happy? Do you want to tell another kid why you are really happy? Do you cry when you are really happy? Do you sing when you are really happy? Guys, gals and kids will do different things when they are really happy. A kid your age will jump up and down because he or she is so happy. A kid your age will also want to tell as many other kids as possible as to why they are so happy. Some guys and gals – and kids, just cannot help it but to cry when they are really happy. Other guys and gals – and kids, will want to sing for joy when they are really happy. What would make you really happy? There are a lot of reasons which will make a guy, gal or kid really happy. Your grandpaa was really happy when your dad and your Aunt Lynn were born – and your grandmaa was okay afterwards each time. Are you happy to be able to go to school? Are you happy for the bed that you have to sleep in each night? Are you happy when a kid friend can come over to visit you? Are you happy that you are able to go to church every Sunday? What should make you really happy is to know that you can be in God’s will. How can a guy, gal or kid know if he or she is in God’s will? God wants His specially elected guys, gals and kids to ask Him to do His will in their lives. When guys and gals get together to fast, to pray and to confess their sins to each another while seeking God’s will, God allows a revival to take place. Do you know what a revival is? A revival is to sense the closeness of God’s presence with a response to what His voice is saying. A revival is to sense God’s hand moving in inexplicable ways. A revival is God the Holy Spirit speaking in very personal ways to guys, gals and kids who He specially elected before He created planet Earth. A revival is a time when guys, gals and kids who know God through His Son – Jesus Christ, are looking to God for everything. A revival is a time of rejoicing in God. A revival is a very special happy time.
Who is your favorite guy in the Bible? Your grandpaa really likes Nehemiah. Nehemiah kept a diary which became one of the Bible’s books. Nehemiah wrote about his time in Jerusalem after Ezra and Zerubbabel led a contingent of God’s specially chosen guys and gals back from Babylonia – where they had been taken as captive slaves, to Jerusalem and Judah. After have been away from their homes for seventy years, your grandpaa is sure that God’s specially chosen guys and gals were really happy to be able to get back to their towns and homes again. Ezra and Zerubbabel had fixed up God’s house – the temple, but they had done really nothing about repairing Jerusalem’s walls. Nehemiah made it his mission to see to it that Jerusalem’s walls be repaired. Your grandpaa will tell you one day how Nehemiah was able to repair Jerusalem’s walls. After Nehemiah headed up repairing Jerusalem’s walls, Nehemiah returned to his day job – which was in Susa. Susa was a Babylonian city. Nehemiah had left some guys in charge in Jerusalem when he returned to Susa. Nehemiah after a time decided to return to Jerusalem – as he wanted to find out how everything was going and how all the guys and gals were doing who were living there. Some really bad things happened in Jerusalem while Nehemiah was away. When Nehemiah got back to Jerusalem, Nehemiah had to start all over again getting God’s specially chosen guys and gals to be obedient to God. Nehemiah wrote down is his diary – in Nehemiah 12, what happened after the law – which was given to Moses by God and written down by Moses, was found in God’s house – the temple, and read out loud. After the book of the law – which were God’s words, had been read, God’s specially chosen guys and gals wanted to sing praise songs to God. Nehemiah formed a choir to sing the praise songs to God. Nehemiah had the choir climb up on the wall which went all around the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah then divided the choir into two smaller choirs. The two choirs sang to each other while the choirs where on the wall that circled all the homes in Jerusalem. It was a time of praising and thanking God for what He had done for them. All the guys, gals and kids who were living in Jerusalem heard the sound of the singing. Was God really happy? Yes. God was very happy. God sent a revival to His specially chosen people so that they would want to praise and to thank Him even more.
God calls His specially elected guys, gals and kids back to Him in different places and at different times. It sometimes happens after one or more guys or gals dedicate their time to praying to God – asking God for a revival. God honors faithful prayers. God will bless the guys, gals and kids who want to do all that they can to serve God. Verse 47 says “So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.” Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that they cannot outdo God. The more that a guy or gal gives to God; the more that God gives in return. The more that your grandmaa and grandpaa have been blessed by God; the more that your grandmaa and grandpaa want to do things which will bless and please God. Why do you think that your grandpaa likes Nehemiah? Nehemiah was a simple layman whose job was to sip wine yet God used Nehemiah to serve Him by doing a particular task – which was to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls. Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that they do not have any special talents yet God has used them and is using them in all kinds of ways to bring honor and glory to His name. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are happy that God uses ordinary guys and gals to do extraordinary things for His sake and in His will as God has blessed your grandmaa and grandpaa.
Nehemiah 12 (111)