“The people commended all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.”
~ Nehemiah 11:2
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you always volunteer to help to do something or do you always want to be asked to do something? Have you ever volunteered to entertain a guest – or guests, who your dad and ma have invited to your house? Have you ever volunteered to pass out papers for a teacher in your school? Have you ever volunteered to answer a question that a Sunday School teacher has asked in his or her Sunday School class? Have your dad and ma ever asked you to talk with their guest – or guests, who they have invited over to their house because you would not have talked with them otherwise? Has your teacher at your school ever had to ask you to pass out assignments because you would not have passed them out otherwise? Has your Sunday School teacher ever had to ask you to read a verse – or verses, from the Bible because you would not have read from the Bible otherwise? Do you think that it is best to volunteer to do something for your dad and/or ma or do you think that it is best to wait for your dad and/or ma to ask you to do something? Do you think that it is best to volunteer to help a teacher or to answer a question that a teacher has asked or do you think that it is best to wait for the teacher to ask for your help or to answer a question that a teacher has asked? If something needs to be done, your grandmaa and grandpaa rarely ever volunteer to do it. Your grandmaa and grandpaa in formal meetings hardly ever volunteer to speak into whatever. Are you an extrovert or introvert? Extroverts want to be the center of attention, are reenergized when they are around other guys, gals and kids and are not worried about embarrassing themselves. Introverts do not like to have attention drawn to them, will have their energy level drained while being around other guys, gals and kids and are self-conscious about what they do and say. Your grandpaa thinks an easy way to recognize who an extrovert or an introvert is is to see where a guy or gal sits. An extrovert will try to sit at the front of a classroom or in the front pew of a church – where everyone can see him or her, while an introvert will try to sit at the back of a classroom or in the back pew of a church – where he or she hopes that no one will pay any attention to him or her. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are introverts.
Your grandpaa thinks that Nehemiah was an extrovert. Nehemiah’s desire was to be able to rebuild the walls that surrounded the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah came on the scene over 2450 years ago. Nehemiah was a Jew. A Jew is a guy, gal or kid whose heritage goes back to the Israelite people groups guys, gals and kids. Nehemiah was King Artaxerxes’ winetaster. Nehemiah lived in Susa. Susa was town that was located in what is now northern Iran. Nehemiah’s desire would become a reality when Hanani – who was a bro of Nehemiah, showed up in Susa with the news that the remnant – who were the guys and gals who had been left in the city of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army after the Babylonian army was finally able to overrun the city of Jerusalem, and that the exiles – who were the guys and gals who had returned to the city of Jerusalem after having to live in Babylonia as exiles for nearly 50 years, were not doing anything. When Nehemiah heard Hanani’s report on the condition of the walls and the gates that had been in the walls that had once surround the city of Jerusalem, Nehemiah was ready to pack his bags and . . . before Nehemiah did something that would have been irrational – such as quitting his job to make the long trek to the city of Jerusalem to do what he could do to . . . Nehemiah talked to God – confessing to God the failures of His specially chosen guys and gals and to ask God if . . . when Nehemiah asked King Artaxerxes for a leave of absence from his job as his winetaster to make the long trek to the city of Jerusalem to spearhead the rebuilding of the walls – and the gates that had been in the walls, that surrounded the city of Jerusalem, Nehemiah received King Artaxerxes’ permission to go. When Nehemiah finished rebuilding the walls and the gates that were in the walls that surround the city of Jerusalem, Nehemiah realized that he had another issue to deal with and that issue was a lack on inhabitants in the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah’s diary – in Nehemiah 11, explains his solution for relocating guys – with their families, from the city of Jerusalem’s surrounding towns that were located in the land of Judah, into the city of Jerusalem. The different town leaders used lots to determine who out of every ten guys would be the guy who would have to move – with his family, into the city of Jerusalem. The lots that the different town leaders used were small stones or small pieces of wood. More guys from the Benjamin tribal clan ended up relocating into the city of Jerusalem than guys from the Judah tribal clan. The relocation of God’s specially chosen guys and gals from the rural communities that surrounded the city of Jerusalem into the urban center – which was the city of Jerusalem, answered the need for more priests, gatekeepers, temple servants and singers to be available to do temple duty in the temple of God – which was located in the city of Jerusalem, along with adding to the number of residents living in the city of Jerusalem. Some guys from the rural communities volunteered to move – with their families, into the city of Jerusalem. Verse 2 says, “The people commended all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.” Nehemiah made a detailed list of the names of all the guys, job fits and communities that were involved in this mandated population shift. Nehemiah sure could make things happen!
Your grandmaa and grandpaa look back over 60 years of knowing each other and they know that they would never have taken the path that has led them to be really blessed by God if God has not been Who has been and still is leading them down the path that they did not volunteer to go on but went on because God asked them to go on it.
Nehemiah 11 (610)