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Unknown Warriors in the Battle (Neh 11:1-2) Nehemiah 11:1-2 And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities. 2 And the people blessed all the men, that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem. History tells us about a preacher and an invalid sister. The preacher served the Lord very publicly, the sister served very quietly behind the scenes. The preacher was Henry Van Elliot. He preached thousands of sermons but most likely, you have never heard of him. You may not really be familiar with the name of his sister, Charlotte. But you have probably sung her song, “Just as I am”. Charlotte Elliot is an unknown soldier but God has greatly used her! This chapter carries us back to the heroes of the past - a list of names that you are probably unfamiliar with. If you remember, Zerubbabel led the first return from captivity in Babylon to Jerusalem in 538 BC. This was almost 100 years earlier than the time of Nehemiah. Zerubbabel was a priest and Jeshua, also called Joshua, was a Levite. They led a company of Israelites back to the city of Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Nehemiah 12:7 says that they were the "the chief of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua.” But take note that Nehemaih 11:1-2 also mentions “the rest of the people”, “one of ten”, and “all the men that willingly offered themselves”. We don’t know much about these people other than their names. But what a list of names! The whole point of chapters 11 and 12 is to list the names of people who contributed to the overall cause. Keep in mind that the initial mission was to build the wall of Jerusalem. But what was the reason for building the walls? Nehemiah 1:3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. The purpose was to end the suffering of God’s people caused by the attacks their enemies. They had no protection. And that’s why we need walls of separation in our lives. Separation from the things of this world will help to protect us from the attacks of the devil. Another goal was to bring a separation from the rest of the inhabitants of the land. They had no separation. As a result, their families began to intermix and intermarry with the heathen around the city. This led to a spiritual and cultural corruption. And folks, if we don’t follow God’s directions, the same thing will happen to us. A third goal was to end the despair that had come to the city. They had no hope. The enemy was having a field day with them! If you remember from chapter 7, the city population was too small. They needed more helpers in order to complete the work in a timely manner. Nehemiah 7:4 Now the city was large and great: but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded. And what a truth for the people of God today. We could accomplish God’s mission much more quickly if we had more helpers in the work. We need to remember that the things that physically happened to Israel are a picture of the things that spiritually happen to us. So the situation of chapter 11 is similar to the situation of the modern believer. They had a city that was empty and needed repopulated. We have empty chairs that need filled. They needed volunteers to do the task. The church needs volunteers to reach the lost and bring them in! They had quite a list of unknown names to help them in the task. Most of our workers are unknown as well!
- The Duty of the Unknown Soldiers
- The Deeds of the Unknown Soldiers
The Duty of the Unknown Soldiers Notice that they were not forced to move into Jerusalem. They were willing to go! And according to the account, those who chose to go were commended by the people. They honored them because they volunteered to do what God called them to do. The application for us is obvious. The same principle applies in the church today. According to the New Testament, we are all called into the ministry - all of us! The ministry belongs to the saints. The minute you become a Christian you are spiritually translated into the kingdom of God’s son: Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: You are asked to take up responsibilities in the kingdom, to work according to the spiritual gift that God has given you. But you must also volunteer to do it. God does not force his people to do what they are asked to do. He gave us all spiritual gifts, but he does not force us to use them. Yet if you want to be respected - honored and commended by the Lord and by all his people, then the wise thing is to volunteer to perform the ministry he has given you. How many times have you read in the bulletin that the church needs volunteers for some task? How many times have you heard requests for help in some ministry or another? Sometimes we don’t get involved because the work seem unimportant. But every part of the body is important and every function of the body is important. Sometimes we don’t get involved because we know that we will receive no glory for the work. But what does the Bible say? Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Sometimes it is difficult to do what needs to be done. The job may not be easy or fun. But the job is always needful! The Deeds of the Unknown Soldiers Beginning with the latter part of verse 4, our text contains two lists of names. Some of the names are from Judah and some from Benjamin, the two tribes that made up the Southern Kingdom of Judah. We are told that 468 "brave men" from Judah and 928 men from Benjamin volunteered to live in the city. There are some interesting aspects to this. Notice the list of names of the descendants of Judah focus upon one man whose name is Perez. Nehemiah 11:4 And at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah; Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the children of Perez; Then the section concludes in verse 6 with: Nehemiah 11:6 All the sons of Perez that dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred threescore and eight valiant men. When you come across a statement like that in the Bible, take a concordance and look up the name because God is saying something important about that person. Perez was one of the sons of Judah, the father of one of the twelve tribes in Israel. The story of his illegitimate birth is in Genesis 38. At his birth it was found that the mother was about to bear twins, and his brother started to emerge first. The midwife tied a scarlet thread around his his brother’s hand to show that he was the oldest of the twins. But then his brother pulled his arm back and Perez, the other twin, came out. Because he broke out in that fashion he was named Perez, which means “breach". But following his unusual birth, he went on to become one of the great heroes of Judah. His descendants are traced in almost every generation since. Even here in Nehemiah, some 400 years after Judah lived, Perez is regarded as one of the heroes of the nation. His descendants are called "the valiant men of Perez.” Then, with regard to the people of Benjamin (11:4), notice that they provided twice as many men from their small tribe as those from larger tribe of Judah. The dark history of Benjamin is given us in the book of Judges. The last few chapters of that book tell a sad story of people who fell into deep sexual sin similar to that of Sodom. Judges 19:22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. It was a terrible disgrace and stain on the life of Israel. But two prominent men came from this tribe: One person was Saul, the first king of Israel. He began well but in the end of his reign he was a bitter, angry rebel against God. He finally takes his own life on a battlefield. There is another Saul, however, in the New Testament, who also came from the tribe of Benjamin. This is Saul of Tarsus, who is better known to us as the Apostle Paul. Paul was perhaps the most effective missionary in the history of the world. What is all this teaching us? I think it illustrates what the New Testament often tells us, that God is no respecter of persons. God can cleanse people and use them in mighty and wonderful ways. He chooses and greatly uses those who were the rejects of life. He loves to pick up those kinds of people and do wonderful things with them. Verses 10-24 is a rather lengthy section with a lot of names. It begins with the statement, “Of the priests”. It is a picture of God's provision for ministry within the city of Jerusalem. If you have a capital city filled with people, then you need a ministry within it to maintain the spiritual strength of those people. This is what we read here. First, there is a company of priests selected, a total of 1192 of them, who fall into three groups. We are told that 822 of them "did the work of the house” (Nehemiah 11:12). These were the regular officiating priests. They offered sacrifices, presented offerings, and performed the ritual that Moses had prescribed. They were the ones who ministered to the spiritual life of the people. Then there was another group of 242 who were set aside as "chief of the fathers” (Nehemiah 11:13). They had a ministry of leading families. They were the ones who helped in bringing the families together in a unified direction. Then we have listed a third group of 128 men who are called, surprisingly, "mighty men of valour" (Nehemiah 11:14). Certain priests were also warriors. They fought in the battles that Israel engaged in from time to time in defense of the city. When we carry this over to the parallel of the church today, we find that God has also provided three groups for the church: Pastors, teachers, and preachers who minister in the house of God doing the work of ministering to the spiritual life of the people. Then there are others who are not pastors or teachers but they are leaders who bring their families together in unity with the church and help provide wisdom and direction. Finally, there are some who especially serve as warriors -- prayer warriors -- and in guarding the flock from the invasion of wrong doctrines, or wrong practices that infiltrate the church from outside. So God still works the same way among us today. The whole congregation are priests, but there are some set aside to the spiritual strengthening of the others. The second division (11:15) constitutes the Levites. There were 284 of them in the holy city, we are told. They also fall into two groups: Take a look at the statement in Nehemiah 11:16. Nehemiah 11:16 And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites, had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God. Thank God for the men and women who are in charge of the outside work in the ministry of the church today! I am talking about deacons, as the New Testament calls them. These are men and women who are responsible to carry out various details of the finances and building maintenance of the church. Another group among the Levites, the musicians, are very interesting. If you will look carefully, you will see familiar names among them. One name is Asaph, who is called "the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer." Another is Jeduthun (11:17). These two names appear frequently in the Psalms. Asaph is mentioned in 12 places. Jeduthun is mentioned in three places. Many of the psalms are dedicated "to the Chief Musician," who is either Asaph, or, in some cases, Jeduthun. That is the great ministry of music. Music in the church is not entertainment. It is worship and edification. It is a means by which we are strengthened, fed, and helped. Now obviously, we follow in their steps. We have choirs, orchestras, pianists and organists and soloists. It is not merely entertainment. It is a powerful, satisfying, teaching ministry. We ought to honor those who are involved in it. Then another group mentioned in Nehemiah 11:19 are the gate keepers - 172 of them. They correspond, of course, to the ministry of ushers who watch the doors. That is exactly what the word means. They are watchers who look out for people and serve them as they come to church. They help them find their seats and get their bulletins and understand what is going on. They open the windows when it gets too hot and close them again when it is cold. This is a ministry that God himself, through the king and the priests, had set up there in Israel. There are still other ministries mentioned in Verses 20-24. I will not take time to read this, but it speaks of temple servants, overseers, singers, king’s servants. These are all people who had specialized skills that helped out in other areas. Verses 25-36 list the names of many cities of Judah and Benjamin. Again, I will not take time to read it. You may be interested that Kiriath Arba, mentioned here, is an ancient name for Hebron. Some of the cities were up to 60 miles away. But all are mentioned as towns to which the capital could look for support in times of trouble. So some of these families made great sacrifice and moved many miles to support the work of God. Conclusion There are times when a long list of names can cause us to read too quickly or to skip over portions. But it is in the Bible and contains information that God wants us to know. As we read through the details of this chapter, we do probably won’t remember very many names. But hopefully we can see how important each person was to the plan of God. You may not think you are important. But God does. What is your part in God’s plan for this church? How are you involved? |