The One Year Bible TLB (172 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty.
6
Dishonest gain will never last, so why take the risk?
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Because the wicked are unfair, their violence boomerangs and destroys them.
August 13I would like to mention that for the entire twelve years that I was governor of Judah—from the twentieth until the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes—my aides and I accepted no salaries or other assistance from the people of Israel.
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This was quite a contrast to the former governors who had demanded food and wine and $100 a day in cash, and had put the population at the mercy of their aides who tyrannized them; but I obeyed God and did not act that way.
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I stayed at work on the wall and refused to speculate in land; I also required my officials to spend time on the wall.
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All this despite the fact that I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides visitors from other countries!
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The provisions required for each day were one ox, six fat sheep, and a large number of domestic fowls; and we needed a huge supply of all kinds of wines every ten days. Yet I refused to make a special levy against the people, for they were already having a difficult time.
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O my God, please keep in mind all that I’ve done for these people and bless me for it.
6:
1
When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies found out that we had almost completed the rebuilding of the wall—though we had not yet hung all the doors of the gates—
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they sent me a message asking me to meet them in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But I realized they were plotting to kill me,
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so I replied by sending back this message to them: “I am doing a great work! Why should I stop to come and visit with you?”
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Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.
5-6
The fifth time, Sanballat’s servant came with an open letter in his hand, and this is what it said:
“Geshem tells me that everywhere he goes he hears that the Jews are planning to rebel, and that is why you are building the wall. He claims you plan to be their king—that is what is being said.
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He also reports that you have appointed prophets to campaign for you at Jerusalem by saying, ‘Look! Nehemiah is just the man we need!’
“You can be very sure that I am going to pass along these interesting comments to King Artaxerxes! I suggest that you come and talk it over with me—for that is the only way you can save yourself!”
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My reply was, “You know you are lying. There isn’t one bit of truth to the whole story.
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You’re just trying to scare us into stopping our work.” (O Lord God, please strengthen me!)
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A few days later I went to visit Shemaiah (son of Delaiah, who was the son of Mehetabel), for he said he was receiving a message from God.
“Let us hide in the Temple and bolt the door,” he exclaimed, “for they are coming tonight to kill you.”
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But I replied, “Should I, the governor, run away from danger? And if I go into the Temple, not being a priest, I would forfeit my life. No, I won’t do it!”
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Then I realized that God had not spoken to him, but Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him to scare me and make me sin by fleeing to the Temple; and then they would be able to accuse me.
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“O my God,” I prayed, “don’t forget all the evil of Tobiah, Sanballat, Noadiah the prophetess, and all the other prophets who have tried to discourage me.”
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The wall was finally finished in early September
*
—just fifty-two days after we had begun!
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When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated, and they realized that the work had been done with the help of our God.
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During those fifty-two days many letters went back and forth between Tobiah and the wealthy politicians of Judah.
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For many in Judah had sworn allegiance to him because his father-in-law was Shecaniah (son of Arah) and because his son Jehohanan was married to the daughter of Meshullam (son of Berechiah).
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They all told me what a wonderful man Tobiah was, and then they told him everything I had said; and Tobiah sent many threatening letters to frighten me.
7:
1
After the wall was finished and we had hung the doors in the gates and had appointed the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites,
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I gave the responsibility of governing Jerusalem to my brother Hanani and to Hananiah, the commander of the fortress—a very faithful man who revered God more than most people do.
3
I issued instructions to them not to open the Jerusalem gates until well after sunrise, and to close and lock them while the guards were still on duty. I also directed that the guards be residents of Jerusalem, and that they must be on duty at regular times, and that each homeowner who lived near the wall must guard the section of wall next to his own home.
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For the city was large, but the population was small; and only a few houses were scattered throughout the city.
5
Then the Lord told me to call together all the leaders of the city, along with the ordinary citizens, for registration. For I had found the record of the genealogies of those who had returned to Judah before, and this is what was written in it:
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“The following is a list of the names of the Jews who returned to Judah after being exiled by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
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“Their leaders were: Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.
“The others who returned at that time were:
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From the subclan of Parosh, 2,172;
From the subclan of Shephatiah, 372;
From the subclan of Arah, 652;
From the families of Jeshua and Joab of the subclan of Pahath-moab, 2,818;
From the subclan of Elam, 1,254;
From the subclan of Zattu, 845;
From the subclan of Zaccai, 760;
From the subclan of Binnui, 648;
From the subclan of Bebai, 628;
From the subclan of Azgad, 2,322;
From the subclan of Adonikam, 667;
From the subclan of Bigvai, 2,067;
From the subclan of Adin, 655;
From the family of Hezekiah of the subclan of Ater, 98;
From the subclan of Hashum, 328;
From the subclan of Bezai, 324;
From the subclan of Hariph, 112;
From the subclan of Gibeon, 95;
From the subclans of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188;
From the subclan of Anathoth, 128;
From the subclan of Beth-azmaveth, 42;
From the subclans of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;
From the subclans of Ramah and Geba, 621;
From the subclan of Michmas, 122;
From the subclans of Bethel and Ai, 123;
From the subclan of Nebo, 52;
From the subclan of Elam, 1,254;
From the subclan of Harim, 320;
From the subclan of Jericho, 345;
From the subclans of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721;
From the subclan of Senaah, 3,930.
39-42
“Here are the statistics concerning the returning priests:
From the family of Jeshua of the subclan of Jedaiah, 973;
From the subclan of Immer, 1,052;
From the subclan of Pashhur, 1,247;
From the subclan of Harim, 1,017.
43-45
“Here are the statistics concerning the Levites:
From the family of Kadmiel of the subclan of Hodevah of the clan of Jeshua, 74;
The choir members from the clan of Asaph, 148;
From the clans of Shallum, (all of whom were gatekeepers), 138.
46-56
“Of the Temple assistants, the following subclans were represented: Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, Keros, Sia, Padon, Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai, Hanan, Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, Besai, Asnah, Meunim, Nephushesim, Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, Bazlith, Mehida, Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Temah, Neziah, Hatipha.
57-59
“Following is a list of the descendants of Solomon’s officials who returned to Judah: Sotai, Sophereth, Perida, Jaala, Darkon, Giddel, Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth-hazzebaim, Amon.
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“In all, the Temple assistants and the descendants of Solomon’s officers numbered 392.”
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Another group returned to Jerusalem at that time from the Persian cities of Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer. But they had lost their genealogies and could not prove their Jewish ancestry;
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these were the subclans of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda—a total of 642.
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There were also several subclans of priests named after Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai (he married one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and took her family name),
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whose genealogies had been lost. So they were not allowed to continue as priests or even to receive the priests’ share of food from the sacrifices until the Urim and Thummim had been consulted to find out from God whether or not they actually were descendants of priests.
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There was a total of 42,360 citizens who returned to Judah at that time;
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also, 7,337 slaves and 245 choir members, both men and women.
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They took with them 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.
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Some of their leaders gave gifts for the work. The governor gave $5,000 in gold, 50 gold bowls, and 530 sets of clothing for the priests.
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The other leaders gave a total of $100,000 in gold and $77,000 in silver;
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and the common people gave $100,000 in gold, $70,000 in silver, and sixty-seven sets of clothing for the priests.
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The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the choir members, the Temple attendants, and the rest of the people now returned home to their own towns and villages throughout Judah. But during the month of September, they came back to Jerusalem.
Next is your question about eating food that has been sacrificed to idols. On this question everyone feels that only his answer is the right one! But although being a “know-it-all” makes us feel important, what is really needed to build the church is love.
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If anyone thinks he knows all the answers, he is just showing his ignorance.
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But the person who truly loves God is the one who is open to God’s knowledge.
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So now, what about it? Should we eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god, and that there is only one God, and no other.
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According to some people, there are a great many gods, both in heaven and on earth.
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But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created all things
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and made us to be his own; and one Lord Jesus Christ, who made everything and gives us life.
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However, some Christians don’t realize this. All their lives they have been used to thinking of idols as alive, and have believed that food offered to the idols is really being offered to actual gods. So when they eat such food it bothers them and hurts their tender consciences.
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Just remember that God doesn’t care whether we eat it or not. We are no worse off if we don’t eat it, and no better off if we do.
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But be careful not to use your freedom to eat it, lest you cause some Christian brother to sin whose conscience
*
is weaker than yours.
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You see, this is what may happen: Someone who thinks it is wrong to eat this food will see you eating at a temple restaurant, for you know there is no harm in it. Then he will become bold enough to do it too, although all the time he still feels it is wrong.
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So because you “know it is all right to do it,” you will be responsible for causing great spiritual damage to a brother with a tender conscience for whom Christ died.
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And it is a sin against Christ to sin against your brother by encouraging him to do something he thinks is wrong.
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So if eating meat offered to idols is going to make my brother sin, I’ll not eat any of it as long as I live because I don’t want to do this to him.
Let all the joys of the godly well up in praise to the Lord, for it is right to praise him.
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Play joyous melodies of praise upon the lyre and on the harp.
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Compose new songs of praise to him, accompanied skillfully on the harp; sing joyfully.
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For all God’s words are right, and everything he does is worthy of our trust.
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He loves whatever is just and good; the earth is filled with his tender love.
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He merely spoke, and the heavens were formed and all the galaxies of stars.
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He made the oceans, pouring them into his vast reservoirs.
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Let everyone in all the world—men, women, and children—fear the Lord and stand in awe of him.
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For when he but spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command!
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And with a breath he can scatter the plans of all the nations who oppose him,
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but his own plan stands forever. His intentions are the same for every generation.