Nehemiah 12:1-26--Priests and Levites

Nehemiah 12:1-26
English Standard Version

Priests and Levites
12 These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.

8 And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 9 And Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers stood opposite them in the service. 10 And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, 11 Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.

12 And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers' houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14 of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; 15 of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17 of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; 18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19 of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20 of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

​22 In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers' houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. 23 As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers' houses were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. 24 And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch. 25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at the storehouses of the gates. 26 These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra, the priest and scribe.

---

There were some priests and Levites that came up with Ezra on his first journey, and others who came with him on his second journey to Jerusalem--both with the objective of rebuilding the Temple.  Still others came with Nehemiah when he came to rebuild the wall and repopulate the city of Jerusalem.  We see the priests and Levites who served here during the days of certain high priests--first during Jeshua while Zerubbabel was governor.  Jeshua's son Jozadek was high priest after him, and his son Joiakim was high priest after him.  Three "generations" of priests and Levites have served alongside Ezra and Nehemiah in the work of Reconstruction of the Temple, the Wall, the City, and the People.  The political leaders that these spiritual leaders served alongside are also listed with each group to help us place them in the correct time period and to show that leadership of the people was a group effort.  It was not solely the job of the governor (who stood in the place of the king) or the priests or the Levites alone, but God had given both authority and responsibility to all of them to lead His people well.  Ezra and Nehemiah list themselves last in the list, but they were certainly not least, and Nehemiah's contributions were not less simply because he was not of the tribe of Levi.  These Levites and priests though have something special about them.  While the people of Judah and Benjamin may have been doing this to reclaim their family plots of the Land, the Levites (and the priests who were a special group of Levites), had no physical inheritance from the Land--just a few towns and villages that the people gave to them so that they could live as ambassadors of a different kingdom.  They were not to cling to the things of this world and were to hope for a better and more secure inheritance to come from the LORD Himself in the New Heavens and the New Earth, and we see that they do receive an equal part of the inheritance at that time.  These men knew how important it was for the people to have the Temple and the Law if they were going to be blessed and stay in the Promised Land.  They may not have known the gospel implications for this place where Messiah was to come and die as "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" many years later, but some of them may have understood that there was a bigger plan and purpose for the Temple and Jerusalem and the people of God.  It was their duty as priests and Levites to preserve and prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah.  The rest of the book tells some of that story, but the story is left open-ended because we know their work was not complete, because it passes on from generation to generation.  When Jesus did come, the people were not ready, because the priests and Levites had not taken their jobs seriously.  What will it be like when Jesus comes again, but this time with power and authority to rule and judge the nations?  Will the people of the world be prepared and preserved, or will they be like the people during the time of the Flood?  We know the answer to that because Jesus and Peter both told us that the last days would be like the days of Noah when the LORD's judgment will come on the people suddenly because they assumed the LORD was slack concerning His promises (that He was never coming back or that they still had a long time and didn't need to worry about that right now).  Let us live like Ezra and Nehemiah where we not only have a passion about the places that serve as our diplomatic outposts and embassies for the Kingdom of God, but also for the people of God and those who need to become citizens of the kingdom of heaven.  It is our right, duty, and privilege to tell them how they can change their citizenship from the kingdom of darkeness ot the kingdom of His marvelous light.