Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most sacred faith, praying in the Sacred Breath, Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the care of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for permanent life.
Jude’s concern moves beyond simply protecting the church from schism or heresy. His aim is far more constructive. He wants the believers to grow. His command to them is active and ongoing: build yourselves up on your most holy faith. The image is architectural. Faith is not a static possession but a structure under continual construction. A foundation has been laid in the gospel, but the building must rise. If it does not, it weakens. A faith that is not being strengthened is a faith that is slowly eroding.
Jude ties this growth directly to expectancy. The community is to live in anticipation of the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ at his appearing. Expectancy is not escapism; it is the posture that keeps faith alive. When hope in Christ’s return fades, spiritual drift begins. The heart settles into the present age, and the urgency of holiness, love, and perseverance diminishes. Jude sees that danger clearly. A stagnant faith is not neutral. It is vulnerable. Without growth, without watchfulness, without hope fixed on the coming of the Lord, faith can be lost.
Jude’s pastoral instinct is therefore twofold. He warns against the destructive influence of false teachers, but he also urges the believers to cultivate the inner life that will keep them steady. Praying in the Holy Spirit, remaining in the love of God, and waiting for Christ’s mercy—these are the practices that strengthen the soul. They form a life that is resilient, discerning, and anchored.
The contrast is sharp. The pretenders Jude describes are driven by instincts, passions, and self‑interest. They tear down. But the faithful are called to build up—first themselves, then one another. Growth is not optional; it is the means by which the community remains alive to God and resistant to corruption.
Jude’s message remains strikingly relevant. Faith must be tended. Hope must be nourished. Expectancy must be kept bright. A church that waits for Christ becomes a church that grows in Christ. And a church that grows in Christ becomes a church that stands firm when pressures arise.
Jude 1:17 But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 1:18 They told you, “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.” Jude 1:19 These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Breath.
Jude’s concern turns toward another mark of the counterfeit teachers troubling the churches: their ability to fracture the community. He warns that these individuals create divisions, not because they are defending truth, but because they are driven by impulses that do not come from God. Their behavior springs from worldliness—life shaped by natural instincts rather than by the Breath of God. Jude’s language is deliberate. Those who cause division reveal that they do not possess the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit produces unity, humility, and mutual submission. Division, by contrast, grows from self‑interest, pride, and a refusal to live under God’s authority.
This warning did not begin with Jude. Jesus had already told the apostles that the age would be marked by deception, betrayal, and fragmentation. He prepared them for a time when false voices would arise from within the community, drawing disciples after themselves and tearing at the fabric of fellowship. The apostles carried that warning forward, teaching the early churches to expect such pressures and to guard their unity with vigilance. Jude’s words stand in that same tradition. He is not surprised by the presence of divisive people; he is concerned that the church recognize them for what they are.
The danger lies in mistaking divisiveness for discernment. Those who fracture the body often present themselves as protectors of purity or defenders of truth. But Jude exposes the deeper reality: their divisions do not arise from the Spirit’s work but from the absence of the Spirit’s character. Their influence pulls believers away from the shared life of the gospel and into camps shaped by personality, preference, or pride.
Jude’s reminder remains vital. Unity is not maintained by ignoring truth, nor is it preserved by tolerating destructive behavior. It is sustained by the Spirit who forms Christlike humility in the community. When that humility is absent, division follows. When the Spirit is present, believers learn to submit to one another, to bear with one another, and to resist the voices that seek to splinter Christ’s body.
Jude’s call is therefore both protective and pastoral. The church must stay alert to those who divide, recognizing that such division is a sign of worldliness, not spirituality. And it must cling to the unity created by the Spirit, the unity that reflects the character of the Lord who prayed that his people would be one.
Jude 1:14 It was about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied: “Look! The Lord comes with tens of thousands of his devoted ones Jude 1:15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly concerning all the ungodly acts that they have done in an ungodly way and concerning all the harsh things ungodly sinners have said against him.” Jude 1:16 These people are discontented grumblers, living according to their desires; their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering people for their own advantage.
ungodly pretenders
Jude reaches deep into the ancient story of God’s dealings with humanity, drawing forward a prophecy first fulfilled in the flood. That judgment swept away a world that had given itself over to corruption, violence, and rebellion. Jude now applies that same prophetic warning to a far more subtle threat: hypocritical, ungodly pretenders who have embedded themselves within the church. Their danger is not dramatic wickedness but quiet corrosion. They wear the appearance of belonging while their lives contradict the very faith they profess.
Jude does not leave the church guessing about how to recognize such people. He names the traits that reveal their true character. They are chronic complainers—never content with God’s ways, God’s timing, or God’s people. They follow their own desires, shaping their spirituality around personal preference rather than divine command. They speak arrogantly, using spiritual language to elevate themselves rather than to honor Christ. And they flatter others only when it serves their own advantage. Their relationships are transactional, their words manipulative, their influence corrosive.
These behaviors are not minor flaws. They are indicators of a deeper rebellion. Jude’s point is that such people are not merely difficult personalities; they are spiritual dangers. Their presence distorts the church’s witness, confuses the immature, and undermines the unity Christ intends for his people. They may appear harmless, but their influence spreads quietly, reshaping the congregation’s expectations of what Christian life looks like.
Jude’s message is sober but necessary. The Lord will judge such pretenders at his coming. Their apparent success is temporary; their hidden motives will be exposed. But Jude’s concern is not only future judgment. He urges the church to act now, refusing to allow these patterns to take root and destroy the community from within. Discernment is not suspicion; it is the protection of the flock. The church must cultivate a culture where humility, obedience, and genuine love are the norm—making it difficult for hypocrisy to thrive.
Jude’s ancient warning remains timely. The church must guard its life together, not with fear, but with clarity. Christ will deal with the pretenders in the end. Until then, the community must remain vigilant, nurturing the kind of reverence and integrity that reflects the Lord it serves.
Jude 1:11 Tragedy to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam’s error for profit, and have destroyed themselves by Korah’s rebellion. Jude 1:12 These people are dangerous reefs at your care feasts as they eat with you without reverence. They are shepherds who only look after themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn — fruitless, twice dead and uprooted. Jude 1:13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved permanently.
irreverence
Jude layers image upon image because ordinary language can barely capture the danger he sees. Each metaphor exposes a different angle of the same reality: the presence of false teachers within the congregation is not a minor irritation but a profound threat. They are like hidden reefs—unseen hazards that can wreck a ship without warning. They are like waterless clouds—promising refreshment but delivering nothing. They are like fruitless trees—alive in appearance yet dead at the roots. They are like wild waves—stirring up filth rather than cleansing. They are like wandering stars—bright for a moment but destined for darkness. The accumulation of metaphors is deliberate. Jude wants the church to feel the weight of the danger, not merely acknowledge it.
The core issue he identifies is not intellectual error alone but spiritual posture. These individuals are lost themselves, and their presence among believers creates confusion about what genuine Christian life looks like. Their behavior becomes a counterfeit model of discipleship. When people who lack true devotion occupy positions of influence, the community begins to assume that their irreverent lifestyle is compatible with faith. Jude refuses to let that confusion stand.
The missing ingredient he highlights is reverence. These teachers do not fear the God they claim to serve. They treat holy things lightly. They speak boldly where angels remain silent. They mock what they do not understand. Their confidence is not rooted in truth but in arrogance. Without reverence, doctrine becomes a tool for self‑promotion, and grace becomes an excuse for indulgence. Jude’s metaphors expose this hollowness. Their ministries look substantial from a distance, but up close they are empty, unstable, and dangerous.
Reverence, by contrast, is the posture that recognizes God’s holiness, authority, and judgment. It produces humility, obedience, and carefulness. It guards the heart from presumption and the community from corruption. Jude’s warning is therefore pastoral. He is not trying to create suspicion but to cultivate discernment. The church must recognize that not every voice within its walls reflects the character of Christ. The presence of false teachers is not merely unfortunate; it is spiritually hazardous.
Jude’s vivid imagery calls the church to recover a holy fear—an awareness of God’s majesty that shapes life, doctrine, and leadership. Only in that posture can the community remain faithful amid those who distort the way of Christ.
LORD, forgive us for our past irreverence. We resolve to discipline our lives so that the reverence you deserve is clearly manifested in them.
Jude 1:7 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of permanent fire. Jude 1:8 In the same way these people — relying on their dreams — defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones. Jude 1:9 Yet when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Jude 1:10 But these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by instinct — like irrational animals — by these things they are ruined.
relying on errors
Jude’s warning echoes the caution Jesus gave his disciples: the danger is not only external opposition but internal deception. Jesus urged them to stay alert so they would not be misled, and Jude identifies the very people doing that misleading in his own generation. Their error was not merely intellectual; it was a matter of misplaced trust. They relied on their dreams—private impressions, subjective experiences, and self‑generated revelations—rather than on the authoritative word God had already spoken. Their confidence rested on imagination rather than truth.
Jude pairs this with the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. Those cities did not fall because they lacked spiritual experiences or religious awareness. They fell because they trusted their passions. Desire became their guide, and once desire becomes the compass, destruction is the destination. Jude’s point is not simply that these examples sinned, but that they relied on something fundamentally unreliable. Dreams cannot anchor a soul. Passions cannot lead to life. When the foundation is unstable, collapse is inevitable.
The thread running through Jude’s examples is the decisive importance of what a person depends on. Trust shapes destiny. Those who lean on fantasies, impulses, or self‑made spirituality drift into darkness. Those who cling to the word God has spoken find stability, clarity, and life. Jude is not discouraging spiritual sensitivity or the work of the Spirit; he is warning against replacing revelation with imagination, and obedience with indulgence.
The call, then, is simple and searching: rely on what is true. God has spoken with clarity. His word is not fragile, shifting, or uncertain. It exposes error, steadies the heart, and guards the path. Jude’s warning is not meant to produce fear but discernment. It reminds that sincerity is not enough, intensity is not enough, and spiritual language is not enough. What matters is the object of trust.
The prayer that rises from this reflection is straightforward: Lord, anchor hearts in your truth. Guard your people from the errors that arise from dreams, impulses, and passions that contradict your word. Grant discernment to recognize what is false and courage to hold fast to what you have spoken.
Jude 1:5 Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe; Jude 1:6 and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day.
rescued and destroyed
Jude’s warning presses into a sobering truth: a position of privilege, blessing, or apparent security does not guarantee a faithful end. Israel’s story illustrates this with painful clarity. The people were rescued from Egypt by God’s mighty hand, brought through the sea, fed in the wilderness, and given every reason to trust the One who saved them. Yet many who began the journey never reached the promised land. Their downfall was not a lack of religious experience but a failure of belief expressed in persistent disobedience. Jude uses this history to remind that unbelief can undo even the most dramatic beginnings.
He strengthens the point by turning to the angels who abandoned their proper dwelling. These beings once stood in the presence of God, yet they forfeited their place through rebellion. Their fall shows that no creature, however exalted, is beyond the danger of turning away. Jude’s examples are not meant to unsettle the faithful but to expose the false confidence of those who assume that initial standing guarantees final salvation regardless of how they live.
Eternal security is a comfort for those who persevere in trust and obedience. Scripture consistently affirms that God keeps those who continue in faith, guards them, and brings them safely to the end. But this promise is never detached from the call to remain faithful. It is not a blanket guarantee for those who choose to abandon the path. Jude writes to believers who will face pressures—internal and external—to drift, compromise, or rebel. His reminder is timely: God knows those who are his, but the community cannot see the heart. What can be seen is the fruit of faithfulness.
True faith and faithfulness are not separate categories. Faith is not merely assent to truths; it is allegiance to Christ expressed in endurance, obedience, and trust. Faithfulness is faith persevering over time. Jude’s letter insists that the grace that saves also sustains, and the life shaped by that grace bears witness to its reality. Those who remain in Christ find security not in presumption but in the God who keeps them as they continue to walk with him.
Jude 1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are the called, cared about by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. Jude 1:2 May mercy, peace, and care be multiplied to you. Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the devotees once for all. Jude 1:4 For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.
fake faith
Jude’s single letter carries a weight that comes from reluctance. He had hoped to write something that would strengthen joy, deepen assurance, and celebrate the shared salvation of God’s people. Instead, circumstances forced him into a different task. The presence of counterfeit believers—those who blended into the community while living in ways that contradicted the gospel—required an urgent warning. These individuals were not merely confused or immature. Jude describes them as ungodly, meaning their lives lacked the reverence, obedience, and moral transformation that flow from genuine faith. They could affirm the church’s doctrines, but their conduct exposed a deeper reality: they denied Christ by the way they lived.
Jude’s response was to call the church to contend for the faith. This was not a call to quarrel or to become suspicious of everyone. It was a summons to hold firmly to the apostolic message and to live in a way that demonstrated its truth. Real faith does not treat grace as permission to indulge sinful desires. It recognizes grace as the power that rescues from sin’s dominion and reshapes the heart toward obedience. This obedience is not an attempt to earn salvation; it is the fruit of salvation. It is the evidence that Christ has taken hold of a life. And it is the means by which others are drawn toward the Savior. A transformed life becomes a testimony that the gospel is real.
Fake faith, by contrast, twists grace into a justification for continuing in rebellion. It treats forgiveness as a loophole rather than a gift that leads to holiness. Jude saw this distortion as a threat not only to individual believers but to the integrity of the entire community. If grace becomes an excuse for sin, the church loses its witness, its purity, and its ability to proclaim a gospel that actually saves.
Jude’s reluctant letter therefore becomes a necessary one. It reminds us that the church must be vigilant, not cynical; discerning, not suspicious; committed to the truth, yet eager for the mercy that restores. Contending for the faith means guarding both doctrine and life, resisting distortions while embodying the grace that transforms.
Nehemiah 13:1 At that time the book of Moses was read publicly to the people. The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, Nehemiah 13:2 because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam against them to curse them, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. Nehemiah 13:3 When they heard the law, they separated all those of mixed descent from Israel. Nehemiah 13:4 Before this, the priest Eliashib had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was a relative of Tobiah Nehemiah 13:5 and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and fresh oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests. Nehemiah 13:6 While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem because I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. It was only later that I asked the king for a leave of absence Nehemiah 13:7 so I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house. Nehemiah 13:8 I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the room. Nehemiah 13:9 I ordered that the rooms be purified, and I had the articles of the house of God restored there, along with the grain offering and frankincense. Nehemiah 13:10 I also found out that because the portions for the Levites had not been given, each of the Levites and the singers performing the service had gone back to his own field. Nehemiah 13:11 Therefore, I rebuked the officials, asking, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts. Nehemiah 13:12 Then all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and fresh oil into the storehouses. Nehemiah 13:13 I appointed the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites as treasurers over the storehouses, with Hanan, son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, to assist them because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for the distribution to their colleagues. Nehemiah 13:14 Remember me for this, my God, and don’t erase the deeds of faithful love I have done for the house of my God and for its services. Nehemiah 13:15 At that time, I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in stores of grain and loading them on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, so I warned them against selling food on that day. Nehemiah 13:16 The Tyrians living there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 13:17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them: “What is this evil you are doing — profaning the Sabbath day? Nehemiah 13:18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!” Nehemiah 13:19 When shadows began to fall on the city gates of Jerusalem just before the Sabbath, I gave orders that they be closed and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my men at the gates so that no goods could enter during the Sabbath day. Nehemiah 13:20 Once or twice the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem, Nehemiah 13:21 but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I’ll use force against you.” After that, they did not come again on the Sabbath. Nehemiah 13:22 Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the city gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion according to the abundance of your faithful love. Nehemiah 13:23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Nehemiah 13:24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples but could not speak Hebrew. Nehemiah 13:25 I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves! Nehemiah 13:26 Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin. Nehemiah 13:27 Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” Nehemiah 13:28 Even one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. So I drove him away from me. Nehemiah 13:29 Remember them, my God, for defiling the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Nehemiah 13:30 So I purified them from everything foreign and assigned specific duties to each priest and Levite. Nehemiah 13:31 I also arranged for the donation of wood at the appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, with favor.
another cleansing
Nehemiah’s life story ends with one more attempt to cleanse the temple, much like the life story of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29). The temple was significant because it represented the presence of God before men. The church – not the buildings, but the people – is supposed to do that today. That is why we should strive to be pure and undefiled. It is not ethnic diversity that defiles the church. Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations. He wants ethnic diversity. What he doesn’t want is divided loyalty. That is what makes any temple impure.
Nehemiah 12:27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. Nehemiah 12:28 The singers gathered from the region around Jerusalem, from the settlements of the Netophathites, Nehemiah 12:29 from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built settlements for themselves around Jerusalem. Nehemiah 12:30 After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the city gates, and the wall. Nehemiah 12:31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall and appointed two large processions that gave thanks. One went to the right on the wall, toward the Dung Gate. Nehemiah 12:32 Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed, Nehemiah 12:33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Nehemiah 12:34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, Nehemiah 12:35 and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets, and Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph followed Nehemiah 12:36 as well as his relatives– Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God. Ezra the scribe went in front of them. Nehemiah 12:37 At the Fountain Gate they climbed the steps of the city of David on the ascent of the wall and went above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east. Nehemiah 12:38 The second thanksgiving procession went to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, Nehemiah 12:39 above the Ephraim Gate, and by the Old Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped at the Gate of the Guard. Nehemiah 12:40 The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials accompanying me, Nehemiah 12:41 as well as the priests: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; Nehemiah 12:42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the singers sang, with Jezrahiah as the leader. Nehemiah 12:43 On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem’s rejoicing was heard far away. Nehemiah 12:44 On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths. The legally required portions for the priests and Levites were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving. Nehemiah 12:45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed. Nehemiah 12:46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were heads of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. Nehemiah 12:47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for Aaron’s descendants.
thanksgiving processions
When they celebrated the dedication of the newly rebuilt wall in Jerusalem, all the leaders were there, and they formed two processions, each headed by a large choir for singing praises. Instead of sitting around congratulating each other on their success, and bragging about their hard work, the leaders spent the day worshipping the LORD who had called them to that work.
LORD, inspire us to magnify you as a response to our successes, because they all come from you.
Nehemiah 11:1 Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine-tenths remained in their towns. Nehemiah 11:2 The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 11:3 These are the heads of the province who stayed in Jerusalem (but in the villages of Judah each lived on his own property in their towns– the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants — Nehemiah 11:4 while some of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin settled in Jerusalem): Judah’s descendants: Athaiah son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of Perez’s descendants; Nehemiah 11:5 and Maaseiah son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, a descendant of the Shilonite. Nehemiah 11:6 The total number of Perez’s descendants who settled in Jerusalem was 468 capable men. Nehemiah 11:7 These were Benjamin’s descendants: Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, Nehemiah 11:8 and after him Gabbai and Sallai: 928. Nehemiah 11:9 Joel, son of Zichri, was the officer over them, and Judah, son of Hassenuah, was second in command over the city. Nehemiah 11:10 The priests: Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jachin, and Nehemiah 11:11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple, Nehemiah 11:12 and their relatives who did the work at the temple: 822. Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah Nehemiah 11:13 and his relatives, the heads of families: 242. Amashsai son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, Nehemiah 11:14 and their relatives, capable men: 128. Zabdiel son of Haggedolim, was their chief. Nehemiah 11:15 The Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; Nehemiah 11:16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the heads of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God; Nehemiah 11:17 Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, the one who began the thanksgiving in prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his relatives; and Abda, son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. Nehemiah 11:18 All the Levites in the holy city: 284. Nehemiah 11:19 The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their relatives, who guarded the city gates: 172. Nehemiah 11:20 The rest of Israel, the priests, and the Levites were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inherited property. Nehemiah 11:21 The temple servants lived on Ophel; Ziha and Gishpa supervised the temple servants. Nehemiah 11:22 The leader of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the descendants of Asaph, who were singers for the service of God’s house. Nehemiah 11:23 There was, in fact, a command of the king regarding them, and an ordinance regulating the singers’ daily tasks. Nehemiah 11:24 Pethahiah, son of Meshezabel, of the descendants of Zerah, son of Judah, was the king’s agent in every matter concerning the people. Nehemiah 11:25 As for the farming settlements with their fields: Some of Judah’s descendants lived in Kiriath-arba and Dibon and their surrounding villages, and Jekabzeel and its settlements; Nehemiah 11:26 in Jeshua, Moladah, Beth-pelet, Nehemiah 11:27 Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba and its surrounding villages; Nehemiah 11:28 in Ziklag and Meconah and its surrounding villages; Nehemiah 11:29 in En-rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth, and Nehemiah 11:30 Zanoah and Adullam with their settlements; in Lachish with its fields, Azekah, and surrounding villages. So they settled from Beer-sheba to Hinnom Valley. Nehemiah 11:31 Benjamin’s descendants: from Geba, Michmash, Aija, and Bethel and its surrounding villages, Nehemiah 11:32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, Nehemiah 11:33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, Nehemiah 11:34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, Nehemiah 11:35 Lod, and Ono, in Craftsmen’s Valley. Nehemiah 11:36 Some of the Judean divisions of Levites were in Benjamin. Nehemiah 12:1 These are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Nehemiah 12:2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, Nehemiah 12:3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, Nehemiah 12:4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, Nehemiah 12:5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, Nehemiah 12:6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, Nehemiah 12:7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their relatives in the days of Jeshua. Nehemiah 12:8 The Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah — he and his relatives were in charge of the songs of praise. Nehemiah 12:9 Bakbukiah, Unni, and their relatives stood opposite them in the services. Nehemiah 12:10 Jeshua fathered Joiakim, Joiakim fathered Eliashib, Eliashib fathered Joiada, Nehemiah 12:11 Joiada fathered Jonathan, and Jonathan fathered Jaddua. Nehemiah 12:12 In the days of Joiakim, the heads of the priestly families were Meraiah of Seraiah, Hananiah of Jeremiah, Nehemiah 12:13 Meshullam of Ezra, Jehohanan of Amariah, Nehemiah 12:14 Jonathan of Malluchi, Joseph of Shebaniah, Nehemiah 12:15 Adna of Harim, Helkai of Meraioth, Nehemiah 12:16 Zechariah of Iddo, Meshullam of Ginnethon, Nehemiah 12:17 Zichri of Abijah, Piltai of Moadiah, of Miniamin, Nehemiah 12:18 Shammua of Bilgah, Jehonathan of Shemaiah, Nehemiah 12:19 Mattenai of Joiarib, Uzzi of Jedaiah, Nehemiah 12:20 Kallai of Sallai, Eber of Amok, Nehemiah 12:21 Hashabiah of Hilkiah, and Nethanel of Jedaiah. Nehemiah 12:22 In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded while Darius the Persian ruled. Nehemiah 12:23 Levi’s descendants, the family heads, were recorded in the Book of the Historical Events during the days of Johanan son of Eliashib. Nehemiah 12:24 The heads of the Levites—Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their relatives opposite them—gave praise and thanks, division by division, as David, the man of God, had prescribed. Nehemiah 12:25 This included Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, and Obadiah. Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the city gates. Nehemiah 12:26 These served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.
a tithe of the people
This section records the effort to repopulate Jerusalem, and the proof that levitical duties were carried out during the entire time of the restoration. It is interesting that the goal was to put a tithe of the people itself into the city. Not everyone could go and live there, but everyone was to bless those whom they sent to represent them. In a similar way, only a small percentage of us will know the joy and privilege of foreign missionary work. Under the new covenant, the blessing goes not to those who go to the holy city, but for those who go to reach others with the message of the gospel. Have we given ten percent? What would happen if we did?
