In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah told the people of Judah, “in what place therefore you hear the sound of the trumpet, resort you there unto us: our God shall fight for us. So we labored in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor on the day”, and in chapter four and verse twenty-three of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me … put off our clothes”, where we read,
So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me,
none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.
The verse reads, “So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, ...”Nehemiah began with the words, “so neither I” or “therefore, then and on account of this, no and not in any way I, Nehemiah”, “nor my brethren” which means “or not in any way my, Nehemiah's, kinsmen, kindred and relatives”, “nor my servants” or “no an not in any way my, Nehemiah's, slaves, bondmen or men of servile condition”, “nor the men of the guard” which means “no and not in any way the male human beings belonging to the protective watchers, posts and observers” “which followed me” or “who were behind and in the hinder part of me, Nehemiah” did the following. Nehemiah shared how neither he nor his relatives, his men of servile conditions and protective watchers do the following.
The verse continues, “... none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing ...” Nehemiah added the words, “none of us put off our clothes” or “not any of the people listed above stripped off or removed their garments”, “saving that every one put them off” which means “except that each, the whole and all of them removed them” “for washing” or “on behalf of refreshing them by cleaning with water”. Nehemiah said the above mentioned people did not remove their garments except for when they were being cleaned.
When we meditate upon words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah how he and his relatives, men of servile conditions and protective watchers in no way removed their garments except for when they needed to be cleaned. In other words, they were constantly prepare to watch and work. God called them to a task, and they were going to complete it. God calls us in the same manner, and because we only have so much time to live, we are to be prepared at all times to be about His business. God sent His Son Jesus into the world to be crucified on the cross and to be resurrected from the dead three days later so when we put our faith and trust in Him, we will have our sins forgiven, be granted everlasting life and given a commission and ability to work at all times in His Kingdom without pauses unless entirely necessary.
Next time we begin a new chapter and see Nehemiah say, “there was a great cry of the people”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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