In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city.” Nehemiah included the children of many of the people of Israel in his census, and he added several of the men such as “the men of the other Nebo, the other Elam” and “the children of Harim, Jericho, Lod, Hadid, Ono and Senaah.” He also made record of, “the priests, the Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, and the children of Hodevah seventy and four” and he included “the singers, the porters, Nethinims” and “the children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,the children of Barkos, Sisera, Tamah, Neziah, Jaala, Darkon, Giddel, Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth of Zebaim and Amon”, and in chapter seven and verse sixty of Nehemiah, Nehemiah shared the number of, “all the Nethinims”, where we read,
All the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants, were three hundred ninety and two.
The verse reads, “All the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants, ...” Nehemiah began with the words, “all the Nethinims” which means “each, every, the whole and everyone of the temple slaves assigned to the Levites and priests for service in the sanctuary”, “and the children” or “the offspring and progeny” “of Solomon's servants” or “pertaining to the men of servile condition, slaves and bondmen belonging to Solomon whose name means peace and was son of David by Bathsheba and third king of Israel”. Nehemiah referred to every one of the “Nethinims” and the offspring of “Solomon's servants” as he prepared to give the following count.
The verse continues, “... were three hundred ninety and two.” Nehemiah added the words, “were three hundred” or “three hundred Nethinims and servants of Solomon plus” “ninety and two” which means “ninety-two more”. Nehemiah said there were “three hundred and ninety-two” “Nethinims” and “servants of Solomon” whom he accounted for among the people of Israel who returned to Jerusalem.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah that there were “three hundred and ninety-two” members of the servants who returned to Jerusalem just from the “Nethinims and Solomon's servants”. God loves the servants of the world, and His Son Jesus said, “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”(See Mark 10:44) When we yield our lives to Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead three days later in service to us, we will be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and allowed to serve in His Kingdom both now and forevermore.
Next time Nehemiah says, “these were they which went up also from Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer”, 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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