In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah told the people of Israel, “we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house”, and in chapter ten and verse thirty-nine of Nehemiah, Nehemiah shared about those who, “shall bring the offering” where we read,
For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.
The verse reads, “For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, and the oil, ...” Nehemiah began with the words, “for the children of Israel” which means “because, since and on account that the offspring and progeny belonging to Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and nation of descendants of Jacob” “and the children of Levi” or “and the offspring and progeny belonging to Levi whose name means joined to” “shall bring the offering” which means “will carry forth and lead the sacrificial giving” “of the corn” or “pertaining to the grain or meal”, “of the new wine” which means “pertaining to the fresh fruit of the vine”, “and the oil” or “and the fresh, shining and pure anointing oil”. Nehemiah shared how the offspring of “Israel” and “Levi” were to carry forth the sacrifices containing “grain, fresh fruit of the vine and the anointed oil. (See Deuteronomy 12:6-11,17; 14:23)
The verse goes on to say, “... unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.” Nehemiah continued with the words, “unto the chambers” or “to the rooms, halls or cells”, “where are the vessels” which means “in which place exist the articles, implements and utensils”, “and the priests that minister” or “and the spiritual leaders and spokesmen who serve, “and the porters” which means “and the gatekeepers or doorkeepers” “and the singers” or “and the people who make music with their voices”: “and we will not forsake” which means “and we, the people of Israel, shall in no way or manner leave, depart from or abandon” “the house of our God” or “the habitation, abode and dwelling place belonging to our, the people of Israel's, Supreme Deity”. Nehemiah shared how the sacrificial “offerings” of the people of Israel were to be stored within the halls or rooms wherein the implements and articles belonging to the sacred worship place where the spiritual leaders, the “singing” people and the gatekeepers serve, and that they were to never in any way leave and put aside the dwelling place belonging to Jehovah God.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we discover through Nehemiah more of the order that was set in place to use the sacrificial offerings of the people of Israel. The meal or grain, the fresh fruit of the vine and the anointing oil were all to be given to the spiritual leaders within God's dwelling place where they would be kept in a room where the “priests, porters and singers” were location, and they promised to never leave Jehovah God the Supreme Deity or His sacred dwelling place again. God desires commitment from people because He is committed to us. God loves us so dearly that He sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of everyone, and He raised Him from the dead three days later so all who put their faith and trust in Him as their “Savior and Lord” will be forgiven of their sins, granted everlasting life and shown how to live according to His Holy Spirit and the ability and power He supplies. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8)
Next time we begin a new chapter and see Nehemiah share how “the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem”, 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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