The Levites: The Children of Jeshua - Nehemiah 7:43

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 included, “the priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three”, and “the children of Immer, Pashur and Harim”, and in chapter seven and verse forty-three of Nehemiah, Nehemiah shared about, “the Levites: the children of Jeshua”, where we read,

The Levites; the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, and the children of Hodevah

seventy and four.

The verse reads, “The Levites; the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, and the children of Hodevah, ...” Nehemiah began with the words, “The Levites” or “the descendants of Levi whose name means joined to and was specially set aside by God for His service” “the children” which means “the offspring and progeny” “of Jeshua” or “belonging to Jeshua whose name means he is saved” “of Kadmiel” or “pertaining to Kadmiel whose name means God is the ancient one”, “and the children” which means “and the offspring and progeny” “of Hovevah” which means “belonging to Hovevah whose name means praise of Jehovah”. Nehemiah shared how the descendants belonging to “Levi” including the offspring of “Jeshuah” who was from “Kadmiel” and the offspring belonging to “Hodevah”.

The verse continues, “... seventy and four.” Nehemiah added the words, “seventy and four” or “seventy-four of the progeny belonging to the Levites were among those counted by Nehemiah”. Nehemiah said there were “seventy-four”“Levites” including the offspring of “Jeshuah, Kadmiel” and “Hodevah” who were among the people of Israel that he counted. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we discover through Nehemiah how another group of the Israelites, “the Levites”, were accounted for by him. God was bringing the servants to the priests in the temple to Jerusalem and Judah to minister in the sacred worship place. All of the people were essential to God because He cared for them, and He cares for us as well. He proved His love toward us when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when He raised him from the dead three days later, He made the way for us to be forgiven of our sins and granted everlasting life when we put our faith and trust in Him. Let all who read these words yield to Jesus to be saved and to serve in His Kingdom throughout the world. 

Next time Nehemiah shares about, “The Singers: the children of Asaph”, 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".