What does it say?
Nehemiah appointed two men in charge of Jerusalem; Hanani his brother and Hananiah the commander of the fortress to bar the gates during the night and post guards; he consider them honorable men. Than it was put into Nehemiah’s heart to enroll everyone by their genealogy; however, the genealogical book of those who came up first was found. These are remembered by their patriarchal names along with the priests, the Levites, the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants. Those who came up previously who could not prove their genealogy to a son of Israel, a son of Aaron, or a son of Levi were also remembered but restricted from temple service. The entire assembly that previously came up was 42,360 persons, 7,337 servants (245 of the people were singers), 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys. The treasury that was given by these who first returned was remembered. Lastly, it was remembered that the people settled into the land and lived in each their genealogical city.
What does it mean?
We have a tendency to forget that there was a history and people who came to Christ before us. Studying those who came before us is a very good thing to do. When we study church history we become connected to the church as a whole. The situations that we now face may have been faced by Christians in the past. How did they respond? Did their response prove to be something we should model or did it prove to be something that we should avoid? We should know our history.
What shall I do?
I shall study church history, thereby becoming connected with the people who preceded me in coming to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Today, the churches faces a crisis. We are restricted from meeting together as a large group. What did Christians do in the past who were not able to meet in large congregations. Did they splinter into small house churches? I have seen this in the present. In Cuba it is ilegal to have a large meeting of believers come together in a building that was not established as a church before the Cuban revolution. However, many who have come to the Lord in Cuba gather in small house churches. Churches in East Texas are attempting to continue what we have been doing by videoing a service that can be watched on a computer. I think that we should look to the past for the answer because the church has faced crisis in meeting before. The church has also survived plagues. I shall consider our past for the present.
