In Jason Dohm's sermon titled 'Now What?', the focus is on Nehemiah chapter 7 and the transition from the completion of Jerusalem's wall to the next steps in Nehemiah's leadership. Dohm discusses the preconditions necessary for moving forward, including the appointment of gatekeepers and Levites, establishing a secure environment with living watchmen, and addressing the need for a healthy population within Jerusalem. Nehemiah's leadership strategy emphasizes qualified plurality and increasing stewardship with proven faithfulness, reflecting biblical principles from Exodus and the New Testament. The sermon also highlights the importance of prioritizing tasks using the concept of triage, urging individuals to focus on the most urgent matters in their lives. Finally, it draws parallels between the Old Testament genealogy and the New Covenant's Lamb's Book of Life, emphasizing the need for believers to ensure their spiritual readiness for the New Jerusalem.

Nehemiah chapter 7. Then it was, when the wall was built, and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hananiah, and Hananiah the leader of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many. And I said to them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot, and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors, and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house. Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt. Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy.

And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return and found written in it, these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who have been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city. Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Rehemiah, Nehomaniah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Rehemiah, Nehemiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigviah, Nehume, and Baena. The number of the men of the people of Israel. The sons of Parosh, 2, 172. The sons of Shefataiah, 372.

The sons of Vera, 652. The sons of Pehath Moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2, 818. The sons of Elam, 1, 254. The sons of Zattu, 845. The sons of Zakkai, 760.

The sons of Benuai, 648. The sons of Bebbi, 628. The sons of Asgad, 2322. The sons of Adonachem, 667. The sons of Bigvi, 2067.

The sons of Aden, 655. The sons of Ader, of Hezekiah 98, the sons of Hashem 328, the sons of Bezai 324, the sons of Haraf 112, the sons of gibyan 95 the men of Bethlehem and Neto for 188 the men of anathoth 128 The men of Beth, Asmaveth, 42. The men of Kurjath, Jeram, Shephira, and Beroth, 743. The men of Ramah and Geba, 621. The men of Micmoss, 122.

The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. The men of the other Nebo, 52. The sons of the other Elam, 1254. The sons of Haram, 320. The sons of Jericho 345, the sons of Laud, Haded and Ono 721, the sons of Sinaiah 3930, The priest, the sons of Judiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973.

The sons of Emmer, 1, 052. The sons of Pasher 1247, the sons of Harem 1017, the Levites, the sons of Jeshua of Cadmiel and of the sons of Hadova 74, the singers, the sons of Asaph 148, The gatekeepers, the sons of Shalom, the sons of Eiter, the sons of Talmud, the sons of Akkab, the sons of Parida, the sons of Jeolah, the sons of Darchon, the sons of Gedel, the sons of Shaphataiah, the sons of Attil, the sons of Pokereth, of Zebim, and the sons of Ammon. All the Nethanim and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392. And these were the ones who came up from Tel-Malah, Tel-Harshah, Cherub, Adon, and Emmer. But they could not identify their father's house nor their lineage, whether they were of Israel.

The sons of Deliah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nakoda, 642. And of the priest, the sons of Hibiah, the sons of Chaz, the sons of Barzilai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzilai the Gileadite and was called by their name. These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but it was not found. Therefore, they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled. And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till the priest could consult with the Urim and the Thumen.

Altogether the whole assembly was 42, 360, besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7, 337, and they had 245 men and women singers. Their horses were 736, their mules 245, their camels 435, and donkeys 6720. And some of the heads of the fathers' houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1, 000 gold drachmas, 50 basins, and 530 priestly garments. Some of the heads of the Father's houses gave to the treasury of the work twenty thousand gold drachmas and two thousand two hundred silver minas.

And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand gold drachmas, two thousand silver minas, and sixty-seven priestly garments. So the priest, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the nethanyim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities. When the seventh month came the children of Israel were in their cities." Please be seated. The title of the sermon this morning is Now What? Last week we had the completion of the wall.

There were 52 very intense days of very focused labor. And there's this miraculous outcome of the 52 days, which is that this two miles of wall has been repaired and rebuilt and it's such a wonder that even the enemies of God and the enemies of God's people have to concede that was God. God did that. And the big meaning of the text last week was that God glorifies His name by working through faithful people. He takes people who weren't faithful, He makes them faithful, and then He works through them doing things that are bigger and better than they ever would have been able to do on their own.

And he magnifies his name by doing this. Generation after generation after generation after generation. This is what God does. He raises up the people to work through them to bring glory to his own name. So everything so far in the book of Nehemiah has been Intensely focused on that one great work getting the wall done And now it's done and So the question is now what Now that the grand project before the Lord's people, ever since the beginning of Nehemiah chapter 1, where Nehemiah gets the report that the wall is broken down, the gates are burned, and the people are in great distress and reproach.

They focus on that, they fix that, now what is to happen? Our text today answers that question. Let's go to the text in prayer. Father, I pray that You would help us to be a people who give the careful attention to the work of your kingdom, the matters of your kingdom that we see Nehemiah giving. Week after week as we come to different texts, we see that he approaches the matters of your kingdom so wholeheartedly, so carefully, so prayerfully, with His eyes fixed upon you.

And we desire that you would use this example to fix our eyes on You also, to help us to be so attentive to the matters of Your Kingdom. Thank You for the example of this man. We know he's just a man, but we know that You can come, put Your hand upon a man or a woman or a boy or a girl and raise them up, do mighty things through them and bring glory to your name. We pray that it would be so in Jesus' name. Amen.

So for a bit there are 73 verses in the chapter and we'll be done with the 73 by the end of the sermon and for a bit we're gonna go verse by verse so let's just start with Nehemiah chapter 7 verse 1 then it was when the wall was built and I had hung the doors and the gatekeepers, the singers and the Levites had been appointed, comma. In this verse we have the preconditions, if you're filling in blanks on the handout it's preconditions. The preconditions, The text explains what has been done, what has been completed, before Nehemiah moves on to other things. I want to introduce a medical term because I think it's really helpful in helping us to see what's happening in this text and what's led up to this text. The term is triage.

Triage is a medical term that means the assignment of degrees of urgency. When you go into the emergency room, they send you to triage. And there's a triage nurse there that will evaluate you and assign the degree of urgency. Okay, if you've got a hangnail, you'll be going to the back of the line and I'll see you sometime in mid-June. If you're missing fingers, the doctor will see you now.

So it's a really valuable term because It applies to Nehemiah. I want you to think about this text in terms of triage, the assignment of degrees of urgency. The wall has been assigned the greatest degree of urgency. It's not the only thing that's important, but it's the most important thing. In fact, the other things don't really start to become important until you've dealt with that.

The people are in great distress and reproach because the wall is broken down and because the gates are burned. Greatest urgency. But now the wall is done, so now you can go to the things that have a lesser degree of urgency. Now Nehemiah can't afford to move on to more secondary things. Now notice, I did not say unimportant things.

Nehemiah is not moving on to unimportant things. When we see the things that Nehemiah is giving attention to in the rest of the text, you'll identify them. This is important, this is important, this is important, this is important. But they are only important after you close the gaps in the wall. It wouldn't make sense to deal with the matters in our text until you've dealt with the wall and the gates.

So they're not unimportant but they're secondary. They become important once you fix this main thing. So here are the preconditions in verse 1. Number 1, the wall has been completed. That's a precondition to moving on.

Number two, the doors have been hung. The doors have been set in place so that they can be opened and closed and secured. That's a precondition for moving on. So now, after the wall is finished, after the doors are hung, Jerusalem is now structurally secure. In other words, there's a mighty unbroken physical barrier between the people on the inside and the enemies on the outside.

That had to be done. With the walls and the gates, Jerusalem is structurally secure. There is a mighty physical barrier between the Lord's people and the Lord's people's enemies. Now here's the third precondition. Men have been appointed.

Before moving on to other matters, men have to be appointed. Appointed to what? Well the text doesn't explicitly say so we go to the context to find out what they've been appointed to. The men, the groups that are named, It's immediately following the hanging of the doors, putting the gates on the hinges. And then, the list of men involved begins with the gatekeepers.

That tells you what needs to know. It follows the hanging of the gates, the setting of the gates on their hinges. And then the men who are appointed, that list begins with gatekeepers. Here's what Matthew Henry says. He hits the nail on the head, as he usually does.

Matthew Henry says, Dead walls without living watchmen are but a poor defense to a city. So dead walls, check. We have the dead walls now. But the dead walls become valuable only when you have living watchmen. That's what's happening here.

Living watchmen are being appointed to make the dead walls useful. You've probably heard of ladders. So a great wall, a great barrier is useful, but people with ladders can get up and over the wall, which is why you have to have living watchmen. This is what's happening here. So I believe that the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites are given responsibility to man the gates.

Now, who are the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites? This is really important. They're all Levites. Gatekeepers are Levites. Singers are Levites.

Levites are Levites. Okay, so it is a list, it's a comprehensive list. When you go to the genealogy here in Nehemiah 7, or to the genealogy that it's patterned after in Ezra chapter 2, either one, you find the same thing, that this is a comprehensive list of non-priest Levites. The combination of gatekeepers and singers and Levites is a comprehensive list. It encompasses all non-priests, Levites.

Can't touch the priests. Can't touch the priests. The priests have a singular function of working in the temple to preside over the prescribed worship of God. God has told His people how He is to be worshiped, and the priests have to make sure that that happens as God has prescribed it. So they can't be pulled off that duty.

No way, no how they have to stay on that duty. But their helpers are the non-priests, Levites. The rest of the Levites. Priests are Levites too. They're a certain family.

So I believe that this is all of the non-priest Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites, being pulled off their normal duties and given responsibility to man the gates. That's what I think is happening here. That's not explicit in the text, so you can dismiss that if you want to, but you'll have to come up with an alternate explanation of what it means. I think this is a really good understanding of what's happening here. You can safely ignore me on that one if you want to.

I try to point out where it's safe to ignore me and where it's really not safe. Sometimes I'm saying things about the text that it wouldn't be safe to ignore. Probably on an interim basis. I think that's what we see in the text. I think in verse 1 we see the interim solution.

The gates have been hung and the non-priest Levites are given charge of them and then When we get to verse 3, Hananiah and Hananiah are going to be instructed to assign guards from inhabitants of the city. So I believe that these are the non-priest Levites being assigned to guarding the city, guarding the gates on an interim basis. I think that fits really well with what we'll see in chapter 13. When we get to chapter 13 and verse 22, Nehemiah assigns the Levites to guard the gates and make sure that no outsiders are coming into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. And the Levites are going to do that to preserve the worship of God and to make sure that the Sabbath is kept holy.

Because what had been happening was outsiders were coming in and there was the normal commerce on the Sabbath day. So to put a stop to that, Nehemiah assigns the Levites to man the gates one day a week. Okay that's verse number one the pre-conditions the wall finished the gates hung and men assigned to man those gates. Now verse two after the comma That I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hananiah, and Hananiah the leader of the Citadel, For he was a faithful man and feared God more than many." The second verse is about leadership in Jerusalem. If you're filling in blanks, it's leadership.

Leadership in Jerusalem. "...With the three preconditions in place, Nehemiah appoints two men and entrusts them with the government of Jerusalem. So the most critical things, the most urgent things have been attended to, the preconditions have been met. And now, Nehemiah moves on to entrusting the government of Jerusalem to two particular men. The first one is Hanani, who appears to me to be Nehemiah's flesh and blood brother." It's a term that could mean just relative, like anyone in the nation of Israel would be a relative of anyone else in the nation of Israel.

But because of the way that this word is used, in chapter 1 verse 2 where we meet Hanani the first time, it says, one of his brethren that came from Judah, along with others who would also, actually, if you were using in a broad sense, fit that description. So it's used in chapter 1 verse 2 in a way that indicates it's not the broad sense We're part of the same big family tree, but in the very narrow sense. Flesh and blood brother. Immediate family. So this is a man clearly that he trusts.

Hanani and others bring him the report in chapter 1 verse 2 and Nehemiah turns his life upside down based on the report that he's gotten. This is a trusted flesh and blood brother. So he is appointed with the government of Jerusalem along with Hananiah Who is called the leader of the citadel what citadel I Think we've already come upon a place in the book of Nehemiah that tells us what Citadel. In Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 8, we're in the section about the letters that King Artaxerxes is writing and giving to Nehemiah to authorize him for various things that he'll need when he comes back on his mission. One of those letters is to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, authorizing Nehemiah to get timber from Asaph for various purposes.

So listen to Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 8. This is again a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple. So in chapter 2 verse 8, it's the citadel which pertains to the temple. So this is a fortified structure, a fortress, a citadel that is an appendage to the temple. It's connected to the temple.

It's not part of the temple proper. No sacrifices would be offered there. But It's essential to the security of the temple and to Jerusalem, the citadel. It's related to the temple. Even in Jesus' day, this existed.

As the temple expanded, as the temple complex expanded, this continued to be a prominent structure within the temple complex that was existing in Jesus' day. So I think that is the citadel. And Hananiah had had the government of that citadel entrusted to him. We have a great tribute given to Hananiah here in the scripture. So The things that are captured in Scripture are for all generations of the Lord's people until Jesus comes back.

And here we have such a man in Hananiah. Here's the great tribute, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many. Here was his reputation. Here was his reputation. Here's how people knew Hananiah.

He was faithful and he feared God. Among God-fearing people, He feared God more than many. An obvious application, I have an application section at the end, but I can't wait, you know, on this one. An obvious application is that we should strive to earn a reputation like this, that we're faithful, that we fear God. How would you like that on your tombstone?

Okay, when your life is spent, and you've just thoroughly earned your reputation, By the end of your life people know what to think of you. How would you like for the people who know you best to inscribe that on your tombstone. Felicia Ward. Faithful. Feared God more than many.

Claire Brege. Faithful. Feared God more than many. How would you like to have that be the reputation at the end of your life? Me too.

It should be said that these things go together. Being faithful and fearing God, they are distinct things, they are separate things, but They go together. When you fear God, when you live your life with a sense that you're under the watchful eye of God, of a God who made all things, knows all things, can do all things, You just become more faithful and more faithful and more faithful through time. You become more fit to be entrusted with things. You become more useful to your master when you fear God over a long period of time.

There's a good progression of becoming more fit and more fit and more useful and more able to be entrusted with significant things. This is what has happened in the life of Hananiah. There are two things I think that we see, two primary things that we see, in the appointment of these two men to govern Jerusalem. First we see the wisdom of qualified plurality. Turn in your Bibles to Exodus 18.

Exodus 18. The first thing that we see is the wisdom of qualified plurality. More than one leader and certain types of leaders. Leaders with certain qualifications. Exodus 18 is a familiar passage.

God has brought His people out of Egypt. And Moses is being crushed by the leadership responsibility of this great nation. And he's being advised in Exodus chapter 18 by his father-in-law Jethro, who is a priest, a high priest to God in Midian. Exodus chapter 18 beginning in verse 17 reading through 23. So Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that you do is not good.

Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out, for this thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel and God will be with you. Stand before God for the people so that you may bring the difficulties to God.

And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk, and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times, then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, that every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace." So what Nehemiah is doing is not new among the Lord's people.

God gave wise counsel through Moses' father Jethro that he was going to be crushed under the weight of leadership if he undertook it alone. And so he found able men who feared God. That's simply what we're seeing in Nehemiah chapter 7. A man who's been entrusted as the leader, recognizing that the weight will be crushing unless he spreads it out with other able men who fear God. In sports terms, we call it a deep bench.

If you're a sports team and you have a deep bench, it means that when the players who are in the game are tired, or if they get injured, there's somebody who could come off of the bench waiting to play who's competent who can fill their spot ably okay that's having a deep bench and it applies even more so in leadership than in sports or other endeavors. The Lord's people should always strive to have a deep bench. Every home should strive to have a deep bench. Remember, Nehemiah is leaving some day. The king has authorized him to come back.

But the first thing the king wanted to know when Nehemiah made his request was, when are you coming back? We find out in chapter 13, after 12 years he does go back. There is an agreement between the king and the cup bearer that at some point he's going to come back. And you can't be sure that Nehemiah hasn't already returned one other time or two other times or multiple other times in that 12 period. You can't tell from the text.

So Nehemiah, in any event, whether it's twelve years before he goes back or whether he goes back other times that aren't mentioned, Nehemiah is making ready for the day when He's not in Jerusalem. So that able men who fear God are in place to lead the Lord's people. So that's the first thing that we see here. The wisdom of qualified plurality which goes all the way back to Exodus. And by the way continues forward to the New Testament in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

Those are the two lists of qualifications for elders, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, and you should just think of those as an exposition and commentary on Exodus chapter 18. What does it mean For a man to be able and to fear God, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, in those lists. You see the continuity of the Word of God, how the same principle applies among His people all through the ages. So government among God's people to apply this to us, government among God's people should not be consolidated. It should not be one man governing.

Nehemiah sees this. Nehemiah fixes this by appointing Hananiah and Hananiah. And it should be entrusted to faithful God-fearing men who match what you see in Exodus 18 or 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1 or Nehemiah chapter 7. Alright, the second thing we see is Increasing Stewardship with Proven Faithfulness. The first thing was the wisdom of qualified plurality.

The second thing is increasing stewardship with proven faithfulness. In other words, more is entrusted to you as you prove yourself to be faithful with the things that are in your hands. Jesus explicitly says this in Luke chapter 16 verse 10. Luke chapter 16 verse 10, He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. This is how God's kingdom works.

When you're faithful with the things that God has already put into your hands, you prove yourself trustworthy and a good manager of those resources that He's given to you, then more is entrusted to you. But not until then. There are people who say, no one ever entrusts me with anything. And probably the right response to that is, exactly. Exactly.

There's a reason for that. They look at how you're handling the things that God has already given you, and they say, Not yet. It's right and good that there should be increasing stewardship more entrusted with those who are proving themselves faithful with the thing that God has already given that this works in every context this applies in every context okay verse 3 back to Nehemiah chapter 7 verse 3 and I said to them and Nehemiah said to Hanani and Hananiah Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. While they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors, and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house. In this verse we have the security of Jerusalem.

If you're filling in blanks, security. The security of Jerusalem. You have the ongoing security plan for the city of Jerusalem. The people were in great distress and reproach. Now the walls built, now it's guarded, and there's an ongoing security plan.

Nehemiah appoints Hananiah and Hananiah, but they're not given total free reign. He also gives them some explicit instructions. Three actually. There are three specific instructions in the ongoing security plan. Number one, they were to wait to open the gates until mid-morning.

Sun's up, sun's hot. What would have been customary in normal times would be the gates open at sunup and the gates close at sundown. Dawn, gates open, dusk, gates close. The problem with that is in during times of unusual vulnerability, sun up is a bad idea for opening the gates. You're just getting visibility.

You're coming out of the time of darkness. You haven't been able to see what you'll be able to see when the sun is up. And there's not much activity. At the first crack of dawn, there's not a lot of activity. Some people are up, some people aren't up.

People aren't about their usual business for the day. It's the most vulnerable time of the day. There's light, but there's just light. And people aren't up and around. And so, this signals, this instruction, that the gates aren't to be opened until mid-morning, until the sun's up and hot, is an indication that they're still in a time of high alert.

They still have their same enemies. None of their enemies have gone away. Their enemies haven't attacked them yet, but all of their enemies are still present. And so this is still a time of high alert. Number two, the gates were to remain fully guarded until they had been successfully shut and barred.

So you have a series of gates. In chapter three, when you had the forty sections of wall, there are ten different gates mentioned. So there are a series of gates in Jerusalem, some particular to the temple, but many of them to the outside wall that's guarding the city. And so Nehemiah's second instruction, instruction number two was that the gates were to remain fully guarded until each gate has been successfully closed and barred. Again, this is an indication that they're still in a time of high alert.

Nobody's off duty until the gates are successfully closed and barred. Number three, guards were to be appointed from the inhabitants. We don't get more particulars than that, but you can understand the genius of it. The genius of it is the people who have the most to win or lose, the most to gain or lose, are the ones who are given the responsibility to guard. Some at particular guard stations and some in front of their own houses.

We saw this already in chapter 3. They were rebuilding the wall. Many were rebuilding the wall right outside their front door. It doesn't take much thought to recognize the genius in that. The same with guarding.

So the guards were to come from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, those who had the most to gain or to lose from an attack. Some would be at particular watch stations, some would be guarding in front of their own houses. Now let's look at verses 4 and 5. Nehemiah chapter 7 verse 4, Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt. Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people that they might be registered by genealogy.

And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return and found written in it colon. And then the deluge of names starts. We'll get to that. Verses four and five, we have the population of Jerusalem. So if you're filling in blanks, it's population.

The population of Jerusalem. Verse 4 gives us the problem statement. You have a large, spacious, Secure, now secure city, but you don't have many people living in it. And there's nowhere for additional people to live. In other words, even if you wanted additional people to come in, the houses haven't been rebuilt yet.

The walls have been rebuilt, but the houses have not been rebuilt. So there's a problem, but there's not an instant fix to the problems because there's not houses ready to live in. There's still remnants of the carnage of Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. So they need more people and they need places for them to live. That's the problem statement in verse 4.

And make no mistake, Jerusalem is not ultimately secure until it has a healthy population. That's a key point from this week's text. Jerusalem is not ultimately secure. They've got a wall and they have guards, but they are not ultimately secure until there is a healthy population. What do I mean by healthy population?

Enough of the right people. It won't do to just add people, right? How about Tobiah? He's a people. You want his family in?

How about Sanballat? How about these others who have engaged in mixed marriage and have allegiances inside and outside? Okay, so it's a healthy population for Jerusalem is enough of the right people, not just body count. So God put it into the heart of Nehemiah to gather and register the people by genealogy. And as a starting point, Nehemiah goes in search of a baseline.

He goes in search of a model for this registration by genealogy. So when the text says, I found the genealogy, it's not relating that he just stumbled across it one day. Nehemiah went in search of this genealogy and he put his hands on it. He found it. This was on purpose.

And it's the genealogy of the first wave. And what this genealogy gives him is good information about the families who preceded him in returning from Babylon 100 years ago. It's actually more like 95 years ago. But it's been almost 100 years since the first waves came back. Remember, since the very beginning of the book of Ezra, we've been talking, thinking of it in terms of three waves of those who came back.

This is the first wave. It's almost a hundred years earlier. And information about who came back 95 years ago And how many came back 95 years ago. And where they were from and returned to 95 years ago will help him in his goal to restore a healthy population in Jerusalem. Enough people and the right people.

So he needs to know who came back, how many came back, where they settled. Because those are who he needs to pull from to create a healthy population. Enough people, the right people in Jerusalem. Finally, Notice that Nehemiah is not just a rational man. First and foremost, he's a God-seeking man.

Oh, he's a rational man. There's no doubt about it. You cannot read the book of Nehemiah and come away thinking Nehemiah just goes on vibe. Nehemiah just goes on the inclination of the moment. No, no, no, no.

I wish I was as rational as Nehemiah proves himself to be in the book of Nehemiah. He's using his brain. But he's not only relying on his brain. Nehemiah is a man with a clear sense that God is putting certain things on his heart. This is Nehemiah is not a rationalist who puts all of his weight just on the thoughts of his own brain.

God has given us our brains. It's an asset to be able to think well, clearly, is an asset. But if that's all you have, you're just a rationalist. And Nehemiah doesn't live in that world. Nehemiah lives in a world where he has clear convictions that God has put certain things on his heart.

So for Nehemiah, it's not This seemed like a good idea to gather the people and register them by genealogy. It's God put it in my heart to do this. It's clear enough that Nehemiah doesn't say this about everything. God put it in my heart to go to breakfast. God put it in my heart to go to bed.

But it's also not the first time He's used this language. In Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 12, Nehemiah chapter 2, he's just arrived at Jerusalem, and he's going out to survey the wall in secret. Remember that? Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 12 says, Then I arose at night, I and a few men with me. I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem.

The reason Nehemiah is in Jerusalem at all is because God put it in His heart to do it. And Nehemiah recognizes it. What confidence and joy we have when we have a clear sense of what God has put in our hearts to do. We need it. We need it to live a life of confidence and joy, to have a clear conviction, not made up, not fabricated, but a clear conviction, that God has put this into my heart.

We're going here. Because God put it on my heart. Now, we have to be careful not to baptize every inclination As if every thought that pops into our head is God. You have to be careful on that. But you can become too careful about that, so that you go to the opposite extreme, to say, no inclination of mine has been given by God, it's all me.

So we have to come in somewhere between those two points. One is baptizing every thought and saying, God is speaking to me through my every inclination. You will end up wreaking havoc in your life and others if every thought that pops into your head becomes the Word of God for you. That is a fool's errand. But the other extreme, where you turn yourself into just a rationalist and you think God doesn't incline our hearts towards certain things, oh, Heaven help us.

Heaven save us from a life where we have no sense that God is putting things on our heart and that we ought to go do them. Nehemiah seems to have charted the middle course well. Not baptizing every thought that he has, but knowing there are certain things he knows that he knows that God put it in his heart to do it, to bring glory to his own name. So he's living in confidence and with joy. Okay, finally we have verses 6 through 73 and a whole lot of names that were read to us really well.

I don't know whether he got them right or not, but he might have and he read it with confidence and that's enough. No one here will call his bluff. In verses 6 through 73 we have the genealogy of the first wave. So if you're filling in blanks, it's genealogy and wave. The genealogy of the first wave.

Now remember, All of this is in the context about restoring a healthy population in Jerusalem. That's why verses 6-73. That's why it's here. The context is about restoring a healthy population. Enough of the right people.

So after chapter 7, after today, there's going to be a couple of different directions that the book of Nehemiah takes us in. But then in chapter 11 we'll be right back to restoring a healthy population and they'll be taking a tenth of Judah to come and live in the city. So we'll be back here to a focus on restoring a healthy population. Enough of the right people in Jerusalem in chapter 11. Now, to make sure we're thinking rightly about this, I just want to profile the three waves returning from captivity, because it's been a while, it's been a year since we started Ezra.

Okay, the first wave was in 539 BC, the first year of King Cyrus. The Persians conquered the Babylonians, Cyrus becomes king and in his first year in 539 BC, some historians quibble with that and say it's 538 or Maybe young, but anyway right in that time, 539 BC, Cyrus says, Zerubbabel and Jeshua, you can take 50, 000 people back to Jerusalem. That's how many people go back. So the first wave is led by Zerubbabel and Jesuits in 539 BC and it's 50, 000 people. 42, 000 some odd people and 7, 000 some odd male and female servants go with them.

So 50, 000. The second wave is 80 years later. It's something like 460 BC. Give or take a year or two. Ezra leads it.

Second wave, Ezra leads it, 460 BC, it's 80 years later. We're not given a full genealogy with the second wave, but we're told that it's 1500 men. I think it's actually 1496 men. So if you just do some math to estimate some of them are married, the married couples have certain number of children on average you come out with probably seven to eight thousand people. Again that's not explicitly in the text you have to do a little work to say probably with 78, 000, 7, 000 to 8, 000 people.

First wave 50, 000, second wave 7, 000 to 8, 000. Third wave, we're studying it now with Nehemiah. It's in 445 BC. It's 13 years later after the second wave. And it's just Nehemiah plus his guard.

Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 9 says that he came back with an armed escort. That's all that came. It might not be right to call it a wave. Maybe we should call it a ripple. Two waves and a ripple.

It's just Nehemiah. It was for the leadership. So those are the three waves. This is the genealogy of the first wave, 95 or something like that years earlier. And it's almost identical to Ezra chapter 2.

If you take Ezra chapter 2 and Nehemiah chapter 7, you put them side by side and you go, you just trace it out with your finger, phrase by phrase, you find them almost identical from the start to the finish. One of the commentaries I'm really enjoying is written by Charles Fincham. Here's what Charles Fincham says, the differences between Ezra 2 and this list are mainly in connection with numbers, the order of certain family names, the spelling of various names, and certain omissions and additions. Here's how you should think of it. Overwhelmingly identical.

A few exceptions. Okay if you compare them phrase by phrase here's what you'd find. I don't know how much value there would be in comparing it phrase by phrase. If you did that, you would find them overwhelmingly identical, a few, maybe a dozen or something like that, differences. And mainly over ordering names, spelling of names, some numbers are different.

Interestingly enough, both of them have a summary statement, and the summaries, giving the summary of exactly the numbers that came back, Those numbers match identically. The same total numbers. Here's the structure of both of them. They both start, both of these genealogies in Ezra 2, Nehemiah 7, begin with the leaders. Zerubbabel and Jeshua are the first names on both.

Then it goes to families, family trees, family branches that are coming back. Then to locations, locations like Bethlehem, like Jericho, places that we recognize and places that we don't recognize. Then they both go to specific occupations, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, nephanim, sons of Solomon, servants. All identical. The same occupations in the same order in both genealogies.

Then both of them proceed to those who can't identify their lineage. This is important in thinking of a healthy population for Jerusalem. Who can prove that they're Jews? Who can prove that they're priests? Both of these genealogies spell out families from 95 years ago that couldn't prove their genealogies.

And then finally, both of them end with a summary statement of the totals that came back, those match, and then giving, who gave to the work at that time. Actually, the biggest differences and the most differences are in the two or three verses about what is given by whom. This is all very valuable as a starting point. If you are a leader trying to pull enough of the right people to live and dwell in Jerusalem. That's why verses 60 through 73.

You have a leader who is trying to pull enough of the right people to live and dwell in Jerusalem. Here's a conclusion of the exposition, Nehemiah performed triage. He assigned degrees of urgency and he knew that the most important thing was rebuilding the walls, hanging the gates, and putting living watchmen on the dead walls. Okay, so he does that first. He finished the preconditions to moving on, and then when those things had been attended to, He works on the next things, the next most urgent things.

Broadening leadership. Providing for ongoing security. Restoring a healthy population. That is the now what. All the focus has been on getting this wall in place.

Now it's in place. Now what? That answers the question. Broadening leadership. Making it not a one man show.

Providing for ongoing security. Restoring a healthy population in Jerusalem. Now, applications. I have two. Number one, get focused on the right things for right now, you.

You get yourself focused on the right things for right now. Everybody's got the same experience. If you focus on everything, you focus on nothing, nothing happens, you're paralyzed. Stop it. I'm preaching to myself now, Jason Dome, stop it.

If you focus on everything, that's not what focus means. You need to go back to the dictionary there's a time for shotguns and there's a time for rifles Focusing on everything is sort of like a shotgun. It goes out lots of shots across a wide area. If you need to hit the middle of a target, forget a shotgun. You need a rifle.

One shot dead center. All of it focused on one spot. Most of us need more rifle and less shotgun in our lives. Get focused on the right thing for right now. What really needs attention in your life, in your home life?

Be like Nehemiah, perform triage, assign degrees of urgency, and then act accordingly. This is what hospitals do. They assign degrees of urgency and then they act on that. It will help us if we will act more like hospitals in this way. Do you understand the value and the importance of triage, assigning the degrees of urgency and then acting that way and really putting your focused effort behind that you cannot come away from this text of Nehemiah and not get that.

Such a primary application of the text. So what really needs attention in your life, what really needs attention in your home, now go give focused effort to that. And by the way, it's not the same answer for all of us. That's why you can't just follow people around and do what they do. That is a sign that you have no idea of the importance and the value of triage.

If you just go around focusing on what they focus on, whoever they is, you're missing it. We are missing it when we do that. Nehemiah gives us some good categories to consider. In your personal life, in your family's life, is the wall in place? Are there big breaches in the wall?

Are there big security gaps in your life, in your family's life, that it doesn't make sense to even work on anything else until you've closed the gaps. Okay, so you've done that. You have the dead wall up. Now do you have live watchmen on the wall? To put it in Matthew Henry's terms.

It's good. It's good. You focused on it and you got the dead wall up and there's value in the dead wall as long as you have live watchmen on it. Have you done that? What about leadership?

Have you got a deep bench where you need a deep bench? There are many things that could be considered that have nothing to do with today's text. I'm just bringing some of the things out of the text. As a thought experiment to get our minds working. What else?

Well, here's an important question. Is our Jerusalem a fortress or a monastery? I heard this question at a homeschool conference maybe six or seven years ago. It's a really valuable question. Is our Jerusalem, wall up, Is that a fortress or a monastery?

You understand the difference between a fortress and a monastery. A fortress is a secure place where you keep out enemies and you have a place to be your base. But fortresses don't exist just to keep out enemies. Then you go out of them, and you take territory to expand your kingdom. That's a fortress.

A monastery is put up a wall, keep sinful things out. The problem with that is all people are sinners, and so as soon as you build a wall, you've sort of walled in the sin. In a way, you've walled in the sin too. The only way that works is if you don't have any people, and there's no point to that. Fortress or monastery?

Are we building in our lives, in our homes, in our church? What are these walls functioning as? Okay. What God intends them to function as, is something that keeps the pollutions of the world out and allows us to become strong and rest, But we're not to always stay in here. Sometimes we go out of the fortress to expand the kingdom.

Sometimes we send out raiding parties to expand the kingdom. Our Jerusalem is not a monastery. If you've done that in your home, to the extent that we've done that as our church, turn around! That was number one. Get focused on the right things for right now.

Pull out the rifle. Put away the shotgun. Number two. Make sure you belong on the list for inhabiting Jerusalem? So remember, these Old Testament things are types of New Testament, New Covenant realities.

So what is the genealogy? It's the people who really belong among the Lord's people, the Old Covenant people. There's a New Covenant, a New Testament equivalent. Make sure you belong in the list for inhabiting Jerusalem. Turn to Revelation 21.

We'll end there. Revelation 21. I'm going to read from the end of Revelation 21, but all of Revelation 21 is a description of the old things passing away and the new things being established. And you have this beautiful description of the new Jerusalem. So we're in Nehemiah, we're in old Jerusalem, but it's just a picture.

It's a type. And Revelation 21 tells us about the substance, the real thing that the type was pointing to. The New Jerusalem. Now let's begin Revelation 21 verses 22 through 27. But I saw no temple in it.

It is the New Jerusalem. I saw no temple in the New Jerusalem. For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there." So here we start to see the distinction and how this relates with Nehemiah chapter 7. Nehemiah chapter 7, it's important to shut the gates and lock them down. In the New Jerusalem, you'll never have to. It's never night there.

The sun's always hot in New Jerusalem. The sun is always up in New Jerusalem because the Lamb is its light. He's always there. Verse 25, it's verse 26. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it, but there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." The genealogy of Nehemiah chapter 7 is a type.

The Lamb's Book of Life is the anti-type. It's the book that contains those who belong in Jerusalem. Oh, the New Jerusalem will have a healthy population. It will have enough of the right people. There won't be a single person who will bring a defilement into the New Jerusalem, or who will bring an abomination into the New Jerusalem, because every one of them will have been cleansed to the last part by the blood of the Lamb.

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. There is a book of life. If your name is in it, you are fit to inhabit the New Jerusalem. If your name is not in it, you can't come in. You would bring defilements in.

It can never be so. So you have to ask yourself, am I cleansed? Do I belong in the genealogy of the New Jerusalem, the Lamb's Book of Life? Because I've repented and believed. Let's pray.

God I thank you for the type. The type is proving so helpful to us in many ways. So many principles to pull out. I'm sure we've only scratched the surface. I'm sure another sermon could be preached next Sunday and the Sunday after on the same text.

And there would be much to know that would be good and helpful. But God, thank You so much more for the antitype, for the fulfillment, for the substance of these things that are found in the Lamb and in the New Jerusalem. May our names be found in your book. I pray that you would continue to work on our hearts and we continue to work through the book of Nehemiah. Keep helping us.

Keep pointing us forward to the great day when we'll all stand before you. To give an account, may we be found in Christ with His righteousness imputed to us and our sins taken away from us and born by Him on the cross. May it be so in Jesus' name, Amen.