June 1 of this year marks the fifth anniversary of my time at
Crystal Spring Baptist Church. This realization reminded me of something that took
place on May 23rd 2010, just a couple of weeks before my first day
in Roanoke—my ordination. On that day I was prayed for by a large group of men
at Oakwood Baptist Church, enjoyed a small worship service, and was supported
by many people who surrounded me with love and, in some cases, even gifts. This
was a day that I will never forget as it marked the end of a chapter (my
undergraduate preparation) and the beginning of a new chapter (my ministry
career). Though this was a highly personal event in my life, it bears some
resemblance to the scenes of Nehemiah 12 which successfully wrap up one chapter
of the Jews’ history and propel them into a new era. In Nehemiah 12:27-47, we
are going to bear witness to three scenes that the Jewish people of Nehemiah’s
day would never forget—and neither should we, for in these scenes we learn what
is required of us to capture the attention of the world in a redemptive kind of
way.
The Dedication
Service-12:27-30
As we near the end of our study in Nehemiah, we are taken to
three scenes that together provide the culmination of what God has been doing
throughout this exciting book. The first of these three scenes involves a
dedication service, “…Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they
sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so
that they might celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of
thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres…”
(12:27).
Many people use dedication services today to draw special
attention to the completion of a project and the beginning of a new era.
Whether it is a dedication of a young child that marks the beginning of a life
set aside for service to God, or a ribbon cutting ceremony that marks the end
of construction (something I hope we will see in our near future also at
Crystal Spring Baptist) and the beginning of a building’s use, dedications are
special events that celebrate what has been accomplished while looking forward
to what lies ahead.
This specific dedication in Nehemiah 12 celebrated the
completion of the wall that had been restored under Nehemiah’s inspired
leadership. Having overcome the obstacles of laziness, enemies, famine, and
corruption, the wall that once lay in ruins now acted as a formidable perimeter
that encircled Jerusalem, allowing her and her people to thrive. Great enthusiasm
must have characterized the people’s march to the joyful music played on a host
of instruments.
Everyone connected to this wall in some way was represented
on this special day, -“…So the sons
of the singers were assembled from the district around Jerusalem, and from the
villages of the Netophathites, from Beth-gilgal and from their fields in Geba
and Azmaveth, for the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem…” (12:28-29).
In fact, much like a host of family members show up at a baby dedication or
employees gather to christen a new building, all of the inhabitants in and
around Jerusalem showed up for this momentous occasion.
What distinguished this dedication from others in the Old
Testament and those that we witness in our world today was how the dedication
was administered. On this day in Nehemiah 12, “the priests and the Levites
purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates and the wall,” (12:30).
Just as God had set His people apart from the days of Abraham in choosing them,
providing them with a law, and caring for them in extraordinary ways, so too do
the Jews in this scene desire that their leaders, themselves, and that which
God had provided be pure—set apart for God’s use in the world. This was
accomplished by sprinkling the blood of sacrificed animals.
Ultimately, this dedication is a ceremonial acknowledgement
of the distinctive character of God, His appointed leaders, and His chosen
people. The Jews hoped that this distinction would apply also to the wall God
had graciously provided against all odds. This is what is meant by the purification
of the gates and the wall along with the leaders and the people.
The Celebratory Worship
Experience-12:31-43
This solemn service of purification was followed by a
celebratory concert (the second scene in Nehemiah 12:27-47). Just as weddings
are followed by receptions and ordinations with fellowship, so too is this
dedication service following by a joyous celebration—this time coming in the
form of a collaborative concert involving two choirs that surround the people
from atop the newly constructed wall. The first group identified might be
called the “Refuse Gate Singers,” “…then I had the leaders of Judah come upon
top of the wall, and Ii appointed two great choirs, the first proceeding to the
right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate…” (12:31ff). Though this
distinguished group’s name might seem off-putting (Refuse Gate Singers), I
imagine that they wore this peculiar title with a great deal of pride (or could
have if this was really how they referred to themselves J) for this location had come
to take on new meaning.
When Nehemiah first arrived in Jerusalem and beheld the city
in ruins and the wall utterly destroyed, he was said to have passed several
landmarks during his investigation.
Nehemiah 2:13-“So
I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Well
and on to the Refuse Gate.”
Here, at the beginning of Nehemiah’s saga, these landmarks
stood as painful reminders of what state Jerusalem was in because of their
pigeon-holed perimeter. The Dragon’s Well
was believed to be haunted and the Refuse Gate was an ancient sewer drain
leading to a trash heap. These images bring to mind how scary and repulsive it
was for Jerusalem to be without the protection of a wall. However, as Nehemiah
identifies the “Refuse Gate” here at the end of the book, he demonstrates how places
like these were no longer looked upon with great disappointment, reminding them
of how bad things were; instead, they served as monuments of sorts, reminding
them of how far they had come with God’s help.
“…The second choir
proceeded to the left…they stopped at the Gate of the Guard…” (12:38-39), we
will call them the “Guard Gate Ensemble.” The first procession led by Ezra (12:36)
and Hoshaiah (12:32) moved in a counterclockwise direction on the wall while
this second group, led by Nehemiah himself, moved in a clockwise direction. Hovering
some fifteen feet above the people within the city walls, these choirs met
between the Prison Gate and the Water Gate and then entered the Temple area for
this glorious concert.
“Then the two choirs took their stand in the house of God…and
the singers sang…” (12:40-42). Oh what a sound these complementary choirs must
have produced! With victory realized against all odds, hope for the future in
their hearts, and God’s grace showered on all of them, this, no doubt, proved
to be a worship experience of a lifetime!
Nehemiah reveals next that “on that day they offered great
sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, even the women
and children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar” (12:43).
In this response one can witness how successful the choirs were at their job of
directing the people’s gaze to the Lord. So powerful and appropriate were the
songs shared by these choirs that the text immediately skips over reporting any
applause they might have been given and moves immediately to the sacrifices the
people are compelled to make and the rejoicing given to God. So loud was this
holy celebration that the “joy…was heard from afar” (12:43). Before God
intervened through Nehemiah only silence was heard and inactivity witnessed in
Jerusalem. Now, the people had something to sing about and much rejoicing for
which to make up.
Finally God’s people were in a position to make beautiful
music again on the world’s stage and draw the attention of other nations to the
Lord of heaven.
The Refurbished
Institution-12:44-47
The final scene we witness in this passage is, in reality, a
resulting institution of giving, praise, and thanksgiving. First, we are
introduced to the tradition bearers in verse 44, “…On that day men also
appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits
and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions
required by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the
priests and Levites who served…”. Here, men desired to see to it that
provisions were set aside for those who worked to facilitate the worship that
they had come to enjoy in and around the Temple.
“For they performed the worship of their God and the service
of purification, together with the singers and the gatekeepers in accordance
with the command of David and of his son Solomon…” (12:45). The faithful
ministry of the priests and Levites, in collaboration of others were a huge blessing
to the people of Jerusalem and for this reason, they wanted them to be fully
funded. However, providing for the ministry to this extent was not a totally
new idea. Instead, it was the refurbishing of a long standing tradition.
“For in the days of
David and Asaph, in ancient times, there were leaders of the singers, songs of
praise and hymns of thanksgiving to God. So all Israel in the days of
Zerubbabel and Nehemiah gave portions due the singers and the gatekeepers as
each day required, and set apart the consecrated portions for the Levites, and
the Levites set apart the consecrated portion for the sons of Aaron…” (12:46-47).
Ultimately, this third scene illustrates to what lengths the
people were willing to go to make sure that the ministry was taken care of (as
it should have been all along), marking the continuation of an important
tradition that is reiterated in the New Testament and witnessed in Church
history.
So What?
These three special scenes, a dedication service,
celebratory worship experience, and refurbished tradition together highlight an
especially wonderful chapter in the life of Jewish history. Here, the people of
God are purified, worshipful, and faithful; and the world takes notice as a
result (as the sound of their joy was heard far off). These same elements
involved in these three scenes here unlock the combination necessary for the
world to take notice of the people of God today. However, unfortunately, the
world is not taking notice of the church in the way it should. Numerous
articles suggest that, like the Jews at the beginning Nehemiah, Christianity is
asleep at the wheel, losing market share, and dwindling away in nearly every
demographic, region, and affiliation. Craig Dunkley in “Christianity is Losing
in America” states the following, “Christianity is under attack in America and
it’s losing. Meanwhile, the church is, in general, sitting out of the fight and
hoping the problem goes away.” This lack of action in response to the world’s
onslaught of deception has discouraged many young people to, in growing
numbers, join the ranks of the unaffiliated (according to Nate Cohn of the New
York Times). Inactivity, apathy, and complacency will inevitably kill the cause
of God in our culture (it nearly wiped out the Jews on numerous occasions in
the Old Testament).
In light of this, we must adopt (as demonstrated in Nehemiah
12) a pattern of purification (setting ourselves apart from this world), engage
in meaningful worship, and support the ministry in every way. Why? So that the
world takes notice and is wooed by the sound of our joy and compelled to
satisfy their curiosity by coming to know our God!
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