Nehemiah 11 City Population - Free Audiobook

Nehemiah 11

City Population

In previous chapters we saw the establishment of the altar, the worship, the rebuilding of the walls and the temple. After all this we see there was a revival of God's word, of prayer, and of repentance. The results of this were the leaders creating a document and signing it, binding themselves to follow God's law as given to Moses.

The next step in this evolution of Jerusalem was to actually have enough people to fill the city. There would be a lot of practical reasons for this, but one reason was surely to provide for its defense and prosperity. This is a problem Nehemiah recognized previously and initiated a census to inventory the population back in chapter 7.

Once again we see the religious and civic leaders setting a good example of living within Jerusalem. Still there was not enough people, so they established a lottery where one out of every ten people living throughout the region of Judah would come and live within the city of Jerusalem. This was like a ten percent tithe where people were asked to give their lives instead of money.

Why didn't people desire to live within Jerusalem and volunteer to make the city their residence? Some reasons might be because Jerusalem was more of a visible target of foreign armies. Also, living in Jerusalem would mean leaving behind their friends and family and village to start over living in the city. Living in the city probably meant following the rules of the law more strictly as well.

It is often much easier to live our own life and not get involved in the life of the church. I have often longed to find brothers and sisters in Christ who call on the Lord out of a pure heart and have attempted to find a church where I could contribute.

What a blessing it would be to have lived in a time such as Nehemiah when the Lord's people were all gathered together in one city with one purpose. We can look forward to this in the future. One day there will be a New Jerusalem, a holy city coming down out of heaven from God. (Revelation 21).

It is not enough to have a church building or ministry facilities. The most important thing is to have people to fill those building and facilities. Without the people of God those buildings and structures have no purpose and no meaning.

I remember when I lived in West Virginia as a young Christian that I was witness to a huge construction of ministry headquarters and a denomination which built a hotel. The facilities were empty most of the year, and the church they built only used a fraction of the seating because there were so few people who attended services.

So many times church denominations focus on buildings and forget all about the people, but the people are the most important of all. Without people, there is no church.