Week 23 Nehemiah 7
When the walls of Jerusalem were finally rebuilt Nehemiah appointed two men to work as his city governors. One of them was Hanani (Nehemiah’s own brother) and the other was Hananiah. Nehemiah says that Hananiah was a faithful man who feared God more than most.
I checked a bible dictionary. There are 9 other Hananiahs. Nehemiah’s Hananiah is only mentioned this one time.
Nehemiah doesn’t describe his brother at all. And as far as that goes he doesn’t say much about Hananiah either. But he does say that Hananiah was already the commander of the fortress. So he might have had transferable organizational & military & leadership skills. He was maybe fearless & cool-under-fire & authoritative & respected. But whatever else he was Nehemiah only says that: a) he was a faithful man and that b) he feared God more than most.
Being a faithful man might have included being loyal devoted conscientious trustworthy reliable. But whatever all it was it looks like Hananiah was dependable. Nehemiah could count on him.
Being a man who feared God didn’t mean he was terrified. But he revered the Lord. He had a pretty clear-eyed sense of what his position & rank was before the Lord.
A person might be dependable without being devoted to the Lord. Or he might revere the Lord without being very reliable. Nehemiah wanted someone who was both. And it looks like Hananiah fit-the-bill.
Note: quote from Nehemiah 7:2 (NLT)