Week 23 Nehemiah 7
There’s a list of names in chapter 7 – names and head-count numbers in a column down the page. I start reading them. Scanning more than reading. Mind drifting…
Parosh sounds like it could be an Indian name (and maybe Jaala as well)
Pashur. Hmmm…maybe Afghani
Ono & Hatita & Nekoda have a definite Japanese ring
Keros & Barkos? Greek for sure
Bakbuk Russia
Cherub might be a transnational angel
And Zattu & Darkon sound like Stan Lee super-villains.
Eventually I catch myself…I’ve lost track.
Doing something crazy to stay focused isn’t much better than losing it entirely.
I look back at the chapter’s intro trying to mentally regroup. The list was a registration of citizens. Nehemiah said that: my God gave me the idea to call together all the leaders of the city, along with the ordinary citizens, for registration. I wonder how Nehemiah knew the difference between his own ideas that just spontaneously came into his mind and ideas that the Lord gave to him. I can understand when a person – say for instance a prophet – gets an unexpected word-from-the-Lord. He knows that it’s from outside. Nehemiah’s registration idea is more like a logical bureaucratic and organizing decision…but he detects that it’s from the Lord.
I don’t know the answer but I’ve slid back on track now and so move on to chapter 8.
Note: quote from Nehemiah 7:5 (NLT)