Nehemiah 7:36-40: a reflection

This part of the record of the returned exiles includes both townspeople and priests, counting the families who came back to rebuild their life around the worship of God. Among the ordinary families of Jericho, Lod, and other towns are listed the priests, those set apart to serve at the temple. The restoration of the people was not complete without the restoration of worship, and so the servants of the sanctuary are counted alongside everyone else.

There is significance in seeing the priests numbered among the returning exiles. God was not only bringing his people back to their land; he was restoring the worship at the center of their life. A people rebuilt without those who would lead them in serving God would have been incomplete. So the record takes care to count the priests, the singers, the servants of God's house, because the renewal of a people includes the renewal of their worship.

The passage quietly reminds us that the life of God's people is centered on worship, and that those who serve in it matter. When God restores, he restores not just outward circumstances but the worship of his people, and he provides those who will lead it. In your own life and community, do not treat worship as an afterthought to be fitted in around everything else. It belongs at the center. Value those who serve God's people in worship, and let the renewal of your own devotion be part of whatever God is rebuilding in you.