Priests and Levites who Returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel
¹ Now these are the priests and Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ² Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, ³ Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, ⁴ Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, ⁵ Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶ Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷ Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their kinsman in the days of Jeshua.
⁸ The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving and praise, he and his brothers. ⁹ Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, stood opposite them in their divisions of service. ¹⁰ Now Jeshua became the father of Joiakim, Joiakim of Eliashib, Eliashib of Joiada, ¹¹ and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan of Jaddua.
¹² And in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of fathers' households were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; ¹³ of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; ¹⁴ of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; ¹⁵ of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; ¹⁶ of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; ¹⁷ of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸ of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹ of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰ of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹ of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
The Chief Levites
²² As for the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the heads of fathers' households were registered; so were the priests, during the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³ The sons of Levi, heads of fathers' households, were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. ²⁴ The heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, and their brothers opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, as commanded by David the man of God, [one] division [singing] in response to [the men in the opposite] division.
²⁵ Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping watch at the storehouses of the gates.
²⁶ These men served in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.
Dedication of the Wall
²⁷ Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places in order to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of thanksgiving, and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres.
²⁸ So the sons of the singers gathered together from the district around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹ from Beth-gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem.
³⁰ The priests and the Levites purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
Procedures for the Temple
³¹ Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on the wall, and I appointed two large thanksgiving choirs, the first one proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate.
³² Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them, ³³ with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, ³⁵ and some of the priests' sons with trumpets, and Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, ³⁶ and his brothers, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went in front of them.
The trumpet that earlier was a tool to rally the workers against a potential threat (4:18) now became one of the instruments used to celebrate the completion of the task, the rededication of the people, and praise to God. Not only had he written powerful psalms, but King David had also instituted music as part of worship in the Temple. Although Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Temple, he couldn't destroy worship or the music that served that purpose so well. The reconstruction of the Temple and the walls signaled the worship band to start playing once again!
2 Samuel 6:5 (BRB)
⁵ David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
1 Chronicles 13:8 (BRB)
⁸ David and all the Israelites were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and on harps and lyres, with tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
2 Chronicles 29:25-27 (BRB)
²⁵ Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet. For the command had come from the LORD through His prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ And Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be sacrificed on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD and the trumpets began as well, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.
Psalm 47:1-3 (BRB)
¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout unto God with a voice of triumph. ² How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! ³ He subdues nations beneath us, and peoples under our feet.
Psalm 68:24-26 (BRB)
²⁴ They have seen Your procession, O God—the march of my God and King into the sanctuary. ²⁵ The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines. ²⁶ Bless God in the great congregation; bless the LORD from the fountain of Israel
Psalm 81:1-2 (BRB)
¹ For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob. ² Lift up a song, strike the tambourine, play the sweet-sounding harp and lyre.
Psalm 98:4-6 (BRB)
⁴ Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth—let your cry ring out, and sing praises! ⁵ Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, in melodious song with the harp. ⁶ With trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
Psalm 100:1-2 (BRB)
¹ A Psalm of thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. ² Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs.
Psalm 149:1-3 (BRB)
¹ Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song—His praise in the assembly of the godly. ² Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. ³ Let them praise His name with dancing, and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.
Psalm 150:3-5 (BRB)
³ Praise Him with the sound of the horn; praise Him with the harp and lyre. ⁴ Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute. ⁵ Praise Him with clashing cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals.
Acts 13:22 (BRB)
²² And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king: of him He testified and said, 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY OWN HEART [conforming to My will and purposes], who will do all My will.'
³⁷ At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the City of David by the stairway of the wall above David's house to the Water Gate on the east.
³⁸ The second choir went to the left; I followed with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of the Furnaces, to the Broad Wall, ³⁹ and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Old Gate, by the Fish Gate, by the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped at the Gate of the Guard. ⁴⁰ Then the two choirs stood in the house of God. So did I, and half of the officials with me; ⁴¹ and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah, with trumpets; ⁴² and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang, with Jezrahiah as their leader. ⁴³ Also on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy; the women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from far away.
Romans 12:1 (AMP)
¹ Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.
Heavenly Worship | Revelation 4:6-11 (AMP)
⁸ And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes all over and within [underneath their wings]; and day and night they never stop saying, "Holy, holy, holy [is the] Lord God, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all], who was and who is and who is to come [the unchanging, eternal God]." ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever; and they throw down their crowns before the throne, saying, ¹¹ "Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they exist, and were created and brought into being."
Revelation 5:11-12 (NASB)
¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."
Revelation 7:11-12 (NASB)
¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
Revelation 11:16 (NASB)
¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
Revelation 19:5-7 (NASB)
⁵ And a voice came from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." ⁶ Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. ⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."
Revelation 22:8-9 (NASB)
⁸ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. ⁹ But he said to me, "Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God."
⁴⁴ On that day men were 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 the Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served.
Further arrangements were made for supporting those who served at the Temple. These storerooms were administered by men who made sure the tithes and contributions were collected and distributed appropriately. The storerooms had to be large to hold all the grain presented by the people, making the storeroom administration an important responsibility.
⁴⁵ And they performed the worship of their God and the service of purification; so did the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had commanded. ⁴⁶ For in the days of David and Asaph, in ancient times, there were leaders of singers, songs of praise and hymns of thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷ So in the days of Zerubbabel and [later of] Nehemiah, all Israel would give the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart the consecrated portion for the Levites, and the Levites set apart the consecrated portion for the sons of Aaron [the priests].
The dedication of the city wall was characterized by joy, praise, and singing (12:24, 27-29, 35-36, 40-43). Nehemiah repeatedly mentioned David, who began the custom of using choirs in worship. In David's day, Israel was a vigorous, God-fearing nation. These exiles who had returned wanted their rebuilt Jerusalem to be the hub of a renewed nation, strengthened by God; therefore, they dedicated themselves and their city to God.