SERIES O --- RETURN TO THE LAND --- LESSON 12

COMMITMENT BY ALL

CARING FOR THE HOUSE OF YHVH

From Nehemiah 10

Nehemiah the governor and a large number of the Levites and leaders of Israel signed the sealed document which stated their commitment to Adonai. They signed for the nation, including the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all others who separated themselves from the heathen people of the land and realized what they were doing. This included the men and their wives as well as their sons and daughters. These people took an oath that they would live according to YHVH’s Law, which He gave through His servant Moses, and that they would keep His Commandments. We agreed that we would not permit our sons or daughters to marry the heathen people of the land. We also agreed not to buy grain or goods from the heathen people of the land on the Shabbat or on holy days. We agreed, moreover, that on the seventh year we would plant no crops and that we would cancel the debts owed to us by our Jewish brethren. Each year we would give a third of a shekel as a temple tax to support YHVH’s house and the supplies needed for the sacrifices -- the showbread, meat offerings, burnt offerings, and other offerings for the new moon feasts and annual feasts. This tax would also supply whatever else was necessary in the temple. We cast lots to see which priests, Levites, and ordinary people would supply the wood at certain times to burn on the altar of YHVH in the temple, as required by the Law. We agreed also to bring each year the first part of each harvest to the temple, from the fruits of the ground and the fruits of the trees. We would bring our firstborn sons to Adonai for His service and our firstborn cattle, herds, and flocks to present to the priests in the temple of our YHVH. Our other gifts to the temple were to be the best of our coarse meal, fruit, new wine, and oil, presented to the priests in the chambers of the temple. We agreed to bring the tithe of our crops to the Levites in our villages. When the Levites come to collect these tithes, a priest descended from Aaron shall come with them. Then the Levites will take a tenth of our tithe to the temple, where it will be placed in the chambers of the storehouse. All offerings and tithes are to be brought to these chambers for in them is stored the grain, the new wine, the oil, and the vessels of the temple. These would be used in the temple by the priests who ministered and by the gatekeepers and the singers. In this way we agreed not to neglect the house of our YHVH.

COMMENTARY

THE JOURNEY FROM SUSA TO JERUSALEM

Traveling was extremely dangerous during the days of the Persian Empire. Thieves, weather, and wild animals added to the hazards of travel without vehicles, hotels or restaurants. When the exiled Jews left Babylonia and headed south, they had no assurance that they would ever reach Jerusalem. Throughout the Empire, there was a network of routes that offered the only safe roads. Called the {Royal Road,} it was used for the delivery of messages and important information; it served as a kind of Persian postal route. Rested riders, fresh horses and camels were stationed at one-day intervals along the routes; mail and the like passed quickly from station to station. A patrol kept the way clear of bandits and made certain that travellers along the way were there legally. The road followed the Euphrates River westward and then turned south across the Syrian Desert. Ezra and Nehemiah took the shorter route which passed through the desert oasis of Tadmor even though it was a more difficult and dangerous trip. Oases were few, as were towns and villages, and the road was unmarked. Wild animals roamed freely along the way, and the lack of patrols allowed thieves full sway. The weather was as merciless as the road conditions. Both Ezra and Nehemiah made the journey to Jerusalem in the burning Babylonian summer. Even today, the intolerable heat in the area withers the green plants, dries up the soil and turns the Euphrates River largely to mud. A Greek visitor to Susa claimed the summer heat was so intense that lizards and snakes burned to death crossing the road at noon. Weather like this slowed travel greatly. The average distance travelled on foot in a day was less than nineteen miles. Ezra and Nehemiah and the Jews covered no more than that on their thousand-mile return to Palestine.