Wed.’s Devo - The Dedication and the Priest

Read: Nehemiah 12:27-13:31; 5: 14-19; Malachi 1-2:9
It was time to dedicate the walls so everyone was to come to Jerusalem and celebrate. All the priests were to help in the ceremony. The priests purified themselves first then led the leaders up on the wall to be the choir. The wall was wide enough to ride a chariot on. The choir was divided in two groups and one group walked one way around the wall and the other one went the other until they met in the middle. All the while they were singing and playing instruments to the Lord. I can’t imagine the sound as the people stood in the city and were surrounded by the praises of God. The people had brought so many gifts and sacrifices that they had to put the offerings in storerooms to use later.
The priests read the law and they found out some more things they needed to get cleansed of. The first were the Ammonite and the Moabites. Their ancestors had hired Balaam to curse Israel when they were going through the wilderness. They had also refused to let them go through their land or give them food or water. Now they were refused access to enter the assembly of God. “Ammonites” mean “peoplish or tribal”. Their tribe was not of God but occultism and demonic in nature. Moab means “from father: what father?” Their father was the devil. So the devil is not welcome in the church of God. The next thing God had to cleanse was their foreign wives. The high priest had married a daughter of Sanballat. Sanballat had been Ezra’s arch enemy when he came back to rebuilt Jerusalem. Marriage is a covenant so they had made a covenant with death thus defiling the priesthood. Malachi nailed their actions by saying they show total disrespect to God. when they brought their offerings to the Lord they offered him an offering they didn’t want and they didn’t obey his laws.
Malachi explained the office of the priest. His life should be one of peace and integrity. His reverence of God should make the people respect him. He should preserve the knowledge of God in such a way that the people would come to him to be taught the ways of God. The priest was to be a messenger of the Lord that kept the people from sinning.
Lord, may we be priests unto you and live lives that honor Your name.