FEATURED STUDY | September 16, 2026 | A Study on Chapters 7 and 8 of the Book of Nehemiah
The List of the Exiles Who Returned
It’s the year 5787 (no, that’s not a line from a Zager and Evans song). It is actually 5787 according to the Jewish calendar. September coincides with Tishri which is the 7th month and oddly the month Jews celebrate the new year. Tishri is a sacred month the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles are celebrated (see Lev. 23:23-44). Chapter 8 of Nehemiah records how Nehemiah read the law to the people on the first day of the 7th month.
After the wall had been completed and the gate doors were installed, at the beginning of chapter 7, Nehemiah appointed his brother Hanani and Hananiah as the leaders of Jerusalem. He instructed them to wait until the sun was high before opening the gates and to close them early while the gatekeepers were still on duty. He also had them use residents of the city as additional guards.
Nehemiah wanted to register the people according to their families, so he found the genealogical record that had been recorded years earlier when the first wave of exiles returned from Babylon (see Ezra chapter 2). While the total number of people are the same in both accounts (42,360), there are some differences in the families that are listed. At the end of the chapter an offering was made by some of the families which was supplemented by the governor then the nonresidents of Jerusalem settled in their towns. Nehemiah may have wanted the records searched to see what families may have previously resided in Jerusalem.
In chapter 8, on the first day of the 7th month (Tishri), the people assembled in the square in front of the Water Gate where Ezra read the Book of the Law standing on a platform that had been built for that purpose. Reading the Law in a public place rather than the temple allowed women and children to attend. Ezra was joined on the platform by 13 priests and there were additional men posted throughout the crowd who explained what was being read to the people (see Acts. 8:30-31). The people wept as they listened to Ezra reading but he and Nehemiah told them it was not a time of grief but rather a time of joy and they should celebrate with food and drink.
The reading of the Law revealed that the Feast of Tabernacles was to be celebrated so the people gathered materials for booths which they built to live in for the 7 day celebration and Ezra read from the Law each day.
It is significant that the reading of the Law seems to have been initiated by the people (see 8:1). David Guzik wrote that they were led by the Holy Spirit before they heard the scriptures read. Do you recall a time when the church has called for the pastor to lead a special service?
The people honored the reading of God’s word by standing for 6 hours. Steve is always faithful to ask us to stand as he reads the verses that are central to his message.
The Law was explained to the people as it was being read. Understanding God’s word is vital so any message must have solid biblical principles at its core. A good understanding of the Bible is also critical to discerning what is consistent with the Bible and what isn’t.
Finally, the Bible needs to be read with the clear understanding that everything written in it points to Jesus (see Luke 24:27).
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