Nehemiah 12:44-47 - Exposition

NEHEMIAH 'S ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE TEMPLE SERVICE , AND APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS ( Nehemiah 12:44-47 ).

The good resolutions of the people at the time of the renewal of the covenant ( Nehemiah 10:28-39 ) would have borne comparatively little fruit had they not been seconded and rendered effective by formal action on the part of the civil authority. The people, in the first flush of their zeal, had bound themselves to undertake the conveyance of the tithes, firstfruits, and free-will offerings from the country districts to Jerusalem, and the deposition of them in the temple treasuries ( Nehemiah 10:37-39 ). But in practice this was found too great a burthen ( Nehemiah 13:10 ). Nehemiah therefore appointed special officers to collect the tithes and other dues throughout the entire territory, and to bring them to Jerusalem, and lay them up in the proper chambers ( Nehemiah 12:44 ). Over the chambers he appointed treasurers, whose duty it was, not only to collect the ecclesiastical dues, but also to distribute the proceeds among the individuals entitled to share in them ( Nehemiah 13:13 ). Having in this way provided for the sustenance of the clerical body, he was able to insist on their regular performance of all their duties; and the success of his arrangements was such, that under him the temple service was restored, not merely to the condition established by Zerubbabel ( Nehemiah 12:47 ), but to one not markedly different from that which had been attained in the time of David and Asaph ( ibid. verse 46). The priests, Levites, singers, and porters respectively performed their duties to his satisfaction, purifying themselves, and taking the service in their turns, "according to the commandment of David and Solomon" (ibid. verse 45).