RTW 2024

The leaders of the people were living in Jerusalem, the holy city. A tenth of the people from the other towns of Judah and Benjamin were chosen by sacred lots to live there, too, while the rest stayed where they were. And the people commended everyone who volunteered to resettle in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 11:1-2

These were the family leaders of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, and other associates, who stood opposite them during the ceremonies of praise and thanksgiving, one section responding to the other, as commanded by David, the man of God.
Nehemiah 12:24

• Nehemiah had worked hard to prepare a place for people to live in Jerusalem, but many still stayed in their towns outside the city. More people were needed for the city to thrive. Some came by lot, some by choice.
• The chronology of Ezra and Nehemiah is complex. Ezra’s arrival: 458 BC in the 7th year of Artaxerxes I (Ezra 7:8). Nehemiah’s arrival: 445 BC in the 20th year of Artaxerxes I (Nehemiah 2:1).

‍Two different scholarly views:‍

1. The succession of high priests in the Bible is not historically supported:

• Nehemiah dealt with Eliashib (Nehemiah 3:1,20) (Nehemiah 13:28)
• Jeshua the high priest was the father of Joiakim. Joiakim was the father of Eliashib. Eliashib was the father of Joiada. Joiada was the father of Johanan. Johanan was the father of Jaddua.
  Nehemiah 12:10-11
• A record of the Levite families was kept during the years when Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua served as high priest. Another record of the priests was kept during the reign of Darius the Persian. A record of the heads of the Levite families was kept in The Book of History down to the days of Johanan, the grandson of Eliashib.
  Nehemiah 12:22-23
• Then Ezra left the front of the Temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan [Jonathan] son of Eliashib. He spent the night there without eating or drinking anything. He was still in mourning because of the unfaithfulness of the returned exiles.
  Ezra 10:6
• Island of Elephantine along the southern border of Egypt had a thriving Jewish community that even had their own temple during the time of Persian rule. There are papyri, historical documents, that have been found from this time and region. Some of these are letters between Jews in Elephantine and Jews in Israel. The Elephantine papyri identify Johannan as high priest around 410 BC.
• This conclusion places Ezra’s ministry in Jerusalem around 398 BC, after Nehemiah.

2. The biblical text is the correct chronology:

• Eliashib and Johanan (Jonathan) were common names. The Johanan/Jonathan  of Ezra 10 and Nehemiah 12 could have been different people.
• Ezra 10:6 says Ezra met Jonathan (Johohanan) in the chamber but does not identify him as the high priest. Jonathan could have been a young man with access to the temple.
• In Josephus’ Antiquities, there was a high priest named Johanan, but this Johanan killed his brother Jesus in 398 BC in the temple. “On the basis of this scandalous crime, the Persian governor Bagoas, a supporter of this Jesus, placed the Jews under a seven-year period of punishment. It is most unlikely that Ezra could have received the judicial and financial support of the Persian crown for doing his work at this very time (Ezra 7:6,11-28). Archeological Study Bible, pg 690

When God uproots us, he wants to “move” us for a purpose. It may be uncomfortable and challenging, but it will also be good. Moving=job, house, church, spiritual direction, emotional direction, a relationship.