June 18, 2024

The wall around Jerusalem was finished, and the gates were set in place. God put it in Nehemiah's heart to check the genealogy of the people returning from Babylon. They must have needed proof because some of them were put out of the priesthood and not allowed to eat the holy things until a priest was appointed with the Urim and Thummim. Chapter seven of Nehemiah is quite long because he lists the families that returned to Jerusalem. However, there was an interesting verse that shouldn't be dismissed: 

And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written therein, Nehemiah 7:5

Nehemiah credited God for putting it in his heart to check the people's genealogy. They needed to keep an account of the lineage because they were still expecting the Messiah, and the records would prove He was who He said he was. Even though Jesus fulfilled the prophecy written about him and his lineage proved his deity, to this day, most of the Jewish people do not believe Jesus was the Messiah. Significantly, it was God who put the good in Nehemiah's heart. Whatever good you do, God should be given the credit and the praise for him spurring you on. Always give glory to God for the good you do because it's only because of Him that we have any good in us at all.