Nehemiah 12:27 - Meaning and Application

We have already read about the wall of Jerusalem being built with much fear and struggle. Here we read about its dedication with great joy and triumph. Those who sow in tears will reap with joy.

We should first ask what this dedication meant. It likely included the city as well as the wall, since the wall stood for the whole city. It was not done until the city was fairly well filled again (Nehemiah 11:1). This was a solemn thank offering to God for completing the work, and the people felt it even more because of the trouble and opposition they had faced.

They were also giving the city to God in a special way and claiming it for his honor. All our cities and homes should have “Holiness to the Lord” written over them, but this city was in a unique way a holy city, the city of the great King (Psalm 48:2; Matthew 5:35). It had been holy since God chose it as the place for his name, and now that it had been repaired, the builders and residents dedicated it again. They were confessing that they were only tenants under God, and they wanted the city to remain his own forever. Everything done for safety, comfort, and daily life should be aimed at God’s glory.

They were also placing the city and its walls under God’s protection. They knew that unless the Lord guarded the city, the walls would be useless. When the Jebusites held the city, they trusted its safety to their gods, even though those gods were blind and lame (2 Samuel 5:6). The people of God had far better reason to commit it to the care of the one who is all-wise and almighty. Some people who founded cities looked to lucky positions of the stars, but these faithful builders looked to God alone, to his providence, and not to chance.

We should also notice how solemnly this was done, under Nehemiah’s direction. The Levites from all parts of the land were called together. Since the city was being dedicated to God, his ministers were to be involved in the dedication, and the act of surrendering it to God was to pass through their hands. After the earlier feasts were finished (chapters 8 and 9), they had returned to their own duties in the countryside, but now they were needed again.

When they gathered, the Levites assembled from everywhere, and then they went about the work in an orderly way. They first purified themselves (Nehemiah 12:30). Whenever any work for God is to pass through our hands, we should cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. They purified themselves, and then the people. Anyone who helps set others apart for God must first be set apart themselves, with a pure heart and sincere purpose. Then they purified the gates and the wall as well. We can expect comfort only when we are prepared to receive it. For the pure, all things are pure (Titus 1:15), and for those who are made holy, even ordinary homes, tables, and comforts are made holy in their use (1 Timothy 4:4-5). This purification was likely done by sprinkling the water of purification, or separation (Numbers 19:9), on themselves, the people, the walls, and the gates. It pointed to the blood of Christ, by which our consciences are cleansed from dead works so we can serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14) and belong to his care.

Then the princes, priests, and Levites walked in two companies around the wall with musical instruments, showing that the whole circuit of it was being given to God (Nehemiah 12:36). They likely sang psalms as they went, praising God together. The procession is described in detail. They met at one place, divided into two groups, and half of the princes with several priests and Levites went to the right, with Ezra leading the way (Nehemiah 12:36). The other half went to the left, with Nehemiah bringing up the rear, and both groups gave thanks as they went (Nehemiah 12:38). At last they met in the temple and joined together in thanksgiving (Nehemiah 12:40). The crowd probably walked on the ground, some inside the wall and some outside it. One purpose of the ceremony was to stir the people with gratitude for the mercy they had received and to keep its memory alive among them.

The people greatly rejoiced (Nehemiah 12:43). While the princes, priests, and Levites showed their joy and thanks through sacrifices, trumpets, instruments, and songs of praise, the common people showed theirs with loud shouts that could be heard far away, even beyond the more musical sounds of the procession. Their shouts came from sincere joy, and God does not overlook the honest, zealous service of ordinary people, even when it is not polished or elegant. The women and children also rejoiced, and their cries of praise were not ignored, but remembered with honor. All who share in public blessings should join in public thanksgiving.

The reason given is that God had given them great joy. He had supplied both the reason for joy and the hearts to feel it. His providence had made them safe and settled, and his grace had made them cheerful and thankful. The shame of their enemies, who had tried and failed to stop the work, no doubt added to their joy and made it a triumph as well. Great mercies call for full, solemn praise in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of Jerusalem.