Nehemiah’s first step after having completed the rebuilding of the wall was to make a few key appointments. The first verses of chapter 7 tell us about three general categories of appointments (gatekeepers, singers and Levites) and two specific ones: his brother Hanani as the civil leader of Jerusalem (Nehemiah was governor of the province) and Hananiah as the military commander in charge of Jerusalem’s new defenses.
As far as Jerusalem was concerned, Nehemiah was now prepared to work through two chief operating officers: Hanani, the civic leader (Nehemiah’s equivalent of a mayor), and Hananiah, the military leader (Nehemiah’s equivalent of what for us would be the chief of police).
Some writers have accused Nehemiah of nepotism in these appointments since Hanani is identified as his “brother.” But I think it was simply a case of Nehemiah picking the best and most loyal man for the job. Hanani had already demonstrated concern for the city’s welfare by making the long trip to Babylon to rouse Nehemiah. Now he could be counted on to be loyal to him. Loyalty was an important matter at a time when the intrigue described in 6:17-19 was still going on. Nehemiah needed to guard against treachery.
There is one more factor in Nehemiah’s appointment of key leaders which we need to see before we pass on. It is his provision of adequate guidelines for them (Neh. 7:3). Nehemiah understood the need for strong men in key posts. He was willing to let them do their job without meddling; we are going to see more of this in the second half of the book. But this does not mean that he neglected to give them direction. We would describe this as job descriptions, written objectives and performance standards. In Nehemiah’s terms it is what we find in verse 3: “I said to them, ‘The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.’” These are specific directives, and we can assume that there were others like them.
The largest part of chapter 7 is the “extract from the archives” (from Ezra), as I pointed out earlier. It must have been regarded as an important document since it is found, not only here and in Ezra 2, but in the apocryphal book of 1 Esdras also. The list tells us who is available to repopulate and revitalize the city. The document contains nine categories. We will give the first one today, and then mention the other eight in tomorrow’s study.
1. The original leaders (vv. 6-7). We do not know who all these persons were, but the first two at least are well known and important. They are Zerubbabel, the civil leader, and Jeshua (or Joshua), the religious leader, who together brought the first body of exiles to Judah after Cyrus permitted their return. These leaders figure strongly in two of the last books of the Old Testament, the minor prophets Haggai and Zechariah. Zerubbabel was of the royal line of Judah. From Joshua there descended fourteen successive generations of high priests.