Sunday Sermonette: Yeah, we get it

Don ' t worry, we ' re almost done with this dreck. I ' ll have a good deal to say about the Book of Ester, which comes next, and is something completely different. Meanwhile, the point of this chapter is pretty much the same as the point of the previous chapter: hammering home that the people are supplying the priests and their hangers on in the Temple with plenty of swag. First though, we a list of names. Ezra, or somebody with that name, reappears, but the name is just in passing and he ' s apparently nobody special. Then there ' s the celebration of completion of the wall, featuring a lot of music. (As I ' ve said before, sadly, we don ' t know anything about the musical style of the time and place. This celebration features two choirs as well as a variety of instruments.) And then we get the celebration of all the stuff being delivered to the priests, and also to the musicians and gatekeepers. One thing we can discern is that the musicians were in the employ of the priesthood, and the function of music, or at least one of its functions, was religious. This is of course the case in many if not most religions.12 These were the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Joshua:Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,2 Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,3 Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,4 Iddo, Ginnethon,[a] Abijah,5 Mijamin,[b] Moadiah, Bilgah,6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah.These were the leaders of the pr...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs