Today, I am reading and commenting on  Nehemiah 7-8.

I find following the timing of this passage a little tricky because of the inclusion of the genealogical records from when the first Exiles returned to Judah.  However, it reads to me (in yesterday’s passage) that the work on Jerusalem’s walls and gates were completed in the final month of the year.  That means that the assembly described in chapter eight occurs in the seventh month of the year following the completion of Jerusalem’s walls.  I am not sure that any of that is important, but thinking about that led me to here.   The people all assembled to hear the Law of God read to them.  The passage says that Ezra read the Law to the assembly.  The wording here seems to suggest to me that “assembly” here means more than just those assembled.  It seems to me to mean those who had a say in important decisions.  The passage tells us that the assembly included men and women, and “all who were able to understand.”  For the purposes of this assembly, which was to hear, understand, and commit to obey the Law of God, men and women were equal.  Even those who were otherwise considered children were considered equal, as long as they were old enough to understand God’s word.  Men, women, and children are all of equal value to God, and we should also value them equally.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.