Inheritance

“The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, each on their ancestral property.

The temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of them.”

Nehemiah 11:20-21

Last time we saw two gatekeepers, Akkub and Talmon, both names with difficult meanings. We challenged ourselves to be insidious in guarding against evil, and not allowing fear lead to oppression. Today we see where the rest of the folk settled.

The rest here in “the rest of the Israelites” is the word shear, which can also mean remnant or survivors. If you think about it, our returned exiles were survivors: they had endured being raised in a land not their own, obeyed the call to repopulate the Holy City, helped rebuild Temple and the city wall amidst much opposition, had mourned their generational sin, and now were ready to settle in and live.

And where? “On their ancestral property.” This is one word, nachalah, meaning “possession, inheritance, gift, portion, heirloom, estate, heritage.” It’s crazy to me how our extended family is in the midst of crunching numbers and deciding on long-term care for a loved one while a word meaning “estate, inheritance, and portion” is my…well, portion, for the week.

To realize how financially wise our family has been is challenging. But when I told a few of the details of long term care insurance to our oldest son, he goes, “Wow. Thank You, God.”

Yes. No matter what kind of earthly inheritance we may have received or could pass on to others, it is all ultimately from His kind hand. That’s what a gift is – something that can’t be earned. The Israelites themselves hadn’t earned this land, after all. It had been given to them by God after the Exodus from Egypt, and they had lost it due to their own idolatry. Even the return to Jerusalem wasn’t due to their goodness, but His.

So does that mean those with no earthly inheritance are not beneficiaries of a kind God? I have so many thoughts on all the ways we think money can save and satisfy, but those who are poor have lessons upon lessons to teach we who are middle class in spirit. I’m talking to myself here.

But I also can’t help but see, particularly in our country, ways certain groups have benefited, taking land cultivated for generations by others, parceled out to those of European descent. And the resulting ability to pass on profits to the next generation.

And when those of African descent, brought not of their own will to this land, band together and create thriving cultures, others made sure to squelch them in a rage. Talk about survivors.

Even a cursory glance at such a devastating list of injustices points to how the inheritance conversation cannot possibly be had on an even playing field. So what should we who have benefited from a certain system do? Wring our hands, feel guilty, deny or ignore it?

I think we know those aren’t our only options. A friend recently pointed out how the Jesuit priests are seeking to raise $100 million for the descendants of enslaved people their particular order owned. They cannot go back and change their ancestors’ decisions to buy human beings, but they can acknowledge that their own inheritance was elevated based on others’ forced labor. And help begin to set things right with the living generations of those who were oppressed.

We can all find ways in our personal and corporate lives to acknowledge what we have is ultimately not ours, and therefore – rejecting fear of what we may lose – open our hands to what is right.

Our final section points out where the temple servants (nethinim) lived: On the hill of Ophel. This name comes from aphal – up, be lifted up, elated, swell, presume. Do your thoughts immediately turn to pride? Like getting a swelled head or acting presumptuously? Me, too.

But what about elated? Or being lifted up by others? Yes, I like those parts of the definition. Either way, Ophel’s hill was up and it housed those whose job it was to do tasks around Temple, ultimately lifting the Name high.

Finally, our rich verses point out two men in charge of these temple servants. We’ll acknowledge the second one first, Gishpa, as his name comes from an unknown origin, giving us no meaning to chase down. The other man in charge is Ziha whose name comes from tsicheh – parched, drought, dried up.