“From the descendants of Benjamin:
…Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah, and his followers, Gabbai and Sallai—928 men.”
Nehemiah 11:7b-8
Last time we saw the first several descendants of Benjamin, grateful for our Redeemer, our Witness. Today we journey on with the four ancestors’ names.
Kolaiah is our first descendant listed. His name means “Voice of Yah” from Yah and qol – sound, voice, blessing, crying, growl, listen, loudly, obey, proclamation, public, report, roar, scream, shout, thunder, tinkling, voice, wept, crackling, fame, “what you say,” “what my are saying,” “what I say,” witness.
So many synonyms for this word voice. And so striking – growling, roar, wept, thunder, tinkling. Words that sound like they sound. Have you felt such grief? It came out in a roar, but also a tinkling tear? Growling in anger and agony, but also weeping in loss?
Even if you may have not come to such emotional depths, we can be grateful to know our God has. God the Father burns with anger, has a voice that thunders, and roars as the Lion of Judah. God the Son knows such things with skin in the game. Weeping at the loss of friends, loss of faith, stubborn refusal to repent, desiring to bless, but having to publicly proclaim hypocrisy.
How about those phrases: what you say, what I say, what my are saying? If you’re wondering, I did not mistype that; it is not “what mine are saying.” So intriguing. Does it make you want to fill in the sentence? What my friends are saying. What my people are saying. What my denomination says. What my worldview proclaims. What leftists, right-wing, progressives, reformed, conservatives, evangelicals say.
Exhausting, isn’t it? I’m not even sure what I’m “supposed” to believe based on several factors. I just can’t keep up. Good news is we don’t have to. We can simply talk to God about situations, stay in His Word, walk in community with people who also want to do those things, and seek to love our neighbor.
As my sister pointed out in a quote she texted, “Love always starts with knowing.” Proximity matters. We can go from what I say, what my says, to listening to what others have to say. Before we loudly and publicly proclaim what we believe about a certain issue, we could actually spend time getting to know people for whom that topic is a daily reality. Not so we can check some box, but so we can know another. Learn and love another human being God loves. And allow them to teach us, let them help us.
Everyone has a witness, a perspective the Body of Christ needs. Whoever you may be thinking of, just know you are that other to someone else. We all naturally see our way as the way, but it’s only one way. Not more than one Ultimate Truth, but more than one expression of that Truth. More than one history and lived experience, ways to worship and live out a creative, multi-faceted, communal, eternal Triune God.
Next is Maaseiah, a name we have recently seen. So let’s focus on his father, Ithiel, whose name means “with me is God.” It is from el and eth – to accompany, along, among, before, beside, concerning, help, including, know, near, presence, together, toward, within.
Yes, yes, yes, to that being a name which is our reality. With me is God. I know His presence, He is within me. Before, beside, among me. Except it might have the wrong person in focus, namely me. I want God to accompany me, be beside me, along with me and my plans. When God is the center of the universe, including us in His movement. We draw near His presence and move toward His passion. We abide, He simply is.
Next up is Jeshaiah, or Isaiah, which means “salvation of Yah.” It is from Yah and yasha – to deliver, avenge, bring salvation, bring victory, help, save, victorious, to be open, wide and free, to be safe.
It’s one of my favorite descriptions of heaven, this wide open, exhilarating sense of freedom with the kind of safety Perfect Love brings. Such salvation, victory can only be of Yah. He saves and keeps on saving. He delivers and helps, frees and restores.
Because our final name is Sallai, which is the same as Sallu from last time, we will be ending with Gabbai. Both Sallai and Gabbai are listed here as Jeshaiah’s followers or brothers. This verse is the only occurrence of the name Gabbai, which comes from gab – a back, defenses, a shrine, to hollow or curve, higher place, eyebrows, nave, ring.
Did you already know what a nave is? I did not. It’s the section of a church where the people congregate, particularly the long, central hall. Makes sense with our definition of a hollow, curved, higher place.
What do you make of that definition alongside words like defenses, back, and shrine? May the Church be a place of refuge, where our eyes are lifted, but never, ever enshrines anyone or anything as an idol. May we know God is solidly for us in Christ, therefore laying down our need to be defensive.
And may our gaze forever be on a higher place.