“These were the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Joshua:
Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,
Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth…”
Nehemiah 12:1-3
Last time we saw nine more cities in which the Benjaminites inhabited, along with a peek into the work groups of Levites. Today we explore both priest and Levite names who belonged to our returned exile group.
Because we’ve recently looked into the name Seraiah, we will begin with Jeremiah. It’s a familiar biblical name which means “Yah loosens” from Yah and remiyyah – laxness, slackness, idle, negligent, lazy.
Are you surprised the well-known prophet’s name has to do with laziness? Me, too. Seems as though it has more to do with the slackness part of the definition. When referring to the Most High God, what do you think Yah loosens means?
I can’t help but think of chains from bondage when I hear it. How, when we cooperate with Him in His Word and community, He loosens the chains that have bound us – even for years. But what about groups of people? Whole countries? Might Yah loosen chains on such a grand scale? Even in the midst of such worldwide heartache? I know He can. Let’s ask He will.
Malluk is the next name which we haven’t recently seen. It comes from melek (king) and malak (consult, reign, become king or queen). I’ve been reading about King David right now, and his rise to royalty. I must confess, in the midst of all the bloodshed and concubines and wives, it’s hard to see it as something from God. But today I read,
“As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.”
2 Samuel 5:24
Yes, David was to wait and hear marching from the God of Angel Armies! Incredible. I suppose it was never about David, but His faithful God. Same with us. We all reign in our own little kingdoms and queendoms. May they be about serving our Redeemer.
We’ve seen Hattush recently, so Shekaniah is the next name up. It means “Yah has taken up His abode” from Yah and shakan – to settle down, abide, dwell, continue, establish, inhabit, nest, remain, rest, stay. So poignant that I am reading how the Most High promised David a place to dwell and a line to establish and rest from Israel’s enemies. That Yah would abide among them and all nations would know He is God.
And how about us? After He loosens our chains, even on a grand, systemic scale, do we know what it takes to dwell in Him? To stay in His presence even when things are going well? To use our blessings for the common good, for His glory, on behalf of one another, when our impulse would be to hoard for when another disaster strikes?
We know the people of God did not remain in Him and experienced the consequences of their idolatry. How about us? We have the Spirit of the Living God dwelling within. We have the finished work of Jesus on the cross. We have the Body of the Sent Ones to be His hands and feet. Will we remain? Will we choose His rest? Can He trust us to pray His will be done, thereby saying mine be gone?
Rehum is next and it means “compassion.” As I wrote last time we saw this name:
“Since I’ve been looking up words in Hebrew, it occurred to me to see the etymology of the English word compassion this time. It comes from the Latin pati “to suffer” and the prefix com “with, together.” To suffer with another.
Then it made me smile, when looking up images for compassion, how so many pictures of compasses appeared. I had not thought of how compass is in the word itself. But it gives you something to think about, huh?
What if our compass was entering into the sufferings of others? If, when looking whether to go one direction or another, we consulted our map, deciding between self focus and others-focused? What would change on the daily if that one factor was considered?”
How’s your compass? I must admit, the busier things get, the more self-focused mine becomes. I want to take time, though, trusting He will provide what is needed – energy, extra time, enough down time – to enter into others’ lives even when life is full.
Meremoth is our final name and it is from mirmah – deceit, treachery, deception, dishonest, false, craft, feigned, guile, fraud; also plural from rum – to be high, exalted, rise, become proud, lofty.
Do you ever feel like the whole pride thing keeps coming up? In particular, this word rum was in our study last week. We can’t seem to escape it. I suppose because every day we have to battle our selfishness and pride. It doesn’t go down without a fight, and His mercies aren’t the only thing new every morning – so is our tendency to think only of ourselves. And highly, at that, though we could simply look at the previous day for some contrary evidence for that. At least I know I could.
Seems as though there’s a reason the pride thing keeps coming up. Because it’s in our hearts until glory. But He’s making all things new, including us.
May we bow and surrender and allow Him to work. So He alone is lifted high.