Daily Bible Reading Day 171

Nehemiah 12-13; Acts 4:23-27.   Nehemiah records the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubabbel. He assigns various duties. They celebrate the finishing of the wall. Then he heads back to the capital. Then he asks permission and comes back to Jerusalem. He finds that that one of the families has set up Tobiah, a foreigner, in a chamber of the temple. He throws out the man's stuff and cleanses the room. He discovers they are not keeping the Sabbath like they promised. He recalls the priests and Levites and stations them to receive the tithe. He gets the gatekeepers to close the gates on the Sabbath. He runs off the merchants who hang around during the Sabbath. Then he confronts those who have married foreigners.

The apostles come back from their first persecution by the Council and speak with the church. They quote some Old Testament passages that predict the situation. They continue their generosity by selling off property and putting the money into the hands of the apostles who see to it that it is distributed to those in need. Leading the way in this is Barnabas.