06.18.2015 Old Testament: Neh 7.66–69

To read the Bible in a year, read Nehemiah 7–8 on June 18, In the year of our Lord 2015

By Don Ruhl

When the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, the children of Israel numbered 603,550 fighting men between the ages of 20 and 50, excluding women, children, and those 51 and older, and the number excluded the tribe of Levi!

The Lord told them that if they did not obey Him, they would suffer horribly. Look at the number that returned from Babylonian captivity,

Altogether the whole assembly was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, besides their male and female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five men and women singers. Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules two hundred and forty-five, their camels four hundred and thirty-five, and donkeys six thousand seven hundred and twenty (Nehemiah 7.66–69). 

The numbers coming out of Babylon do not even compare with the numbers coming out of Egypt. Many had died during the Babylonian take over of Judah and Jerusalem, and many stayed in Persia after Babylon fell.