The L’vi’im: Yeshua, Binui, Kadmi’el, Sherevah, Y’hudah and Mattanyah, who was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving, he, and his kinsmen. Nehemiah 12:8
When I got to the next word associated with praise, huyedah (hoo-yed-aw’), I found the reference to be in the book of Nehemiah. When I read chapter 12, I noticed that there was a ton of reference to the priests and Levites and the reinstating of the service of the Levitical choir which offered the songs of thanksgiving, which is what huyedah means, song of thanksgiving.
At first, I was trying to work out what to say about the importance of our times of praise and worship through music, and singing songs of thanksgiving to our Savior, but it just didn’t feel right. So, I sat and read, reread, and read once more Nehemiah 12 pondering the list of names, and the importance of it. It is easy to skip over the list of names in the Bible, the begats, the genealogies and just skip to the next lines that are more than just names. It was then that Shakespeare came to mind from Romeo and Juliet, “What’s in a name?” I went back and looked closer at the list of names in verse 8: Yeshua, Binui, Kadmi’el, Sherevah, Y’hudah and Mattanyah. The first of course jumped out because it is the name of our Savior, then the fifth made me take notice as it is the name of the tribe from which He was born and was the base of the first word for praise that we looked at. The final name caught my attention as it is very similar to my oldest son’s name. Maybe, just maybe I wasn’t supposed to be looking at “songs of thanksgiving”, but the people in charge of them. This set my feet to a path of looking up what each of their names meant in connection with praise. I shouldn’t have been surprised, yet as I read each meaning I couldn’t help but shake my head. Adonai is amazing.
· Yeshua – “he is saved, he will save”. Salvation. It is something that I thank Adonai for every single day. It is the most precious thing in my life. I daily turn on praise and worship songs and sing songs of thanksgiving from that precious gift, and if I cannot actually turn the music on, I sing them in my head or just out loud whatever I am doing. Salvation: deliverance, health, help, welfare, aid, victory, prosperity. Make me know your ways, Adonai, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me; for you are the God who saves me, my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5
· Binui – “built up, Yah builds up”. Build. Establish, cause to continue, made permanent. When I said yes to salvation, Yah rebuilt me. Re-established me, is making me to continue and permanent in Him. He has changed me so much that my heart, like David’s says, “I will bless Adonai at all times; his praise will always be in my mouth.” Psalm 34:1 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith, and pray in union with the Ruach HaKodesh. (Holy Spirit) Jude 20 One of the ways that we build up our faith is through singing songs of praise and thanksgiving. When we bless the Lord and declare His goodness and righteousness, our own spirit responds and is strengthened in Him.
· Kadmi’el – “God is the ancient one, presence of God” The ancientness of Adonai. It is something that I can not begin to wrap my head around. He has always been. It brought to mind Adonai’s response to Job in chapter 38. [4]” Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. [5] Do you know who determined its dimensions or who stretched the measure line across it? [6] On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, [7] when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? The fullness of chapters 38 and 39 should make each of our hearts catch. They should make us pause for a moment and realize how big, great, and eternal Adonai truly is. It should put that reverential fear into our spirit, and we should be left in awe when we take in those words. He is the Ancient One. In Daniel’s vision of the end days He speaks specifically of the Ancient One in Chapter 7. [9] “As I watched, thrones were set in place; and the Ancient One took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, the hair on his head was like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, with wheels of burning fire. [10] A stream of fire flowed from his presence; thousands and thousands ministered to him, millions and millions stood before him. Then the court was convened, and the books were opened. [13] “I kept watching the night visions, when I saw, coming with the clouds of heaven, someone like a son of man. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. [14] To him was given rulership, glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His rulership is an eternal rulership that will not pass away; and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. When we lift our voices in song, in thanksgiving, and praise, we are lifting them up to the Ancient of Days, who has been before time itself.
· Sherevah – “Jehovah has scorched, Yah has sent burning heat” Set me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, passion as cruel as Sh’ol; its flashes are flashes of fire, [as fierce as the] flame of Yah. Song of Solomon 8:6 As with most words that I study, I start with my Strong’s Concordance. When I looked up the word “scorched”, there were only usages in the Greek from the New Testament, but for the Hebrew, it led me to a different word, “vehement” and this verse from SOS. In the KJV, the final line reads, “the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.” Oh, to be set on fire for Adonai with that fierce flame, to be scorched with such a burning passion for Him. When the prophet Jeremiah was at his lowest point, when friends had turned against him and he faced punishment and imprisonment, he cried out to Adonai, and in that prayer said, “But if I say, ‘I won’t think about him, I won’t speak in his name anymore.’ Then it seems as though a fire is burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I wear myself out trying to hold it in, but I just can’t do it. Jeremiah 20:9 How many songs of thanksgiving and psalms were written out of that burning heat and desperation for Adonai? I want to live my life on fire with that burning heat sent by Him, to be scorched by Him.
· Y’hudah – “Praised, celebrated, object of praise” The first post written for the Praise Collection was about Y’hudah, or more specifically about Leah’s naming of him. Y’hudah was the fourth child born to Jacob and Leah, with him she said, “This time I will praise Adonai” ( 29:35), where her other children were named with the focus being on her husband. As I studied out his name meaning praise, I wondered if Judah was chosen to be the tribe to bear the Messiah due to the fact that he was named in praise to Adonai, instead of out of the battle of childbearing between the two wives of Jacob.
· Mattanyah – “Gift of Yah (Jehovah), the gift of his hand” When I named my oldest son Matthias, I had no idea that its meaning was gift of Yah. When I looked at the name Mattanyah, I knew in my heart that it was a derivative of my son’s name, and I couldn’t help but smile. What do we give the Creator of the universe? What gift can we give Him that holds any weight? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The world and everything in it are His already. The only thing I have to offer is my heart, my praise, my worship, my thankfulness. It is a short list, but there is nothing else He needs or wants of me. We were created to worship Him, to be in relationship with Him, and Yeshua is the greatest gift given to us; in turn our praise is the gift we give back. I can have everything this world has to offer, but if I don’t have Him, I have nothing.
Let’s put it all together. Salvation, build up, the Ancient One, burning heat, praise, gift of Yah. We drink from the wells of Yeshua, salvation and build ourselves up in our most holy faith, the Ancient One instills a burning heat within our hearts so that we may praise Yeshua, the ultimate gift of Adonai. It begins with Yeshua, it ends with Yeshua, just as the Word does. He is the Aleph and the Tav, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the song of thankfulness within me, and in this world, may He always be so with each beat of my heart. For I know that He is returning, and I will either be caught up with Him, or death will release me from these earthly bonds and in that day, I will forever tabernacle with Him and praise His holy Name.
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