Time Passes; Heads of Provinces
11 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. 2 And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
3 Now these are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah each lived on his own property in their cities—the [a]Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the [b]temple servants and the [c]descendants of Solomon’s servants. 4 Some of the sons of Judah and some of the sons of Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. From the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez; 5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite. 6 All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 able men.
7 Now these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah; 8 and after him Gabbai and Sallai, 928. 9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second [d]in command of the city.
10 From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God, 12 and their [e]kinsmen who performed the work of the [f]temple, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, 13 and his kinsmen, heads of fathers’ households, 242; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 14 and their brothers, valiant warriors, 128. And their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of [g]Haggedolim.
15 Now from the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; 16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the [h]leaders of the Levites, who were [i]in charge of the outside work of the house of God; 17 and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of [j]Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the [k]leader in beginning the thanksgiving at prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brethren; and [l]Abda the son of [m]Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 18 All the Levites in the holy city were 284.
19 Also the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brethren who kept watch at the gates, were 172.
While it doesn’t really come out and say it, part of the “volunteer” force was to make sure they had a fighting force that could defend the city against any enemies that might attack. Even though they were under the rule of a foreign power, the king was a long way off. And even among the subjects of that empire they had enemies like Sanballat and Tobiah.
Others, of the priests and Levites, were taking their shift in working at the temple, in whatever capacity their clan had been designated. However, they would no doubt be called upon in a battle alongside their kin from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah.
Even though they drew lots to see who would stay in the city, they are still considered “volunteers”. That may simply be because no one could force another man to stay and fight, or it might be that they were all volunteers who participated in the casting of lots. Whatever the case, everyone did their part to make sure Jerusalem was well kept and defended.
While our culture is different, we each have a role to play in God’s “army”. Some of us will literally defend our country, some will defend other countries, and some have completely different roles. Whatever the case, God has a part for each of us to play, and while no one is going to force you to do it, the part He has for you is just as important as any other. There are no “second fiddles” in God’s kingdom, we are all uniquely called for a purpose. Find your purpose, do it, embrace it!