Nehemiah 12:43
Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.
The verse belongs to the dedication of the restored walls of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian captivity, in the closing part of Nehemiah covering about 446-408, at the last reform on his return to Jerusalem. Nehemiah was a governor appointed of the Lord and given the burden of restoring Jerusalem, working always with the highest good of Jerusalem in mind because the city was the Lord's city and the people were the Lord's people. He was impatient toward the people for slackness in doing God's work and indignant toward those sinning against God by uniting with the heathen peoples, even bringing them into the very temple itself, in a last reformation marked by ups and downs, battles and conflicts, defeats and victories. Before the dedication the priests and Levites purified themselves and purified the people, gates, and wall to prepare them. Then two great processions of princes, priests, singers, and people went up on the wall at opposite points and marched on top until they met and joined into one continuous procession around the whole city, then stood still to give thanks with gladness, thanksgiving, singing, cymbals, psalteries, and harps, while the singers sang loudly under Jezrahiah as overseer.
That same dedication day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy, and the wives and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off beyond the city. The great joy shows that when the work was finished God gave Jerusalem joy and carried His work to a glorious success notwithstanding every effort of adversaries to hinder it, connecting the completed work with joyful praise. This history is typical of God's work in other ages, especially in the last days. The verse gives a pattern for a Thanksgiving program kept as a great national thanksgiving day, in which true thanksgiving joins great sacrifices and material, practical giving with rejoicing to declare God's goodness and wonderful works. Its joy is an example for rejoicing over support for mission work and for trusting that God will finish His work.