Nehemiah 12:4 Meaning and Explanation

These are further heads of the priestly courses returning from exile. The house of Abijah is notable, for centuries later a priest of that same division, Zacharias, would serve in the temple and become the father of John the Baptist.

One small name in an old list reaches forward into the dawn of the Gospel. God's long faithfulness ties the returning exiles to the very threshold of Christ's coming. Nothing recorded here is wasted; the line of worship is being kept until the One it points to arrives.