Those who willingly volunteered to live in Jerusalem were praised by the Jewish people who had returned from exile to rebuild the city. Rebuilding the wall and the temple in Jerusalem had made the city a focus of controversy among the surrounding peoples who lived there. So, anyone who chose to live in Jerusalem was taking a risk and making a personal sacrifice in order to reestablish the city’s existence. It would have been much easier and more profitable to live in the surrounding country where there was more land to cultivate and less possibility of violence. Yet, these faithful few “willingly offered themselves” to live in the inner city of Jerusalem in order to rebuild and secure it.
Today, there are believers who “willingly” move to inner cities with the express purpose of living out the gospel and establishing a gospel presence there. They move their families to places around the world, “willingly offering themselves” to dwell wherever the Great Commission carries them. Such are to be blessed by the Lord and the people of God.