Return from Exile: Ezra 1-3 (3)

Pray Psalm 33.13-17.
The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
He fashions their hearts individually;
He considers all their works.
No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

Sing Psalm 33.13-17.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
God from His throne looks down on men; He knows our works and made our hearts.
Let not Your Church, let none depend on strength or skill or human arts.

Read Ezra 2.1-67; meditate on verses 64, 65.

Preparation
1. Who are these people?

2. How many people returned to Jerusalem and Judah?

Meditation
These verses are repeated in Nehemiah 7.6-73 and thus help to keep the two books together as part of a single story. The list of those returning from captivity is broken into several groups, as Earl Radmacher explained in the notes on these verses from the New King James Study Bible. First listed (vv. 2, 3) are the leaders, beginning with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the high priest (whom we will meet again in Zechariah 3). The second list (vv. 3-20) comprises those who returned to Jerusalem. Next (vv. 21-35), those returning to various cities, followed (vv. 36-39) by the priests, Levites (v. 40), singers (v. 41), and gatekeepers (v. 42; they were also Levites). The Nethinim (vv. 43-50, 58) were Levites “given” (from the Hebrew verb, נָתַן‎, nathan, to give) to the service of the sanctuary (cf. Num. 3.9; 8.16, 19). Next, counted with the Nethinim, are the sons of Solomon’s servants (vv. 55-58). Finally, a list of those who could not establish their genealogies but were clearly Jews (vv. 59-63).

As Dr. Radmacher notes, “The individual numbers in ch. 2 add up to only 29, 818. It is possible that the larger total [42,360, v. 64] includes women, who are not named in the lists.” It’s a large list, to be sure. But we perhaps can’t help but wonder why this was necessary. Genealogies and other lists of names mattered to the people of Israel and Judah because, in a certain sense, they established a claim on the promises of God. We should not think of the people listed here as an “honor roll”, for, as we shall see, they returned to Jerusalem and Judah with mixed motives.

Yet they might have been honored by their contemporaries in certain ways; but like many of those we elevate in our churches today, many of these returnees will prove to have had feet of clay and hearts of stone. We do better just keeping before us the One Whose Name is above all names (Ps. 16.8).

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
These people were survivors—persons who continued to live, especially after a dangerous event; or continued to function or prosper despite hardships. Indeed, these were the distant relatives of those who experienced slavery in Egypt for 400 years, and now those who had come through 70 years in Babylon.

For them, the words found in Jeremiah were being understood and lived out: “I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive” (Jer. 29.14).

And to the Church captive today, those same words apply. We claim those same promises of rescue and delivery. For the same problems and transgressions of God’s Law. Are we also merely hanging on as survivors? Or are we throwing life vests of hope to the struggling? (Prov. 24.11, 12)

God must be wondering how many times He must do this for His people? We have now been grafted into this long list of priests and Levites, Nethinim and singers, and gatekeepers and helpers (Rom. 11.17, 18); and we are made a special people all His own (1 Pet. 2.9, 10).

But this inclusivity comes with a warning: “Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (Rom. 11.20-23).

Those who are held captive by the enemy today should feel far more shame, because we have been given the possibility of being filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk. 24.49; Acts 1.8)—His gifts, courage, and power (2 Tim. 1.7). And His love for living within the Law (Matt. 22.37-40).

Although we probably don’t recognize family member’s names listed within this passage, we know that if we are living a life pleasing to God our names are written on several lists. Let’s see where:

“Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Ps. 139.16).
“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name. ‘They shall be Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts…” (Mal. 3.16, 17).

And then the list for the new heavens and the new earth:
“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it.
For the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light…
And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie,
but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Rev. 21.22, 23, 26, 27).

The fact that God has written—a special chapter in His book for each of His children, and a book of remembrance, and had godly people inspired by His Spirit to write the Bible, and then finally has written our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life—should daily spur us on to be more than survivors. We are to be enthusiastic and determined servants of the Most High God.

“I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Ps. 16.8). 

For reflection
1. God has written your name on His list, and you are His. What would you like to say to Him?

2. God’s list is a true “honor roll” because we are written there to honor Him. How will you honor Him today?

3. Whom will you encourage today to set and keep their focus on Jesus, exalted in glory?

An account was kept of the families that came up out of captivity. See how sin lowers a nation, which righteousness would exalt! Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ezra 2.1-67

Pray Psalm 33.18-22.
Wait on the Lord in prayer, asking Him to renew your hope, to provide all you need for this day, to strengthen and shield you as you serve Him, and to fill you with the joy of your salvation.

Sing Psalm 33.18-22.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
God watches those who fear His Name, who hope upon His grace and love.
He keeps their souls from death and shame who trust in Him Who reigns above.

God is our Helper and our Shield; upon us let Your grace descend!
We hope in You; to You we yield; we trust in Jesus to the end.

T. M. and Susie Moore

We are convinced that this new study, Return from Exile, will be one of the most important we have done. We encourage you to share this installment with friends. Use the icons at the top of this column to encourage your friends to join you in this study.

Two books can help us understand our own captivity and lead us to seek revival and renewal in the Lord. The Church Captive asks us to consider the ways the Church today has become captive to the world. And Revived! can help us find the way to renewal. Learn more and order your free copies by clicking here and here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available free by clicking here.