When God Rebuilds... Ezra-Nehemiah Part 5 Ezra 2:59-67

                                                                                                                                           January 28, 2024

From The Series: When God Rebuilds…

Part 05 Unity in Community

Ezra 2:59-67

Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church

                This morning we are going to continue our series titled “When God Rebuilds…” from the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament.

                So far we have learned:

·         Where we are in terms of the history of the Bible.

·         We saw that we are close to the end of the timeframe for the Old Testament. In terms of chronological order there are really only the Books of Esther and the prophecies of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi left to be written. Possibly the Book of Joel as well. That Book is difficult to date. Then we will see the Intertestamental period of 400 years of silence from God before the arrival of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus Christ.

·           We next learned that God moved the hearts of men to allow the return of His people to Jerusalem from the exile of seventy years under the Babylonians. We saw how the LORD used the Persians to defeat the Babylonians and then God moved the heart of King Cyrus to issue the decree that stated it all.

·           Then we read how God moved the hearts of the family heads of Judah and Benjamin and the hearts of the Levites and priests to return to their land as well as labourers to do the work.

·           During this time, it was important to identify God’s people using genealogies to establish the legitimacy of their claims.

                This morning, we are going to finish up with this list of names, but today we are going to see that not everyone made the cut. Some were not able to prove their claim because they lacked the proper proof of their lineage. Some of these people were kept from pursuing their desired duties for the sake of preserving the purity of the group and the task at hand.

                So, we have to ask ourselves this morning, “So what?” “What does that have to do with us in Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church today?” Well, I’m glad you asked. I will tell you right up front what the application will be for us this morning. It is the title of the message: “Unity in Community”.

                We will see this morning that in the days of Ezra and the returning exiles, they had a preoccupation with the racial purity of those returning and the need to ensure that especially those who were about to resume the priestly duties were entitled to perform those tasks.

                Now, to our post-modern ears the use of the term “racial purity” has an uncomfortable ring for us. We are constantly being bombarded with messages of diversity and inclusion as being the ultimate goal for all facets of society. This may well be acceptable for secular jobs and tasks, but God calls us to a different standard.

                Throughout the history of the people of Israel (the Nation, not the modern country), we have seen that they were constantly led astray by the influence of their neighbors and the worshipping of other gods. This was one of the prime reasons for the forbidding of intermarrying by Yahweh. It was not just racial purity being protected but the fidelity of the worship from His people to the One True God.

                Is there a parallel for Christians today in the church? I think there is. Not in the sense of racial purity. Our salvation is not tied to our genealogies, nor is it determined by our skin color. As a matter of fact, as Christians, we should look past the outward appearance of anyone standing in front of us, and only see the person as an image-bearer of God. In terms of value and worth, we are all created equal before God.

                As Christians though, we are to be concerned with unity within our community. We are going to look at this more in-depth a little later in the message, I just wanted to plant that seed in your mind so that you will be looking for this application as we examine today’s passage. I will make this clear when we reach the appropriate part.

                Please open your Bibles with me to today’s passage in the Book of Ezra and chapter two starting at verse 59.

READ EZRA 2:59-67

PRAY

                Let’s examine these verses a little deeper together this morning. The towns listed in verse 59 are all names of Babylonian towns. This list signifies where the people listed below were coming from. Remember, these people would have been in captivity for seventy years, that’s almost four generations away from your land of ancestry. How many of us today could name the place where our Great-Grandparents were from? I know I cannot, but I don’t have any genealogical records either. We will see later in the chapter though that some of these people will know this information as they eventually return to their “own towns” as the Bible refers to the pre-exilic homes.   

                We also need to keep in mind that this was the fulfillment of a prophecy from Jeremiah. “I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God” (Jeremiah 32:37–38).

                We see they are coming from Babylonian towns but that is not their issue. Their problem is that they could not show that their families were descended from Israel. The person Israel, also known as Jacob, before he was given the name Israel by Yahweh. Jacob the grandson of Abraham. All these people returning to Jerusalem after the exile, were all to prove their direct lineage to one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the sons of Jacob.

                Keep in mind that the promised land was divided into regions and each region was assigned to a specific clan. Each clan was one of the sons of Jacob. Your genealogy was your ticket to your land claim. Hence the need to show that their families were descended from Israel (the person, not the country).

                In verse 60 we see the listing of three names. The number of descendants of these men are listed and we will see in future chapters, especially in the Book of Nehemiah that not all these people listed were friends.

                Let’s tackle the first name Delaiah (Dee-lay-ah). Delaiah is first mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:24 as part of the list of Royal Line after the exile. That passage is just a list of names so, no real need to turn there and read. There are four different Delaiahs named in the Bible indicating that this was probably a popular family name. A family that would be proud to trace its lineage back to the Royal Line of David. Here’s a teaser for a future message, Delaiah gives Nehemiah some really bad advice in chapter six of his book. Advice that Delaiah should have known better than to give, and probably did, this would indicate that Delaiah was looking to sabotage the entire mission of Nehemiah. As I said, that is for a future message.

                The second name in verse 60 is Tobiah one of Nehemiah’s archenemies. He is referred to as “Tobiah the Ammonite servant” in Nehemiah 4:3. The term servant is shorthand for “servant of the king” which was a position of a high-ranking Persian official. Although Nehemiah seems to portray Tobiah as a foreigner, he most likely was an Israelite serving as the Persian-appointed governor of Ammon. The name “Tobiah” means “Yahweh is good” or “My good is Yahweh,” and Tobiah names his son Jehohanan (יְהוֹחָנָן, yehochanan), meaning “Yahweh has been gracious” (Nehemiah 6:18).

            We will see later in the Book of Nehemiah that Tobiah conspires with Sanballat the Horonite and Geshem the Arab against Nehemiah. Keep the name Tobiah in mind as we progress through these books.

            The Book of Zechariah also lists Tobiah (with a slightly different spelling) among returning exiles in Zechariah 6:10. Later in verse 14 Zechariah collects gold and silver from Tobiah and the returning exiles to make the high priest’s crown. Tobiah and the returning exiles then care for the crown in the temple.

            The final name listed in verse 60 is Nekoda who is only mentioned by name here and in the corresponding list in Nehemiah verse 7. We see from the verse that the total number of returning descendants from these clans was 652.

            Verse 61. Now the list of unverified people returning turns to those who were claiming to be part of the priestly class. We will see that these people and the roles that they were hoping to fulfill were of a much more serious nature.

            We know about the same amount of knowledge about Hobaiah as we do about Nekoda. Little is known other than the fact that their names are only listed here in Ezra and the corresponding list in Nehemiah 7.

            Hakkoz is mentioned elsewhere, specifically in 1 Chronicles 24:10. Again, no need to turn there, but Hakkoz is listed as a member of the seventh division of service for the Temple in the days of the original temple.

            What King David did as part of the preparations for the construction of the temple, was that he took the total number of priests that were available and divided them into 24 different serving units which allowed a rotation of the work to take place and allowed the priests time off to be with their families. Hakkoz was one of the original names listed in this rotation.

            Apparently, sometime after this list was written, some of the descendants of Hakkoz were able to prove some sort of original tie to the Israelites because they were allowed to rebuild parts of the wall of Jerusalem as mentioned in Nehemiah 3:4 & 21.

            The third name in this verse is more interesting. Keep in mind that these are all descendants of the priests that are mentioned here. Barzillai the Gileadite was a wealthy Gileadite who remained loyal to King David and provided him with food when Absalom attempted to usurp the throne (2 Sam 17:27–29). Later, Barzillai escorted David over the Jordan River. When David asked Barzillai to accompany him to Jerusalem as a reward for his loyalty, Barzillai declined, citing his old age, and sent Chimham in his stead (2 Sam 19:31–39).

            Here’s where things get interesting. Barzillai was a Gileadite so how could he be listed as being among the priests? Only a member of the line of Levi could be considered for priestly duties. The explanation is found in the verse itself. Apparently, a Levitical priest fell in love and married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and took on her name and the familial name of her father. Why would an Israelite priest do such a thing? Keep in mind that members of the tribe of Levi were the only people who could not own land. Yahweh wanted them wholly dependent on Him and the gifts from the people to sustain them. Perhaps the wife of this man had no brothers, so the Levite allowed the man to legally adopt him and take on his family name to keep the land in the family. This was such an unusual occurrence, that scripture felt it necessary to record the fact for us to know for all eternity.

                Verse 62 concludes for those seeking full inclusion in the restoration work being started by these individuals. This latter group was identified as being excluded from the priesthood.

            This genealogical account of inclusion and exclusion represents the first “shot across the bow” in the books of Ezra-Nehemiah regarding what makes for a true member of the community in the new Judah. The standards of ethnic identity during the postexilic period follow the expected patterns of bloodlines and ethnic identity established during the patriarchal/ancestral period and through the time of the emergence of Israel in Canaan and the monarchy.

            Only the true people of God can inherit the promises of God. Only the true people of God can fulfill his purposes and carry out his work in the land, namely, the restoration of the worship and sanctity of Zion. Thus, this work must be protected at this time through the strict adherence to the Mosaic Law of the purity of the bloodlines. Not in a white supremacist type of way. I know this talk of racial purity is jarring to our ears, but Yahweh was insisting on it at this time as a means of protection for His small remnant of His people.

 

Who the true people of God were during this post-exilic period must be answered unequivocally and categorically. They must be tied to ancestral history, and the genealogies must provide incontrovertible evidence of inclusion (and exclusion). Their very survival depended on it.

Let’s pause here for a few moments in the explanation of the Old Testament example and let us examine if there is any real-world application for us in this passage. I feel that there is. As a church that is in a vulnerable position at the moment, we would be wise to follow the example that is laid out in God’s Word for us.

 

      The example for us to follow is making sure that those who join us in the work of the church share our vision and theological stance as a church. There is great wisdom in the accreditation process that the EMCC undertakes to ensure that those who are teaching in their churches are dependable and reliable theologically.

 

Too many churches are being devastated by allowing secular cultural standards to come into the church and corrupt the teachings. Just this past week, the Twittersphere was blowing up over a piece of audiotape that was released on Twitter from a very trusted teacher. Pastor Allister Begg from Truth for Life Ministries was doing a question-and-answer session for one of his radio broadcasts. Pastor Begg was also doing a series of messages in support of his new book titled “A Christian Manifesto”. The bru-ha-ha erupted when Pastor Begg answered a very culturally significant question from one of his congregants. A grandmother had asked for advice on how she should handle the situation of being invited by her grandson to his same-sex wedding.

 

Pastor Begg, suggested that the Grandmother attend the wedding and even bring a gift. Begg asked if the grandson was aware of her stance on same-sex marriage, and of her disapproval as a Christian woman. The Grandmother answered that the boy was aware of her feelings. Well, Pastor Begg then made his suggestion of attending as a manner of acting in an unexpected way and possibly opening the door to share the gospel and love of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Begg came under great fire for this answer and was given a chance to explain further or retract his answer and instead, Allister doubled down on his answer.

 

Here is a real-world example of how division can come into a community. If we are a group of Christians who are gathering together, worshipping together, and agreeing to live by the standards that God has laid out in the Bible, then we must agree to abide by those standards and not allow personal circumstances to change our perspective.

 

Here is an example from me and my life. I am now licensed in the province of Alberta to officiate at weddings, under the auspices of the EMCC. Before I was permitted to apply for this privilege, I had to sign a covenant with the EMCC stating that I agreed with and would uphold the EMCC’s stance against same-sex marriages. The EMCC also holds a tough line on performing marriages for those who have been divorced.

 

I cannot in good conscience come into this church and start advocating for same-sex marriages and my right to perform such ceremonies. That would violate my covenant with the EMCC and cost me my License, but more importantly, it would be a violation of God’s Word.

 

There is tremendous pressure from culture and governments at almost all levels for the normalization of same-sex marriage. Pastor John Piper and Pastor Voddie Baucham had an interesting take on the same-sex marriage controversy. Their remarks were not aimed specifically at Pastor Begg, but they were applicable, both Piper and Baucham stated that it wouldn’t be a real marriage in the eyes of God. As Christians, why would we attend a ceremony and celebration formally recognizing their sin of homosexuality? Would we attend a ceremony celebrating the 100^th bank robbery that our uncle committed? What about a celebration of our brother’s first murder? Would that be acceptable? What about celebrating the second anniversary of my sister’s ongoing extra-marital affair? I should be careful, because some of these things may also become socially acceptable soon.

 

But I hope you get the point. We must be careful who we put in positions of leadership within the church to make sure that there will be continued unity in the community. I’m not saying that we have to all think exactly alike and walk in complete lockstep for the sake of unity.

 

At the men’s meeting this past week we had a spirited discussion over a point of theology where we disagreed. From my point of view, it was a great iron-sharpens-iron exercise. What I enjoyed about the discussion was that it drove us deeper into God’s Word to find the answers. We weren’t just slinging opinions at each other or looking to our emotions to validate our perspective. Not once did any of us quote a celebrity or sports star to back us up. We simply searched the Scriptures in an attempt to determine what God’s will and perfect teaching was.

 

I want you to hear what I am also NOT saying here. I am not saying that if a gay couple were to come to the church we bar the doors and prevent them from coming in. NOT AT ALL. We are not to be exclusive when it comes to sharing the Gospel. Every sinner needs to hear the Gospel and the love that Jesus has for them. We do not get to preselect who the predestined are.

You are not God. Only God truly knows a man’s heart. During my training, I was not issued a Salvation Detector wand at Bible College. In my first year at Seminary, I did not take an election-detection course. We are simply to present the Gospel message, the unadulterated Gospel message to everyone that God presents in front of us and the Spirit prompts us to speak to.

 

I was witnessing to a person last week and they started saying that they thought that they were a good person and they were convinced that they were going to heaven.

 

I had to share the difficult truth that the Bible says in John 14:6, ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The World sees this statement as hurtful and bigoted. In reality it is the exact opposite. It is the most loving of all statements ever made to mankind.

 

Think about it, because of our rebellious Nature, we were in a state of animosity toward God, an outcast, separated from Him. The Israelites in the days that we are reading about in Ezra and Nehemiah were dependent on the rituals performed at the Temple to be able to approach the presence of God and have their sins dealt with and their prayers heard. They needed the intercessory work of the priest in order to approach God. They had to do their best to uphold the 613 laws that were passed down to them, in order to be considered Holy and worthy of God.

 

A nearly impossible task, which was the whole point of the exercise from God’s perspective. We needed to be shown that we could not be reconciled back to God the Father without His assistance. Instead, before the foundations of the world were laid, the Godhead conceived of a plan to reconcile us back into a loving relationship with our Creator.

 

TURN WITH ME TO PHILIPPIANS CHAPTER 2 STARTING AT VERSE 6

Philippians 2:6-11 tells us:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

⁷ rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Those last three verses refer to the return of Christ. When He first took on human form Jesus humbled Himself and bore the wrath that was due to us so that we could find a path back to the Father. It is only through the acceptance of this work by Jesus Christ that we will gain entrance to Heaven.

 

Scripture is clear, we do not have to purify ourselves before we do this, we simply have to confess with our mouth, that Jesus is Lord, that He is God Himself, and believe in our hearts that He rose from the grave after three days, and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father.

 

This amazing free gift that cannot be earned and we certainly do not deserve is called “Grace”. In Romans 9:16 Paul puts it like this, “¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

 

Friends, if you have not yet put your trust and faith in Jesus, do not delay, do it today.

Let’s go back to Ezra chapter two and finish up today’s lesson. Look at what the second half of verse 62 says about those who were claiming to be priests but couldn’t prove their bloodlines. “They were excluded from the priesthood as unclean”. Notice what it doesn’t say. It does not say that they were forced to leave Jerusalem. It does not say that they couldn’t be a part of the community in some other fashion. Later on in Nehemiah, we see a descendant of Hakkoz serving in the priesthood.

 

The same parallel applies to us in this church. We would be wise to delay putting people in positions of leadership until they have had time to establish themselves as walking faithfully with the Lord. I am not just limiting this statement to those who have just recently started attending services here. If we do not know to the best of our abilities where a person is with their relationship with Christ, we should not push them into a position where problems could result. The same goes for those who are new to the faith. In the best interest of them and for the church, those decisions should be avoided.

 

Look at Ezra 2, verse 63, what was decided, “⁶³ The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.” A decision was made that those priests who were questionable were not to participate until an inquiry into the divine will of God could occur. The method determined by the governor was the administration of the Urim and Thummim.

 

What exactly these were is not described in Scripture. We know that they were described as part of the Priestly garb of the High Priest and it appears that as part of the Ephod, the breastplate that the High Priest wore, there was some sort of folded fabric pocket located on the Ephod. The Urim and Thummim were either a jewel or polished stick of some sort that had an inscription on one side or both sides. A question requiring a yes or no answer would be asked of God by the High Priest and the two articles would be withdrawn from the Ephod by the High Priest and one of three answers was interpreted. The answer would be, “yes”, “no”, or “no Answer”.

Keep in mind that the Israelites did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and had to rely on different methods to determine the will of God. This was the method determined by the governor.

 

The most sacred foods that these individuals were barred from eating would have been the priestly portions of the offerings brought by the people that Yahweh allotted to support the priests and their families. Think about it, this would have put those individuals in a precarious position as the members of the tribe of Levi were prevented from owning land. They were to be wholly dependent on Yahweh alone for their sustenance.

 

But why was such care being taken in regards to who could perform these priestly duties? The warning from Number 16:40 comes to mind. For context, while they were still in the wilderness and shortly after the Tabernacle had been established, there were three family groups who felt that they were to offer up the burning of the incense before the altar.

 

In defiance of God’s instructions, 250 men went before the altar and attempted to burn incense to the LORD in bronze censers. Fire came out and burned the men alive and the LORD gave instructions that the censers were to be beaten flat and used to cover the altar as a reminder.

 

Numbers 16:40 tells us, “This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he would become like Korah and his followers.” We are living under a time of Grace and we take the absence of this type of punishment for granted at our own peril.

 

Moving on to verse 64. “The whole company numbered 42, 360,”. Again we have a math discrepancy between the previous sub-totals given and this grand total. It could be blamed on a scribal error, or this title may include women and the other total simply be referring to men and boys over the age of 12. Not everyone coming back at this stage would have been married, so the two numbers do not have to be equal as one might assume.

 

Verse 65 indicates that there were some affluent individuals arriving early, certainly wealthy enough to own slaves and the counting of the male and female singers would have been a luxury as these numbers are not associated with those recorded earlier in the passage with Temple worship. The number of livestock in verses 66 and 67 was also impressive, but note that these animals would have been working livestock used to transport people and goods.

 

CONCLUSION

                For the sake of unity in the community of this church, we should be prudent and be sure to vet and examine those that we are putting into positions of leadership.

                We are not looking for perfection, but rather a shared sense of mission for the church and a reasonable amount of agreement in our theologies. Can there be room for differences, on the minor issues? Certainly. Discussions must be had with respect and understanding and always with Scripture as the guide.

The most important thing is that we are to be welcoming and non-judgmental of those who come to us still trapped in their sin. Look for opportunities to lovingly share the Gospel and be on guard against the creep of culture in our relationship with Christ and with each other.

Doxology:

Numbers 6:24

²⁴ “ ‘ “The Lord bless you

and keep you;

²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.” ’

 

When God Rebuilds... Ezra-Nehemiah Part 4 Ezra 2:1-58

                                                                                                                                         January 21, 2024

From The Series: When God Rebuilds…

Part # 4 Identifying God’s People

Ezra 2:1-58

Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church

                We will be continuing our series titled, “When God Rebuilds…” This is our fourth message in this series. We started the series by completing a historical and chronological introduction to the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Next, we discovered that the Bible told us that God was at work in the life of the Persian King Cyrus and moved him to issue a decree ending the seventy-year exile under the Babylonians exactly as Jeremiah had predicted in Jeremiah 25:9-13.

                Last week we saw how God also moved in the lives of those that He had designated to return to the capital Jerusalem by “stirring in their hearts”. Yahweh stirred not only those He wanted to return, but He also stirred the hearts of those He needed to support His plans through various means of financially supporting those who would be doing the LORD’s work. This is a vital point, as God’s work needs the time, talents, and tithing of many to accomplish His Kingdom's work. We will also see in the coming weeks the benefits that will come for those supporting this Kingdom work. For there are benefits to those who support God’s work, both in the time of Ezra and for those of us today. But we will get to those benefits in an upcoming message.

This week we will be studying the list of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem to begin this restorative work. At first glance this may not seem very exciting, but “au contraire mon frere”, which is French for “on the contrary my brother!”

                This chapter may seem uninviting, for who would want to read through a long list of names and numbers from a foreign people group (at least to us) from some long-ago era of time? We will see that roughly 50,000 people were stirred by the Lord to return to Jerusalem.

                Chapter One focused on fulfilled prophecy through Cyrus’ decree. It was the restoration of Abraham’s seed (the people), and their repossession of the land (the place) after the exile (the time). We see how God’s plan of the people, the place, and the time was fulfilled precisely in the manner as He desired.

                In Chapter Two we will see a planting of this protected remnant in carefully prepared soil. Not just anywhere, but back in the heart of the Promised Land, the Holy City of Jerusalem. The top of Mount Moriah, the very place where God provided the sacrifice for Abraham, sparing his son Isaac. The name Mount Moriah translates as the “mount of appearance” referring to the place where Yahweh “appeared” to His people. It was seen as the place of dwelling for God among His people, echoing the purpose of the Tabernacle as described by God in Exodus 25:8.

                Before we get to today’s passage, I would like to give a bit more background on the genealogies that appear in Scripture and some of the purposes for these lists, especially in the books known as the “historical writings”. Genealogies served different forms and functions for each civilization throughout history, and we must be careful not to impose our purposes in modern times on these ancient lists.

                In the Bible, genealogies serve seven different functions, and we must take into consideration the literary genre or the type of book that we are reading when we come across the lists of names. We must let the context of the list inform us of the purpose of that list appearing in Scripture. Not every list of names serves the same function as other lists.

                Let me give you some examples to bring this to life for you.

                Let’s examine some of the purposes for Genealogies. There are seven different purposes in all, but we are going to touch on just five of them this morning. Four out of these five will apply to the passage we will look at in a little bit.

                The first purpose for a genealogy to appear in Scripture is the Social Function. This establishes a community between the groups listed. This purpose applies to this list of names. Remember we have a group of people who are two generations removed from the city that was their spiritual center for the entire Jewish community. Faithful Jews would go to Jerusalem at least once a year for the Passover Celebration and offer up their sacrifices for atonement to God. The lists in Ezra and Nehemiah do help to accomplish a social function for these lists of names. It is helping to reestablish a community here in Jerusalem.

                There is also a Theological Function for genealogies that appear in Scripture. These names establish a sense of continuity of the covenant people to give hope in post-exilic times. These people are coming out from a time of exile under Babylonian rule, and the list of names, particularly the names of the priests and Levites reassures those returning of the ability to resume their religious practices faithfully as instructed by Yahweh. It was important for those returning and for those who remained behind for the time being, to recognize that there was continuity in their relationship with the one true God.

                The Historical Function only slightly applies to the lists of names in these two books. The order of the information of the past is not so critical to understanding the purpose of the present actions as related in Ezra-Nehemiah. As a matter of fact, oftentimes, there occurs a collapsing of names in these lists, where generations are omitted for the sake of ease of memorization. Remember, during a time of exile, these lists would often be passed down orally between generations.

The fourth function of the genealogies was a Military Function which was used to classify people for purposes of clan involvement in conscription for government service, namely going to war. This function really doesn’t apply to this list other than the historical connection to the site of the Temple.

                If you recall, the account that is recorded in 2 Samuel 24 and in 1 Chronicles 21 where King David takes a census of all the fighting men in his kingdom. After this happened, the prophet Gad came to David with three options of punishment against Israel and David chose three days of plague in his land. On the third day, the LORD took pity as the angel that was sent to carry out God’s wishes reached Jerusalem and the angel was stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. The LORD then instructed Gad to go to David with these words, “¹⁸ On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

                The site of that threshing floor? Atop Mount Moriah, the place where David built an altar to the LORD, the site of Solomon’s Temple, the site where we will see Zerubbabel and Ezra rebuild the Temple, and the site that King Herod would later enlarge and renovate into the Temple that stood at the time of Jesus, the very same site known as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to this day.

                The final function of a genealogy in Scripture that we will look at this morning is the reason for the list in the passage that we will study today. Genealogies can serve as a Legitimizing function. These genealogies establish legitimacy for an individual’s inclusion in a group for purposes of establishing rights and privileges. That is the purpose of this list of names in the Bible. We see the LORD firmly establishing the rights and legitimacy of the first returning exiles to lay claim to the properties that they are about to inhabit.

                Through the genealogical record, the roots of these individuals can be confirmed. This is most critical for the priests and the Levites. This purpose of legitimizing is the primary purpose for all of the lists of names that we will see in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

                With all that background and scene setting completed, let’s finally open our Bibles or turn on our devices and let’s read together the passage that we will be studying today. If you did not bring a Bible with you, there should be one under one of the seats in front of you. Those are what we call our pew Bibles. You can turn to Ezra chapter 2 starting at verse 1 and you will find that on page 374 of the pew Bible.

READ Ezra 2:1-58

¹Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town, ² in company with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah (se-ray-ah), Reelaiah (ree-A-lye-ah) , Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai (big-vye), Rehum (ree-hum) and Baanah (bay-a-na)):

The list of the men of the people of Israel:

³ the descendants of Parosh (Pay-rosh)    2,172

⁴ of Shephatiah (chef-ah-tie-ah)   372

⁵ of Arah (a-rah)    775

⁶ of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) 2,812

⁷ of Elam    1,254

⁸ of Zattu (zat-two)            945

⁹ of Zakkai (Zak-cay-eye)   760

¹⁰ of Bani (Bay-nee)           642

¹¹ of Bebai (Bee-bye)         623

¹² of Azgad              1,222

¹³ of Adonikam (A-do-nay-kum)    666

¹⁴ of Bigvai (Big-vye) 2,056

¹⁵ of Adin (A-din)   454

¹⁶ of Ater (through Hezekiah)        98

¹⁷ of Bezai (Bee-zai)           323

¹⁸ of Jorah  112

¹⁹ of Hashum         223

²⁰ of Gibbar            95

²¹ the men of Bethlehem  123

²² of Netophah       56

²³ of Anathoth        128

²⁴ of Azmaveth       42

²⁵ of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth           743

²⁶ of Ramah and Geba       621

²⁷ of Mikmash        122

²⁸ of Bethel and Ai (Eye)    223

²⁹ of Nebo  52

³⁰ of Magbish         156

³¹ of the other Elam          1,254

³² of Harim 320

³³ of Lod, Hadid and Ono   725

³⁴ of Jericho           345

³⁵ of Senaah           3,630

³⁶ The priests:

the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua)         973

³⁷ of Immer (Im-mur)        1,052

³⁸ of Pashhur          1,247

³⁹ of Harim 1,017

⁴⁰ The Levites:

the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (of the line of Hodaviah)          74

⁴¹ The musicians:

the descendants of Asaph (a-sef) 128

⁴² The gatekeepers of the temple:

the descendants of

Shallum, Ater, Talmon,

Akkub, Hatita (ha-teat-ah) and Shobai           139

⁴³ The temple servants:

the descendants of

Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,

⁴⁴ Keros, Siaha, Padon,

⁴⁵ Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,

⁴⁶ Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,

⁴⁷ Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,

⁴⁸ Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,

⁴⁹ Uzza, Paseah, Besai,

⁵⁰ Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim,

⁵¹ Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,

⁵² Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,

⁵³ Barkos, Sisera, Temah,

⁵⁴ Neziah and Hatipha

⁵⁵ The descendants of the servants of Solomon:

the descendants of

Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,

⁵⁶ Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,

⁵⁷ Shephatiah, Hattil,

Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Ami

⁵⁸ The temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon           392

 

                Alright, let’s begin to look at these verses and names and see if we can’t make some sense of them and understand what the significance of them means for us today. In verse 1 we see these people are referred to as “people of the province”. What that is referring to is that they were people of the Kingdom of Judah, not some province in the Babylonian Empire. These were descendants of God’s own people who were given this land as a birthright.

                There is, however, a poetic structure to this list of names in the first verse of chapter two. The same list is presented in Nehemiah chapter 7, verse seven with the addition of one name.

                Nehemiah 7:7 reads, well actually starting part way through verse six, “(they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, ⁷ in company with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah):”

                The twelve names are reminiscent of the twelve tribes of Israel and a foreshadowing of the twelve apostles of Jesus. We will see in the future when we will explore Ezra 8:35 that at the return of Ezra to Jerusalem, the exiles will sacrifice twelve bulls “for all of Israel”.

                So why do we only see eleven names here in Ezra chapter two? The absence of the name of Nahamani is probably due to a copyist error. The list in Nehemiah is the more accurate and complete list. There are familiar names in this list, but the timing and geographical placement of these names in Jerusalem at this time rule out the fact that they are not who we think they are.

                The Nehemiah here is not the same Nehemiah from the book that bears his name. The other names apart from Zerubbabel and Joshua are simply common names for leaders of the different groups of people who arrived over the years.

                It is important to keep in mind that all of these people did not return at the same time, nor in the first wave of returnees. The return of all these people covered a span of over a hundred years.

                Let’s mention a little more here about Zerubbabel and Joshua. We saw last week the mention of Sheshbazzar who was given the title the Prince of Judah. We learned that Sheshbazzar probably arrived in 539 BC shortly after the decree was given by Cyrus and he had no royal blood. He was in fact a man of Babylonian birth who was placed in the position of governor for the territory over these returning exiles. This would have been a common action. A method of controlling the amount of power and independence a returning people group could have upon their return to their homeland. Sheshbazzar would have no familial links to the land and would thus be content to sit in his seat of power given to him by his Persian overlords. Sheshbazzar would have no desire to return Jerusalem to its former glory and independence.

                Zerubbabel did, however, have a royal familial link to Jerusalem. But he did not return until about the year 520 BC. We will see later in the books that Zerubbabel will be given the title of governor, so he likely succeeded Sheshbazzar in that position. Zerubbabel had royal blood as he was the grandson of King Jehoiachin and thus a member of the Davidic line. Jehoiachin was king when Nebuchadnezzar carried the Jerusalem elites off into captivity, and his uncle Zedekiah was installed as a puppet ruler.

                Zerubbabel is listed in both of the genealogies of Jesus that are presented in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke which allowed the fulfillment of the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the line of David.

                The other significant name in the grouping is Joshua and it is also spelled Jeshua whose Greek version of the name is Jesus. This is the same Joshua who is mentioned in Haggai and Zechariah and is identified as the High Priest in Zechariah 3:1. Joshua was the grandson of the last officiating high priest before the exile. The names Zerubbabel and Joshua are linked throughout these two books, which links the offices of king and priest in the minds of the reader. These are the two offices that Jesus fulfills on our behalf.

                Jesus is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords and He serves as our Great High Priest. Not in the same way that Joshua did for the returning exiles. Joshua was a member of the tribe of Levi and as a Levite, Joshua was allowed to assume the role of priest and even the role of high priest by right of his birth. But Joshua could not assume a royal role as he was not from the line of David nor from the tribe of Judah.

                Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, so He can assume the royal role, but how then can He act as our High Priest if He is not a Levite? The answer is found in the seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews. Turn there with me to Hebrews 7, starting at verse 11. You will find this on page 971 of the Pew Bible.

READ HEBREWS 7:11-28

        “¹¹ If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. ¹³ He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵ And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶ one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is declared:

“You are a priest forever,

in the order of Melchizedek.” ^w

¹⁸ The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless ¹⁹ (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

²⁰ And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹ but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind:

‘You are a priest forever.’ ” ^c

²² Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

²³ Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

²⁶ Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”

 

                Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, so He could not be a High Priest in the Temple. To allow for this inevitability and for the foreordained duty of Jesus as the redeemer of mankind back to the Father, a different priesthood needed to be established. A priesthood that was established before the twelve tribes of Israel were established and before the priesthood was limited to the tribe of Levi and the descendants of Aaron.

                This priesthood was the priesthood of Melchizedek in the city of Salem which eventually became the city of Jerusalem. Melchizedek is first mentioned in Genesis when Abraham meets him and gives him a tenth of all that he had. Thousands of years later, the very same site is where Jesus is crucified and where we just read, that He is appointed a priest of the order of Melchizedek. It is as a member of this priesthood that Jesus can do the intercessory work with the Father on our behalf.

                Sacrifices need not be offered up, as the Son was the perfect, once for all sacrifice that was found suitable and acceptable by the Father. We no longer need to bring gifts to God, instead, we are now able to accept the greatest gift from God, the gift of Grace. It is an atoning gift, a gift of forgiveness, a complete gift, not just an aid to help us along. Grace is all-encompassing and completely sufficient for our needs to bring us back into a right relationship with the Father. We become His adopted children, co-heirs with Jesus Christ who is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father, eagerly awaiting His return to Earth where He will claim His Bride, the Church.

                Friends, if you do not yet know Jesus in a personal and intimate way, then come talk to me after the service, and let’s have a discussion. Do you not see that all this was ordained and orchestrated by the Trinity before the foundations of the world were laid?

                OK, back to Ezra, as usual, we are running out of time. We see the names of the people and the numbers associated with them in verses 3 to 20 are descendants of one clan, and that chief’s name was Parosh. This is the only place in the Bible where the name of Parosh appears, but it is obvious that he a a leader of the clan.

                Verse 21 makes a transition where now the numbers are associated with the names of places rather than people. Verses 21 to 35 mention the names of towns and cities and their respective numbers. We see in verse 2 that not all these mentioned returned to Jerusalem, they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, “each to their own town”. We see that this would have been part of the larger infrastructure that would be required to support a city the size of Jerusalem. Someone would need to raise the livestock, and others grow the crops that would be needed to support the people in the city.

                Verses 36 to 39 list the members of the priests and we see that this list reverts to family names and clans. The important thing to note is the connection to Jeshua, the same person listed as Joshua in verse 2. That connection was what allowed the priests to legitimize their claim to those positions of authority to act on behalf of the people with Yahweh. King David has originally organized the priests into twenty-four family groups to allow them to rotate through their duties, but here we see that there list is down to four families and the list does not increase by the time we get to chapter ten of the book.

                The musicians and gatekeepers were lumped in with the Levites. The titles are indicative of their roles in the Temple duties, the musicians were the early worship leaders who were first organized by the musical King David, and the gatekeepers were literally those who held the keys to the doors and would unlock the Temple in the morning and close and lock the doors at night. The gatekeepers also watched over the treasury.

                The Temple servants as listed in verses 43-54 were the support staff that aided the priests in their duties. Those who cooked and cleaned and tended to their needs were known as the Temple servants. The total number is lumped in with the following group and is low. This could be due to a low response of those wishing to return to these lowly duties.

                This group may have been added by David’s son King Solomon as a supplement to those that his father had organized. Their duties may have been more secular than the preceding group.

                And that is where we are just about going to leave it for today except for the application for us. We have seen already a valuable lesson from these first two chapters of this book.

                God is going to keep his word no matter what obstacles are stacked against him! This means God acts not only at the level of international politics but also at the personal level to restore all things unto himself and his kingdom’s purposes. It means God sovereignly intervenes (in real ways) in time and space to do so. It also means the tangible removal of all obstacles to achieving those purposes. The significance of knowing that God keeps his word to restore all things unto himself, especially in times of separation from him due to sin’s consequences or on account of living in this world, is critical. Without such a worldview, we lose our view and perspective on life.

            This viewpoint is critical to keep in mind particularly when we find ourselves in the middle of tough times like we are. To us, here in the West, it seems like our federal leaders are ignoring us at best or intentionally trying to shut us down at worst. Our rights and freedoms appear to be under attack through various legislation. Everything from easy access to the news online, to being able to carry our groceries home in plastic bags. Who knew plastic straws were such a danger to our future selves?

            Words such as disinformation and misinformation are being thrown about with the government setting themselves up to be the arbiters of what is true or not. I have a sneaky suspicion that anything critical of the official stance will be deemed misinformation.

            What Ezra has shown us so far is the danger of trying to keep the sacred world separate from the secular world. With a proper understanding of the sovereignty of God, there is no need to. Rather than the two realms colliding with each other, the two worlds actually correspond to fulfill God’s purposes. Behind the scenes of national and international politics is a sovereign God using nations and individuals for the fulfillment of his purposes. The sovereign God is remembering his promises and covenant to Abraham here is Ezra, and He will remember His promises to us as well.

            It seems like God had given us over to ourselves for a period of time to allow our foolish ideas to run their course and expose the absurdity of the logical conclusions of these ideologies. We have seen the popularity of the Prime Minister plummet the longer that he has been given free rein. It appears our leaders have forgotten who they are ultimately accountable to.

            God’s sovereignty doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing for us in life. We will see in the coming weeks, how the returning exiles had obstacles and delays that they had to face and overcome as well. What is required from us is to maintain the faith.

CONCLUSION

                I will say this one thing in conclusion, it is not up to us to try and identify who is of God’s people. We are to share the Gospel freely with everyone, whether we have identified them as the elect or not, however, we may define that term. What we are to concern ourselves with is does our behavior and heart attitude identify us as belonging to Jesus. Is it obvious to others that we are one of His people? If not, why not?

Doxology:

                From Colossians 1:16-18, “¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”

Thank you and have a blessed week.