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 100th 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.” ’
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