Ezra 2: Responding to the Faithfulness of God

"Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. . . .Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their towns." Ezra 2:1, 70

Last week in Ezra 1, we looked at how we serve a promise-fulfilling, heart-stirring God, who was faithful to his people back in the Old Testament and will continue to be faithful to us today. But how do we, as the people of God, correctly respond to the faithfulness of God? God has been so gracious to us, how ought we to respond?

In Ezra 2, we find a giant list of the numbers of the Israelites who returned to Jerusalem after their captivity, each according to their family names. The list is similar to the lengthy genealogies found in scripture, and oftentimes we skip over texts like these, as if they weren't important. However, here at The Solid Rock Blog, we believe that all scripture is God-breathed and therefore useful (2 Tim. 3:16-17), so we therefore examine these texts faithfully to discern what they tell us about God, man, and the world around us.

The list of Israelites here can be broken down into a few categories. First, in verses 2-34, we find a record of the common men of Israel, each according to their family. Next, in verses 36-58, we find a record of the "officed" men of Israel, who had a given job based on their lineage. Notice here how the most important jobs, such as the line of priests and Levites, are traced. Without priests and Levites, there would be no temple worship, and without temple worship, no access to God. Although all of the other tribal lineages seemed to be lost in the exile, the Aaronic (priestly) and Levitical line was not lost, for without these Israel could not function. Let us note here the great wisdom and grace of God! Lastly, we find a list of the "untraced" Israelites in verses 59-63, who knew they were Israelites, but could not prove their lineage. A summary count of all these Israelites are given, totaling 42,360, (roughly half the population of Walworth county).

If you were to read all of these respective lists in detail (which I strongly encourage you to do!), you may perhaps be bored at the end. What are these lists trying to get across, and why are they so specific? Answer: these lists show to us the faithfulness of God in preserving his people. Remember how we noted last week how the prophets promised deliverance from exile to the people of Israel? Well, these lists give us proof that God fulfilled that promise, down to every single minute detail. God did not leave any stone unturned; he kept a remnant of believers, that even amidst exile, they would be rescued. Oh! The great and marvelous grace and wisdom of our God!

Yet the chapter does not end there. In the final verses, we see the response of the Israelites to God's grace upon them. They have now returned to their land, and what do they do? They offer freewill offerings to their God. In the Old Testament, a freewill offering was not required of the people at any time. It was simply given when one desired to show appreciation to God for what he had done for them. Here, we find the Israelites doing this. Not only have they responded with eagerness and obedience by returning back to their land, now they begin to worship the Lord their God, which we will see more in chapter 2.

Thus, we find our application this morning: God's children are called to be faithful to the God that has been faithful to them. As God had been faithful to deliver the Israelites from their physical exile thousands of years ago, much more has God, through Jesus Christ, delivered us from our spiritual exile. And since he has faithfully delivered us, what more could we do than respond to faithfully to Him by offering to him all of our worship and obedience (which are one, see Romans 12:1-2)?

So, let us forsake earthly treasures. Like the Israelites, let us walk away from the pleasures of our exile (which are truly no pleasure at all), and turn to full satisfaction found in Christ and in Christ alone. He has been faithful to save us; let us therefore respond in faith, repenting of our sins and grabbing hold of all that He has for us in Christ. Amen!