Ezra 2 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence

Israel’s return to the Promised Land from their captivity in Babylon is considered to be a second exodus patterned after the Exodus from Egypt in the Biblical narrative that actually points us to a third exodus in Christ Jesus for God’s people out of Satan’s dark domain. And just as the initial generation of Israelites were called upon to construct a tabernacle of God at Mt. Sinai, the succeeding generation was called upon to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed, so now God is building a new temple on earth through the Church with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.

Notice in v.2 that there are eleven names recorded of the leaders of Israel returning to the Promised Land. More than likely, the scribe who copied this list of names omitted one by accident, for in a parallel account in Nehemiah 7:7 the same men are presented with the addition of Nahamani serving as a twelfth leader. But why is this detail important? The recording of the twelve names suggests that this returning group is a reconstitution of the twelve tribes of Israel as the people of God. In the same manner, Jesus chooses twelve disciples to again reconstitute the leadership of God’s people as the Church, and even in the New Heavens and the New Earth there are twelve gates and twelve foundations for the city bearing the names of the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel. This numerology is symbolic of God’s faithfulness to keep His promises to His people in every generation.

Just as the Israelites were counted twice in the book of Numbers concerning the first and second generations of Israel, so they are counted once again when they return to the Promised Land. First the leaders are counted, then the men of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the temple servants and the servants of the sons of Solomon. The whole assembly together was counted out to be 42,360, which is another number divisible by twelve showing that the fullness of God’s people had returned. Even though this group of Israelites is much smaller than those previous generations living in Israel, it is a complete group that returns with a wide variety of skill and ability, all of whom are needed both to rebuild the temple and to serve God in the worship of His name.

Notice not only that God had stirred up these people to return to the Promised Land but that he had also stirred their hearts to give unto the work of the Lord. Even though the Persian king Cyrus had promised them all the materials they would need to carry out the work, the leaders of the people still felt called to personally give freewill offerings unto the Lord giving cheerfully and not under compulsion. They were so eager to see the work of reconstruction started that they gave sacrificially unto the cause.

Additionally, notice how the people sought to maintain God’s holiness in their community by excluding those who could not prove their citizenship and their priestly status to serve in God’s temple. The following generation would struggle to maintain this holy standard as we see even the priests and Levites intermarrying with Gentiles, but for now with the joy of the Lord still fresh in their hearts, they were eager to give unto the Lord, to advance God’s name in the world and to maintain their own personal holiness. Whenever God stirs up his people to renewal and revival in the church, these three things always coincide. But whenever the hearts of the people grow cold, each of these quickly fall out of favor among the people.