EZRA 8: THE SECOND WAVE

 

Roll Call

8:1-14

Ezra gives us a detailed census of those who gathered to go to Jerusalem. You can again see that genealogy is important to the Jews. “Son” here means descendant, not a direct father son connection. Two men of the priestly line came, one of the line of Phineas, who was Gershom, and one of the line of Ithamar. Since Ezra was also of the line of Phineas, he and Gershom were related.

There is one descendant of David named Hattush. He is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:17-24, which lists men in the line of David, including Zerubbabel. He, therefore, would be a relative of Zerubbabel, who led the first group of exiles to Jerusalem 80 years before. He was Zerubbabel’s great great grand-son. So, God continued to preserve the line of David as he promised, so that the Messiah and Greater King would come from David’s line. 

Some of the men were labeled “leading men”. (16) They must have been leaders in the Jewish community in Persia. There were also “men of insight”, which probably means they were experts in the law. 

Interestingly, there are 12 identifiable families in this list, just as there were 12 tribes\families of Israel who made the first exodus. All but one of these had family members listed in the first group that went to Jerusalem under Cyrus’ decree. So, the first journey divided some families who are now reunited in later generations. 

8:15-20

Gathering the Levites

Chapter 8 and 9 are written in the first person (“I”). This section must be from Ezra’s personal record of the events. 

The group assembled at the river and Ezra reviewed who was there and who was not. He discovered that no Levites had come. That was not acceptable to him, because he needed them to serve in the temple and to help teach the law. 

So, Ezra sent for them, asking them to send ministers to the temple.    He sent leading men and men of insight, who were likely teachers of the law. Ezra must have thought these influential people could persuade the Levites to come. 

And some did come. Ezra credits God for this, saying the good hand of our God was on us. (18) One in particular was valuable, for Ezra called him a “man of discretion”. (18)

This group is much smaller than the first group to leave Persia, maybe ten percent of that group.

 

8:21-23

Fasting

Once everyone arrived at the river, Ezra proclaimed a fast with prayer. This shows you he was a respected man having the authority to call for a fast and to be obeyed. The purpose of this fast was to humble themselves before God and ask him to give them a safe journey. He believed God could protect them from robbers on the road. 

Ezra added that he did not feel that he could ask the king for soldiers to protect them since he told the king the and of God was on them. God listened to their prayers and granted them a safe journey. 

8:24-34

Priests to Care For The Offerings

A great amount of wealth was being brought with the exiles to Jerusalem. Four months of being close to silver and gold can offer much temptation. To protect against this, Ezra gave the silver and gold to the priests to carry. He reminded them that they, as priests were holy. They were set aside for the work of the Lord. (28)

Ezra also told them the vessels were holy, to be used in worship in the temple. And the offerings were also holy because they were dedicated to the Lord. For a holy person to misuse or steal holy objects would be a great travesty, akin to Uzzah touching the Ark and dying. (2 Samuel 6:7) Further, according to the law, only priests and Levites could handle the instruments of worship in the temple. 

As an added layer of protection, Ezra told them the silver and gold would be weighed by the priests and levites at the temple, so they were accountable to have the right amount. And, indeed, when the came to Jerusalem, after three day, the presented the gold and silver and it was weighed and recorded.

8:35-36

Sacrifices Offered

Also at that time, the newly arrived exiles offered many burnt offerings, including one bull for each tribe of Israel. A sin offering of one goat for each tribe was also made. This is done even though only two tribes are present at this time. Symbolically, 12 represents the complete nation of Israel, for whom the bull is offered in sacrifice to atone for sins. 

Lastly, the king’s decree to support the Temple was delivered to the appropriate government officials. They obeyed the decree and aided the Jews and the beautification of the the Temple.

The business of the journey was complete. 

Takeaways

It was necessary to bring these Jews back to Judah to help repopulate their land.

It was necessary to bring Levites and temple servants back to maintain the temple and worship correctly.

It was necessary to bring Ezra to re-establish obedience to the law.

God did all these things to get his people back into living in a covenant relationship with him.

God gives us all we need to worship him and live according to his will; and he expects us to do it.