Ezra 1-3: “Introduction To Ezra / God’s Heroes Who Left Persia To Rebuild The Work Of God”
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1. INTRO:
1.1. This graph depicts the timeline of the Old Testament, and note that where the book of Ezra lies is that period just after the 70 year Babylonian Captivity, or roughly from 600BC to 500BC:
1.2. Background:
When the Lord made the covenant with the children of Israel on Mt. Sinai, they as their part of the covenant committed to keep His law. The Lord later told Israel that there would be blessings for keeping His Law, which was their part of the covenant, as well as curses if the did not keep it (see Deut. 11:26-29, Deut. 27:12ff, Joshua 8:33ff). Yet Israel disobeyed the Lord their God and they worshipped other gods. As a result, in 740 BC Assyria took captive Rueben, Gad, and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh (see 1 Chron. 5:26, 2 Kings 15:29). Then, in 722 BC Samaria was taken captive by Assyria along with all the surrounding territories in the northern kingdom (see 2 Kings 17:3-6). The northern kingdom’s tribes never returned from captivity but were assimilated into Assyria and the surrounding nations.
The Assyrians eventually brought deportees from elsewhere to Samaria (2 Kings 17) and they intermingled with the Jews left there resulting in an amalgam of people and religions based around a temple they built on Mt. Gerazim. These are the Samaritans that you meet in the New Testament when Jesus witnesses to the woman of Samaria.
After the northern kingdom was taken captive, the Old Testament prophets tried to warn the southern kingdom that they too were going to be taken captive because of their idolatry, for instance:
· Jeremiah 4:20: “20 Disaster on disaster is proclaimed, For the whole land is devastated; Suddenly my tents are devastated, My curtains in an instant.”
· Jeremiah 25:11-12: “11 ‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.”
· Ezekiel 7:20-27: “20 ‘They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. 21 ‘I will give it into the hands of the foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. 22 ‘I will also turn My face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it. 23 ‘Make the chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 ‘Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the pride of the strong ones cease, and their holy places will be profaned. 25 ‘When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. 26 ‘Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27 ‘The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’ ””
· Isaiah 6:11-12: “11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, 12 “The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”
· Isaiah 11:11-12: “11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea. 12 And He will lift up a standard for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.”
· Isaiah 39:5-7: “Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts, 6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ””
The Jews of the southern kingdom refused to repent when the prophets warned them. As a result, Babylon originally invaded Judea, the southern kingdom of Israel, in 606 BC. Harper’s Bible Dictionary states how Babylon later, “deported Jehoiachin and other members of the royal family in 597 b.c., together with leading military men, military personnel, and craftsmen (2 Kings 24:15-16); a second deportation followed in 587 b.c. consisting of survivors in Jerusalem and deserters (2 Kings 25:11). Jer. 52:30 records a third deportation in 582 b.c. The numbers are differently computed: Jer. 52:30 gives a total for all three deportations of 4,600; 2 Kings 25:14 has 10,000 for 597 b.c. alone. Similar policies are attested for the Persians and for later Greek and Roman rulers.” When Babylon deported the Jews in Judea in 587 BC, the temple was destroyed, the wall of the city knocked down, and the houses razed.
Jeremiah the prophet had sent a letter to the Judean captives in Babylon telling them that they would be released from captivity from Babylon after 70 years and would go back to their land, and therefore the people were to build houses, plant gardens and eat their produce, and even marry and have children in Babylon (iow they were not to worry and just live a normal life there in Babylon): Jeremiah 29:1-13, “1 Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7 ‘Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’ 8 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 ‘For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord. 10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
One thing to realize is that there is really no way to come up with an exact 70 year period for the captivity of Judea in Babylon based upon the dates when the captives were taken matched up with the three delegations of returnees to Israel. We must just accept the Lord’s accounting of the time of captivity and know that it was roughly 70 years in duration.
Cyrus the Great became the king of the Median Empire in 549 BC by displacing the Astyages, and he immediately began extending his empire in all directions. He conquered Croesus of Lydia in 547, and Babylon in 539 BC. The fifth chapter of the book of Daniel tells us the story about how that during the 70 years of Israeli captivity that Persia conquered Babylon without firing a shot. The handwriting on the wall at the party held by Belshazzar declared that the take over was a judgment against Babylon, and it occurred because they had taken Judea captive (even though they were doing so by the Lord’s doing).
When Cyrus came into control, you can see the Lord working in the background for Israel because he (Cyrus) evidently identified with the gods of the various nations (or superstitiously wanted their blessing upon him) and immediately began a policy of returning captive peoples to their nations and even helped to restore their temples and religious practices giving them no interference. This was not related only to Israel, but Israel benefited from it. Some have thought that Cyrus might have believed in the God of Israel, but it appears that he should just as much support for the pagan gods and nations as unto Israel and their God.
There is an amazing example of prophesy fulfilled later in history in the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 44:28, Isaiah prophesied about King Cyrus of Persia 100+ years before his reign, that he would be the one who would declare that Jerusalem and the Jewish temple would be rebuilt: “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’” Then, in Isaiah 45:1-7 the Lord spoke directly to Cyrus about his calling: “1 Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 2 “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. 3 “I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. 4 “For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me. 5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; 6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, 7 The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.” Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century wrote that Cyrus had Isaiah’s prophesy about himself read to him and that this led him to realize that he was called fulfill the prophesy.
The “Cyrus Cylinder” which was found in an archeological dig explains Cyrus’ sentiments in restoring the temples and religious practices of the nations that had been taken captive by Babylon: “I returned to these sacred cities…, the sanctuaries of which have been in ruins for a long time, the images which (used) to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I (also) gathered all their (former) inhabitants and returned (to them) their habitations… ‘May all the gods who I have resettled in their sacred cities ask daily Bel and Nebo for a long life for me…; to Marduk, my lord, may they say this: “Cyrus, the king who worships you, and Cambyses, his son…” ’
Around 538 BC, Cyrus made a declaration that the Jews who desired to return to their homeland could return and rebuild their temple, and this would all be done at Persia’s expense. Zerubbabel and a company were sent out for this task. From around 538 BC to 516 BC this effort went on (minus 10 years of inactivity where the people out of fear concentrated just on building their own houses). Ezra chapters 1-6 deal with this time, minus a digression from 4:6-23. The first six chapters of the book of Ezra deal with a time when Ezra was not even in Israel, for he didn’t return to Israel until 60 years after Zerubbabel built the temple. Ezra does not appear in the book of Ezra until chapter 7 which then details events that occurred almost 80 years after Zerubbabel was sent to Israel. Ezra was sent out from Persia with a delegation around 457 BC. Ezra was a priest and didn’t build anything per se, as did Zerubbabel and Nehemiah. Ezra was a reformer through and preached and interpreted God’s word to the people, and he led the children of Israel to get their hearts right with God.
So, to recap, all in all there were three companies sent out by Cyrus:
1) Zerubbabel was sent to rebuild the temple (538 BC).
2) Ezra took a group to begin rebuilding the city (458-457 BC).
3) Nehemiah was sent to rebuild the wall around the city of Jerusalem (445 BC), a task that was miraculously completed in a mere 52 days.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah lists the approx. 50,000 people’s names who returned because of their undertaking the very ardous and dangerous 4 month journey (900 miles) back to Israel, while carrying supplies, to rebuild the city, temple, and wall. Their sacrifice and dedication qualified them to be heroes before the Lord, and it is for this reason that their names are recorded for us.
The people under Zerubbabel’s leadership were originally about the business of rebuilding of the Temple for about six years, but soon they ran into some very significant opposition in the form of very powerful men, and they succumbed to fear and ceased to work on the Temple in 530 BC. For about 10 years after this they built their own houses and concentrated upon nurturing their own personal lives and desires.
Haggai received a word from the Lord that the reason why the people’s crops failed and their resources constantly dwindled was because they had abandoned the work that the Lord had given them to do. They had been commissioned before the Lord to rebuild the temple and had left depending upon God’s promises that they would return and successfully rebuild the city and temple. But, they had given up. Now, they needed to repent and get back to their original calling and commission, and Haggai is told that the Lord will be with them and give them success in their endeavor. However, they must take courage in this word from God and have no fear, in order to see it fulfilled. The people heeded his word in 520 BC and began the work again and the temple was completed in 515 BC.
1.3. The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther reveal a time when God’s people were being called to rebuild the work of God. The first thing that needed to be done was that the people needed to get their lives right with God, and thus Ezra will be a spiritual reformer. But, the people were also facing formidable opposition to restoring the work of God, in the form of powerful governors and rulers in the land they were returning to. The people had to work on rebuilding their temple, city, and city wall while also being ready for attack at any time. These books give us great encouragement in our modern day in which we in the church are seeing the work of God needing to be rebuilt as so many churches have turned away from their calling and commission. The work of God is arduous because most people resist God working in their life. We have spiritual warfare that we continually have to face as we are being true to our calling. We also must take courage from God and not be persuaded by fear to compromise or abandon our calling.
1.4. Contemporary application we saw this week from the book of Haggai:
Haggai was called to encourage the people in Israel to get back to their commission to rebuild the temple because for 10 years they had quit that work succumbing to fear from the powerful leaders over the land. He tells them that the reason that there are having the trials they are going through, the harvests not being plentiful, and all of their money and goods flowing out of their hands like water, is because they are being disciplined by the Lord for getting away from their calling and commission. He tells them that the Lord will be with them, and thus they get back to the work. Today, in our world we in the church are facing similar formidable circumstances as the people. The church has gotten away from the things that it was called to be and to do, its commission. It just may be that the reason why America’s economy has recently collapsed and there seems to be no way to rectify it and put every company upright is because God is finally bringing judgment to the church. The scripture has said that judgment will begin with the house of God, and it appears that in America virtually everyone is being humbled and stretched financially in every direction. I submit to you that perhaps the recent tribulations that have been coming upon our American economy with its collapse are occurring because this judgment is beginning. The church needs to wake up, and we in the church need to realize that the only hope for our country is for the church to get back on track and get back to the basics in fulfilling the Great Commission.
1.5. The book of Ezra tells us about the events that occurred when the children of Israel in that first delegation under Zerubbabel were sent back by King Cyrus to rebuild the temple.
2. VS 1:1-5 - “1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: 2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 ‘Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 ‘Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’ ” 5 Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.” - Cyrus issues the decree to the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple
2.1. Seventy years had passed of their captivity, now Jeremiah’s word in Jeremiah 29 is being fulfilled. Many probably thought there was no way that God could ever return the nation from captivity in Babylon and restore the temple, city wall, and houses, but God’s faithfulness and power is revealed in this story. There is nothing that is too difficult for the Lord!
2.2. We see here that the in the very first year of his reign that the Lord ‘stirred up the spirit of Cyrus’ so that he proclaimed that ‘The Lord the God of heaven’ had not only put him over all of the kingdoms of the earth, but also had ‘appointed’ him to ‘build Him a house in Jerusaelm.’
2.3. We don’t know if before making this proclamation that Cyrus knew about the prophesy made by Isaiah 100+ years before he became king about him allowing Israel to return to her land (Isaiah 44:28, and 45:1-7), as the historian Josephus declared had happened.
2.4. Cyrus’ declaration is made to ‘every survivor’ to go back to the land of Judea, and this includes also a command by the king to ‘let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’
2.5. Note that those who were returned to Judea were ‘everyone whose spirit God had stirred up to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord.’ Many Israelites stayed behind in Babylon because their fervor and zeal for the Lord and His work had dwindled so significantly that they wanted to continue with the new life they had build in Babylon, even if that meant that they could not obey and worship the Lord in the way that the Lord had commanded them.
3. VS 1:6-11 - “6 All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; 8 and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9 Now this was their number: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.” – The people around the Jews gave theme great gifts of silver, gold, goods, cattle and various valuables as a free will offering to take with them back to Israel, and then the articles of the house of the Lord that were taken from Israel by Nebuchadnezzar when Israel was taken captive were return to the Israelites to take back to their own land
3.1. God aroused the people through the King’s decree. The response to the king’s command is seen here, ‘all those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables.’ Plus, there was also a ‘freewill offering’ that was given to the ones departing back to Israel.
3.2. Further, all of the articles which had been taken out of the house of the Lord under Nebuchadnezzar were given to the returning Israelites so that they could also put these things into their temple when they rebuilt it.
3.3. All of these articles of silver and gold from the previous temple were given to ‘Sheshbazzar’ and he brought them back to Jerusalem. Most believe that this man was also named Zerubbabel, and that he was the man who was sent back on this first delegation to rebuild the temple of the Lord, and who is also mentioned 20 times in the Old Testament books. Confirmation of this can be seen in that Ezra 5:16 states that “Sheshbazzar” laid the foundation of the temple, while Ezra 3:8-13 and Zechariah 4:9 attribute this to Zerubbabel.
4. VS 2:1-58 - “1 Now these are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city. 2 These came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: 3 the sons of Parosh, 2,172; 4 the sons of Shephatiah, 372; 5 the sons of Arah, 775; 6 the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812; 7 the sons of Elam, 1,254; 8 the sons of Zattu, 945; 9 the sons of Zaccai, 760; 10 the sons of Bani, 642; 11 the sons of Bebai, 623; 12 the sons of Azgad, 1,222; 13 the sons of Adonikam, 666; 14 the sons of Bigvai, 2,056; 15 the sons of Adin, 454; 16 the sons of Ater of Hezekiah, 98; 17 the sons of Bezai, 323; 18 the sons of Jorah, 112; 19 the sons of Hashum, 223; 20 the sons of Gibbar, 95; 21 the men of Bethlehem, 123; 22 the men of Netophah, 56; 23 the men of Anathoth, 128; 24 the sons of Azmaveth, 42; 25 the sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743; 26 the sons of Ramah and Geba, 621; 27 the men of Michmas, 122; 28 the men of Bethel and Ai, 223; 29 the sons of Nebo, 52; 30 the sons of Magbish, 156; 31 the sons of the other Elam, 1,254; 32 the sons of Harim, 320; 33 the sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 725; 34 the men of Jericho, 345; 35 the sons of Senaah, 3,630. 36 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973; 37 the sons of Immer, 1,052; 38 the sons of Pashhur, 1,247; 39 the sons of Harim, 1,017. 40 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. 41 The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, in all 139. 43 The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, the sons of Hanan, 47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, 51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54 the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha. 55 The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, 56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Ami. 58 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.” - The names of the various people who had been taken captive from Judea to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar and now were returning to Israel with Zerubbabel are recounted
4.1. Approx. 50,000 people came out of Persia to build the temple to the Lord, and their names are listed here because they are God’s heroes. Their great sacrifice in traveling an ardous and dangerous journey of four months (900 miles) in order to then perform the ardous and dangerous task of rebuilding the temple and work of God in Israel was an incredible sacrifice, one which showed their true love and dedication to the Lord. Thus, these ones qualified to be named for posterity because they in God’s eyes were genuine heroes.
4.2. A lot of people can come along after a church has been built and established and have a ministry and be used of God through that church, however those who are pioneers in establishing the work of God have a special place in God’s estimation and a special reward by Him for this difficult work.
5. VS 2:59-62 - “59 Now these are those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan and Immer, but they were not able to give evidence of their fathers’ households and their descendants, whether they were of Israel: 60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 652. 61 Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was called by their name. 62 These searched among their ancestral registration, but they could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood.” – The names of those who could not prove their ancestral registration as Israelites from the archive of names and thus were not allowed to return to Israel are listed
5.1. There were some who wanted to come with the Israelites to rebuild the temple and cities, however for whatever reason they could not prove their citizenship as Israelites. There were two types of Israelites who were not allowed to return to Israel due to lack of proof of their Israeli descent:
5.1.1. Those who claimed to be of priestly descent, and this would be because the Law of Moses commanded that only the descendants of Aaron and Levi could do that work.
5.1.2. Those who were just citizens, and this was because everyone in Israel had been given property in the land, and there would be no place where they could live without first proving they were legitimate Israelites.
5.2. Proselytes of other nationalities were allowed to come because they had no inheritance in Israel, and thus these Israelites who couldn’t prove their Jewish identity were allowed to return under the status of a foreigner who was a proselyte.
6. VS 2:63-67 - “63 The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim. 64 The whole assembly numbered 42,360, 65 besides their male and female servants who numbered 7,337; and they had 200 singing men and women. 66 Their horses were 736; their mules, 245; 67 their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720.” - The number of humans and beasts returning to Israel are recounted, and an admonishment is given not to eat from the most holy things until a priest with the Urim and Thummim was found
6.1. Those who claimed to be priests of Israel yet could not prove their nationality were not allowed to eat any of the meat, grain, etc. from the offerings until a priest was found who could use the Urim and Thummim to test whether or not they truly were of Israel.
6.2. The sum of the number of each of the groups of people mentioned in the chapter do not equal the total given here of 42,360, and there have been a lot of different explanations that have been proposed for why this total 12,542 greater than the sum of the peoples listed. For instance, some have surmised that women, children, servants, etc. were possibly not included in the list. Interestingly, Nehemiah lists this same total of 42,360.
6.3. Even the number of beasts that were sent back to Israel are listed.
7. VS 2:68-69 - “68 Some of the heads of fathers’ households, when they arrived at the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to restore it on its foundation. 69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury for the work 61,000 gold drachmas and 5,000 silver minas and 100 priestly garments.” – When the people arrived in the land of Israel a free will offering was received from the people for the work on the temple
7.1. When some of the people got to Jerusalem and saw the house of the Lord, they gave generously of gold, silver, and priestly garments, in order that the temple might be restored and the house of God reopened.
7.2. Notice that they were not forced to give but rather that they gave ‘willingly.’ As we have observed in other studies recently, the Lord only wants us to give to Him when we do so from the heart and willingly.
8. VS 2:70 - “70 Now the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.” – The children of Israel all lived in their allotted cities when they arrived in Israel
8.1. The people moved back into the cities of their inheritance and surely began to restore their homes or rebuild on the same spot where they had lived.
9. VS 3:1-6 - “1 Now when the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers arose and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. 3 So they set up the altar on its foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the fixed number of burnt offerings daily, according to the ordinance, as each day required; 5 and afterward there was a continual burnt offering, also for the new moons and for all the fixed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered a freewill offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid.” – The children of Israel then built an altar to the God of Israel to offer burn offerings on it, and they offered these morning and evening continually, and they also celebrated the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) and the other feasts commanded of the Lord for all of the males in Israel
9.1. The children of Israel did not want to offend the Lord by not being able to offer sacrifices to Him, and even thought they had not yet built the temple, they built an altar so that they could at least offer burnt offerings to the Lord.
9.2. Without the temple and the priesthood restored the children of Israel could not offer all of the sacrifices as required by the Law of Moses. But, they could now at least offer burnt offerings, and when the seventh month came they observed the Feast of Booths as the Lord commanded that it be observed with sacrifices for each day of the festival.
10. VS 3:7-9 - “7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the permission they had from Cyrus king of Persia. 8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites from twenty years and older to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. 9 Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God.” – The children of Israel gave money to the masons and carpenters, as well as food, drink and oil, and, in the second year after they arrived they began the work they had been appointed by the Lord, and the Levites were appointed to oversee the work of the house of the Lord
10.1. Now the people who had returned to Jerusalem gave money, food, drink, and oil, whatever was of value to masons, carpenters, and people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar wood, all for the construction of the temple.
10.2. This was done with the permission that they had been given by King Cyrus of Persia who had sent them out.
10.3. In the ‘second year’ in the ‘second month’ since they came to Jerusalem to build the temple (including Zerubbabel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, the high priest), the people who had returned ‘began the work,’ and they appointed the Levites twenty years and older to oversee the work of the house of the Lord.
10.4. Jeshua, Kadmiel, and Henadad, and their sons oversaw the workmen in the temple.
11. VS 3:10-13 - “10 Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord according to the directions of King David of Israel. 11 They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.” – When the foundation for the temple of the Lord had been laid the people sang, praised the Lord, and gave thanks to Him, and all of the people shouted with a great shout, but many of the older men who were priests and had seen the temple in its greatness wept, so there was a combination of weeping and shouting amongst the people
11.1. When the foundation of the temple of the Lord was finally laid, the priests stood in their priestly apparel and sang praises and gave thanks to the Lord as they played trumpets, and the Levites played cymbals following the directions of King David the Psalmist. The people sang to the Lord, ‘For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.’
11.2. As they worshipped the people also ‘shouted with a great shout.’
11.3. Interestingly, though the younger men were exuberantly shouting in their expression of worship, the older men who had had the experience of seeing the temple of the Lord in its glory ‘wept with a loud voice’ when the foundation of the Lord was laid. The combination of the two sounds must have made for a very chaotic and indistinguishable result.
11.3.1.In the church, there is always a combination of the younger men who have great zeal which can often be misguided and untamed, and older men who have lots of experience and are weary of taking too many risks. Younger men need to look to the older experienced men as mentors and teachers, while the older men need to be careful not to discourage the zeal of the younger men, as they also realize that part of learning involves taking risks and even failing.
12. CONCLUSIONS:
12.1. What a blessing it is to be noted as one of God’s heroes. Always keep in your minds that pioneering work in God’s kingdom will yield a great reward to you.
12.2. Take courage and do not be persuaded by your fears from fulfilling your calling and commission from the Lord. The Lord will be with us as we are faithful to what He has called us to do.