Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / Ezra 2 (Part 1) Bible Study (The Exiles Return) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Book of Ezra Series)

Transcript

Ezra 2 (Part 1) Bible Study (The Exiles Return) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Book of Ezra Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Let's turn in our Bibles now to Ezra chapter 2.
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Maybe you're already there, but if you're here visiting us, if
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you're here joining us in this journey for the first time, we
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are beginning Ezra chapter 2. And before we start this new
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chapter, it's important to remember that the return of the
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Exiles from Babylon will very much mirror their removal from
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the promised land, in that their recovery and their restoration
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will not happen all at once. It will actually take place in
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three major waves. The first cycle will be led by a
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man named Zerubbabel, who we will learn more about tonight.
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The second will be led by Ezra himself.
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And finally, we will see Nehemiah guiding a remnant back
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to the promised land. Unless we think that these
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cycles happen in close succession.
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In reality, they all took place around 100 years over a span of
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a century, close to a century at least.
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So these these didn't happen one after another.
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There was actually gaps in between these movements.
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And in a moment, we're about to explore the very first steps of
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the first Jews who were in captivity for decades now,
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making their way back to what God had originally promised
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them. And the way the Holy Spirit is
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going to unfold this pivotal moment in the history of God's
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people is by recording and providing for us in remarkable
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detail the names of those who responded to the invitation
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given by Cyrus. Now, if we're honest, although
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the significance of this text is monumental, the content may not
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be the most exhilarating because if you look quickly, the last
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verse there, there might be a number.
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There should be a number in your Bible.
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At least we have the number 7070 verses of all virtually names
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with little commentary. And so at first we might be
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struck with the thought, what value does this provide God's
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people, especially today? Well, clearly it's meaningful,
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and not just because it's found in the Scriptures, but because
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this very same registry is actually repeated in another
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part of the Bible. This very same genealogy is
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found in the book of Nehemiah when he decided to update the
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population of the returnees and use this very same catalog as a
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resource. So if you like taking notes of
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references, here's one. To begin with, in the margin of
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your Bibles, Nehemiah 7 five. Let me read it to you.
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This is what he says as he's about to introduce almost a copy
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paste of what we're about to study this evening.
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Nehemiah 75 reads. Then my God put it into my heart
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to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be
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enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the
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genealogy of those who came up at the 1st and I found written
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in it. And that's where the verse ends.
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So this verse shows US1 what we already confirmed that what
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we're about to look at is the first way, right?
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Nehemiah says that himself. But I believe there are many
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reasons why this particular text would be valuable to the
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original readers. Let me give you a few.
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Number one, this was God's way of honoring those who made the
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sacrifice of going back to a land that was devastated,
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brought to absolute ruin, and left behind their community,
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left behind their success, left behind their comfort zone with
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the priority of rebuilding God's house. 70 years.
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Just imagine what your neighborhood would look like if
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it was unkept for 70 days. What about 70 months?
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70 years? This is not an attractive
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endeavor. This would be extremely
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challenging. This would be something that
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would demand much faith and again, sacrifice.
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And we could say right from the beginning, the fact that these
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names are mentioned is a way of God the Holy Spirit honoring
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those who took this bold action for His name's sake.
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Secondly, this would be a document that would grant
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confidence to the people of Israel about their covenantal
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relationship with God remaining intact, that despite their
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expulsion from the promised land, despite years of being
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separated from what God had granted them.
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This would reveal no, no, no, we have our identity still.
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We have proof that we are still connected to Abraham.
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So this would reassure the people of God that God has not
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abandoned us. He's not erased us from history.
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He still has a purpose for us. There's still hope.
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Finally, very close to the second point, this would also
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serve as a validation of the ancestry of the Jewish people
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for generations to come. For what purpose?
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Demonstrating that their return to the land was their inherited
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right. This is your right, people of
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Judah. This is your invitation to
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somebody that already belongs to you.
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And so we can look at this text as Christians and think this is
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irrelevant to me, but to the Jews, even to this day, this was
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a historical landmark providing so much promise and so much
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hope. But what about us?
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What does this text offer the Christian?
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How does this apply to those who have pledged their allegiance to
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the Son of God under the New Covenant?
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Well, this Bible study hopefully will prove that it has much to
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offer, but it will require patience, and it will demand
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careful attention in order to unearth the treasures within.
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And maybe you're like the average reader who comes to Ezra
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chapter 2 and immediately thinks, where do I even begin
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with interpretation or application?
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And I want to offer some help. The first step is simple.
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It's to read through this catalog and to realize that this
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long list of names and and cities and towns and numbers are
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actually grouped differently. And though you may have
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different people group these sections and these different
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categories, there's debate about what should be included, what
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should be excluded. Personally, I think that there
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are 8 solid classifications, 8 solid classes, groups,
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distinctions of those who will make their way back to the
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promised land. And when you understand that and
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you make that distinction, it makes all of this a lot more
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manageable. It's not as overwhelming.
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And so tonight, we're not going to look at all 8.
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Originally, I thought we're going to complete this chapter
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in one sitting, but then as I looked more carefully, I
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realized that there's too much too much here for us to rush
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through. And so we're actually only going
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to go through three. We're going to look at the first
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3 and I'm sure you'll see why we need to do that.
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And so let's begin here by reading the first group
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mentioned in Ezra 2, one to two. Now these were the people of the
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province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles from
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whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried captive to
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Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and
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Judah, each to his own town. They came with Zerubbabel,
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Joshua, Nehemiah, Soraya, Realiah, Mordecai, Bilshan,
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Mizpahr, Bigvi, Rehum, and Banna, the number of the men of
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the people of Israel. We'll stop there.
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Can we pray and ask God's help? Lord, we pray that in a perhaps
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intimidating text like this, you would bring illumination in a
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way that would bring you so much glory, in a way that would
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captivate all our hearts to stand in awe of Your Word.
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So we need the help of the Holy Spirit to arrive there, and we
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have come in faith, trusting that you will teach us and that
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Lord, you will receive worship because of it.
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We thank you in advance. In the name of Jesus we pray.
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Amen. If you're taking notes again,
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the first group that is underscored here are the
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leaders, the leaders of this first movement, this first wave
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of exiles returning to the land. And as much as we would like to
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think that the Nehemiah and Mordecai that are mentioned in
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these verses are the same ones from the books that we are
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familiar of Nehemiah and Esther, they are not.
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They come much later in the story.
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And you just have to remember that there are people even in
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biblical times that had the same names and every generation had
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popular names, and these might be some of them.
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So these are not the same characters.
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What we are faced with instead are unfamiliar individuals, 11
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of them to be exact. But when you look at Nehemiah's
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version, there is an added name bringing the total to 12.
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And it could be that the number 12 in terms of the leaders is
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meant to symbolize the totality of God's people who are now
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being restored to the Lord and their covenantal relationship
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with Him. What is more obvious, however,
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is that the leader of the leaders is Zerubbabel.
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He's the first one mentioned and as we read through this story,
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we will learn that Zerubbabel was the appointed governor of
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the re established inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah and will
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play a key role in rebuilding the temple.
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But he's more than that. More texts will show that
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Zerubbabel was not just a trusted leader, he was a
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descendant of David. He's actually from the royal
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line, which again makes him the heir to the throne, but also the
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ancestor 1 ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Zerubbabel appears in another genealogy, the one that belongs
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to our Lord in Matthew 112 to 13.
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His name is found there. Now this is remarkable.
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This is this is where we need to pause and ponder because if you
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do, you will relish in the depth of God's faithfulness.
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Think about it. God did not just preserve his
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people over these 70 years in exile.
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He did not just safeguard the articles of the temple.
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He actually protected the Davidic line.
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He did not abandon or forget his messianic plan.
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This is amazing against all odds, through so much
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decimation, devastation after years and years and years of
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captivity. One of the first things we learn
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in this chapter is that God still has the promise he made to
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David in mind, and He wants us to see his faithfulness in it.
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But the royal line is not the only thing that he preserved.
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There's also the priestly line. How do we know that with a name
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that comes immediately after Zerubbabel?
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Joshua. Is he not there?
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Joshua. Now Joshua, if we look at Ezra
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3/2, look at it quickly, just flip over there for a moment,
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you'll realize what his role is among the leaders.
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It says you're in Ezra 3, two. Then arose Joshua the son of
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Josadak with his fellow priests, and Zerubbel the son of Shaltial
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with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel
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to offer burnt offerings on it. He's a priest.
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He's a priest, but when you read texts like Hegei 11, for
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example, he's not just a priest, he's the high priest of this
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time. This is fascinating.
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So you have in the first names mentioned in this genealogy, a
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call to remembrance that God has now preserved the royal line and
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the priestly line. And as encouraging as this is,
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as much as this duo will do much for the restoration of the
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people of God and their walk with God, right?
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Because what we're going to find is that they are working side by
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side frequently. They're mentioned together.
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They're almost inseparable in their partnership.
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They point to a coming leader. They point to one who will
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combine both offices, who'll be both king and priest, and he
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will do something far greater what they were able to
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accomplish. He will bring the people of
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Israel to an everlasting covenant, to a superior way of
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worship, to an ultimate relationship and contract with
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God. And we know that the Hebrew
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Scriptures predict this in the person of Jesus Christ.
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That leader arrived 2000 years ago, and we are living in the
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reality of the captain of our salvation, who is still now not
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just drawing the Jewish people, but all nations, and he's
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delivering them and he's rebuilding them, and he is, more
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importantly, regenerating them, and He's creating a new people
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in preparation for his Kingdom to come and to be established
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for all eternity. Who thought that we can find
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Christ in a text like this? But he's there.
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Zerubbabel and Jeshua, yes, separately, but working
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together, pointing to one who combined these things, the seed
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of David and a priest after the order of Melchizedek, Jesus
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Christ of Nazareth. But before we move on, we also
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have to observe something practical about these leaders.
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They show the importance of leadership, and this is
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something for us to consider even as Christians, as the
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Church of Jesus Christ. I find it fascinating that when
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the Lord stirred the hearts of this remnant to return to
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Jerusalem, that move of the Spirit led to structure and
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order, not chaos and confusion. When the Spirit of God was
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working in the hearts of the people, you didn't have these
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Jews saying every man for himself, every family for
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himself, and independently make their way back home.
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Evidently they rally together and they put some structure.
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They appointed their leaders and they understood their own
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separate roles. And here's the lesson for us.
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There are many ways, even unique ways, that a move of God, a work
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of God, can begin. But in order for that work to
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last, it requires proper, biblically qualified leadership,
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among other things. You see, without spirit
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appointed leadership, a genuine move of God becomes vulnerable
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to many dangers that can spoil or even snuff out that work.
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That's important in a day and age like today.
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That is vehemently against the idea of authority, but you find
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this principle throughout the Scriptures.
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The one that came to mind is what Paul instructed Titus in
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Titus 1/5 and Titus 15. Paul says This is why I left you
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in Crete, that you may put what remained into order and appoint
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what elders and every town as I directed you.
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That was one of the priority things that Paul instructed
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Titus when he had left them back in this region.
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So you had evidently souls who were saved in Crete.
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We don't have any record of that in Acts or other places in the
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New Testament, but clearly it happened.
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Souls were saved and one of the first top things that needed to
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be done almost with urgency. Find leaders, find pastors
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qualified, called by God so they can supervise and they can
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supply the needs and they can shepherd these souls.
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This is amazing. God is a God of order.
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God is a God who has given us a blueprint, A blueprint that has
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positions, a blueprint that calls for accountability, A
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blueprint that again calls for organization.
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Because, again, God's Spirit can do many things, and He can do it
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in things in ways that can't even be copied.
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But if that thing is going to last, it needs to have, among
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other things, qualified leadership.
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Be careful of those who downplay or ignore the necessity of the
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local church elders. Accountability.
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God has commanded certain things to be in place in order for His
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work to be sustained through His people.
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So those who promote and even teach, oh, we don't need this
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and we don't need that. I have me and my Bible.
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We'll read it carefully and see what it asks of you.
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And if you read it honestly and in humility, it's going to lead
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you to a church and it's going to call you to identify and
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prayerfully select leaders who will be held accountable for
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supervising your soul. They will stand before.
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There is going to be a separate line on Judgement Day for
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pastors realize that according to James three, those who teach
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God's word and so leadership needs to stand in awe of God and
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the people of God also need to stand in awe of God and both
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realizing their need for one another.
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More can be said about that. But this is the first group, the
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leadership of this movement. But we move on now to the second
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part of verse 2 to look at the second group of people.
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And you can write it and you can categorize it as the following,
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the men of Israel, the men of Israel.
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And you can put in parentheses the families of Israel.
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Notice again the last part of verse 2, the number of the men
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of the people of Israel. What should stand out to you
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about that part of verse 2? You would think that it would
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read the people of Judah or the people of Judah and Benjamin.
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Why? Because those were the tribes
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who were dislodged, who were removed by Nebuchadnezzar.
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But again, you have yet another clear indication that God is
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beginning a new work and he is wanting to encompass all his
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people. He wants to restore the unity of
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the nation, and he's using this kind of language, Israel.
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Israel's coming back. It just shows us God's longing
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for the unity of his people in every generation.
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And this is refreshing to us after centuries of studying what
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a divided Kingdom, northern tribes, the southern Kingdom.
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But as the people are coming back now, the language is
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changing. It's going back to its original
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design. Now, within this long list, the
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names that you find here are actually organized into two
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subgroups, and they're easy to remember.
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You have the the recordings of those who are listed by family,
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the sons of the sons of the sons of and you have those who are
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identified by their towns or their villages, the men of the
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men of. That's how you tell the
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difference between the two. And although we can attempt to
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spend our time looking at every single detail, I want to under
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score at least one, one family and one town.
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One family and 1 town and the first family is what I want us
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to look at the top of the list of verse 3.
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Let's look at verse 3, the sons of perish 2172.
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So if you compare this family with the rest, they rank among
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the highest and the largest of families returning back to
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Jerusalem. That says something about the
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value system of this family. That says something about their
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shared faith and making this decision.
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A lot of them have hundreds, and there are a few others that are
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are up there with the thousands. But the Sons of Perish are up
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there in terms of how many are going back from a single unit.
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And this should be encouraging to us, but it's also a warning.
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Do you know why it's a warning? This very same family reappears
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at the end of the book of Ezra, when the Holy Spirit, through
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Ezra, puts on record those who became guilty of the sin of
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interfaith marriage. That after years of returning
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and settling in the land, there were many of the Exiles who
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committed the grievous sin, one of the sins that actually led to
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their exile to begin with, by yoking themselves to idolaters.
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And I want you to see who first appears on the list among the
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men of Israel. I'm sure you can guess, but look
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at Ezra 10 verse 25, Ezra 10 verse 25, and of Israel, of the
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sons of Perosh, Ramaya, Izia, Malkia, Miemin, Eliezer,
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Heshabaya, and Binaya. What a sobering warning of how
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our spiritual senses can grow dull over time.
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The same men whose spirits were stirred by God to leave comfort
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and community for a wasteland to glorify the Lord.
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Over time, we're stirred by intense lust to partner in
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marriage with those who hate the God of Israel and the truth.
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And you and I, looking at this, learn a very valuable truth.
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We cannot afford our devotion to Christ to ride on a single
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moment or series of events. We must nurture and guard our
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hearts daily, every day, every week, every month, year by year.
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They were stirred in Ezra chapter 1.
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Surely Ezra 2 proves it. They made their way back to
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Jerusalem where their hearts still stirred in Ezra 10.
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Evidently, no, you can't. You can't afford to rest your
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faithfulness upon some past experience.
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We are forgetful. We are easily distracted.
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It requires a daily effort to seek the Lord, to plant your
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eyes on Him, and to feed your soul with His word and to
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fellowship in His presence. The sons of Paris show us that
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you can start well, but overtime lose track and even return to
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the very things that you you said you would never do again.
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Oh, what a sobering lesson. And this is what we learned from
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at least one family. Can you imagine what else we can
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learn if we look at more? But we won't.
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We're going to read now, and this is where it's going to
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demand your attention. We're going to make an attempt
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to read through all these names and stop at verse 23.
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Can we do that? Verse 4.
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The sons a chef Ataya 372. The sons of Ara, 775.
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The sons of Payath Moab, namely the sons of Joshua and Joab,
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2812. The sons of Elam, 1254.
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The sons of Zatu 945. The sons of Zakai, 760.
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The sons of Banai, 642. The sons of Bibai, 623.
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The sons of Asghat, 1222. The sons of Adonikem, 666.
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The sons of Big Vai, 2056. The sons of Aden, 454.
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The sons of Eder, namely of Hezekiah, 98.
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The sons of Bizai, 323. The sons of Jorah, 112.
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The sons of Haisham, 223. The sons of Gibar, 95.
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The sons of Bethlehem, 123. The men of Nitophat, 56.
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The men of Anathoth, 128. I was stopped in my tracks when
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I came to verse 23, and the same should be true of you.
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Does Anathoth sound familiar to anybody here?
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Any idea why this town is significant?
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It is the hometown of Jeremiah the prophet according to
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Jeremiah 11. And what's amazing about this
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hometown is it not only had a claim to fame, if you will,
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unfortunately, they developed a notorious reputation for
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persecuting Jeremiah. And so ugly and nasty was their
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treatment of the servant of God that the Lord addressed this
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specific town in the book of Jeremiah and gave a very
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harrowing promise. Jeremiah 11.
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Let's turn there and see what happens.
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Jeremiah 11, verse 21. Says therefore thus says the
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Lord concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life and
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say, do not prophecy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by
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our hand. Can you imagine this men from
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your hometown, children that you grew up with on the streets,
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playing families that integrated with your own, are so sick and
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tired of your ministry, are so turned off by the word of the
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Lord through your mouth, that they threatened to actually kill
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you? Let's read on in verse 22.
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Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, Behold, I will punish
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them. The young men shall die by the
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sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine,
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and none of them shall be left, for I will bring disaster upon
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the man of Anathoth the year of their punishment.
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If you have never read the book of Ezra, or maybe you have but
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decide to skip chapter 2 because you glance at the list and
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thought this isn't really important to me, and then you
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come to this text. For example, you might arrive at
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the conclusion that when God spoke and promised to destroy
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the men of Anathot that he did so completely.
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This sounds like total annihilation at face value, does
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it not? I will destroy you.
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None of them shall be left. But then you come to Ezra
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chapter 2, and you read down that list, and you make a
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startling discovery. The men of Anathoth are still
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around #1 and #2 they're actually going back to
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Jerusalem. What an important reminder never
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to skip any part of the Bible. And more than that, this
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genealogy teaches us that the Lord not only preserve the
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remnant of this condemned town, but stirred their hearts to come
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back home. Did he judge the the generation
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that harassed his servant Jeremiah?
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Yes, he did, But He did not hold their sin against them forever.
30:32
And when it came to this move of God in Babylonia after Cyrus the
30:38
king of Persia took over, God did not skip over the men of
30:42
Anathoth when he decided to woo his people back into his arms.
30:50
You would think if we had that kind of power and scanning
30:55
through the Exiles and finding the men of Anathoth, oh, yeah.
30:58
You were the ones who didn't believe my word through my
31:00
prophet. You were so despicable, so
31:03
disrespectful, so persistent in your rebellion.
31:06
How about you stay in Babylon? It's actually what you deserve.
31:11
It's not what the Lord does. This move, this moved me so
31:15
deeply that here, these men with a very dark past, very
31:20
dishonorable history, had their spirits moved by the hand of
31:26
God. It's time to go home.
31:30
It's time to come back. It's time to go back to the
31:33
promise that I even gave you. Who who thought that you can be
31:39
moved by the grace of God in a list of names?
31:43
But it's there. And what a refreshing thing for
31:47
us, who might even have many failures, that every time you
31:52
even think about it makes you cringe, makes you ashamed, makes
31:57
you want to hide. Look at the men of Anathoth and
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look at the grace of God in this.
32:05
He can restore anybody. And you look at these other
32:09
names in these other towns, and that's just reinforced over and
32:11
over. It's amazing when you actually
32:15
look at the accounts of these towns and these families and
32:17
their histories, how much this chapter drips with mercy.
32:25
This is the second group, the men of Israel, And we just
32:30
looked at one family and 1 town, and there's a lot left in there
32:34
for you to discover on your own. Let's come to the last one for
32:39
our study where we will spend the most time.
32:43
We read to verse 23, but let's come down here to verse 36.
32:53
The priests, the sons of Jediah of the House of Joshua, 973 The
33:00
sons of Imr, 1052 The sons of Pashur, 1247 The Sons of Harem
33:09
1017 verse 40. The Levites, the sons of Joshua
33:14
and Cadmiel, and the sons of Hoda Vaya 74 Now it would be
33:20
totally acceptable to separate the priests and the Levites in
33:24
their own categories, but I chose to merge them under a
33:27
single heading. So here's the third group, the
33:31
priests and the Levites. Now, remember, every priest in
33:39
the Old Covenant had to be a Levite, but not every Levite was
33:45
a priest. Within the Levitical tribe, you
33:51
had one family that was set apart to be the priestly line.
33:55
Which family? The sons of who?
33:58
Aaron. Very good.
33:59
So only the sons of Aaron were permitted to offer sacrifices,
34:04
for example, and other functions within the House of God.
34:09
So then what about the Levites? What, what, what were they
34:11
called to? Well, they were ministers as
34:13
well, but they were called by God to assist the priests.
34:19
In fact, when you look at the Book of Numbers, the Levites are
34:21
called a gift to the sons of Aaron.
34:24
They would, in many helpful and practical ways, help and assist
34:29
the priest in doing what they were called to do, but they
34:31
could not be priests in the same way.
34:33
So the Levites were ministers in and around the temple, but they
34:37
were never to be priest. Only the descendants of Aaron
34:40
were permitted to do so. And here's what we have to ask
34:44
ourselves when looking at this. There's a staggering
34:50
observation. If you have only one family
34:55
within the Levitical tribe that were called to be priest,
34:59
wouldn't that mean then that the rest of the Levites would
35:02
naturally outnumber the priests? Wouldn't there be more Levites
35:08
than sons of Aaron? Answer yes.
35:11
And in fact, when you look at other genealogies in the Bible
35:13
and the priests are accounted for in comparison to the
35:16
Levites, the Levites always, always, always outnumber the
35:20
sons of Aaron. Did you see the numbers that we
35:24
just read? Look at it again.
35:26
Compare the numbers of verse 36 down to verse 39 with what we
35:31
find in verse 40. Look at it again.
35:33
The sons of Jediah and verse 36 of the House of Jeshua in 973.
35:38
The sons of Emer, 1052. The sons of Pascha, 1247.
35:42
The sons of Harem, 1017. These are the priests.
35:46
These are the sons of Aaron. And then you come to verse 40.
35:49
What do you discover? The Levites, the sons of Jeshua
35:52
and Cadmium, the sons of Hodavaya 74 That's strange.
35:59
That doesn't seem right. Now some want to say, well, hold
36:03
on. Look at what we find next in
36:05
verse 41. The singers, the sons of Asaph
36:07
128 The sons of the gatekeepers. Scroll down in all 139.
36:13
Well, singers and gatekeepers were what?
36:16
They were also Levites. OK, but even if you combine
36:19
them, they are still far fewer in number than the sons of
36:24
Aaron. Now, in case one might think
36:29
maybe we're reading too much into the small inclusion of the
36:32
Levites, I want to actually let you know that it was a concern
36:36
to another person, not a commentator, not a modern day
36:39
theologian, to Ezra. Who was the one who led the
36:45
first wave back to Jerusalem? What's his name?
36:48
Very good. Who is the 2nd leader of the
36:49
second wave? Ezra.
36:51
Very good. Look what Ezra does in Ezra 8,
36:55
Ezra 8, verse one, just to confirm that this is his own
37:01
genealogy of the men and the families that he led back to the
37:05
Promised Land, Ezra 8, verse one.
37:10
These are the heads of the father, their father's houses.
37:13
And this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from
37:16
Babylonia in the reign of Arctic Xerxes, the king.
37:19
So this is his own genealogy now of the people that he led back.
37:24
Now Scroll down to verse 15 of Ezra 8.
37:27
Ezra writes in verse 15. I gather them to the river that
37:30
runs Sahaba and there we camped 3 days.
37:34
As I reviewed the people and the priest, I found there none of
37:38
the sons of Levi. Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel,
37:44
Shamaya, El Nathan, Jereb El Nathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and
37:48
Meshulan leading men, and for Joy Rib and Al Nathan, who are
37:52
men of insight, and sent them to Edo, the leading man at the
37:57
place of Casafia, telling them what to say to Edo and his
38:01
brothers and the temple servants at the place Casafia, namely to
38:04
send us ministers for the House of our God.
38:10
So Ezra, on his journey back, stops.
38:11
He pauses, He reviews the registry and he realizes we
38:15
don't have any Levites. And So what does he do?
38:18
He begins a recruitment campaign and he sends trusted men to go
38:22
back to Babylonia under a new ruler at this point.
38:28
And he says, hey, find as many Levi's as you can and call them
38:33
to their original purpose, and that is to serve God and his
38:37
people. This is shocking.
38:44
Chapter 2, in the first wave, you have 74 Levites, and then
38:48
when the second cycle begins, that number goes down to what,
38:52
0? And this is the question that I
38:58
had. How is it that the very people
39:02
who are set apart from all the other tribes to have unique
39:06
access to the House of God and the elements of the place of
39:11
worship and being in close proximity to the presence of the
39:15
Lord? How is it that such a privilege
39:17
group were so reluctant to return to their inheritance?
39:25
And people speculate, people guess.
39:28
And I believe there is one answer that makes the most
39:30
sense. What did Jeremiah instruct the
39:35
people when they were in exile in Jeremiah 29?
39:40
He gave him many instructions and one of them we reviewed last
39:43
week. Build homes, plant gardens, eat
39:49
of the fruit of the land, have families.
39:51
You're going to be there a while.
39:55
Pray for the welfare of the city, because in their welfare
39:58
you will have welfare. Now.
40:03
You can imagine how difficult it would be after almost 2
40:06
generations of investments. To suddenly uproot yourself,
40:11
pack your bags, and walk away from it all.
40:14
To go back to what? A destroyed city with virtually
40:18
no resources, surrounded by vicious enemies?
40:24
How much harder would it be for a Levite who could never own
40:28
land in Israel? God was their inheritance.
40:33
Remember, they did not have the right to own real estate.
40:38
That's how they were differentiated from all their
40:41
siblings. I'm your inheritance.
40:45
God says you live by faith. I'll call the other ones to take
40:48
care of you. So they only lived in cities
40:50
within the tribes of the promised land and here now they
40:55
come to a brand new country and they're actually granted homes
41:01
and fields. They don't have to wait for the
41:06
yearly tides. They can actually just walk in
41:10
their slippers and go to the backyard and pick their own
41:12
fruits and vegetables and they can even sell it.
41:15
And what you have here is an honest commentary of a
41:24
temptation that has kept many throughout history from obeying
41:29
the call of God into full time ministry, held back by money,
41:38
held back by worldly pursuits, held back by pressures even from
41:43
their own family. There have been many since the
41:48
days of the prophets who have reluctantly answered the call of
41:56
God, or even though they answered it disqualified
41:59
themselves because they they went after things that God said
42:03
was not yours. And so this shows us the
42:10
temptation of the world for the one who's been genuinely
42:13
summoned by the Lord to serve him in the capacity of
42:17
vocational full time service to him.
42:21
But it's not limited to that. It is true for those who have
42:24
received the nudge from the Holy Spirit and providential
42:27
confirmation to pursue something like full time ministry.
42:32
But it's it's also a call for those who are so invested and
42:35
consumed by the world that they don't have any room in their
42:38
lives to serve Christ. And I find it so amazing that
42:44
this illustration of a haunting temptation that looms over so
42:49
many, even perhaps some who are listening to me now, does not
42:52
just stay in the Old Testament. It shows up in so many different
42:56
illustrations and even one that looks similar to this in the New
42:59
Testament. When I when I found this earlier
43:03
this week, I rejoiced because of God's Providence and what we
43:05
heard last Sunday. Do you remember who we spoke
43:07
about for those who were here for the baptism service?
43:10
Barnabas, the son of encouragement.
43:11
And do you remember what we learned about Barnabas?
43:13
One of the first insights about him, in fact, the introduction
43:16
to him in our Bibles. Let me remind you, and maybe for
43:19
those who have never seen this or weren't with us last Sunday
43:21
in Acts 4, Barnabas was what a Levite.
43:25
And what does Barnabas do as a Levite?
43:27
Acts 436 when the church was experiencing revival and out of
43:33
the abundance of people's hearts we're giving to the poor and the
43:35
needy, Acts 436 reads. Thus Joseph, who was also called
43:40
by the apostles, Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, A
43:43
Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and
43:48
brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet.
43:52
Do you see how understanding the Old Testament helps you
43:54
interpret the new? If you didn't know the Levites
43:57
or how they were called by God and what was permitted and what
44:00
was prohibited, you can just read by this and just think.
44:03
OK yeah, Barnabas was a kind man and he was clearly a Jew.
44:07
No, no he wasn't. He was more than a Jew, he was a
44:09
Levite. What's a Levite doing selling
44:11
land? You shouldn't be owning land.
44:16
God didn't allow you to own land.
44:19
So we have, we only have two answers here.
44:21
One, like many of God's commands over time, they were not as
44:25
binding. They were not taken as
44:27
seriously. Or two, because we learned he
44:30
was a native of Cyprus. His land was there.
44:38
So you can imagine how hard it was for a man like Barnabas as
44:42
he witnessed and saw a genuine move of God with the essential
44:48
message that the Messiah has come, is now wanting to,
44:54
prompted by God to give up land. And he does so, so willingly, so
45:00
joyfully that it was a means of encouragement to others.
45:05
Yes, he came from a heritage that could not experience this.
45:10
The safety and the comfort. I can pass this down to my
45:12
children. That didn't matter to Barnabas.
45:17
He saw the cause of Christ and the message of Christ worth
45:19
everything he had and when he had opportunity to give in his
45:23
own way. And this is not a call for us to
45:25
just sell everything. That's that's not the message.
45:27
It's to give yourself over completely.
45:30
He did so look at how Barnabas is so much more different than
45:35
the Levites in Ezra chapter 274 down to 0 with such a wide open
45:47
door to go back and to actually be one of The Pioneers of
45:52
rebuilding the House of God and ministering to the people of God
45:56
from the presence of God. And they thought my cucumber
46:00
field is better than that. You think that's silly?
46:05
OK, there are people like, like the Levites today who are
46:10
slaving over the silliest of things.
46:16
And then you meet Barnabas. And he reminds us, I'm sure even
46:21
of what we find here in Ezra, that there was something far
46:25
greater than a temple, far greater than land, far greater
46:29
than borders and walls, far greater than regions and
46:34
mountain tops and land flowing with milk and honey.
46:39
Christ, Christ, where's our excuse with someone so much
46:48
greater than whatever they had under the old covenant?
46:52
How can there even be hesitation in any person's heart or mind to
46:58
do whatever Christ asks of them? Don't we not have a greater
47:04
promise? Do we not have a greater king?
47:05
Do we not have a greater covenant?
47:08
Imitate this man and beware of falling to the trap of the
47:11
Levites in Ezra chapter 2. Is there anything you're holding
47:15
back tonight? Is God calling you to something
47:21
and it's been weeks? It's been months and you
47:26
hesitate to answer because you're afraid what He might ask
47:31
of you. You know those Levites who
47:37
stayed back? Can you imagine what they missed
47:40
out on? The prophecies that would be
47:45
shared through the prophets in that restored place?
47:50
The privilege of being able to, though they didn't know, have
47:54
their names written in God's word for all to see.
48:00
It may seem like a sacrifice now, but when you really think
48:03
about it, it's a privilege always.
48:08
It's always an honor, no matter what the Lord asks of us.
48:10
I mean, you're here for how long?
48:13
On average, 72 years. Give every part of who you are
48:19
to him, just every day. Lord, it's yours every day.
48:23
Pray something like this, Lord, Whatever you ask of me, I will
48:26
gladly give it. Now, encouragingly, some of
48:30
those Levites that Ezra invited did join them.
48:33
But what a sad sight to see here at the outset of chapter 2.
48:38
That's so few, so few did. We'll stop here before we
48:45
continue in the other categories and give thanks to the Lord for
48:48
how He spoke to us tonight. Well, we do thank you that even
49:02
through verses like this, there's gold and silver and
49:07
precious stones. Lord, it is my prayer that every
49:13
person here would be inspired, that every part of the Bible
49:19
speaks. And Lord, help us remember that
49:22
it takes the whole Bible to make a whole Christian.
49:27
So Lord, may we never be negligent of any book, any list
49:31
of names. May we always remember that
49:35
you've designed your word to be cross referenced.
49:39
Your word interprets itself. So by your grace, may we mature
49:47
even with things like names and cities.
49:52
And more than that, help us see Christ, the foreshadowings, the
49:56
promises. We want it all.
50:01
We want it all, Lord, we pray for our leaders, that they would
50:07
be strong, they would be holy, they would be God.
50:11
Fearing that you would raise up more leaders so that when your
50:16
spirit moves, when revivals break out, when mass evangelism
50:21
takes place, that work could be sustained because there are
50:26
right leaders ready to serve God's people.
50:32
We pray, Lord, as we saw with these families and these towns,
50:38
that we would not be like the sons of Parachu in the
50:40
beginning, we're so zealous and committed, but overtime became
50:43
cold and indifferent and even dangerous in their decision
50:45
making. At the same time, we think of
50:48
the men of Anathoth who are undeserving of experiencing the
50:54
move of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, but were recipients of
50:57
it. We see the hint of your mercy
51:00
even in that. And we pray for those who are
51:02
broken and wounded listening to this study, that they would also
51:06
sense your Spirit stirring in their hearts.
51:10
And Lord, we look at the priests and the Levites, and we see your
51:14
wonderful grace in preserving the royal and the priestly line.
51:17
But oh Lord, these Levites, what discouragement is this?
51:23
Lord, if there's anything of this world that's holding us
51:26
back from giving our all to you and being a part of building
51:31
your house, show us how foolish and how feeble these things are
51:40
that we may be constantly ready to run in the direction of Your
51:45
call for our lives. For some that might be full time
51:47
ministry. For others, it may just be a
51:50
place in the church where they can fill a gap and they can
51:54
serve the purposes of God within the local assembly.
51:59
Lord, we are eager to see the other groups and what you have
52:01
to teach us. Until then, may these Drews
52:05
marinate in our hearts and bleed into our souls and change us.
52:11
For your glory and your name we pray.
52:13
Amen. Let's stand and worship the
52:15
Lord. Give him thanks.
52:17
Let's give him. Let's give him thanks for Genie,
52:19
all of the Geez, tonight. We thank you for those names.
52:22
We thank you for those numbers. We thank you that your wisdom is
52:26
woven in between it all. You know, over the years, I have
52:36
heard people who would dare to handle a text like that.
52:40
And I've been more discouraged than encourage of how that was
52:42
done. And one of the reasons for that
52:45
is because the impression that was given as it was being
52:49
expounded was this is almost like silly, like let's just do
52:52
this to get it over with because it's there and it's God's word,
52:55
and let's just try our best here.
52:57
And so frivolous, even borderline irreverent.
53:03
But I'll be honest, if you came to me in the first few years of
53:07
my walk with the Lord and said, you know, you can actually
53:12
worship God in this genealogy through this genealogy, that
53:18
would probably hard be hard for me to believe at first.
53:21
But I'll tell you something so early in the study of Ezra,
53:24
especially in this chapter, because of the nature of the
53:27
framework of this text and what I was discovering as I was
53:30
reading on. And there's things that were
53:32
even left out. I worshipped, I worshiped God in
53:36
my study. I found myself at a new level of
53:39
worship. Lord, this is incredible.
53:42
I'm, I'm just like God's voice was vibrating through those
53:48
names and those numbers. And I thought one of my main
53:52
prayers for this study was I want every person there to feel
53:56
the same way. And I hope your heart is
53:58
encouraged and don't be frustrated and don't, don't beat
54:03
yourself up. If you're like Anathoth,
54:05
Anathoth, come on, man. I would have read right back
54:07
that I would have probably, I don't know what I would have
54:09
done with Anathoth. This is what the study is for,
54:12
not just for you to hear, but to be equipped not just to learn,
54:15
but to be built up, and over time you will develop the lens
54:20
as we endeavour to do this together, to see gold in every
54:24
part of God's Word. Amen.
54:27
We do worship you, Lord. We actually almost tremble,
54:31
Lord, in your presence with a text like this, to see just your
54:36
wisdom and your brilliance and your glory behind every aspect
54:42
in detail. We come before you in lowliness,
54:46
but also with excitement, thinking this is truly Your
54:50
word. Oh, we pray that that would be
54:53
our realization every morning when we wake up.
54:56
I have to hear him speak. I can't wait to.
54:59
What is he going to say to me in Leviticus?
55:01
What is he going to say to me in Zephaniah?
55:03
What is he going to say to me in Philemon?
55:05
Lord, give us the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
55:09
This can only come from the Holy Spirit.
55:11
Open our understanding so that we can fellowship with You in
55:14
Your word. Thank you for this part of this
55:17
chapter. Bring us back again should you
55:19
tarry, so that we can enjoy more of it in Jesus name, Amen.
55:24
Amen.