Ezra, Chapter 8. If you're already there, then
you perhaps have recognized that what we have before us this
evening is yet another genealogy.
And you have been here long enough, I'm sure, to be
convinced that even such records are worthy to be examined
carefully, that they carry, yes, even lists of names, names that
names that you might have trouble even pronouncing have
value. And they hold instruction.
And there's inspiration and wonderful connections for the
diligent student. We've seen this in previous
studies. But we have to ask this
question. Why are we presented yet another
registry in the short book? Known as the Book of Ezra.
Well, if you were here last week in the past few studies, then
you would remember that in Ezra Chapter 7, we were introduced to
Ezra the man, and we learned that he is going to be set apart
by God to lead this expedition of a second wave of Jews
returning to their homeland. And so we've learned already
about Ezra, at least enough about him to trust his character
to understand that God is backing up this man's mission.
But now Ezra by the Spirit wants to inform us about who's going
with him. And that's what this list is
about. We are going to see the
different families, the different divisions.
That will be joining him on this journey now.
It has been approximately 80 years since the first major
group of Jews made their way back to Jerusalem, and now we
are about to encounter the second large group that will be
joining the rest. But before we begin to look at
this directory, I want us to remind ourselves of what Ezra
said in his summary of this expedition in Ezra Chapter 7
verse. 7 Let's look at it together.
And there went up also to Jerusalem in the seventh year of
Arctic Xerxes, the king, some of the people of Israel, and some
of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the
temple servants. Let's pause and pray for a
moment. Lord, just reading your word
provokes us to reverence you and to seek you in humility.
And so, Lord, at this time, as your church gathers around these
truths, we pray that you would gift us with the grace of
illumination and that even a text like this would be
nourishing, enlightening and transformative to our own walk
with you. So Lord, we pray that you would
take this moment to glorify your name as we understand your voice
at this time. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. So what we just read in that one
verse again is a summary of what Ezra is about to explain in
detail in this new chapter. But I want you to notice that in
verse 7 of Ezra Chapter 7, he lets us know that it was only
some some of the Exiles who went back with him to Jerusalem.
And he emphasizes this, at least in the ESV.
And we talked about this when we were in Ezra Chapter 7.
But it's worth looking back at again.
You would think that a man like Ezra, with the zeal, character,
insight, and other wonderful virtues that he possessed, would
be the means of inspiring most, if not all of the Exiles to join
him, to partner with him, to unite with him, to return back
to the city of God. But instead, we learned that
it's only some. To me, that's staggering.
Yet at the same time, it's it's helpful because as remarkable as
Ezra was as a leader, as passionate as he was, as
dedicated as he was, even a man like this could not rally
everyone in his world to join him for the cause of the
righteousness of God and the holiness of God and the
restoration of the the name of God.
And this is quite shocking at first, I think, but we have to
remember that this in no way discredits his relationship with
the Lord, in no way undermines his fidelity to the truth, does
it? I mean, in that same chapter
where we learned that only some joined him, we also see that he
was exceptional in his walk with the Lord, that he loved the word
of God, that he loved God, that he was a man who obeyed it
before he taught it. And yet only some signed up for
this cause to return back and to bring glory to God.
And this is something for you and I to consider because we
might be discouraged at times, maybe even overcome with doubt,
because those who are in our circles, those who are around
us, those who are in our worlds, don't seem to share the same
drive or convictions or desires for God and his Kingdom, the
gospel. And no matter what we do, no
matter what we say, it doesn't seem like it doesn't work.
It's not persuasive enough. It's not compelling enough.
Is there something wrong with me?
Is there something wrong with, with, with my knowledge?
Is there something wrong with my, my gifting?
And, and in moments like that, where you feel perhaps
inadequate, insignificant, or even worse, unqualified,
remember, Ezra, that even Ezra can only recruit some.
And if you and I are not careful, we can spill most of
our energy out of frustration toward those who aren't, instead
of investing in those who are the people in our lives whom God
has placed, who have an openness and an eagerness and a longing.
Discipline yourself. By God's grace.
Train yourself to draw towards those who are being drawn by the
Lord, not towards those who are drawing away from Him or who are
indifferent. Look at those who are willing to
make an investment. Look at those who have kernels
of growth or, or potential. Those are the ones that you are
supposed to look to and help, as this man does.
Now we're about to begin this directory, and it's a very, very
simple breakdown. Ezra is a teacher, and we see
that even in the way he puts this together, this list of
names that we're about to look at has three sections or three
divisions. He wants to show us #1 the
priestly sector that is going to join him.
And then right after he's going to describe the royal line.
And finally, he is going to spell out the lay families that
will also partner with them. And interestingly, when you come
to that last part, the list of clans, there are actually a
total of 1212. Now, they don't each represent
the 12 tribes of Israel, but I believe even in this, there's a
thematic kind of representation that we're almost again seeing
this restoration of the tribes of Israel as they now make their
way back to God's original purpose and plan for them.
So this is really an overview. It's a simple format for us to
understand, but now we're going to consider the details and
we'll begin with verse one of Ezra 8.
Let's look at it together now, Ezra writes.
These are the heads of their father's houses.
And this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from
Babylonia in the reign of Arctic Xerxes, the king.
So the first thing that Ezra wants to do is he prepares the
reader of the leaders among these families who played a
significant role in inspiring their relatives to take this
step of faith. He calls them the heads of their
father's houses. And right here we're supposed to
understand that these individuals did something in
order to stir up those who were under their care.
And you even find this in Ezra's wording when he looks at these
distinct families separately. So let's get a glimpse of it,
especially for verses 4 down to verse 14.
Look at Ezra 8, verse 4 for a moment, of the sons of Pahath,
Moab, Elio, and I, the son of Zariah, and with him 200 men.
Look at verse 5 of the sons of Zaktu Shekinah, the son of
Jaziel, and with him 300 men. Look at verse six of the sons of
Aidan Ebed, the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.
And you find this wording repeated over and over until the
end of the list. And I think there's something
obvious taking place here. Ezra is emphasizing how these
leaders LED their respective families and how their kindred
and extended relatives followed them.
And though we have here leaders of multiple families related by
descent, right, these are not just nuclear households, but
larger families represented by different heads and different
lineages. It does say something about the
importance of the head. Of the household.
That theme is clear. That motif is obvious.
And here's what's being taught here.
I want to look at the men. I want to look at my brothers
for a brief moment. By virtue of being the heads of
our homes, you and I have been given the capacity and the
responsibility by God himself to inspire, instruct, guide,
discipline, and display what it means to live for Christ, what
it means to prioritize His Kingdom, what it means to really
worship the Lord. And there is true power in your
influence, whether you realize it or not.
And what we find with these men here is that they were able to
persuade those who belong to them to leave Babylon and to
join them into the journey that Ezra has laid out that Ezra's
planning for. You have to think about this for
a moment. All the clans mentioned here
have been in Babylonia for decades.
Most of them, if not all of them, have never seen Jerusalem
with their own eyes. They've never seen the temple
they've only heard of. It And yet because of the
influence of the heads of these families, they were able to
understand that worship is more important than comfort, that
it's more valuable than safety, that it's more fulfilling the
stability, prosperity, even familiarity.
These men, I mean, look at it. It says over and over with him,
with him, with him. It started with the head.
It started with the men. And the fact that Ezra goes on
to say this repeatedly demonstrates that if you and I
want to see these values and these convictions instilled in
the ones that we love, listen, it begins with you and me.
I've met parents like this, especially men who sometimes
come with desperation, asking for leadership in the church to
do something, to move their children.
And in many cases, those same people don't have a walk with
God. You're the head of the house,
not me. And what we see here is that you
have men in their own families doing something wonderful and
possible for all of us. And so I want to look at the
dads in this place. I want to look at the future
fathers of this house. It does your heart have more
ambition to see your children go to heaven with you or to have a
certain kind of job or to play certain kind of sport or to make
a certain amount of money? Oh, I see men here who have
Jerusalem set on their own hearts and more than just on
their own hearts, wanted to be embedded in the hearts of those
who are under their leadership and they are move themselves.
And they were able because they understood what God has called
them to do and to be, to move others.
And I hope that each of us in here would be able to grow in
that same kind of example, that we would be more concerned, more
passionate about our spouses, about our children, especially.
Those are where we are especially responsible for to go
in the way of righteousness, to join us in eternal life, and to
have no greater passion or pursuit than that.
But more than just going to a destination, living for him now,
loving him now, showing like what these men are showing, that
there's nothing for us here in Babylonia, a picture of the
world, nothing. There's more treasure in the
world that God has prepared for us.
And so we can never expect those around us, especially the men,
to move in the direction that God has prepared for them if
we're not making and showing them how to do it, as I
mentioned earlier. Now as we look at verse 2, this
registry is divided into 3 parts.
And so he introduces us the heads of the Father's houses.
But now he wants to speak about the priestly tribe to begin
with. So look at verse 2 of it,
chapter 8 of the sons of Phineas Gersham, of the sons of Ithamar
Daniel, of the sons of David Hatush.
So in that one verse you actually have the two first
divisions, you have the priestly.
Line and the royal line and the rest of this section will deal
with the lay families. So this is really brief, is it
not? And you would not know that Ezra
is actually referring to the priestly line unless you knew
who the sons of Aaron were, the direct sons of Aaron.
So here's my question. You can answer if you know.
How many sons did Aaron have? Good.
What were their names? Say it one more time, Nadab and
I buy who? Yes, three out of the four are
right. No.
Three out of the four are right. You got Nadab, you got to buy
who, You got ith Amar, who's the 3rd?
If you don't know the answer, you got to turn to Exodus 28.
Good Eliezer, but we're going to read it anyway.
Exodus 28, I want us to look at verse one.
Very good guesses. Nonetheless.
You got most of them. But This is why we have Bible
study to remind ourselves of these things.
Exodus 28 verse one reads. Then bring near to you Aaron,
your brother, and his sons, with him from among the people of
Israel, to serve me as priests. Aaron and Aaron, sons Nadab and
Abayu, Eliezer and Ithmar. Now here's my next question.
Did something happen to two out of these four sons shortly after
we learn about them? Yes.
Who are the ones that were disciplined by God?
Very good. Nadab and Abayu.
The count of their deaths are found in Leviticus chapter 10.
So very early, even before the people entered into the Promised
Land, two branches from the priestly line were cut
permanently, and now you have two mainstreams, you have
Eliezer and you have Ithmar. Now we come to Ezra chapter 8,
and we learn as Ezra is mentioning the priestly division
that joined him of Ithmar, but he mentions Phineas.
You would think that he would mention who Eliezer.
Right now, Phineas is the son of Eliezer.
He's the grandson of Aaron. But why does Ezra place Phineas
here instead of Eliezer? Any idea?
Do you understand the question? Hopefully.
Was Phineas famous for anything? Absolutely.
We have to remember that he was known for his zealous defense of
God's law and His honor in Numbers chapter 25, that when
the men of Israel in the wilderness were persuaded and
allured by the Midianite woman to have sexual relations with
them, and more than that to worship their gods, it was
Phineas who took it upon himself.
To stand up and to face a specific leader among the people
of Israel who was flaunting his relationship with a Midianite
woman and to put them both to death.
And because of that, he stopped a plague that broke out against
the camp. And Phineas courage and his zeal
for the righteousness and the holiness of God was so commended
by God that God rewards Phineas and his descendants something
spectacular. If you want to know it, you have
to turn to Numbers chapter 25 and look here at verse 10 with
me in Numbers chapter 25, verse 10.
And the Lord said to Moses, Phineas the son of Eliezer, son
of Aaron, the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of
Israel, and that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so
that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.
Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it
shall be to him and to his descendants after him, the
covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was
jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of
Israel. So this is this is very simple.
Because of Phineas faithfulness, God pledged that his progeny
would serve as priest permanently.
This is a covenant that's being established by God with this
man. And so significant was it that
Phineas became a defining ancestor.
Remember those words? A defining ancestor in his
specific priestly branch. So God makes a promise with him
and his descendants. And here you are.
You're reading in the Book of Numbers, and you're faithfully
going book by book. And you come and you stumble
upon Ezra chapter 8. And what do you read?
Oh, that after all the centuries and after a very dark history,
God has still kept his promise to Phineas.
One of his descendants, 1 is still alive.
And two is still going to function as a priest.
Do you know what you're supposed to take from this, this one
little verse here in Ezra 8 verse 2, God is faithful.
And that is highlighted and emphasized and amplified even
more by the fact that in the same verse that we learned that
Phineas descendant is alive and well, you have the royal line
still intact, right, of the sons of David Hatush.
So not just God is faithful, that's true.
But God is precisely faithful. God is completely faithful.
If he made a promise to Phineas, he's going to keep it.
When he made it to David, he's keeping it.
Any of God's promises, all of God's promises, no matter when
he made the promises, can be counted.
On. We can believe Him and trust Him
no matter how, when, where? Here it is, here it is.
Even here. Tucked in this genealogy, we see
a glistening truth about God's reliability.
How concrete he is, how steadfast he is.
And it's no less true in the new covenant.
So whether the promises are to Phineas, to David or any promise
that we find in Christ, you can trust those promises because you
can trust the promise, Sir, this is what we find and it's a
wonderful thing to understand. And we also going to see
something. I think there's a reason why
Phineas has mentioned twice already in relation to to Ezra,
because I think I believe, and many have made this observation
as well, that that Ezra is almost a type of Phineas in his
own way. Because the last two chapters of
of this very text we're going to read that Ezra when he returns
to Jerusalem, he's going to discover that after 80 years of
the people returning back to Jerusalem.
One of the main crimes that they have committed yet again is
interfaith marriage, inappropriate relationships,
clear defiance against God's rules and laws for house people
were to to continue to see the righteous seed.
And so like Phineas who came and did something about the
Midianites polluting. The people of God, Ezra himself
is going to follow on those same steps and do what he can to stop
the pollution in his own way. It's amazing how these things
are found throughout our Bibles. The continue the continuation of
the Scriptures is a wonderful thing to observe, but now we
come to the largest part of this section.
The lay families that Ezra mentions, and we'll read it from
verse 4 down through verse 14, but we're going to return to
verse 13. We're not going to look at every
detail here. We have no time for that, but we
will consider at least one of these clans and meditate a
little bit longer on them. Let's look at it now in verse
four. Of the sons of Pahath.
Moab Eliyonai, the son of Zeriah, and with him 200 men.
Of the sons of Zatu and with him, or excuse me, the son of
Zatu. Shakani, the son of Jehaziel,
and with him 300 men. Of the sons of Aidan Ebed, the
son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.
Of the sons of Elam, Joshiah the son of Athalia, and with him 70
men. Of the sons of Shabethiah,
Zebatiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men.
Of the sons of Joab Obadiah, the son of Jehiel, and with him 218
men are the sons of Bani, Sheila Myth, the son of Josephiah, and
with him 160. Men are the sons of Babai.
Zechariah, the sons of Babai, and with him 28.
Men are the sons of Algad, Johanna and the son of Hakkatan,
and with him 110. Men are the sons of Adonikum,
those who came later, their names being Eli, Fellat,
Jaywell, Shamaya, and with him sixty.
Men are the sons of Big VI, Uthai and Zakor, and with them
70. Men.
It seems quite repetitive, but something stood out to me in
verse 13. I'm not sure if you saw it.
The sons of Adonakam, those who came later, those who came
later. I'm curious to know if anybody
here holds a King James, our new King James.
You might notice something different with that wording.
If you hold those translations, it would read of the last sons
of Adonakam. Is that true?
Of the last sons of Adoniken, which would imply that after
this wave of refugees going back to Jerusalem among those of
Adoniken, you have no more of their descendants left in
Babylonia. The last of the last of them are
returning now in this wave, which is a wonderful thought.
All of them left Babylon to go back to the Promised Land.
If you have the NESB, which is another faithful translation,
however, you will see something else.
It would read and have the sons of Adonicam, The Last Ones, The
Last Ones which would be more of a chronological remark on Ezra's
part, indicating that this particular family was the last
to enlist for the journey. And I.
Believe the ESV is seeking to capture that same thought.
The sons of Adoniken were among those who enrolled later.
And you say why the difference? It has to do with manuscripts.
And we've talked about that at different points.
I won't spend too much time on that now.
But let's go with what the ESP says, how it renders it.
These specific sons, for whatever reason, delayed to
respond to the initial invitation that Ezra makes.
And join them later. Is there any explanation for why
they hesitated? No.
Is there anything given to us to give us some kind of clue?
Not necessarily. But it's a wonderful
illustration of of the grace of God.
It really is the grace of God toward those who for various
reasons, do not sign up for the things of God sooner.
How many parables did Jesus give that allude to that truth?
A people who come the last second.
A people who respond the last moment, A people who slip in
while the door still has a crack in it, a little slit, A
foothold. How many examples do we see of
that? Especially the thief on the
cross, right? All these things are repeated.
And we even find it in the Old Testament that those who are
mentioned, who have come later are still enlisted, they're
still recognized. And though the Bible, and no
place ever recommends it, even warns more than anything else
about us delaying. Our response to what God has
called us through #1 for salvation and #2 to live from
wholeheartedly. Should you have delayed?
Should you have wasted your years, your youth, your
resources, your opportunities? If you still have breath in your
lungs, you might have come later, but God will still accept
you. He was still bring you in.
He will still accept who you are as long as you have humbled
yourself and realized who He is. So this is the list.
These are just some of the things that we can learn, but
the list is not over necessarily.
Ezra gives us this summary, but he's going to learn something in
the next few verses. And this is where we're going to
spend most of our time. Look at verse 15.
Now, Ezra's still writing in the first person, and he mentions I
gathered them, the people that we just learned about.
I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava.
And there were, we camped 3 days.
As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of
the sons of Levi. Uh.
Oh. This is problematic.
So they set up for the journey. They have the priests, they have
the Davidic line, they have these lay families, and they're
making their way and they take a break at this place.
Called the Hava a canal. And Ezra, he's a good leader.
He's doing all that he can to prepare the people and to
organize everything so that when they get to Jerusalem, they hit
the floor running, they're not going to waste any time.
And he's doing inventory. And he realizes, OK, we have the
priest. We have somebody who represents
the royal seed. We have the people of Israel.
But where are the Levites? None came, none followed.
I mean, this is astonishing. Ezra himself as a priest.
Now, we know that not all Levites are priests.
There's a specific line who represents the priestly duty,
but Levites were called to assist the priest.
So you can understand why this is troubling for Ezra.
And in case you don't understand the implications of this, you
will only see it once you go to Nehemiah.
Nehemiah is going to join Ezra later on, and they're going to
work together to see revival in the land.
And when Ezra is about to open God's Word and read it aloud,
he's going to rely on some of the people to help him do just
that. Can I show you what I mean?
You have to go to Nehemiah chapter 8 to see it in Nehemiah
chapter 8, verse 2, just to help us understand what's taking
place here. Again, this is in the future.
This is when Nehemiah is going to join Ezra.
But notice what we read. And Nehemiah 8 verse 2 it reads,
so Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both
men and women and all who can understand what they heard on
the first day of the 7th month. That's that's the context.
But Scroll down to verse 7 of Nehemiah 8 and what do we read?
Also Joshua, Bani Sharabaya, Jamin Akub, Shabbathi Hodaya
Messiah, Kiltia, Azariah, Josabad, Hananan Pelaya, The
Levites. Helped the people to understand
the law while the people remain in their places.
What was Ezra's main mission as he is going back to Jerusalem?
To teach the people right to ensure you have not deviated
from the truth all these years. And if they would, he would
correct him using the word of God.
But more than that, to build upon their faith and teach them
the truths of Scripture. But he's going to need help.
And who is he relying on? The Levites.
So as Ezra is reading out loud, the scriptures, the Ezra, the
the Levites are there in these different pockets of people, and
they're helping them understand and explain what's being read
aloud. But how are you going to do that
at 0 signed up. So you see the issue at hand.
You see why he's troubled by this.
And this is, I actually was meditating on this on my way
here. This reveals something about
Ezra's character, something so wonderful and worthy of
imitation. This man is an amazing teacher
and one of the. Ways that we know that he was a
true teacher is that he wanted to see more teachers raised up.
That's a true teacher. You know what you find with some
teachers? They're intimidated by other
teachers. Yeah.
Some people see ministry as a
competition. You know what Ezra could have
said? I've been studying all these
years. God has clearly sovereignly
worked on my behalf. I mean, he moved the king to
give me support. I I think I'm the guy.
Yeah. So, I mean, they'll listen to
me. I can rally these people
together. No such thing.
He's itching to see more. He wants to see other leaders
raised up. He sees this as a large harvest
and he sees these other teachers as partners.
Oh dear brother and sister, if you look at fellow Christians
who have similar gifts as you as competition, kill that thing
quickly. That will destroy you and that
will destroy any possibility of God using you the way He uses
His people as members of 1 body. Here you are.
Here I am thinking we're the whole body.
No, you ain't. Neither am I.
We need each other, even those who have the same abilities as
us, and Ezra recognizes that. So he says go and rally other
teachers. I'm not doing this by myself.
There are too many people out there to think that we're the
only church in the world. We need more churches.
Yes, we need more pastors. We need more Sunday school
teachers. We need more evangelists.
We need more disciple makers, more and more and more.
And when we see God raising them up, we should rejoice.
Listen, if you find yourself not rejoicing and more angry and
envious and jealous and comparing all these things,
you're not doing this for Christ's glory.
You're doing it for your own. It's as simple as that.
And I say that straightforwardly.
I say that so directly so that you would find it and I would
find it within myself to not entertain such a thing in our
hearts, but to take it before God's presence until he crushes
it with His power. I don't want this in my heart,
Lord. I want to be able to look at a
fellow believer and applaud them when you promote them, to
rejoice when God, you're using them to bless others.
Ezra is unsettled by the fact that he's the only one.
And So what does he do? He comes up with a recruitment
campaign. Let's read the rest of it in
verse 16. Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel,
Shamaya, El Nathan, Jereb El Nathan, Nathan, Zechariah and
Meshulam leading men. And for Joy Rib and El Nathan,
who are men of insight, you can tell that El Nathan was a
popular name at the time. And sent them to ID Do, the
leading man at the place Kaspia, telling them what to say to ID
Do and his brothers and the temple servants at the place
Kaspia, namely to send us ministers for the House of our
God. By the good hand of our God on
us they brought us a man of discretion.
Of the sons of Mali, the son of Levi son of Israel, namely,
Sharabaya with his sons and kinsmen. 18 Also Hashabaya, with
them Jeshia of the sons of Murari and his kinsmen and their
sons, 20 besides 220 of the temple servants whom David and
his officials had set apart to attend.
The Levites, these were all mentioned by name, so I
understand what's taking place here.
Ezra, as they've encamped at the River Ahava, says we're not
moving forward unless. We do a last ditch effort to go
back. And to ask for ministers to join
us. And I want to give you at least
just very brief points by way of observation of the very same
verse as we just read how these things relate to us.
So just pay attention as much as you can to these things because
they're so, so valuable. The first.
Thing I want to consider consider is that there is a
danger of our God word interest declining.
Remember, this is not the first large genealogy in the book of
Ezra. We studied Ezra chapter 2, which
is even larger than what we read here.
And in Ezra chapter 2, the first wave of exiles, we learn how
many Levites joined Zerubbabel. Then does anybody remember the
number? I'm just curious.
OK, that's a very specific detail.
So it's OK if you don't remember.
But if you want to remind yourself, look at verse 40 of
Ezra 2. This was 80 years prior.
And notice the amount of Levites that joined the first cycle of
refugees. The Levites, the sons of Jeshua
and Cadmiel are the sons of Hodavaya. 74 Does 74 sound like
a lot? It's not, especially when you
consider the other numbers. In fact, in Ezra chapter 2 you
have upwards of 50,000 people returning and out of the 50,000
you only have 74 Levites. What's more crushing now is when
we come to Ezra chapter 8, how many Levites joined the second
wave? 0 Does anybody remember what was
the draw? Perhaps the appeal to temptation
for Levites to remain in Babylon instead of going back land.
They they couldn't own land in Israel and now here they are in
Babylon, and Jeremiah tells them early on in their exile, buy
land. Buy homes.
Raise up farms, have your businesses have families.
And so the Levites are doing this to do this like, whoa,
we've never had this before. This is amazing.
But unfortunately to them it was more amazing than serving God's
will for their lives. And so at this point, after
decades, 0 want to go back. And though this applies to a
group of people, there is a principle here for us
individually that as the years go by, you and I have to ensure
by God's grace and by the instructions that he has granted
to us, to not allow ourselves to become distracted, to not allow
ourselves to come to the point where we are indifferent to the
work of God. And this is even possible for
those who who once had discretion, who those who have a
gift in this, even such people can lose sight of what matters
most. Do you know how we know that in
the list that we just read here, in the names that we read here
of the Levites who returned? Look at verse 18, who's
mentioned among them in Ezra 8/18.
It reads then by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought
us a man of understanding of the sons of Mali, the sons of Levi,
the son of Israel, namely Sharabaya with his sons and
brothers, 18 men. Here's my question.
When I learned about this man whom they praised joining them
after Ezra sent for more ministers, why didn't you join
them to begin with? Why you?
You surely knew about it. It took a little bit more
persuasion. It took a presentation of select
men that Ezra sent for you to finally say, let's go.
So again, we don't have the reasons here, but it does spell
out something for us that even men of such quality, men of such
insight dependability, can let Babylon allure them to keep them
and to hold them back. And all these different verses
that are coming to mind as I was meditating on this tonight, One
of my favorite verses on this, not because I enjoy reading it
or explaining, but because I think it's just so packed with
insight, is Solomon. Do you remember what it says in
the chapter that describes Solomon's fall and 1st Kings 11
verse four? Let me read it to you.
You don't have to turn to just pay attention.
Every word here is a punch. It says for when Solomon was
old. His wives turned away his heart
after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord
his God, as was the heart of David his father.
When did woman influence Solomon When he was young?
And he was old. And three times in this one
verse, the word heart appears because that's where things go
wrong. That's where they begin, at
least the heart. When he was old, he did not
watch his heart. He did not guard his heart, his
affections, his passions. And when he was old, that's when
he crashed and burned. 80 years go by.
You went from 74 Levites, which is pretty sad to begin with, to
0. Oh sure, there's there's some
kind of stir that's going to take place as we read.
But I look at a man like Cherubai and I say, why didn't
you join them at the start? Praise God for His grace, but
I'm asking for his grace to not allow me to waste a second of my
life. So there's a danger.
Of our God word interest declining.
But there's a second thought to consider and is this God uses
men to stir men for God. God uses men to stir men for
God. What was Ezra's plan to recruit
more Levites? Look again at verse 16.
Then I sent and he lists a, a, a few names here of men, but look
at how they're described at the last part.
Who are men of insight, men of understandings, other
translations say who are teachers?
And it was through the ministry of these men, these emissaries,
these representatives that you had Levi's say.
All right, you're right, we're going to join you.
Don't discount how God uses people to move your heart and
mind. I'm not even speaking about unto
salvation. That's obvious.
He has his ambassadors, He has his preachers, He has his
faithful disciples. I'm I'm speaking about those
like the Levites who are connected to the things of God
to begin with. So one of the things that you
would have to understand is that the Lord will often use other
people to get our hearts moving for the things of the Lord.
And we should recognize that. Can God move independently?
Can he by his Holy Spirit stir your soul?
Absolutely. But I find something with Ezra
that he uses flesh and blood. He uses flesh and blood.
And so you shouldn't feel guilty.
Some people do that. They find themselves often
stirred when they hear a sermon being preached or when they have
a phone call with a dear friend, a dear St.
Why do you feel guilty about that?
You think that's less spiritual, that's less of God than if some
supernatural thing happened to you personally?
No. These are instruments in God's
hands. And so if you find yourself
moved and stirred through people, that's no less God than
anything else. Which brings me to 1/3
observation in this section of Scripture.
You and I must recognize God's provision when leaders are
raised up. When leaders are raised up,
don't ever disconnect that from God's grace.
What do I mean by that? Look at verse 18 again and Ezra
8 verse 18. Then by the good hand of our God
upon us, they brought us a man of understanding.
So in Ezra's understanding, this man that was recruited is a
direct provision from God himself and that.
Truth is reverberating throughout the New Testament.
Ephesians 4 He gave us. Apostles and prophets, teachers,
pastors, shepherds. He gave us.
Luke, chapter 10. The harvest is plentiful.
Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest that He may send out
laborers. God is the one who sends out
laborers. So when we understand that
there's somebody who inspires us to love God, that's God's gift.
That doesn't make that person more special or more significant
than anybody else, but it is an extension of God's mercy and His
love toward us. And it also teaches us that if
we are in any position or place where we are lacking that kind
of leadership or influence, we should seek God for it.
We should ask God to extend his hand and to move and to equip
and to furnish and to beckon those who can fill those voids.
If we really saw one another, not just leaders one another, as
God's extension of grace, we would be much more merciful
towards one another, much more appreciative, given much more
reason to worship God. Ezra here is praising God at the
sight of other men who love God and will help others love God.
Lastly, and this one interested me a lot, is that even in this
section of scripture? We have a preview of Gentiles
valuing and inheritance, not directly their own.
What do I mean by that? There is a disproportionate
response among two groups of people that Ezra calls out for.
Look again at the last verse that we read in verse 20.
He mentioned this, the Levites. And then he goes on to say,
besides 220 of the temple servants whom David and his
officials had set apart to attend the Levites, these were
all mentioned by name. If you again have a different
translation, it might read instead of temple servants,
Nephanam. Nephanam.
Why do some translations have a name while others have a kind of
a phrase? Here the temple servants,
because some translations decided to use transliteration
of the Hebrew and others like the ESV wanted to provide more
of a description of the function of this group of people.
And we studied the same group back in Ezra chapter 2.
So you have the priest who are descendants of Aaron, the from
the tribe of Levi. But not every Levite was a
priest, only if you were a son of Aaron.
So the other Levites had a supportive role and they
assisted the priests in doing what God's called them to do.
But we learned back early in the book of Ezra that there was
another tear. You have these temple servants
or the Nithanam who assisted the Levites.
Do you see this? But more than that, we concluded
that this group of people were not of Israeli origin.
They were not Levites, right? In fact, when we did a little
digging, they were gentiles. They're from the Gibeonites from
Joshua Chapter 9. And we put the pieces together
to see how that's true. But what's the point here?
That if these temple servants are indeed Gentiles.
Why are there more of them interested going back to the
temple to serve than the Levites themselves?
How many Levites total responded to Ezra's call?
Do the math here. The end of verse 18 we read that
there are what, 18? And the last part of verse 19,
we read that there are 20. So you have 38 Levites in
comparison to 220 Gibeonites. That's shocking, and I think it
says something about what you and I find in the New Testament
over and over. Let me say it this way.
Actually, there is a greater Ezra, Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
and there was a time that we look back on where he came into
the world to call His own to His Kingdom, to build it, to
experience the fulfillment of promises, of restoration, of
hope. And what you find instead is
that very few of His own actually accepted the
invitation, whereas those who are the most unlikely showed
more passion and more interest and more investment, namely the
Gentiles. In fact, you see this so
prevalent in the book of Acts where the apostles of Christ go
out and they they prioritize synagogues and they try to reach
the Jews and they're met with more rejection than anything
else. And yet whenever the gospel
truth spills over to the streets of the Gentiles, overwhelming
response, overwhelming response, they rejoiced.
When the Gentiles heard this in Acts 1348, they began rejoicing
and glorifying the word. They were glorifying the word of
the Lord. And as many as were appointed to
eternal life believed, you see that repeated over and over
again, and you find previews of it in the Old Testament.
More Gentiles accepting what God wants, even though they are not
the priority. They're not the privileged
nation, at least at this point. They are on the fringes.
Not that God never had the Gentiles in mind, but in this
dispensation they were not the direct object of invitation.
And this is something for us to consider.
So when we look at these shoes. We have so much to grasp, so
much to digest, but I'd love for us to end it here because
there's so much left to uncover in this chapter.
And what I want us to look at is the truth that we just heard,
that there is a greater Ezra calling.
And like Ezra of old, one who exceeds him in knowledge and
character and faithfulness, calls people today.
And unfortunately, only some respond.
And I wonder tonight if there is some here who are rejecting.
And if you really asked yourself why you can't come up with a
good answer. I want to actually call
somebody, maybe more than one person.
Maybe you've ignored most of this Bible study, and that's OK,
But if you're going to hear anything, hear my voice.
Now. Why do you deny Christ?
Why are you stiff arming him over and over again?
How many invitations do you need?
What about Christianity that turns you off so much?
Let's just be straight. Let's talk like that.
Yeah. What about it makes you recoil?
What about it makes you want to run in the other direction?
Is it the love of God and sending His own Son to die for
your sins? Is that what makes you cringe?
Is it God's purity? Is it His Holiness?
Is it the promise of eternal life?
Is it the power for Him to break every bondage of sin?
Is it for Him to give you exactly why you were created?
Hope and fellowship with Him, not just now, but for eternal.
What about it causes you to reject it?
Have you made-up your mind that there is more to offer in this
world? There's more to offer.
If you're the master of your fate, if you're the captain of
your soul, have you actually determined that you're a better?
God for yourself than God himself.
If that's the case, then so be it.
He will not override your will. You'll be responsible for that
choice. But I would ask you to
reconsider. I would ask you to look into the
personal love of Jesus Christ for you and actually examine
what He offers you carefully. Don't just go by your feelings.
Don't just go by what you heard. Can I tell you how I came to
Christ? I did my own homework.
I grew up in a Christian home, and my parents did a wonderful
job raising us in the faith. But we still had a choice.
And when I went out into the world and ventured out Into
Darkness, I came to a crossroads.
And I had to ask myself this question.
Why am I not living the way God calls me to live?
Why? Why am I living a hypocritical
lifestyle and trying to justify it?
And so I looked into Christianity for myself.
If eternal life is really at stake, then I better have a good
reason to deny it. And guess what?
I could not find a valid reason to deny this Christ.
In fact, I found overwhelming reason to bow my knee and to
crown Him as Lord and Savior. And that's possible.
For you and. Depending on who you are today,
you could be like one of the heads of the Father's houses
that we just read about, where you will have generational
impact. And today, yes, you may have
eternal life, but that may be the inheritance of your children
as well, and their children and their children.
Children. Lord, we thank you for this
Bible study. With all these names that you've
mentioned, help us remember that you know us each by name, and
you even know the names of those who don't know you.
And we pray that you would use our efforts, often times meager
and weak, to do miracles in people's lives so that you would
receive maximum glory. And so, Lord, with all that was
said, help us apply what needs to be applied, and with every
other truth, help us stored in our hearts so that they may
resurface when necessary and when needed.
But for now, Lord, we want to pause and thank you and worship
you for how you've spoken to us in a passage that might be
intimidating or unattractive. Yet again you have convinced us
that Your word is gold, every part of it.
We give you glory for that in Jesus name, Amen.
Let's stand and worship the Lord together.