Ezra 2:1-70

Verse 1, Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city; {2} Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mizpar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

I.    The list of the leaders of Israel are in verse 2.

A.  Jeshua is possibly Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, Haggai 1:1.

B.   A study of Nehemiah and Mordecai.

1.   Nehemiah might be the Nehemiah who wrote the next book.

a.   This is doubtful.

b.   If it is, then he had to return to Babylon, become the kings cupbearer, and then return again to Jerusalem to build the wall.

2.   Mordecai might be the Mordecai of Esther.

a.   This is doubtful.

b.   If it is, then he had to return to Babylon, become a servant of Ahasuerus, and raise Esther there.

3.   More than likely, this Nehemiah and Mordecai are different from the Mordecai of Esther and the Nehemiah of Nehemiah.

C.   It is very difficult to know who these people are.

1.   It is also very difficult to pronounce their names.

2.   In checking genealogy charts, or simply looking up their names in Strongs Concordance, there seems to be no way of tracing them back through their generations.

3.   Even though we can't trace them back, or find out very much about them or their family, God not only knows their names, He also knows about their family.

4.   Malachi 3:16-18 tells us that God looks down from heaven, seeing those people that study His Word and talk to one another about God's will.

a.   He writes down who they are and what they talk about and what they do about it in a book of remembrance.

b.   They shall belong to the Lord in a special way when He makes up His jewels.

II.   Verse 3-35 are the general list of people.  They are described by either the family, the town or the city they are from.

III. Verse 36-58 gives the list of the priests, Levites, and nethinim (One given, or temple servants {as given up to that duty}).

A.  Verse 36-39 - the Priests.

B.   Verse 40 - The Levites.

C.   Verse 41 - The singers.

D.  Verse 42, Children of the porters.

E.   Verse 43-54, The Nethinims.

F.   Verse 55-57, The children of Solomon's servants.

IV. Verse 59-63 is the list of people (whether common people or priests) who traveled to Jerusalem but who could not make out their genealogy.

A.  Verse 59,60 - People from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but could not show their genealogy.

B.   Verse 61,62 - Some priests were counted as polluted because they could not find their genealogy.  They should not eat of the most holy things until they received a special word from God, (verse 63).

C.   The total of the entire congregation was  42,360.

1.   This is not counting their servants, and maids, who numbered 7,337.

2.   Verse 66, their horses numbered      736.

3.   Verse 67, their mules numbered       245.

4.   Verse 67, their camels numbered      435.

5.   Verse 67, their asses numbered        6720.

D.  The total of all the congregation by taking the sum of the figures listed is no more than 29,829.

1.   John Gill says it is because the Jews didn't count those who returned who are of other tribes.

2.   John Calvin states that the older texts were probably illegible, thus mistakes were made when they were copied.

a.   I reject this idea entirely.

b.   Those people would know the figures didn't add up and would certainly find out why, and make the needed corrections.

V.  Those that gave to the work of the temple.

A.  Each person gave as they were able to give.

1.   This is God's way.

2.   He only requires that which we are able to give.

3.   Except in the matter of faith.

a.   Here, God expects us to step out on what He has.

b.   We cannot see what He has, but we believe it by faith.

c.   Rom. 10:17, Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

B.   They gave 61,000 drams of gold, 5,000 pounds of silver, and 100 priests' garments.

1.   For an estimte of the dollar amount this represents, see part C.

2.   The point is:  Let us understand that doing the work of God costs not only money, but time, talent, and lives.

3.   Let us not rebel at the expense of our worship, but freely give because God has freely given to us.

4.   These people gave freely because they saw the need.

5.   We ought to give freely because there is a real need.

C.   It is very difficult to ascertain the exact amount of dollars this sum represents.  The following information is taken from a chart of monies, weights, and measures found in the back of Debby All's Bible.

1.   A days wage is assumed to be about $32.00.

2.   There are differences of economies and standards of living today, and there were differences 2,000 years ago.

3.   The following chart represents the estimated present day value of the gifts given for the erection of the temple.

4.   It must be understood that these values in no way represent the total given to the temple work.

VI. Verse 70, So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.  The dwelling places of the people.

A.  They didn't all dwell at Jerusalem.

1.   They didn't fear the people who were living in Israel.

2.   They knew they had the directive of King Cyrus, and of their God to be where they were.

3.   They moved back to the towns and cities where their fathers lived and claimed them.

4.   They probably didn't have fancy houses to live in, but they could worship God with the houses He gave them.

B.   They gave to support the work at Jerusalem, then moved to their own homes.

1.   It is always good to take care of God's work first.

2.   When we take care of God's work first, He will give us the things we need, Matt. 6:33.