Moving further in the book of Ezra

Let's re-read the first two chapters of Ezra today....it's not a bad thing to remind ourselves of where we are and where we're going, no?

The book of Ezra can be easily divided into two logical parts: the first six chapters and the last three. The first part of his book covers the return of the Jewish people and the restoration of the beautiful temple. There's a "break in the action" as they say, and the book of Esther actually happens chronologically there (the gap is about fifty-eight years!). Then the last three chapters cover the return of Ezra to the city and the ensuing revival among the people there.
So, in chapter one we see the decree of Cyrus and the details laid out for the return led by Zerubbabel (Babylonian name ) and in chapter two we see the census.
Hmmmm.
Boooooooring.
Well, not really.
Let's dig in!
I guess this chapter might be the kind of section that we'd be tempted to skip. To jump right over. Why in the world did this long list of names we cannot even begin to pronounce correctly get included here? Especially because almost the same list is in Nehemiah!
Ahhh, but ALL "Scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training," so maybe we should buckle down and figure out why they are important!

Some scholars say that the list might have legitimized land rights following the return from exile.  They also hypothesize that the list might have distinguished true Israelites from Samaritans and others, and show those who were duly authorized by Cyrus to return and rebuild the temple. When we get to chapter five we will see a real character named Tattenai, whose challenge may have been resolved by the information here.
Another reason may have been to show that this small community had continuity with the Jewish people of the past. There was heritage here. This group may have been small, but they continued God's plan for Israel. Instead of lumping everyone together in one group, they are listed here as family circles. It's as if the people, in spite of two generations in exile, refused to be robbed of their past heritage or their future blessings.
Yet another reason for the census was to make sure that all was orderly and structured. Priests, especially, needed to show their family trees because those were their credentials! Other people, as members of the community, had their own credentials and added their past history and their present talents to weave together a new city and a new temple.
They would be ready to live and to serve.
God had been faithful to them; they would now strive to be faithful to Him.

Let's take a look at this first from about twenty-thousand feet up, and then we'll look more closely.
Much of chapter two is a list of various families and their numbers. There may be some numerical differences between Ezra and Nehemiah, but I'm not going there. There could have been scribal errors; Hebrew numbers are difficult to transcribe.
Next is a list of various towns and their populations. This is followed by a list of the priests, Levites, temple singers, and gatekeepers. Interestingly, the next list is some who could not produce evidence of their tribal origin, including certain priests. The governor excluded them from serving as priests until a high priest could be authorized to use the Urim and Thummim, which were a means of determining God's will.
Almost everyone is mentioned here, from servants to singers, and even the livestock. Some of the discrepancies in the totals could be that the women and children were not added in, or in totals from Judah and Benjamin versus the totals from the northern tribes. The point is, we will not know for sure until we reach heaven why some of the numbers don't seem to match up. And at the risk of sounding simplistic, I would venture to say that it doesn't matter. There are principles here to learn that are much more important than the math. (Grin)
I particularly like what happens at the end of the chapter.
One of the first things that the various heads of households did after arriving in Jerusalem was to give a sizable amount of their assets toward the rebuilding of the temple. Then they settled in their cities.
This is inspiring, since it says to us that they felt this was the most important thing. This was the highest priority.
This wasn't left for tomorrow.
Wasn't left for later.
For the end of the month and we can give what's left over.
Nope.
This was a significant example to us in our world. Do we make worship our highest priority? Do we make God's causes the most important part of our budget?
Or do we give what's left over at the end of the month. And that might be nothing, if it's been a tough month!
Let's not assume that we need only be concerned with our monetary gifts, though. Our time and our talents can be mightily used of God if only we will allow Him to guide us.
Do we set a high priority on spending time with Him?
Do we feel ministering to and helping others is an important use of our time?
Or do we give only what's left after we do all of our other "wanna do" things on our lists? Or only what we have enough energy left to do?
I will tell you from personal experience, doing things for others in His name is one of the most energizing things we can do!

Let's learn from the example of these Jewish families who packed up and left the comforts of Babylon and traveled many, many miles on a mission for their God. They had their priorities right!