The Lord of Lists

Father in heaven, as we come to your Word we ask once again that you would help us to hear, we need ears that we might understand, that we might be open and we might not be distracted and that we would with the eyes of faith hear just what you mean to speak to us. Even surprisingly to minister to our hearts we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is Ezra. I think I can make this statement confidently, Ezra 2 is no one’s favorite chapter in the Bible. No one here thinks, you know what, I love Psalm 23, John 3, Romans 8 and Ezra 2. That’s not on anyone’s list. In fact, if you’re there all you have to do, some of you have already done this during the week, good for you because you’ve already let me know, hey good luck. All you have to do is scan your eyes, names, numbers, and you will be tempted to conclude that this is your least favorite chapter in the Bible. Here’s the assessment I found in one of my commentaries, “Chapters like Ezra 2 are among the most uninviting portions of the Bible to the modern reader because of their tedious nature and because of their overtones of racial exclusivism and pride, however, fascinating the chapter may be to the antiquarian, it is unlikely that his enthusiasm will ever be shared by more than a few and that is written by someone who probably took years of his life to write a commentary on Ezra, that’s rather grim.” 

Let me give you a more helpful commentary on the chapter. All Scripture is breathed down by God and profitable for teaching for proof, for correction, for training and righteousness and the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work, so I’m gonna go with the apostle Paul’s inspired commentary and though it’s true some passages of Scripture are going to be high mountain peaks and this is not one of them, yet God has something for us to inspire us and to teach us. I’m going to read through the passage, stopping along the way to explain what we have here and then we will zero in on a few points. So, follow along beginning at verse 1.

“Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mizpar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.” So, what we have here are the people returning from Judah, that is the southern kingdom Judah and Benjamin, the northern tribes had been carried off to Assyria 150 years earlier and they’re going back to the capital of Jerusalem. You see some names in verse 2 may be familiar to you, Zerubbabel, and then Jeshua, who is likely the same person here at Joshua the high priest. There’s a story about him in the Book of Zachariah chapter 3, and Nehemiah, this is very likely a different Nehemiah than the Book of Nehemiah, very common for people to have the same name across decades and centuries. The Nehemiah in the Bible does not come until 445 B.C. This is a different Mordecai than the one we find in Esther, but here are some of the people. And now the author is going to give us the lists of those returning. It’s a list of the exiles that came back in this first wave roughly 549 B.C. to 520 B.C., over these two decades and it’s divided into seven lists. There’s quite a bit more order to these passages and it looks adverse. 

So we have the first list, verse 2 to verse 20, which are the lay people returning, counted by their families. Yes, we’ll read them. “The number of the men of the people of Israel, the sons of Parosh, 2,172. The sons of Shephatiah, 372. The sons of Arah, 775. The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. The sons of Elam, 1,254. The sons of Zattu, 945. The sons of Zaccai, 760. The sons of Bani, 642. The sons of Bebai, 623. The sons of Azgad, 1,222. The sons of Adonikam, 666. The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. The sons of Adin, 454. The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. The sons of Bezai, 323. The sons of Jorah, 112. The sons of Hashum, 223. The sons of Gibbar, 95.” So those are the lay people returning, counted by their families. 

Now verses 21 through 35, second list, we have the lay people that are counted by city. So first counted by family, you notice a change in verse 21, now it’s counted by their city. “The sons of Bethlehem, 123. The men of Netophah, 56. The men of Anathoth, 128. The sons of Azmaveth, 42. The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. The men of Michmas, 122. The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. The sons of Nebo, 52. The sons of Magbish, 156. The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. The sons of Harim, 320. The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. The sons of Jericho, 345. The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

Now we come, list number three. So, these were lay people by families, lay people by city, now we come to the priests, verse 36. “The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. The sons of Immer, 1,052. The sons of Pashhur, 1,247. The sons of Harim, 1,017.” There were 24 divisions of the priests, we know that from 1 Chronicles 24, and what we have here are four, only four of these divisions are noted as returning. 

So, the priests now here verse 40, the fourth list. “The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128. The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.” These are the Levites, singers, gatekeepers, these were people who may have been connected to the Levites. The gatekeepers locked and unlocked the doors of the temple, watched over the treasury. When you think about the people who do that here, we’re grateful for them, they were also like security guards. Not the first time in history God’s people have needed guards. The singers were temple vocalists and choirs, just to remember the priests were all Levites, but the Levites were not all priests, only those descended from Aaron. So, the Levites performed an auxiliary ministry for the priests carrying out some of the manual labor for the temple and before that for the tabernacle. 

So first the priests, then the Levites, then verse 43, here’s the fifth list. “The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.” 

So, we’ve had priests, Levites, these are temple servants. You can think of it as the Levites helped the priests and the temple servants helped the Levites and then going down the chain of command it seems that this next group, the sixth list might have been those who helped the temple servants. Here they are called in verse 55, “The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.” All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392. 

Now we have one final list, verses 59 through 63. The list is of those who don’t have proper identification. So people didn’t have their papers in order. 59. “The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult the Urim and the Thummim. “

So, we’ve gone through the seven lists, we’re almost there. Now we have some wrapping up and some adding up. Verse 64. “The whole assembly together was 42,360, besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers. Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, their camels were 435, and their donkeys, they’ve got a lot of those, were 6,720. Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests’ garments. Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their towns.”

Okay so, we made. Now why is this here? Well, some people might wish we would just skip from chapter 2:1, now these are the people who came up, to chapter 3, when the seventh month came and they were in their towns. Why not just do that, 2:1 to 3:1. The people came, chapter 3, now they’re in their towns. Why do we have these other 69 verses? Scholars have speculated it’s to establish who had the right to rebuild the temple or maybe it was a tax list or maybe it was to restore land rights, maybe there was a clerk obsession who really liked to take good notes. Now all of those, except for the last, could be possible reasons, but even if it’s a tax list or a land list, that doesn’t really get to the heart of the matter. What can we learn from Ezra 2 to train us in righteousness and make us competent for every good work. I want to zero in on just three words of these 70 verses, and I think you’ll find that these words, when we explain what they’re about, we’ll have some surprising relevance for your life. I just want you to notice three words. The first word I want you to notice is in verse 23. Go back there. This is the accounting of the people by their towns, and we read in verse 23, “The men of Anathoth, 128.” Anatoth or Anathoth. 

What’s so important about this town? You may recognize others in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, you’ve heard of this town. What about this. Well to get the significance of Anathoth we need to think about Jeremiah chapter 32. Let me just read you. This is Jeremiah the prophet. He has the unfortunate task of giving a lot of bad news. Some of the false prophets say this is going to be two years, this is a quick thing, and he says, no this is gonna be 70 years and Jerusalem is under siege. The Babylonians are there, they’re starving the people out, they’re attacking, they’re carrying them off, they are utterly going to be destroyed and in the midst of this siege hear what Jeremiah says. 

I’m reading from chapter 32 in Jeremiah, but you can just listen. Jeremiah said, “The Word of the Lord came to me, behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, buy my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours. Then Hanameel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard and the court is the Word of the Lord and said to me, buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin for the right of possession, the redemption is yours, buy it for yourself then I knew that this was the Word of the Lord.” Very strange verse. I would just figure maybe you’ve got a cousin like this. We are under siege. I’ve got some land here in Jerusalem for you. Your cousin, my uncle, I want you to buy this land. Now why, you’re being destroyed, your people are being carted off. Later in chapter 32 there’s a heading, “Jeremiah prays for understanding,” because this is a very strange request for him to understand, for the people to understand, of all the things to do when the conquering superpower is in your town taking you over, wiping you out, now is not the time for land investment. But God said to Jeremiah, he said, “I know this is from the Lord.” Why, why do you buy a land in the midst of a siege. It’s to say we’re coming back here; this is not the last time. And even though the people, what are you doing, you’re nuts, you’re crazy, we’re being wiped out, we’re being carted off, our future is over, everything’s done. Do not buy a field in Anathoth, and that’s precisely what Jeremiah does. So, I wonder, when you go to Ezra 2, reading the list, if these 128 men of Anathoth, if there well appearing a bit of a pause when this was recounted. It was a reminder that the God who led them off was now making good on even the most outlandish promise. What could be more ridiculous then to buy land in Jerusalem and in Judah in the midst of a siege and a hostile takeover, when the people said yeah, go for it Jeremiah, fat chance we’re ever gonna live in that land again and now they do. It was a testimony, if they had ears to hear and eyes to see, to remember that the God who had harmed them justly was also the God who would heal them. Jeremiah bought that field, now he claims it. Houses and fields and vineyards would once again be planted and bought and sold in Anathoth.

I wonder if there are extravagant promises in your life that you barely can believe are true like this one. As you’re being led in chains away on a month’s long journey to Babylon and there’s the little plaque and the little sign in the field, “Property of Jeremiah the prophet.” Really. Maybe it’s the promises from Romans 8. That may be your favorite chapter in the Bible. Maybe you’re struggling to really believe that there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Really absolutely true for you. Or maybe Romans 8:28 that “All things really really do work together for the good of those who love them and who have been called according to his purpose or maybe it’s the end of chapter 8 that we cannot begin to fathom what God will do for us and that nothing, famine, sword, nakedness, peril, nothing in heaven or earth, principalities or powers can separate you from the love of God that He has in Christ Jesus for you. Those are outlandish promises. Even more outlandish than a field that they would come back 70 years later and inhabit.

Here’s the second word I want you to notice. I want you to go to verse 62 or go to 61 rather. I want to remind you of a story, perhaps it’s tucked away somewhere in your brain and some of you have probably never heard it, the word in 61 is this fellas name, Barzillai. You can read about Barzillai in 2 Samuel 17, 2 Samuel 19 and 1 Kings chapter 2. I won’t go back and read the story, but Barzillai is one of those great unsung heroes in the Bible. His name, it’s a great name, it means man of iron. Men let’s go home and say, honey call me Barzillai. He was a Gileadite which means he was the tribe of Manasseh. That’s important because the priests don’t come from the tribe of Manasseh of course, they come from the tribe of Levi. So, hold that. Now who was Barzillai, he was loyal to David when David’s son, Absalom had rebelled against him. Now these were dark days for David, he was the king, but his son Absalom, who was so handsome and had all the beautiful flowing hair which would be his undoing, this Absalom had a palace coup and things were so bad that Absalom was holding court, the people were cheering for Absalom and David and his men had to flee. Now when you are the subject of a military coup, and your son is in place, and you have to run out of town things do not look good for your reign. So, if you were a betting man in Israel in those days, you would say, well I want to cozy up to Absalom, he just displaced his father David who is on the run. And that’s where this man Barzillai, he was a wealthy man, and we read that he supported David and his men and he gave them food when they were on the run from Absalom. This was a bold act of generosity because if Absalom ends up being king, and it sure looks like he is going to be, then who’s going to be off with their head, probably Barzillai. You’re a traitorous rebel who is aiding and abetting the enemy, the deposed king, but Barzillai, this wealthy man goes out of his way and he feeds David and his men and so in 1 Kings before David dies, when he gathers his son Solomon around him to give him some final instructions he says, “I want you always to deal kindly with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, for he took care of me and all of your days son let his sons sit at the king’s table. So, he was a good guy, and he was one of David’s favorites.

Now what is going on here in Ezra 2 to mention Barzillai. Well, it’s a cautionary tale. Look at the parenthetical statement in verse 61. “The sons of Barzillai who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name, these sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogy, but they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.” And so the governor has to say, “Well I’m not sure what to do with this, we have to wait until the high priest comes”, and the high priest had these little stones in his pocket called the Urim and the Thummim, it was one way that God had in this time to give His will, maybe a yes and a no, so the Urim and the Thummim is going to give the answer to this question. But do you see what’s happened, these sons who they claim were of the priestly tribe, at some point in their lives they married the daughters of Barzillai, and they thought to themselves, “Man of iron, well the descendants of Barzillai they get to sit at the king’s table.” So, against convention the parenthetical statement says, cozy up and say, I think from now on we’re gonna be of the tribe of Barzillai the Gileadite. So, they say this is going to be good for us. We claim this great man’s name. Now we’ve married into it, and we’re sort of going to set aside that other claim we have, and we want to be known as the family of Barzillai the Gileadite. Well now when these men return, and they’re registering and saying, um right here, priests. Say now wait a second, it says here you are from Barzillai the Gileadite of Manasseh. He’s not a Levite, he’s not a priest and they say, well, alright time out a little complicated. 

We really are priests but at one point because he was such a good dude we went by his name but trust us we’re priests. And they say, um, this is not checking out, we’re gonna have to check with our superiors before we can make this decision. Now why do I say this is a cautionary tale? It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Take on the name of Barzillai. We will be treated kindly because of him. Maybe we will inherit his wealth. Maybe we too can sit at the king’s table, but now, I hope this is not making too much of a spiritual point, I think it’s an implication from the text, now they are trying to get what they had already passed over. When they claimed to be the descendants of Barzillai they were going after a blessing in their way instead of God’s way, and they must have thought that they could have the best of both worlds. That when it was convenient they could say, yep, Barzillai the Gileadite, that’s our dad huh, huh, huh. Remember that, inherit his wealth, have his good name, and now when they came to be priests, they could go back, and they could do both things. But you can’t, you can’t have it both ways. So perhaps this is a fair application and I’m thinking in particular of those many, many young people here who have had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home, maybe even in this church, maybe at Covenant Day School, maybe your whole life you’ve had, what shall we say, a kind of priestly inheritance. And now as you’re growing up, it’s nice to have that in reserve somewhere on the shelf. But if another identity comes along it seems to get you the things you want now, whatever that might be. Identity has the smartest, the most beautiful, the partier, the progressive, whatever it might be, I like that. And you know what, when it comes time to it if I need this old identity, I can have that too. I can have it both ways. I can be this new person, I can leave this other priestly inheritance behind and when it comes to it, I can always say, oh yeah, well wait a minute that’s really me. I grew up in the church and my parents were Christians and my grandparents were Christians. See here it is. Might it be that man at the registration says something is not adding up here. I thought you didn’t want that inheritance. I thought you wanted this new identity because you can’t have them both, you can’t be a son of Barzillai from Manasseh and a priest from the tribe of Levi and you may think, well of course, I will just be one person for this crowd and I’ll be another person when my parents are around, when I’m in church, when I come home for the weekend, and I can have both and no one will be the wiser. Well at some point someone will. We cannot embrace another identity and then just come back and claim the old one whenever you want, holding the two together. There is a cautionary tale for these men who thought it was a good idea to squander their priestly inheritance even for someone as noble as Barzillai the Gileadite. 

Now here’s the final word I want you to notice. It’s a number. It’s in verse 64. The whole is simply together was 42,360. That’s a pretty precise number. Now you can add up all the numbers and they don’t equal the numbers given here, exactly 42,360 so it may be including women and children, even though it makes sense that these would be mostly men who are the people that are going to make the thousand-mile four-month trip back. It’s probably mostly single men. But 42,360. Why is that significant, because you need to know you are a particular people, a known people, in Christ you are a loved people, and accounted people. Abraham Lincoln famously said, “God must love the common man because he made so many of them.” Well God must love lists because there’s so many of them in the Bible. There’s lists of nations, there are genealogies, there’s a census, multiple times there’s a list of returning exiles, there is for crying out loud a whole book called, math teachers, Numbers. God keeps track of us. He knows our family, He likes to keep lists. It’s not just, well God loves people, you’re a people, He loves you, 42,360. That’s at least one of the things you ought to think whenever you come to those many passages, land allotments, genealogy, so and so begets so and so. 

I remember years ago, let me just add a caveat, I have not watched the Simpsons in 25 years, I’m not telling you to go out and watch the Simpsons, but back before I was more sanctified and in college, I watched a lot there, there was one I remember, one of the first episodes, Homer has a bad piece of fish at a sushi restaurant or something and he thinks that he is going to die and so he makes amends with his father and he tucks in his children and tries to have a man talk with Bart and then he thinks he is going to die and say what you will, the Simpsons are pretty irreverent, but it does have, they’re a church going family, and because he thinks he is going to die in the night, he puts on headphones and he listens to the bible on tape, tapes back there in season 2. And it’s Larry King reading the Bible. That’s how long ago it was. And the joke is that they show Homer falling asleep and every time he listens to more and more of the, every part is simply a begats, is a genealogy, as if the whole Bible, everything he listened to all night was only names and lists and numbers until finally the batteries ran out and his wife comes down, he was asleep, not dead, show goes on for infinity. It can seem like there’s a lot of names and there are. Have you ever thought the God who inspired this book must like lists. 

You know when you go to a graduation, especially if it’s a big school, you say really, are we gonna do all of these names. Except you’re there because there’s one name, you would be happy if they just said, all the graduates stand up and now my daughter, granddaughter, come on, let’s give her a round of applause, and they always start by saying hold your applause until the end and then the poor people who go first get no applause and by the end everyone’s breaking the rules and woo, and whooping and hollering before the end. You go to a graduation and it’s a lot of names and it’s a little tedious except that you’re there and you really want to hear that one name, your child, your name, your grandchild. The lists matter when you are numbered in that list. One of the reasons Ezra 2 is here, to show us that God knows us intimately, not just an unidentifiable mass of humanity. He knew there were 945 sons of Zattu and 112 sons of Jorah. He keeps detailed records. It’s one of the reasons we take church memberships seriously. God makes lists and so do we. 

Of all the lists that might be important to you, the Dean’s list, award lists, income bracket, sports standing, there’s only one list that truly matters. Because there is another story of exiles returning to Jerusalem. You remember it, it’s at the very end of the Bible. When the holy city, the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven having the glory of God radiate like a most rare jewel, clear as crystal, 12 gates protected by 12 angels, there’s no temple there because the Lord God Almighty is the temple and the glory of God gives it light and we read there not simply the redeemed of Israel, but nations and kings will stream to this city, they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations, this heavenly city. This is the list that matters most. A record of those, what should be call them, exiles, strangers and aliens in the world who know that this is not your home. Revelation 21:27, “But nothing unclean will ever enter it nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the lambs book of life.” It’s a list of the exiles who finally come home. Is your name in that book because God will not let you in just because your grandma’s name is there. Here’s the good news, you have a personal invitation. The lamb himself has made a way, the lamb himself says I will give you the garments to wear, I will give you the forgiveness you need, I will be your way, your truth, your life, your entrance, I am the gate that you might enter into this holy city.

Did you notice at the beginning of Ezra 2, “The people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles.” Of those exiles. We read in chapter 1 that the Lord stirred in some to go which means many, many did not return. We ought to look on these exiles as being worthy of particular commendation. Matthew Henry the Puritan commentator said, “An account was kept in writing of the families that came out of captivity and the number of each family.” This was done for their honor as part of their recompence, for their faith and courage and their affections in their own land and to stir up others to follow their good example. It is a picture of the Christian life. God calls you to a new land, He offers you deliverance, He promises you an inheritance, He promises to make you a new people, He will set you free. Sounds wonderful, who wouldn’t want that? Well, you have to get up and you have to leave this earthly citizenship, set out on a journey to the celestial city and that takes courage. It took courage for these returning exiles. They had to leave the land that they knew. By that point the land that they loved, they have to leave an old world behind, they had to set out on a hard and dangerous journey. It was a promised land after all, not a land that came with brochures they could see or drone footage they could look at. They had to say goodbye to some family and friends, they had to let goods and kindred go and it may be the call in your life that you have to leave behind an old way of living, even leave behind some friends and family who will not understand, will say what are you doing, why are you leaving Babylon, why did you get up and go. The question is whether you believe that God has a better possession for you and an abiding one. Don’t delay. If He is stirring in your heart ala Ezra 1 to go talk to someone, talk to a pastor, talk to an elder, talk to a friend. Maybe there’s a stirring to go into full time ministry men or maybe a stirring men and women to go to far off places with the Gospel. Maybe a stirring to be more generous with your wealth. Maybe a stirring to commit your business to the glory of God or maybe a stirring to really come honestly to Jesus Christ for the first time. Will you have the courage to get up and go? The sheep will know His voice, they will have ears to hear and note that though it takes courage and though it may mean leaving goods and kindred behind, even family and friends perhaps who will not understand why you are doing this, why you are so serious now, why you’re on fire for Jesus. Isn’t it enough to just go through some of the motions. They may not understand but look this is not simply a call to suffer, it is above all the Lord’s summons and invitation to come home. Isn’t that what He was calling the exiles, yes there’s a cost, yes there’s a cross, but I’m inviting you to come back home to the place where you really belong, to that city whose foundations are eternal and whose light will never go out, and whose days are filled with unending joy. If you will but heed the Lord Jesus when He calls. Let’s pray.

Our Father in heaven, you have prepared an anecdote for us, an unbelievable promise that can be ours if we will but go and leave, travel, make the journey home. Perhaps even in this crowd people, many of whom have been in church hundreds, maybe thousands of times, yet now you want to call them, now you are speaking to them and they cannot deny that it is your voice so may they not harden their hearts, may today be the day of salvation and the day for leaving exile and making their way to the holy city. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.