Message
Ezra 2:1-70
You Are Named
If you are a visitor here today we have only just started a sermon series which is called Jexit.
And you are thinking, “Well that is a bit of a strange name … Jexit.
But the name comes from the word Brexit where Britain is trying to leave the European Union.
Jexit is about Judah leaving Babylon and coming back home.
The focus of the series is on a time that we don’t often look at – indeed it is that part of history that often gets overlooked.
We are looking at the time when Judah is called to go back from Babylon and go back into the land.
Last week we that God, in order to enable the nation of Judah to come back home to Judea, literally changed an empire.
He changed from the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Empire by putting King Cyrus in charge as the Persian King. We saw that God’s care for us and God’s love for us extends to such an extent that if He needs to He will change Empires. And we were reminded of God’s incredible grace and love in the midst of that change.
Now we don’t have a specific text or verse that we are going to focus on throughout this series but we are going to be looking at different books that are in that time – the historical books. Specifically Ezra and Nehemiah which speak about what is going on back in the land of Judah. We will also look at Esther as well, which talks about the people that stayed in the Persian Empire - those who actually didn’t leave after they and the opportunity.
We will also look at some prophetic books that deal with this era – namely Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi. All of these books tie into the Jexit theme.
Today we are going to continue the series with a focus on Ezra Chapter 2. Now when you get to this chapter as you look it up now you are just going to see a lot of names. There is pretty well 70 verses of names.
I have no intention of reading all of those names, partly because there is a lot there that are just really really hard to pronounce. But also because you can see what is going on and can understand what the situation here is without reading through all of these names.
We will read verses 1 and 2 though just to give us a sense of what is going on. Just to give us a context.
Ezra 2:1-2 Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town, 2 in company with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah:
Out of this very big list of names there is actually only 2 names that we know anything about beyond the fact that there name is in the Bible and in that list.
The first of the names that is important or is known there in this list is Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel’s name will come up regularly in this series because he is a key person. He is a key person literally in 2 senses.
He is a key person because he becomes a governor of the province after they return back from Babylon. So he is the connection so to speak between the Persian authorities and the delegated authority that comes through the nations. We saw that is what Cyrus does. He breaks up the provinces and satrapies and then puts governors in place to rule the local area. Zerubbabel is the one who is in charge of this little local area here that on a map that would have been produced by the Persians this tiny little area known as Judea. He becomes the governor of that land.
Zerubbabel is also important in a literal sense because from 1 Chronicles 3:19 we are told that he is a descendant of David. We know, don’t we, or we remember, that for the Messiah to come He needs to be a descendant of David. So God has preserved this guy, Zerubbabel, who is a descendant of David, who comes back to the land.
Later on you can read Matt 1 or Luke 3 where Jesus’ genealogy is found and you’ll find the name of Zerubbabel in Jesus’ genealogy. So Zerubbabel is an important reminder of the promise of the link that God said that His messiah would come through the line of David.
But Zerubbabel is also important in a spiritual sense as well and later on when we read through some passages in Haggai and Zechariah and the name of Zerubbabel will come up as a reminder of the promises of God.
God will show that, in the face of what seems to be such devastation and difficulty, that He still has power. Zerubbabel will be a reminder of God’s power and authority. So the people are to look to Zerubbabel as the one who gives encouragement.
For both these reasons Zerubbabel is a really important name and we will see that more and more and he is one that we know.
That other name that we know more about or have an understanding about is Joshua.
Joshua is in another place called the son of Jazadok. And that means then that Joshua is the grandson of the High Priest who was the last High Priest in Israel before the exile. So here is another connection, a family connection and a lineage connection.
Now the task of the High Priest before the exile, and the task of the High Priest in general, was to preserve the spiritual life of Israel. It was the task of the High Priest to keep bringing people back.
To keep them focused on the Word.
To keep them encouraged in their faith and to preserve the truth.
So Joshua would have been, through the exile, would have been learning the word of God.
He would have been teaching the word of God.
He would have been doing all that was necessary to preserve the spiritual life of Israel
… preserve the faith, preserve the truth, preserve the scrolls that things were written on, learning it off by heart.
That was his responsibly. Then after he came back from exile he was appointed as the High Priest of the new area, the High Priest in Judea.
So you can see can’t you that these two names are really really important. Because God through these men is preserving his line, preserving his name, preserving the people and preserving the truth of the word of God.
So that even though this 70 year period has taken place which has put a real crack in the life of Israel – even so there is still continuity.
There is still the descendant of David who is the leading authority.
There are no more kings in Judah as they are not allowed to have kings anymore. So the highest ranking person is still a descendant of David. After the exile and the High Priest is continuing to be there to help the nation to be faithful.
In terms of these names however that is all we know.
The Nehemiah who is mentioned there is not the same Nehemiah who writes the book of Nehemiah because he comes much later on the scene.
The Mordecai who is mentioned there is not the Mordecai of the book of Esther, for two reasons. He is also much later and Mordecai doesn’t come back to the land of Judea.
The rest are just unknowns. All of these names are all just a group of unknowns. And so when you look at this you go, “Well why bother?”
Why bother with all of those names? Why not go from chapter 2:2 straight away just to chapter 2:64 where you get a summary of what is going on:
65 The whole company numbered 42,360, 65 besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 200 male and female singers. 66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 67 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
Why have the intervening 62 verses. Who cares about all these names?
Well God cares. God cares about these names.
God cares about the 42 men who are mentioned in vs 24. These 42 men, we are told, are going to go back to the town of Azmaveth. These 42 men are the smallest group that’s going back to a town. So this tiny group of 42 men, are going to be responsible
… they and their families, are going to be responsible
to rebuild the town. To fix it up from the destruction that took place by the Babylonians. Because the Babylonians when they came through the cities and the towns smashed them to the ground.
And these 42 men – a smaller group of men than what we have here today – they are going back to this town to re-establish.
God cares about the fact that this poor group of guys, and their wives and their children and going to have to start from scratch.
God cares.
God cares that - despite the fact that his temple has been destroyed and raised to the ground - that after the exile there are all these people going back who knows how it works.
If you have a look there you can see them listed in blocks.
Vs 41 you have got the singer.
Vs 42 the gate keepers.
Vs 43 you’ve got the temple servants
and Vs 36 you’ve got the priests.
So even though the temple back in Jerusalem has been broken to the ground … somehow - I don’t know how they did it - but somehow the Israelites have achieved the capacity to continue the tradition and the teaching and the understanding of what it means to run a temple.
In exile they were running a temple without a temple. And so they have gate keepers and singers and servants who all know what to do when the temple is rebuilt.
God cares about the way people will worship.
God cares.
God cares about us wanting to know these things. Because when we picture the 70 years in exile we sometimes picture these people sitting around doing nothing. Falling into bad habits and marrying the people and just not caring about Judah.
But it is not true. During the exile they cared. They were focused on their spiritual life.
There was a high priest and the role was being passed on.
There were these temple singers, for 70 years they sang songs that related to the temple with no temple. That’s commitment isn’t it? To be able 70 years later to know the songs, to know the tunes, to know how it works.
The gate keepers, there hasn’t been gates for ages. How does a gate keeper learn to tend a gate without a gate? But that is what they did.
This list gives us a picture of the nature of the people coming back. It is not a ragtag group that doesn’t know what they are doing because they are unfocused. They are very focused. And God is bringing together these people to re-establish his people back into the land.
God cares.
God cares about another group of people though and for me this is the saddest group.
Vs 59: The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel.
How sad is that. They are almost exiles among the exiles. Not only have they been exiled from their own land, but even amongst their own people. Their own people cannot even testify and determine if they actually belong to them because they can’t prove their family heritage.
And yet God cares about these people. He cares enough to say, “Well those 652 people who fit into that category, that group of people, I will name them.” God cares about them. Just because the Israelites can’t prove that they are part of the family of God. God makes them part of the family of God.
This is not just a list names. These, this list here is a reminder of the promises of God where God said he would bring his people back from Babylon. Not just as this ragtag group who have no idea what to do, but as this well prepared group
… where the leadership is sorted out.
… the descendants of David are sorted out.
… where the temple worship that goes with it, it is all sorted out.
These are not just names, they belong, they are a part and they have a purpose.
So they are not just names, they are named. You understand the difference.
THEY ARE NOT JUST NAMES, THEY ARE NAMED.
And that is just so true for each one of us isn’t it. We are not just names to God, we are named. I can show you really easily that this is the case.
Read Revelation 20:11-15.
I want you to think about that one book and all of those books.
On one hand you have all of those books which is recording the lives of people and people are judged according to what they have done in those books. And so their sins and the terrible things they have done are there … but the great things they have done and all the blessings they have done are there as well, it is all in this book.
And then after all of this has been looked at another book is opened and in this book there are names of eternal impact.
The eternal situation of all of those people standing there is not based on the books, it is based on this book.
And for each one of us that might mean there are two names, two words or three words or four words in this book depending on how long your name is. 2, 3, 4 or 5 at the most. But those 2 words or 3 words or 4 words are what count don’t they because those words are the difference between life with the Lord for eternity or eternal death because you have been named.
You have been named.
It’s not just a name, you have been named.
It’s not just a name to God. You have been named, you are part of the family. That is your name.
And understand that you are not part of the family of God because you are an extraordinary person. You may be an extraordinary person.
You may have done amazing things.
You may have been involved in the conversion of many.
You may have memorised large portions of scripture.
You may be known for your hospitality and your care for others.
You may be a person of faith, people look to you and say there is a person of faith and they stand firm in difficulty times.
You may have spiritual wisdom and spiritual discernment and your discernment is well known.
You may be a great witness, a powerful witness for the Lord. And not yet believers look at you and go, “There is something about that person.”
You might be generous and give heaps of your money to the kingdom
You might have this high personal integrity and you might have a high moral code.
You might be a leader with multiple spiritual gifts and people respect you.
You might have relationships and all your relationships are strong.
You might be well spoken of because the light of the Lord shines within you.
You might have all of those things and maybe you have done them all or more --- but that is not why your name is in the book.
You are in the family of God because Jesus named you.
And Jesus doesn’t look at all of these things and go, “There is a really great person and I’ll bring them in.” He looks at us knowing we have fallen short. Knowing that when Jesus approached us the description of us is literally, “we are God’s enemies” … and yet we are named. It’s not just a name is it? You are not just a name, you are named which means it is eternally important for you to know the name.
Which means it is eternally important for us to know The Name
In John 20:31 John tells us the whole purpose as to why he wrote the Gospel of John.
31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
It is The Name which can save.
In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul opens his letter to Corinth.
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
Do you know much about the Corinthian Church? In that church there is division, there is sin, there is relationship breakdown, there are arguments over spiritual gifts, there are arguments over the Lords supper. There are arguments over what love looks like. There is scrabbling for prestige and power. There are fractures in the fellowship. If you wanted to put a really good name on the Corinthian Church you would call them spiritually dysfunctional.
That’s who they are.
Yet because of the name how does Paul describe this church? He says that they are sanctified, that they have been made holy. Not because of anything other than that is how Jesus Christ has seen them because he has named them.
Paul in Philippians 2 tells us where all of history is heading.
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This is where history is going. At some point in history every individual is going to say that name is the name and I have to bow to that name.
Now either you do that now in confession and humility in response to the grace of God.
Or when Jesus comes back in judgement you will do it but in a totally different context.
If you are not a believer when Jesus comes back you are not going to look at him and say well that’s not Jesus … you will have no choice but to go: “He is Lord and I must bow to him because he has authority”.
Everyone is going to bow, but are you named? This is where History is leading.
Paul puts it together so clearly for us in Acts 4 when he is speaking to the Pharisees and he is speaking to the spiritual leaders and he is speaking to the people in Jerusalem and they are telling him to stop preaching and Jesus says this:
11 Jesus is
‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
It doesn’t get any plainer than that does it. No other name, no other call. Jesus is the way, the only way, and you need to know this name.
Jesus is his name. We must be named by him and we must know that when we are named by him he cares for us no matter what.
Jesus.
That is The Name.
And we must be named by Him.
And when we are named we know that, no matter what, He cares for us.
All of these truths are possible because of what are being told in Ezra 2.
You see for Jesus to be the Messiah he needs to be born in the line of David.
Zerubbabel is coming home so that this is possible.
And for Jesus to be the Messiah he needs to be born in Bethlehem.
The people are coming back to the region of Bethlehem to rebuild and resettle.
For Jesus to be the Messiah he needs to fulfil the temple sacrificial system.
In the crowd coming home there are all who are needed to get the temple going again.
Priests. Singers. Gatekeepers. Temple Servants.
God is fulfilling his promise by bringing the people home. It is an act of grace that shows the people who are coming to Jerusalem that God cares for them.
As God shows his care to these people He is, at the same time, showing His care for us as well. For, as we saw last week, all history is God’s history. And this history is our history.
So the actions of the returning exiles are actions that give us direction.
And what is the very first act they do when they get home?
Read Ezra 2:68-69
Is this a generous response?
1 gold drachma = 8.4 grams. 61,000 would equal 512 kilograms … of gold coins. These were 94% pure gold. That is approximately $27,000,000 in value today.
1 silver mina = 640 grams. 5000 would equal 3200 kilograms … of silver. Again in money value today that would be AUS$2,500,000
Now we have to be a bit careful here, especially with the gold figure, because the value of gold today, compared to other metals, is very high.
When we talk about history we can’t just say the value in today’s dollar represents the buying power of the money.
I did some calculations that too me a while to work out because I am a theologian and not a mathematician.
But I eventually worked out that, in the currency of the day, the 61,000 gold drachmas was worth approximately twice the amount of the 5000 silver minas.
However you look at it the amount is quite generous.
Those of you who have moved know that it costs a lot in extras when you set up.
And in this case they all need to re-establish themselves and even rebuild some towns.
But their priority was to build the temple.
They came back and they saw that the temple was in destruction and ruin.
They knew that the temple was important for their spiritual life and they made that spiritual focus their response.
There is so much we can say here but the point I want to make here is this.
If you know God’s care and if you know that you have been named then are you responding to God like this?
Are you allowing your focus, this flow of God’s love that comes on you.
This love where you see all of history has been pointing to the point where Jesus can come so that you can know him so that you can be named?
Do you understand how valuable you are?
How precious you are?
How great it is to be named?
You are not just a name, you are named by the kind of heaven, the king of earth, under whom has all authority.
Is your service to the Lord a burden, a frustration, or is it a joy?
A joy to serve the one who saw you out of all of the billions of people that have passed through this earth and who are in this earth today and said of you, “You are mine because I named you.”
All history is God’s history and even this history back in Ezra reminds us how much is the Grace of God to us, in Jesus Christ. Let continue to seek to understand that the Lord is calling us into this amazing response and this joy filled response to him because he has done so much for us.
Prayer
