Today, I’d like to start off by asking a question that I think a lot of people dread to hear or see on an application. That question is, “Who are you?” It doesn’t seem like it should be that difficult but yet when you sit down to try an answer the question you don’t know where to start or where to go with your answer. This question is even more dreadful to someone who is young because you think, “I don’t who I am! I’m only 12.” Even still there are still adults who don’t really know who they are.
There are so many different directions that you could take. You could pull out a recent picture and begin to describe what you look like. You could pull out your passport and talk about your citizenship to a certain country. Maybe you talk about being a student, lawyer, or an accountant. Maybe you talk about belonging to a certain club or group. According to Josh McDowell, in his book, Seeing Yourself As God Sees You, none of these things really answer the question of, “Who are you?” Instead these things answer questions like, “What do you look like?” “Where do you belong?” and “What do you do?”
Today, I’d like to look at this passage in Ezra because I think it helps us to look at this issue of identity and can help us answer the question of “Who are you?”
Last month I read this passage to the Sr. High Guy’s Bible Study. When I was finished reading the passage I asked them, “So…what did you get out of that passage?” One of the guys said something along the lines of, “I know the author didn’t have a life if he had the time to write those names down for nothing.” The other three guys all nodded in agreement as I’m sure that some of you are right now.
It’s such an odd feeling that you get when you open your Bible one morning and find that your devotional wants you to read one of these infamous “lists.” We are stuck between thinking, “It’s the Bible. It’s God’s Word! I’m supposed to like it.” To thinking, “What is the point! It’s a dumb list. It is going to be SOOO boring to read.”
Honestly, how many people here have ever skipped over a passage like this? I have done it many times! In my time though that I was reading the other parts of the Bible I took to heart the passage from 2 Timothy 3:16 which says, “All Scripture is Godbreathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” This passage means that this “list” from Ezra and all the others like it are useful. Let’s figure out how.
First we need to understand “what” this list is. We don’t have to look too far to answer this question because it tells us in verse one. “These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,)…” Around 605 BC King Nebuchadnezzar had taken the people of Israel captive and made them to be exiles in Babylon. The people lived as exiles for close to 70 years, until Cyrus, King of Persia, conquered Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Then one of the first things that King Cyrus did with this new land and people that he controlled was that he issued a decree to the Israelites to go back to their own land. Ezra 1:3 says, “Anyone of his people among you-may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem and Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.”
So, this is a list of the people who went back to Jerusalem! Now, I’m sure that some of you are still thinking, “It’s still just a list. I don’t care who these people are, what do they have to do with me?” Let’s try to figure out “why” the list of exiles was written down. I think there are a few things that play into this.
First, these people would have been living in Babylon for 67 years! Could you imagine living somewhere with your family for that long and then just easily getting up and leaving? This would be like President Bush waking up one morning and telling all the Japanese people in America to go home!! It would not be a very easy thing to do.
“But wait, weren’t they exiles?” Yes, these people were exiles in a land they didn’t belong. But the fact of the matter is that they would have been like peasants living in this land, not slaves. They would have had homes and jobs. They would have grown accustom to the laws of the land, most likely learning a lot of the customs of the Babylonian culture. These people would have been completely comfortable living in the land of Babylon, especially under the rule of Cyrus.
Cyrus was all about tolerance especially in the realm of religion. Cyrus contributed to the rebuilding of many nations’ temples to their gods. He wanted all the gods he could on his side. Cyrus lived out his life as if he was standing before a giant religious buffet. He would load up his plate with all sorts of gods and practices. It didn’t even matter if some the different religions completely contradicted one another, they all had their place. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Second, these people would have had nothing to go back to! These people were exiled in Babylon because King Nebuchadnezzar attacked and destroyed them. 1 Chronicles 36:19 tells us that the Babylonians “set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the places and destroyed everything of value.” These people got up and went to a barren waste land! There was absolutely nothing of value there! According to Ezra 3:1, it took the people 7 months just to get settled. In 3:8 we can see that it was 2 years, and 2 months before they even began rebuilding the temple.
Third, think about the travel that these people would have had to endure to get back to Jerusalem! Moving back then wasn’t anything like today. You couldn’t rent a big U-Haul Truck or hire a moving company. Everything would have been carried on your back or on a donkey, camel, or horse. These people would have had to then walk for more than 800 miles. It would be like walking a straight line from Boston to Dayton, Ohio. There travels would have taken them across the Euphrates River, over mountains, through valleys, and across dessert lands. That is no walk in the park!
On top of that, we’re not talking about a small family of five here either. In verse 35 we can see that the family of Senaah had 3,630 people! Could you imagine traveling with that many people? My brothers and I had a hard enough time with just the three of us as we grew up. We would be drawing those lines on the seats to mark off our territory and be asking, “Are we there yet?” 30 minutes into the trip. Parents, could you imagine this question over and over during the amount of time it would take to walk to Ohio?
These people, who were comfortably living in Babylon, traveled over 800 miles, carrying everything they owned on their backs, to complete and utter nothingness!! This list of people…is a list of the biggest idiots ever to walk on the face of the earth! What on earth would possess anyone to do something like this? This is where this passage gets really intriguing. Throughout all this time in captivity, living in a strange land. Through all this time living in a culture that was not their own. Through all this time of living in a land that God was nothing more but part of the collection of Gods. THEY NEVER LOST THEIR TRUE IDENTITY AS CHILDREN OF GOD!! They knew where they truly belonged and who they truly belonged to! They didn’t care what they were leaving and what they were going to, all they cared about was God!
If these family’s had been asked the question, “Who are you?” They would have answered with pride and boldness that they were children of God, God’s chosen people! Their identity was in God and no where else. And that identity greatly affected the way that they lived out there lives.
We are in a very similar situation as these Jews in our culture today. We too are exiled in a world that is not our home but merely a resting place. In the New Testament Peter and Paul both referred to Christians as strangers and aliens in this world. Jesus told us to store up our treasures in heaven and not on this earth because those are the things that will last. Yet all too often we tend to live our lives as if our identity is found in the things of the world.
We tend to buy into the religious tolerance of the world and ignore Christ’s claim that he is, the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. We tend to want to stay in our comfort zones because we know that being a Christian in this world is not the easiest thing to do. It is a difficult road to travel as professing our identity in Christ brings hardships and difficulties that we would just rather not deal with. Often times I think we feel like we are left carrying around this heavy load that can make us feel awkward or stupid as we can’t partake in many of the things the people around us always do.
This list was recorded to honor the fact these people did something remarkable by letting nothing get in the way of their identity in God. This list should also be a sense of encouragement and hope as well. Just as Cyrus made a decree telling the Jews to go back to God we too have a decree from God. This decree was spoken in the message of the cross. Jesus’ death allows us to leave this land of exile of sin and worldliness and enter into a personal relationship with Him that will be an exciting journey from start to finish. Our entire lives are this journey as we slowly but surely move closer to God.
As we look at a brand new year and as we prepare to come to the table for communion we need to think about our identity in Christ and how it should affect the way that we live our lives. In a minute I am going to ask the ushers to come forward and as they come forward I want you to think about your identity in Christ. Our giving to God needs to be more than just money but also our lives. Maybe some of you need to begin your journey from exile by starting a relationship with God. Maybe others have been holding things back from God. Still maybe others have set up camp and haven’t moved any closer in their journey. As you prepare to give financially to God I encourage you all to grab a sheet of paper at the end of the pew and give something of yourself to God as well.
