Ezra: The Lord HelpsSample

We’ve already seen that buried in this chapter are wonderful stories of people being brought into God’s family. But it’s also a chapter of complex and difficult personal stories. 

In verses 59–63 are a bunch of people who ‘could not show that their families were descended from Israel’ (v. 59). Even though they ‘searched for their family records … they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean’ (v. 62). 

These people wanted to serve as priests, but there was a question mark over their family line. God’s Word is very clear that only those descended from the tribe of Levi could serve as priests. (Jeroboam made a mistake in this area, recorded in 1 Kgs. 12:31; 13:33–34.) 

We may not understand the whys and wherefores of verses like this, but we can see that as God moved His people towards reformation, there was a serious commitment to obey His Word. Here this involved following God’s way of sacrifice, which was to be performed only by those descended from Levi. 

What does that mean for us? The Old Testament priesthood is always, in the first instance, fulfilled in the New Testament in Christ. He is the only one who can stand between God and people, and offer the one true sacrifice for sin. 

This reminds us that for reformation to occur in the church, the priestly, sacrificial work of Christ must not be bypassed or substituted for anything else. This might seem obvious to us, but many today teach that it is possible to go directly to the Father without reference to the work of the Son. The interfaith movement is built on this wrong assumption. 

We’re not permitted to ‘change the rules.' The Old Testament priest must come from the right family line. This points ultimately to Jesus, who came not only from the line of Judah but from an even greater family line as God’s one and only Son. He and He alone can be our priest.

Reflection

When are you tempted to believe that there is a direct route to God that bypasses Jesus? Pray that you would not give in to the temptation to ignore or compromise God’s Word, even when you think your obedience may upset others.