Ezra: The Lord HelpsSample

I know the chances that you actually read through this list of names are very slim. If you did, well done! To read Ezra 2 seems about as interesting as reading through the telephone directory! It’s about as enthralling a way to pass the time as watching paint dry. But stay with it because Ezra 2 is thrilling. 

In the next studies, we’ll look at the details – and they are fascinating. But first, look at the sheer numbers of people who travel from Babylon to Jerusalem. It is just under 50,000 (vv. 64–65). That’s quite a migration. I live in Sheffield, the fourth largest city in England. What happened in Ezra 2 would amount to almost one-tenth of the population of Sheffield moving out of the city, en masse, in one day. The motorways would be clogged up beyond anything we experience on a busy bank holiday getaway! 

To get a picture in your mind, think of the devastating images of refugees migrating in mass from the world’s war-torn areas. What’s happening here in Ezra is like that, with one very significant difference: here the people of Judah are traveling from a safe haven. They are moving from a well-established and secure home in Babylon, and traveling to somewhere that is in ruins, looking like a bomb site. Yes, in one sense they are returning home, but none of them has ever known Jerusalem as their home and it is now a pile of rubble. 

They are also returning to embark upon months and months of hard manual labor to rebuild the temple. The task ahead is colossal, so necessitates huge numbers: 42,360 people plus 7,337 servants to be precise. It is a mighty work of God that sees so many people move (1:5). 

They go because they want to see the temple built. Today God’s building project is His church. While godly men need to lead in that task (as we saw in v. 2), what a difference it would make if hundreds of God’s people were so dedicated to the work of building the church that they would go anywhere and do anything for Jesus. When God moves thousands of ‘ordinary’ Christians like that, we see a reformation.

Reflection

Ask the Lord to expand your horizons so that you are ready to go anywhere and do anything for Him. Pray for the Lord to work in the hearts of huge numbers of Christians – in your church family, region, and elsewhere – to be willing to make significant sacrifices to build God’s church.