EZRA 2
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2004 James Melough
2:1. “Now these are the children of the province
that went up out of captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came
again unto Jerusalem and Judah, everyone into his own city;”
This begins the detailed record of those who availed themselves of the
opportunity to leave Babylon at the end of the seventy-year captivity, and
return to the land of Israel.
2:2. “Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua
(Joshua), Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mizpar, Bigvai,
Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of Israel:”
2:3. “The children of Parosh, two thousand an
hundred seventy and two.”
2:4. “The children of Shephatiah, three hundred
seventy and two.”
2:5. “The children of Arah, seven hundred
seventy and five.”
2:6. “The children of Pahathmoab, of the
children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.”
2:7. “The children of Elam, a thousand two
hundred fifty and four.”
2:8. “The children of Zattu, nine hundred forty
and five.”
2:9. “The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and
three score.”
2:10. “The children of Bani, six hundred forty
and two.”
2:11. “The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty
and three.”
2:12. “The children of Azgad, a thousand two
hundred twenty and two.”
2:13. “The children of Adonikam, six hundred
sixty and six.”
2:14. “The children of Bigvai, two thousand
fifty and six.”
2:15. “The children of Adin, four hundred fifty
and four.”
2:16. “The children of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety
and eight.”
2:17. “The children of Bezai, three hundred
twenty and three.”
2:18. “The children of Jorah, an hundred and
twelve.”
2:19. “The children of Hashum, two hundred
twenty and three.”
2:20. “The children of Gibbar, ninety and five.”
2:21. “The children of Bethlehem, an hundred
twenty and three.”
2:22. “The men of Netophah, fifty and six.”
2:23. “The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty
and eight.”
2:24. “The children of Azmaveth, forty and two.”
2:25. “The children of Kirjatharim, Chephirah,
and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty and three.”
2:26. “The children of Ramah and Gaba, six
hundred twenty and one.”
2:27. “The men of Michmas, an hundred twenty and
two.”
2:28. “The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred
twenty and three.”
2:29. “The children of Nebo, fifty and two.”
2:30. “The children of Magbish, an hundred fifty
and six.”
2:31. “The children of the other Elam, a
thousand two hundred fifty and four.”
2:32. “The children of Harim, three hundred and
twenty.”
2:33. “The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono,
seven hundred twenty and five.”
2:34. “The children of Jericho, three hundred
forty and five.”
2:35. “The children of Senaah, three thousand
and six hundred and thirty.”
2:36. “The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of
the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three.”
2:37. “The children of Immer, a thousand fifty
and two.”
2:38. “The children of Pahur, a thousand two
hundred forty and seven.”
2:39. “The children of Harim, a thousand and
seventeen.”
2:40. “The Levites: the children of Jeshua and
Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy and four.”
2:41. “The singers: the children of Asaph, an
hundred twenty and eight.”
2:42. “The children of the porters: the children
of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of
Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all an hundred
thirty and nine.”
2:43. “The Nethinims: the children of Ziha, the
children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,”
The Nethinims were Temple servants, and are generally believed to have been
descended from the Gibeonites mentioned in Joshua 9.
2:44. “The children of Keros, the children of
Siaha, the children of Padon,”
2:45. “The children of Lebanah, the children of
Hagabah, the children of Akkub,”
2:46. “The children of Hagab, the children of
Shalmai, the children of Hanan,”
2:47. “The children of Giddel, the children of
Gahar, the children of Reaiah,”
2:48. “The children of Rezin, the children of
Nekoda, the children of Gazzam,”
2:49. “The children of Uzza, the children of
Paseah, the children of Besai,”
2:50. “The children of Asnah, the children of
Mehunim, the children of Nehpusim,”
2:51. “The children of Bakbuk, the children of
Hakupha, the children of Harhur,”
2:52. “The children of Bazluth, the children of
Mehida, the children of Harsha,”
2:53. “The children of Barkos, the children of
Sisera, the children of Thamah,”
2:54. “The children of Neziah, the children of
Hatipha.”
2:55. “The children of Solomon’s servants: the
children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,”
2:56. “The children of Jaalah, the children of
Darkon, the children of Geddil,”
2:57. “The children of Shephatiah, the children
of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Ami.”
2:58. “All the Nethinims, and the children of
Solomon’s servants, were three hundred ninety and two.”
2:59. “And these were they which went up from
Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they could not shew their
father’s house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:”
It isn’t difficult to see in these who had no proof of their ancestry, a
typological picture of those who profess to be Christians, but who cannot
remember how, when, and where their conversion occurred. As these professed
priests were put as polluted from the priesthood, so will those who cannot
recall how, when, and where they were born again, be banished from the Lord’s
presence at the great white throne judgment, Revelation 20:11-15, with the
awful pronouncement, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels ... and these shall go away into
everlasting punishment ....” Matthew 25:41-46.
It is a fatal mistake to equate church membership, moral reformation, good
works, Bible study, etc., with that new spiritual birth which the Lord himself
declares to be imperative for all who would enter heaven, “Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.... Ye must be born again” John
3:3,7, that new birth occurring only when I confess that I am a sinner without
a shred of righteousness; believe that the Lord Jesus Christ loved me enough
to die in my guilty stead for my sins; and that in response to that confession
and belief, God will pardon all my sin, and receive me into heaven.
There are those who having been reared in Christian homes, aver that they have
always believed, their deadly mistake being that they mistake belief in the
historicity of Christ for faith in Him as Savior; but it is axiomatic that
saving faith precludes the possibility of any man’s always having believed,
for the belief that saves involves a degree of mental maturity which is beyond
the capacity of the very young.
2:60. “The children of Delaiah, the children of
Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred fifty and two.”
2:61. “And the children of the priests: the
children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzilai; which took
a wife of the daughters of Barzilai the Gileadite, and was called after their
name:”
2:62. “These sought their register among those
that were
reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found:
therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.”
The frantic search made by these individuals for the record of their ancestry
is easily imagined, as is also their bitter disappointment when the search
revealed the absence of their names from the register. Their hopeless chagrin
is but a foreshadowing of the awful consternation that will attend the
dreadful discovery of professed, but unconverted Christians, that their names
are not written in the Lamb’s book of life, Revelation 21:27, so that they
must therefore enter hell to suffer eternal torment, rather than heaven to
enjoy eternal bliss.
Since a discussion of the meanings and significance of all these names would
carry us beyond the parameters of this study, it is suggested that those
interested in pursuing such a study should consult Jackson’s Dictionary of
Scripture Proper Names, published by Loizeaux Brothers of Neptune,
NJ, and available at most Christian book stores, for the meanings of the
names, and then seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance relative to the spiritual
significance of those meanings.
2:63. “And the Tirshatha said unto them, that
they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with
Urim and with Thummim.”
There is general agreement amongst biblical scholars that the Tirshatha or
governor was Zerubbabel himself.
The Urim and the Thummim were the two stones kept in the high priest’s
breast-plate, their use being to reveal God’s will, see Exodus 28:30. No
details have been preserved as to the manner in which they did this, but it
seems that one stone represented Yes, and the other, No, thus requiring
questions to be couched in such fashion as would permit a Yes or No answer;
the priest apparently obtaining the answer by reaching his hand into the
Breastplate, and withdrawing one of the stones, without knowing which, until
he looked upon it. One of the lessons being taught in this unequivocal
response given by means of the Urim and the Thummim is that God’s response to
men’s inquiries today is equally unambiguous. With Him there are no “grey
areas:” a thing is either right or it is wrong.
The proscription relative to the eating of the sacrificial offerings
translates into the NT prohibition against eating the Lord’s Supper by anyone
except baptized believers walking in obedience before God, see e.g., 1
Corinthians 11:20-34.
2:64. “The whole congregation together was forty
and two thousand three hundred and threescore,”
2:65. “Beside their servants and their maids, of
whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were
among them two hundred singing men and singing women.”
2:66. “Their horses were seven hundred thirty
and six; their mules, two hundred forty and five.”
2:67. “Their camels, four hundred thirty and
five; their asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty.”
2:68. “And some of the chief of the fathers,
when they came to the house of the Lord which is at Jerusalem, offered freely
for the house of God to set it up in his place:”
“... the house of the Lord” is more correctly the site on which the Temple had
formerly stood, for at the time of the return it was a heap of ruins, having
been destroyed by the Babylonians seventy years before.
2:69. “They gave after their ability unto the
treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five
thousand pounds of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.”
2:70. “So the priests, and the Levites and some
of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in
their cities, and all Israel in their cities.”
The total number who returned from the captivity, about 50,000, was only a
small fraction of those who had been carried captive to Babylon seventy years
before. The very number - five being the number of responsibility - justifies
our viewing these 50,000 who choose to leave Babylon and return to Israel, as
being representative of that small minority in every generation of Christians,
who are willing to turn their backs on the mere religious formality which
Babylon represents, and which is characteristic of the so-called worship of
the majority of professing Christians in every age, and to walk by faith in
simple obedience to God’s Word, looking to Him to guide their steps and supply
their needs.
[Ezra 3]