Ezra Ch2v1-70 - God's People Matter

Ezra chapter 2 is on page 472 if you're using the Red Church Bibles.

Ezra 2 · chapter mention

! Ezra chapter 2.

Ezra 2 · chapter mention

Ezra chapter 2.

Ezra 2 · chapter mention

Ezra chapter 2.

Ezra 2 · chapter mention

And Johnny in his kindness and compassion has asked me to read just four verses.

So I haven't had to stay up all night practicing the names.

Maybe Johnny is going to read the other 66.

I don't know.

But I'm going to read verses 1 to 2 and then 68 to 70 this morning from Ezra chapter 2.

Ezra 2 · chapter mention

So let's hear the word of God together.

Ezra 2 verse 1.

Ezra 2:1

Now these are the people of the province who came up from 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,

in company with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Sariah, Lachiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvi, Rahum, and Banah.

The list of the men of the people of Israel.

And then jump down towards the end of the chapter in verse 68.

When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,

some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings towards the rebuilding of the house of God on its site.

According to their ability, they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 darocks of gold,

5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priestly garments.

The priests, the Levites, the musicians, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants settled in their own towns,

along with some of the other people, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.

Amen.

Thank you, Johnny.

Just talk amongst yourselves while I get settled here.

Okay, don't.

Keep our Bibles open at Ezra chapter 2, and let's pray.

Ezra 2 · chapter mention

Our Father God, would you please capture our hearts and minds afresh.

That we may listen carefully to your word.

Holy Spirit, will you teach us more about Jesus today?

And would you please lead us that we might worship Jesus with all of our life?

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, Ralph didn't get to do the exciting stuff.

This is great, isn't it?

Follow with me in the middle of verse 2.

The list of the men of the people of Israel.

The descendants of Parosh, 2,172.

Of Shephthah, 372.

Of Shephthah, 372.

Of Arrah, 775.

Of Path of Moab, through the line of Jeshua and Joab.

Now, isn't that interesting?

Through the line of Jeshua and Joab.

2,812.

2,812.

Of Elam, 1,254.

Of Zatu.

Great name.

945.

Anyone asleep yet?

It reminds me of history and maths at school.

Names I know nothing about.

And numbers which are entirely confusing.

During the week, I sat down to have lunch with my daughter Rebecca.

And very kindly, she asked me, Dad, how's the study going?

Well, I said, we're doing Jeshua too.

I know, she said.

I saw it at Sunday.

That big, long list.

Dad, just move on.

Well, that's how I felt.

Just turn the page and start in chapter 3.

Something a little bit more understandable.

But if we do that, we miss out on something very important.

You see, God could have left chapter 2 out of the Bible completely.

But since it's in the Bible, it must be for our edification and encouragement.

In fact, these verses teach us that God's people really matter.

God's people really matter.

First, the people of God will never be forgotten.

The people of God will never be forgotten.

Context, as we get into chapter 2.

Remember, God's people had broken the covenant.

They had failed to listen to God and to love God.

And because of their disobedience, God had disciplined them.

They were sent into exile by the Babylonians for 70 years.

And now those 70 years are up.

And so we read in chapter 2, verse 1.

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.

Now this tells us two really important things.

First, that God always keeps his promise to his people.

He keeps his promise to his people.

Not only had God promised exile, he had promised their return.

He would always keep a people for himself.

Keep your finger in Ezra and just jump forward a few books to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 32.

And verse 37.

Jeremiah 32, verse 37.

Jeremiah 32:37

This is what God says through the prophet.

He says,

I will surely gather them, that is my people,

from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath.

I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.

They will be my people and I will be their God.

Verse 40.

I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

I will never stop doing good to them.

I will inspire them to fear me so that they will never turn away from me.

I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.

Back to Ezra.

You see, God had promised that he would preserve a people for himself.

They will be my people and I will be their God.

God is committed to his people.

He doesn't give up on his people.

He promised their return and return they did.

God always keeps his promise to his people.

But more than that,

God remembers the names of his people.

He remembers the names of a people.

Look at verse 1.

Now these are the people who came up from captivity.

And in case anyone gets confused about who they are,

guess what?

They're all recorded.

Look again at verse 2.

This is the list of the men of the people of Israel.

The descendants of Parosh.

2,172.

All their clans.

And no, we're not going to read through them all.

But here we have all their clans and all their exact number.

Verse 21.

There were the men of Bethlehem, of Netthopah.

56.

Of Anathoth.

128.

Of Asmetev.

42.

They are all remembered.

They're engraved in history.

Recently, there was the 9-11 memorial.

25 years since the Twin Towers were attacked.

On that day, 2,977 people were killed.

As a lasting memory, the names of every victim are inscribed at that memorial place.

In fact, on the 11th of September, every year, their names are read aloud by family members.

Now, could you imagine if the master of ceremonies stood up and said,

Well, a lot of people died here a long time ago.

But, you know, we just don't have time to mention them all.

No.

No.

They can't be forgotten.

Each one is remembered.

Each one is recorded.

Well, here we have a list of the names of those God rescued from captivity.

It's a lot of people.

In fact, verse 64 gives us the total number.

The whole company numbered 42,360.

That's a lot of people.

You see, the writers could have made verse 64 verse 2 and not bothered with all the list of names.

But no, they can't do that.

They can't be forgotten.

Each one is named and precious.

Each one is known by God and is special to him.

Isaiah puts it well.

Here the people of God are crying out.

The Lord has forsaken me.

The Lord has forgotten me.

Do you ever think that?

God responds.

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she is born?

Though she may forget, I will not forget you.

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

Your walls are ever before me.

Now let me say, if you here today belong to God.

You are not forgotten by God.

Whatever may happen.

You are God's treasured possession.

Special.

Remembered.

Engraved.

Graved.

On his hands.

In fact, your name is written into a special book.

And we'll come back to that in a minute.

But for now, be encouraged.

That the people of God.

Will never, ever.

Be forgotten.

By God Almighty.

So, the people of God are never, ever forgotten.

Second.

The people of God are gathered to worship.

You see, when God rescued his people and brought them back from exile and brought them to their land, it was for a purpose.

The purpose was to worship God.

Two things we need to look at here.

First, look at the temple workers.

Look at the list of names that we have here.

It's divided into sections.

So, verse 2, we have the people of Israel and their list of names is recorded.

Then in verse 36, we have the priests.

Verse 40, the Levites.

Verse 41, the musicians.

Verse 42, the gatekeepers of the temple.

Verse 43, we have the temple servants.

And then jump over to verse 58.

We have the temple servants again, which includes servants of Solomon.

Now, all these people here, the priests, the Levites, the musicians, the gatekeepers, the servants.

They've all got something in common.

Something that keeps them together.

And what is that?

They are all responsible for the worship of God in the temple.

The priests would sacrifice the animals.

The Levites would help the priests.

The musicians would sing.

The gatekeepers would make sure that the unclean didn't get in.

And the servants, well, they assisted wherever there was help needed.

They were all responsible for the worship of God.

No names are mentioned here about the construction workers.

Nothing about the planners.

But the names of the temple workers, they're all highlighted.

They seem to get special treatment.

In other words, worship is God's priority.

Look at how it's put in verse 70.

And who gets special mention?

Well, the priests and the Levites and the musicians and the gatekeepers and the temple servants settled in their own towns along with some of the other people.

And the rest of the Israelites settled in their own towns.

You see, they're marked out as being different because worship matters.

Which brings us to not just temple workers, but the worship of God.

You see, this isn't the first time that God's people were in exile.

You know your Bible history.

About a thousand years before, God's people were in captivity in Egypt.

And God saw his people and he remembered his promise to his people and he rescued them through Moses.

Exodus records for us what God said to Moses.

Do you remember?

Remember, when the people have been brought out of Egypt, you will worship me on this mountain.

God's purpose is that his people would be gathered together to worship him.

In fact, seven more times, God would say to Moses, go to Pharaoh and say to him, this is what the Lord says.

Let my people go so that they may worship me.

Every time Pharaoh turned around and says, no, I'm not letting them go.

Off Moses would go again.

This is what the Lord says.

Let my people go so that they may worship me.

You see, the purpose of rescuing them from exile was so they could worship God.

That they would live for God.

Serve God.

Honor God.

Give to God.

They were to celebrate and remember their redemption through the Exodus.

Now in Ezra, we find the same thing happening.

Just as there was an Exodus from Egypt, so we have another Exodus from Babylon.

God redeems his people so he might gather them together to the worship of God.

You see, God longs for a people who will love him and honor him.

A God who redeems and saves and changes our life is worthy of our worship.

God brings his people together.

And he will never forget them.

And he calls us to worship him.

Now, which brings us to number three.

The people of God always come to Jesus.

You see, it's clear from the text in Ezra that while we have a list of all the names,

not everyone who returned were part of God's people.

Essentially, they were divided into two groups.

And they were divided like this.

There were those who were excluded.

Look at verse 59 with me.

Forgive any mispronounciations here.

The following came up from the towns of Tel Mela, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Ad Don and Immer.

But the families could not show that their families were descended from Israel.

They didn't have the right credentials.

They didn't have the birth cert.

They had no record of their family lineage.

It seems they were in the same category as some of the priests.

Verse 61.

And from among the priests, there were the descendants of Hababaya, Hagkaz, Brasilia.

We'll just go to verse 62 because this is the important bit.

These search for their family records.

But they could not find them.

So they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

Shut out.

You see, to come under the covenant blessings,

you had to show that you were descended from Israel.

You had to be able to trace your family line all the way back to, remember them?

Isaac, Jacob, Abraham.

And if you had the records to prove it, you were in.

You were part of the big family of God.

But if you didn't have the family records, you were excluded.

No longer part of the community.

But the problem was much deeper than just a few people who couldn't find their names in a record.

You see, the rest of the people may have had the paperwork and had the stamp of approval.

But they had all failed to live as God's family should.

Instead of worshipping God, they went back to worship other gods.

If you read the end of Ezra and Nehemiah, it's terribly depressing.

Because after all of God bringing them back again,

they do exactly the same thing and break the covenant again.

Although God had redeemed them,

they would reject him.

You see, it wasn't just those who couldn't find their names in the records who were excluded.

It was anybody who didn't keep the covenant.

They too were excluded.

In other words, based on their own performances,

they would all be excluded.

Which brings us to a really important question.

Who then are the people of God?

Who are those who are included?

Who gets to be part of God's big family?

And how does God keep his promise that the people of God will never be forgotten?

But if they keep messing up,

how do they remain part of God's family?

Well, the story of the Bible makes it clear

that we need someone much better than ourselves.

You see, the true people of God are those who come to Jesus.

Two things we're going to look at as we finish to bring it all together.

Here's the first one.

Jesus is the true Israel.

Jesus is the true Israel.

What do we mean by that?

Well, there is only one who has lived a faithful and obedient life.

And that's Jesus.

He alone is the one who has kept the covenant.

He is that faithful worshipper

who never turned to any other God

but did everything his father asked of him.

You see, Jesus is the true Israel.

He is the son of God

who is included

and never excluded.

So if he's in

and he's part of the family of God

what do I need to do

to be part of the family?

Well, we all need to be related to Jesus

by our faith.

Go with me please to Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

So we're asking the question

what do we need to do

to be included?

We need to be related to Jesus

by faith.

So Ephesians chapter 1

Ephesians 1:13

verse 13.

Let's read verse 13.

And you also

were included in Christ

when you heard the message

of truth.

The gospel of your salvation.

When you heard the good news

about Jesus Christ

the true Israel

the perfect obedient son

who stands in your place

representing you

pouring out blessings upon you

and in our place

taking the curse that we deserve.

When you were included in Christ

when you heard the message of truth

the gospel of salvation

when you believed

when you trusted Christ

that he is your life

you were marked in him

with a seal

the promised Holy Spirit

who is a deposit

guaranteeing our inheritance

until the redemption of those

who are God's possession

to the praise

of his glory.

Turn the page

to chapter 2

verse 12.

He goes on to explain it

a bit more.

Remember

verse 12

that at that time

you were separate

from Christ

excluded

from citizenship

in Israel

and foreigners

to the covenants

of the promise

without hope

and without God

in the world

but now

in Christ Jesus

you who were once

far away

excluded

and shut out

have been brought near

by the blood of Christ.

Verse 19

Consequently

you are no longer

foreigners

and strangers

but fellow citizens

with God's people

and also members

of his family.

You see

when we come

to Jesus

just as people

in the Old Testament

look forward

in faith

to Jesus coming

when we trusted

in Jesus

we are truly

included

never forgotten

always

remembered.

In fact

as members

of God's family

our names

are written

on a list

remember

what that book

is

Revelation

calls it

the

book of life

or the

Lamb's

book of life

if you want

to just flick

the page

because it's

very close

to Philippians

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

it's the next

letter along

just very quickly

as an example

Philippians

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

and verse

3

so Paul writes

he says

yes

and I ask

you

my true

companion

help these

women

since they

have contended

at my side

in the cause

of the gospel

along with

Clement

and the rest

of his

co-workers

whose names

are in

the book

of life

isn't that

wonderful

God has

a book

of life

and in it

are the names

of his

people

and they can

never be

erased

or removed

it is written

permanently

and

eternally

if you are

trusting in

Jesus

you are

never

ever

excluded

you're always

included

and nothing

can get you

off the list

not your

sin

not Satan

not suffering

nothing

you are

forever

secure

in him

he is

the true

Israel

our true

representative

and we are

related to him

by faith

what is

Christ's

is ours

we belong

forever

the second

thing we need

to get right

here

is that if

Jesus is the

true Israel

the church

is the

new

Israel

you see

when we trust

in Jesus

we're not

left in

isolation

we become

part of

his

community

the church

God's

family

you see

Jesus

rescued us

from exile

he has

redeemed us

from our

captivity

to sin

and death

and hell

and he now

leads us

on a new

exodus

he brings us

out

so that we

might

worship

God

for that's

God's purpose

for us

we are a

people

gathered

together

to worship

God

with our

lives

remember how

Paul put it

to the church

Rome

he says

therefore I

urge you

my brothers

and sisters

in view

of God's

mercy

just pause

and think

back to the

mercy of

God

how he

has redeemed

you and

rescued you

and saved

you

what's our

response

to offer

our bodies

as a living

sacrifice

holy and

pleasing to

God

this is

your true

and proper

worship

this is

God's

great purpose

for his

people

from beginning

to end

it's the

story of

the Bible

one writer

put it

like this

you can

follow it

on screen

redemption

is the

means

worship

is the

goal

it's the

purpose of

history

the goal

of the

whole

Christian

story

worship

isn't

just one

segment

of the

Christian

life

among

others

worship

is this

is the

entire

Christian

life

now if

you've

known the

mercy of

God

in your

life

if you've

been

redeemed

from sin

and hell

by God

you are

called

together

with

God's

people

to worship

him

not just

for a

couple of

hours on

a Sunday

morning

but with

your whole

life

God

gathers

us

that we

would be

a

worshiping

people

one day

the Lord

Jesus is

going to

come again

and the

book of

life

will be

opened

and all

the names

of those

who trust

in Jesus

will be

read

is your

name

in the

book of

life

for those

whose names

are written

you will

gather

together

with all

God's

people

of all

time

and in

all

history

I can't

wait

perfect

joy

comfort

everybody

God's

people

together

doesn't

that lead

you to

worship

God

to honor

him

and live

for him

doesn't

it make

you want

to sing

before the

throne of

God above

I have a

strong

a perfect

plea

a great

high priest

whose name

is love

and ever

lives

and pleads

for me

my name

is graven

on his

hands

his crucified

hands

who died

for me

my name

is written

on his

heart

I know

that while

in heaven

he stands

no tongue

can bid

me

thence

depart

brothers and

sisters

rejoice

that your

name

is written

in the

book of

life

let's

pray

what a

story

what a

wonderful

true

story

of a

savior

Jesus

Christ

who has

redeemed

us

because he

never

forgets

us

that we

might

worship

him

lord

thank you

what more

can we

say

but praise

you

for all

that you

have done

your

great

mercy

in

response

we offer

our bodies

as living

sacrifices

holy

and

pleasing

to you

our

worship

of a

great

God

amen