Ezra 2:1
Outline: (Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts)
I. \\#Ezra 1:1-2:70\\ The First Return to Israel
A. \\#Ezra 1:1-4\\ The Command to Return
B. \\#Ezra 1:5-11\\ Preparations for the Journey
C. \\#Ezra 2:1-65\\ The People Who Returned
D. \\#Ezra 2:66-67\\ The Animals That Returned
E. \\#Ezra 2:68-69\\ The People’s Reaction
F. \\#Ezra 2:70\\ Life Begins
II. \\#Ezra 3:1-6:22\\ Construction of the Temple
III. \\#Ezra 7:1-8:36\\ The Second Return to Israel
IV. \\#Ezra 9:1-10:44\\ Restoration of the People
I. \\#Ezra 2:1-70\\ The Return
A. \\#1-65\\ The People Who Returned
1. \\#1\\ The Introduction
2. \\#2\\ The Leaders
a. Zerubbabel - Zerubbabel was the leader of the first
group of Israelis to return to Israel. No formal
introduction was given for Zerubbabel.
(1) Zerubbabel was David’s great, great, great,
great, grandchild \\#1Chron 3:10-19\\.
(2) Zerubbabel is in both Joseph \\#Luke 3:27\\ and
Mary’s lines \\#Matt 1:14\\, called Zorobabel.
(3) \\#Jer 22:24, 30\\ made several prophecies about
his ancestor, Jeconiah \\#1Choron 3:16-17\\
(also called Coniah and Jechonias)
\\#Matt 1:11-12\\.
Jer 22:24 As I live, saith the LORD, though
Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were
the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck
thee thence;
Jer 22:30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man
childless, a man that shall not prosper in his
days: for no man of his seed shall prosper,
sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any
more in Judah.
(aa) \\#Jer 22:24\\ Jeconiah would lose the
right to rule. He did, only reigning
around 3 months \\#2Kings 24:8\\ and being
replaced by Zedekiah, his uncle
\\#2Kings 24:17\\. Afterward, he was taken
captive to Babylon \\#2Kings 24:15\\.
(bb) \\#Jer 22:30\\ One could "write" Jeconiah
childless. That is not to say that he
would be childless but that one should
write or consider him childless. Jeconiah
had sons when the prophecy was given as
\\#Jer 22:28\\ prophesied that he and "his
seed" would be "cast into a land which"
they did not know. Jesus was a descendent
of Jeconiah \\#Matt 1:11-12\\. Why should
he be written or considered childless?
Because none of his children would rule
Israel. It was as if he had no children.
(cc) \\#Jer 22:30\\ Jeconiah and his seed "shall
not prosper."
1. In what way shall they not prosper?
2. In "sitting upon the throne of David,
and ruling any more in Judah."
3. Many wonder how can this prophecy be
fulfilled if Christ, Jeconiah
descendent, is to rule. Although
there are prophecies which say that
Christ will sit upon David’s throne
\\#Lu 1:32, Isa 9:6-7\\, I believe
it is more accurate to say that David
himself will
\\#Eze 34:23-24, 37:24, 25,\\
\\#Jer 30:9, Ho 3:5\\. Christ will
rule from Jerusalem over all the
kings, lords, and lands.
\\#Php 2:10, Rev 19:16\\ David
lived BEFORE Jeconiah so the prophecy
would not apply to him. Zerubbabel,
although a governor of the land, was
never the king. He was the Tirshatha
\\#Ezra 2:63\\, the governor the
Persians.
(4) Zerubbabel was a good, godly man.
b. Then comes a list of 10 men who we suppose were
Zerubbabel’s captains or leaders.
3. The people who came back divided into groups.
a. \\#3-35\\ The families who came back with Zerubbabel
(1) Some are listed by their family name.
(2) Others by their city: Bethlehem \\#21\\,
Netophah, Anathoth \\#22\\, Kirjatharim,
Chephirah, Beeroth \\#25\, Ramah, Gaba \\#26\\,
Michmas \\#27, Bethel, Ai \\#28\\, Nebo \\#29\\,
Magbish \\#30\\, Lod , Hadid, Ono \\#33\\,
Jericho \\#34\\, and Senaah \\#35\\.
(3) Others could be either: Jeshua \\#6\\, Azmaveth
\\#24\\, and Elam \\#31\\.
(4) The fact that names are grouped into families and
cities would indicate that larger populations of
people were collected and deported as groups.
The fact that they are still affiliated as the
time of their return tells us that they stayed
together in their exile.
(5) Jeremiah repeatedly prophesied that those who
would surrender to Babylon would live while
those who would not would die.
Jer 38:2 Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth
in this city shall die by the sword, by the
famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth
forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall
have his life for a prey, and shall live.
Jer 38:17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus
saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of
Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the
king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall
live, and this city shall not be burned with
fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of
Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given
into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall
burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out
of their hand.
b. \\#36-39\\ The families of the priests.
c. \\#40\\ The Levities
d. \\#41\\ A group of the Levites assigned to be singers.
e. \\42\\ A group of the Levites assigned to be porters
which did the mundane work as cleaning, opening, and
closing.
f. \\#43-58\\ Servants in the temple
(1) \\#43-54\\ Nethinims - We are not for certain who
the Nethinims are. Some believe they were the
Gibeonites who deceived Joshua when they came
into the land. It is further supposed that they
eventually were accepted into Judaism and become
eternal servants for God’s temple.
(2) \\#55-57\\ It is believed that something similar
happened with those taken captive in Solomon’s
day \\#1Kings 9:20-21\\.
(3) \\#58\\ The total for all of these adopted
servants came to 392.
g. \\#59-63\\ The Uncertain
(1) \\#59\\ These lived in these five Babylonian
cities and claimed to be Jews but no record of
their birth-lines existed.
(a) This passage helps to demonstrate why the
Bible has so many genealogies.
(b) Without such records, you could not hold
land or tribal birthrights.
(c) The only way to "become Jewish" was to marry
a Jew and be adopted into that tribe,
allowing your children to continue to
receive their Jewish heritage through the
parent that was of proven Jewish descend.
(d) As a point of Jewish law, to marry a non-Jew
was against God’s Word but if a person came
to abide in Israel, proving to the Jews
that he or she had accepted God and His
covenant, it would be allowed.
(2) \\#62\\ "These… were not found" in the genealogy
so they were put out from the priesthood.
(a) Notice that we were to have assumed that
these people were all of the priesthood, of
the line of Judah.
(b) Ezra seemed only interested in detailing the
line of Judah. Others will be included in
the totals but not detailed by genealogy
for future reference.
(3) \\#63\\ "the Tirshatha" decided that these could
only be reinstated when "there stood up a priest
with Urim and Thummin."
(a) The Tirshatha was the title for a Persian
governor.
(aa) This office is mentioned only in the
books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
(bb) Obviously, when disagreements came
that the Jews could not settle, they
sought and obeyed the rulings of
their leaders, the Persians.
(cc) I think here it refers to Zerubbabel.
He was the leader of the group and
probably the Persian governor over
the Jews.
(b) The Urim and Thummin
(aa) God had given to the priests this
unknown and mysterious means of
having truth revealed to them.
(bb) The Urim and Thummin is mentioned
seven times from Exodus to Nehemiah.
(cc) It is believed to have been some
device of chance which was to be
directed by God to give a yes or no
answer to questions.
(dd) The Bible never tells us that a priest
ever stood up to use this device so
it and the knowledge of its use may
have been already been lost.
h. \\#64-65\\ The Totals
(1) \\#64\\ The total here is 42,360. HOWEVER, if you
add the numbers given up, you will come to
29,829. (That’s adding in the 11 men listed as
leaders.)
(2) The difference is 12,531 who were probably Jews
from other tribes—not the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin who Ezra was most determined to detail.
(3) As a footnote, these totals do not agree with
Nehemiah 7.
B. \\#Ezra 2:66-67\\ The Animals That Went
1. The animal count was:
a. \\#66\\ horses - 736
b. mules - 245
c. \\#67\\ camels - 435
d. asses - 6,720
2. The fact that the animals were recorded gives an
indication as to how important they were.
C. \\#Ezra 2:68-69\\ The People’s Reaction
1. \\#68\\ "chief of the fathers" - Those who were the
leaders.
2. "offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his
place" - Rebuilding the temple was one of the first
motives on some of the people’s mind, although it would
be 22 years before the temple is completed.
3. \\#69\\ "They gave after their ability"
a. A "dram" was a Persian gold coin.
(1) Wikipedia said it consisted of 8.4 grams of
gold.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_daric
(2) As of Friday, April 14, 2017, that converted to
$347.63 in US currency for each dram.
(3) That converts in $368,487.80 in gold.
b. As of the same date, "five thousand pounds of silver"
is worth $1,349,687.50.
http://coinapps.com/silver/pound/calculator/
c. And they gave 100 suits for the priests.
D. \\#70\\ Life Begins - Everyone goes back to their original
cities and lands \\#Ezra 3:1\\.
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