Year 2, Week 24, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 24, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Ezra 2-3.

Today’s reading continues the Book of Ezra. The Book of Ezra is set in the first year of Cyrus’ reign, which would have been about 538 BC. Cyrus permits the Jewish people to return from their captivity even as they are allowed to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem. Ezra 2, which is nearly identical to Nehemiah 7, lists over 125 names, as the list serves as a census to account for the families who were a part of the return to Jerusalem: “Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town” (Ezra 2:1). The number or returnees numbered at 42,360 (see Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:66). The vast majority of the captives stayed in Babylon under Persian rule. Ezra 3 records the first official actions of the returnees. First, the returnees worshipped: “They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the LORD” (Ezra 3:3-5. Second, they began rebuilding the Temple: “Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month…Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God” (Ezra 3:8-9).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was a man who emerged as one of the key leaders in the work that began among the returnees to Jerusalem. Zerubbabel was a key leader for the restart of the worship in Jerusalem: “When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it” (Ezra 3:1-2). Zerubbabel was also a key leader for the rebuilding that started on the Temple: “Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity” (Ezra 3:8). In fact, the first name mentioned in the census listed in Ezra 2 was Zerubbabel: "Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity…They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah” (Ezra 2:1-2). While Jeshua (also called Joshua), who is a priest, is frequently mentioned, Zerubbabel is not associated with the priests. While Jeshua (or Joshua) would become the High Priest, Zerubbabel would become the governor: “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest” (Haggai 1:1).

Zerubbabel’s emergence as a key leader is not a mere coincidence; Zerubbabel is from the Davidic line: “The descendants of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son; and the sons of Jeconiah, the captive: Shealtiel his son, Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah; and the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei” (1 Chronicles 3:16-19a). While the Chronicler lists Pedaiah as the father of Zerubbabel, Shealtiel in Ezra, Haggai, and Zechariah, is named as the father. Perhaps Shealtiel died and Pedaiah performed levirate obligations (see Deuteronomy 25:5-6). But for our purposes for today’s reading, whether it was through Pedaiah or Shealtieh, King Jehoiakim is the grandfather of Zerubbabel. Jehoiakim (also known as Jehoiachin) was taken into Babylonian captivity, but was taken care of during his exile: “And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon…graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived” (2 Kings 25:27-3). The LORD preserved the Davidic line through exile and even strategically elevated the Davidic line as the people returned.

The Temple that Zerubbabel helped to rebuild, while much smaller than the Temple that Solomon built, would still be standing some 500 years (with some expansions and renovations along the way), when Jesus arrived on the scene. In fact, Zerubbabel is listed in both Gospel genealogies as a common ancestral link (see Matthew 1:12-13; Luke 3:27). Jesus would visit the Temple that Zerubbabel, his ancestor built. The song that the returnees sang as the Temple foundation was rebuilt reflects well the character of God, not only in the Temple being started again, but even more significantly in the sending of Jesus years later to the Temple: “And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel” (Ezra 3:11a).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe