8:1-14 Ezra listen the names of the heads of the families who returned with him to Judah:
These are the heads of their fathers’ houses,and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of King Artaxerxes: of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush; of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and registered with him were one hundred and fifty males; of the sons of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males; of the sons of Shechaniah, Ben-Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males; of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males; of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males; of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty males; of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males; of the sons of Shelomith, Ben-Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty males; of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males; of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten males; of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these—Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah—and with them sixty males; also of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.
As individuals, we always want to be counted among the list of people who choose to return to God. More specifically, we should endeavor to be listed in the book of life. Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
The list of names written by Ezra comprise a body of people who rededicated themselves. They redirected their lives. In many cases, when we dedicate our lives it God, it requires an upheaval of the life that is familiar to us. Jesus explained to us that only those who lose their life will find life, Matthew 16:25; He meant that when we awaken spiritually, and commit to it, we become new. Our perspective as well as our directions changes. Our motivation and well as our inspiration changes. We are no longer ourselves but hosts of the spirit of God and pillars within His kingdom. We change from flesh to spirit, finite to infinite; selfish to selfless.
A covenant relationship with God requires more than acquiescence to function and strengthen. Even more, a relationship with God requires more than willingness. Indeed Jesus taught us that though our spirit may be strong and willing, our flesh is not so naturally inclined. Willingness and intention do not necessarily, enthusiastically bind with effort and steadfastness. We all fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. Yet with an awareness of our shortcomings and a grateful dependence on God, spirit prevails. Ezra listed the names of families who chose gratitude and dependence, because of that and despite their imperfection, there names were written.
8:15-17 Ezra arranged for the temple to be filled with Levitical servants. God appointed the Levites over the temple in the book of Numbers. It became their responsibility to serve the kingdom of God as teachers and preservers of the faith. If Judah were to rebuild, it was imperative that people God had chosen, and taught to lead in accordance with His will, were at the center.
8:18-20 Ezra began, ...by the good hand of our God upon us... He was so aware and thankful for God's presence and powerful design. What Judah required to reestablish itself, Ezra trusted God to provide. The temple required men of understand; people who could discern the will of God from the way of the world.
Judah was surrounded, as before, by peoples and kings and nations who had created their own systems. Judah had been influenced and corrupted by those systems. Without leaders who understood God's way, they would quickly be so crooked led again.
8:21 Ezra proclaimed a fast at the river of Ahava. At the beginning of their journey, Ezra humbly accessed God. God offers His presence, power, provision and protection but do we access it? Ezra recognized that such blessing was available to him and the group and humbly accessed it. They needed direction for their precious crew and cargo.
God does not just give us direction to the right destination. God gives us directions to reach every single blessed checkpoint along the way.
8:22 Ezra was encumbered and embarrassed by the soldier escort the king had sent with them. He did not want anyone to think that God's people needed any protection other than God's own. Ezra wanted God's children to understand they they did not rely upon the amiability and generosity of the man king. Moreover, it was vital to Ezra that God knew He had their trust.
Ezra explained to the king: “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” Something to take from the leaders and prophets of God: they had full confidence in what He had spoken to them. Most beautifully, they had complete confidence in what He had spoken to them in the face of danger and fear, captivity and death.
The New Testament reiterates the same promise of God, Matthew 6:33. When we seek God, when we become a vessel for Him, a host of heaven, He fills us up. To the brim and beyond it, Psalm 23:5. Ezra trusted that God would fill every and all requires for protection and provision they would need on their journey.
8:23 So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer. Ezra and his group were in alignment with what God had taught them: dependence on Him, a spirit of gratitude, the soul-deep posture of humility. Their prayer was answered because they listened to the instructions on how to most effectively deliver it.
8:24-27 Ezra distributed the offerings of God to be dedicated by twelve of the leaders. We are each trusted with a precise and personalized portion of work for the kingdom.
8:28-30 Those who commit their lives to righteousness are holy to God, set apart. When we extract ourselves from the way of the world, the way of selfish living, we become set apart for divine purpose. We each, like the leaders in this chapter, willingly offer the gifts and blessings God has provided us back to Him, in service of His kingdom.
The group assembled with Ezra's faithful leadership became prepared to enter into a new blessing from God. That is, they were focused on God's word, subservient of His will, dependent on His power and grateful for His mercy. Anytime we enter a new season or blessing of life, how we enter it will determine how we maintain and survive it.
8:31-32 God protected the group from an ambush on the road. God's extraordinarily generous design protects us from what appear to be close calls; but because God is our unfailing leader, even danger that comes within a hairsbreadth is never really a threat to us at all. Ezra did not rely upon the prospect of calm waters, instead He relied upon the promise of God's deliverance through even storm.
8:33-34 The silver and gold to be dedicated to God were weighed. What we offer to God is weighed by Him, in a sense. What we offer must be sincere and wholehearted, Proverbs 27:21.
8:35 Ezra identifies this group of the children of those who had been carried away captive; moreover, he describes them as the people who had came out of the captivity of the world to submit themselves to spirit, to God. God granted these people freedom after their parents squandered it away to corruption. They appropriately utilized their freedom for devotion to God. Such is always the way to keep it!
8:36 Though the support of God was all that the people needed, God gave Judah the support of the people around them as well. God sets his children up to thrive. Ezra repeatedly uses the phrase God's hand was upon us/me and his trust and gratitude for that made all the difference in his life.
