Deeper Commentary
Ezra 8:1 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households, and
this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the
reign of Artaxerxes the king- Those who truly waited upon Yahweh
would renew their strength; they would “mount up as eagles” (Isaiah
40:31), the s.w. used throughout Ezra and Nehemiah for the ‘going up’
["went up with me"] to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the temple (Ezra
1:3,5,11; 2:1,59; 7:6,7,28; 8:1; Neh. 7:5,6,61; 12:1).
The idea of mounting up with wings as eagles also connects with Ezekiel's
vision of the cherubim, mounting up from the captives by the rivers of
Babylon, and returning to the land. But the reality was as in Neh. 4:10:
“And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and
there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall”.
Examination of the context shows that they had just had plenty of
strength; they lost physical stamina because of their spiritual weakness.
Ezra 8:2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel.
Of the sons of David, Hattush- We wonder of course why these priests
hadn't returned with Zerubbabel. We noted on Ezra 2 that there were so few
priests who returned then. It would appear that Ezra had been a good
scribe or teacher / proclaimer of the law, and now more priests were
willing to return. We also note that the names used here have more
reference in them to the name of Yahweh, either as suffix or prefix. It's
amazing what one man can do in reviving a community, and Ezra seems to
have been an example. But whilst this return of the Aaronic priests may
seem commendable, it was a tacit act of disobedience to the commandment
that only the Zadokites should serve in the new temple (Ez. 43:19; 45:15).
And thereby the possibility of the Kingdom being reestablished as planned
was precluded. It seems Ezra had not paid attention to the prophecies of
the restoration and was fixated upon obedience to the letter of the old
covenant, which was now intended to be obsolete.
Ezra 8:3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and
with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males one hundred and fifty-
According to 1 Chron. 3:22, we should read this as meaning "Hattush the
son of Shecaniah". This would make him the great-great-grandson of
Zerubbabel.
Ezra 8:4 Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and
with him two hundred males- The family of Pahathmoab also features in
those who returned under Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:6) and were later noted for
their work in rebuilding the walls (Neh. 3:11). And yet the founder of
this family apparently had Gentile connections- "the pit of Moab". It is
tempting to see a connection with the incident in 1 Chron. 11:22, when one
of David's mighty men slew two lionlike men of Moab along with a lion- in
a pit. Perhaps this was name arose from a desire to imitate that great act
of faith.
Ezra 8:5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three
hundred males- LXX "Of the sons of Zattu, Shechaniah, the son of
Jahaziel"; this may be the Zattu of Ezra 2:8.
Ezra 8:6 Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty
males- The numbers are embarrassingly small, given the presence of
around 1 million Jews in the empire (see on Ezra 1:1); and therefore the
uninspired, apocryphal record tends to always exaggerate the numbers. In
this case, 50 is exaggerated to 250 in 1 Esdras.
Ezra 8:7 Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him
seventy males- Athaliah may be a female name. This unusual mention of
a woman in the genealogies could be because she had a particular spiritual
influence upon her family.
Ezra 8:8 Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with
him eighty males- Shephatiah was also a family who had partially
returned under Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:4). Out of the 1 million or so Jews in
Babylon (see on Ezra 1:1), it seems that the interest in the things of the
restored Kingdom was confined to only a few families; for instead of as it
were fresh blood being converted to the cause by Ezra, those he persuaded
to accompany him were largely from families who had already partially
returned to the land.
Ezra 8:9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two
hundred and eighteen males- This is the Joab of Ezra 2:6, some of
whose family members had already returned under Zerubbabel. As noted on
:8, those who returned with Ezra were generally not 'fresh blood' but
relatives of those already in Judah; their motives may therefore have been
mixed, between a desire for family reunification and yet also a wish to
serve God in response to His word.
Ezra 8:10 Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him one
hundred and sixty male- LXX "Of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, the son
of Josiphiah." Bani appears as the head of a family in Ezra 2:10. See on
:8.
Ezra 8:11 Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him
twenty-eight males- Again, this was a family which had already
partially emigrated to Judah (Ezra 2:11); see on :8,9.
Ezra 8:12 Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him
one hundred and ten males- Again, this was a family which had already
partially emigrated to Judah (Ezra 2:12); see on :8,9.
Ezra 8:13 Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last; and these are their
names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males-
"The last" may refer to how the other family members had returned with
Zerubbabel at the 'first' return.
Ezra 8:14 Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy
males- The total comes to 1496 males; even if we multiply this
several times over to get the total number of Jews who returned with Ezra,
the number still isn't that great. The response to the call to flee
Babylon and reestablish God's Kingdom in Israel was still pathetically
small, considering there were around 1 million Jews in the Babylonian
empire (see on Ezra 1:1).
Ezra 8:15 I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and
there we encamped three days: and I viewed the people and the priests, and
found there none of the sons of Levi-
Ezra gathering the people and then leading them to Zion along the riverside route to Judah could be seen as him consciously trying to fulfil the restoration prophecy of Jer. 31:10 "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock". His confidence that God will be with them on the journey by the rivers of waters (Ezra 8:15,22,31) was perhaps because of his sense that he was fulfilling Jer. 31. And yet the new covenant offered in Jer, 31 and the salvation through Messiah all means that in the end, Ezra's return failed to fulfil the prophecy. It was deferred and reinterpreted in the Lord Jesus. For Jer. 31:18,19 required repentance, and the exiles are never recorded as being generally repentant. Ezra tried to do it for them in his prayer of Ezra 9 but those who 'returned' were all intended to have 'returned' to God individually. This explains Ezra's deep sadness at the revelation of sin and intermarriage within the community who returned. They were precluding the fulfilment of Jer. 31 and other restoration prophecies. Likewise Is. 59:9-11 laments that the peoples' sin resulted in darkness rather than the light that could potentially have come for Zion.
It is clear from :29-31 that there were Levites already in Jerusalem, to whom the gold, silver and temple vessels were delivered. They had presumably returned under Zerubbabel. But we can assume that many more were needed. Possibly Ezra was so committed to emulating the exodus from Egypt with the materials for the tabernacle that he wanted there to be Levites forming a barrier as it were between God's holy things and the ordinary Israelites, just as there had been on the wilderness journey. See on :1. However, again we see Ezra resigning from the ideal (as discussed on Ezra 7:26). For in the restored temple, the Levites were not to come near the holy things. That was the work of the sons of Zadok: "They are not to serve me as priests or to go near anything that is holy to me or to enter the Most Holy Place. This is the punishment for the disgusting things they have done. I am assigning to them the menial work that is to be done in the Temple" (Ez. 44:13,14 GNB). Ezra came to teach Torah, but he should've been teaching Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel- the things of the new covenant. Not the old covenant.
Ezra 2:42 records a very small number for the families of the gate keepers. The number of ordinary Levites compared to priests is very low in Ezra 2 (4289 priests, and 341 priestly workers and 74 Levites). There were far more Levites than there were priests, but it seems the Levites didn't want to return and do the dirty work; everyone wanted to be religious leaders. Hence Ezra's problem in finding Levites to return (Ezra 8:15). We can note that it was this tension between Levites and priests which resulted in Korah's rebellion (Num. 16:1-10). See on :24.
Ezra 8:16 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for
Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for
Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for
Elnathan, who were teachers-
The Hebrew confusion of understanding and
teaching is brought out by comparing the AV and RV of Ezra 8:16: “Men of
understanding” (AV), “which were teachers” (RV). To have true understanding
is axiomatically to teach it. We can’t hold it passively within ourselves.
Ezra 8:17 I sent them forth to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I
told them what they should tell Iddo, and his brothers the Nethinim, at
the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house
of our God- The LXX implies Ezra was so desperate that he used a
financial incentive to get some Levites to respond: "And I forwarded them
to the rulers with the money of the place, and I put words in their mouth
to speak to their brethren the Athinim with the money of the place". But
for all that, only 38 Levite men responded (:18,19).
Ezra 8:18 According to the good hand of our God on us they brought us a
man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of
Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen-
Those who returned did so because of God's hand upon them; even if only 18
Levites and then 20 (:19) responded, this was the result of God's hand
working as it were at the very last minute. And yet according to the LXX
of :17 (see note there), their motives must have been very mixed; they had
not intended to return, and were only persuaded by a last minute offer of
money.
Ezra 8:19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his
brothers and their sons, twenty- The numbers of Levites are again
pathetically small. Far more priests than Levites wanted to return. The
idea of doing humble service wasn't attractive; see on :15,24. And so it
has always been; to find real 'workers' for the Kingdom has always been
difficult. And yet no matter how small the numbers, God works through
them.
Ezra 8:20 and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for
the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them
were mentioned by name- The Nethinim were grouped beneath the Levites
but above "the servants of Solomon" (Ezra 2:43,55).
"Nethinim" is
literally 'those who are given' and many presume they were originally the
Gibeonites, who were 'given' by Joshua to the Levites to do their more
menial work (Josh. 9:3-27). Whenever Gentiles were captured in war, some
of them would have been devoted to Yahweh in that they were given to His
service through joining the Nethinim (Num. 31:28). Thus here in Ezra 8:20
we find mention of some "whom David and the princes had given
for the service of the Levites".
Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we
might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a straight way for
us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance-
Jer.
31:9 had prophesied of the restoration: “They shall come with weeping, and
with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the
rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall
not
stumble”. A straight way back to Zion had been prepared potentially
for them to walk in (Is. 40:3). Likewise Is. 63:13 reminded the returnees that when they had
been led through the wilderness to Canaan under Moses, they did not
stumble [s.w.]. But both Ezra and Nehemiah wanted to have a Babylonian
military escort on the journey back; they weren’t sure that they would be
given “a straight way” with Yahweh’s protection. Neh. 4:10 records that
“Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed
[s.w. “stumble”, Jer. 31:9], and there is much rubbish; so that we are not
able to build the wall”. They were easily discouraged by the words of the
surrounding world, by the apparent hopelessness of their task; and thus
they stumbled. Ezra 8:21 describes how Ezra fasted for them to be
given a “straight way”, as Jeremiah had foretold they could have. He saw
the need for them to make the effort to fulfill the prophecy. Note how
Ezekiel’s vision of the cherubim featured “straight” progress; the wheels
on earth surely connect with how Israel should have been, moving in a
straight way back to the land, in harmony with the Angel-cherubim above
them likewise moving in a straight way. But they failed to “keep in step
with the Spirit”... They were to walk “each one straight before him” (Is.
57:2 RVmg.), as each of the cherubim went straight ahead (Ez. 1:12). Ps.
107:2,7 RV speak of Israel being gathered out of the nations and being led
in a “straight way” to Zion ["He led them also by a straight way"], as they had [potentially] been enabled to do
on their departure from Egypt. Yet then they spent 38 years walking a
distance coverable in just 11 days- because they did not walk in the
“straight way”.
The return of the exiles led by Ezra made the journey by a "right way" from Babylon to Zion (Ezra 8:21). Yet this is the very word used about the "straight" feet of the Cherubim Angels in Ez. 1:7,23. The return from Babylon involved following in the path of the Angels, walking in step with them. The restoration prophecy of Jer. 31:9 spoke of how the returnees would walk "in a straight way" (s.w.) "by the rivers of waters"- and surely Ezra consciously alluded to this when by the river Ahava he fasted for the exiles to return in a "right / straight way". He knew that these prophecies of restoration would not just automatically come true- they had to be fulfilled by much prayer, fasting and stepping out in faith. But so very few perceived that. And the challenge remains for us today- to walk in the way which God's Angels have potentially prepared for us, with prayer and boldness. I feel this is especially true in the matter of latter day witnessing. See on Is. 52:8.
Ezra 8:22 For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and
horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to
the king saying, The hand of our God is on all those who seek Him for
good; but His power and His wrath is against all those who forsake Him-
The prophecies of the restoration had spoken specifically of God's protection for those returning from Babylon with the temple vessels: "Depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing! Go out of the midst of her! Cleanse yourselves, you who bear the temple vessels of Yahweh. For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for Yahweh will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your vanguard" (Is. 52:11,12). A way was to be prepared through the desert by God Himself (Is. 40:3). "With petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel" (Jer 31:9). It is one thing to read comforting words in Scripture; quite another in reality to practice them. And Ezra surely is to be commended for taking God at His word. But Ezra was "ashamed to ask" for human help, and again we are drawn into his internal struggles. It is the same word used in Ezra 9:6 for his being "ashamed" before God on account of the peoples' sins. He knew he was supposed to trust in Divine help. But his 'shame' in asking for human help rather suggests he wanted to ask for human help, but was ashamed to, because he was supposed to trust in God's help. Again we recall that this book is his memoir, looking back on life, the surrounding history that went on... and pondering his motives. Reflecting as he does so often that it was the higher hand of God that had been upon him for good. All of grace. We may externally do the thing of faith, in generosity, forgiveness, theological debate, evangelistic work, attending church meetings... but that may conceal mixed motives. It is self-examination before the cross of Christ which illuminates our motives.
And yet Ezra is also, in another part of his brain, firmly rooted in God's word. He had taught that "the hand of our God is on all those who seek Him for good". And he uses the same word as in Dt. 4:29 concerning a repentant Israel returning to their God from exile: "But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and you will find Him, when you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul". He figured that if they were acting in repentance and returning to their God in Zion, then surely His hand would protect them. Just as all expressions of repentance will somehow have God's protecting hand, always enabling it to happen. We think of the person with a phobia of water, being somehow empowered to get baptized as a token of their repentance. Ezra was sure that God's wrath would only be upon those who "forsake" Him. But he himself later lamented that Judah had "forsaken" their God ("We have forsaken Your commandments", Ezra 9:10, and the word is likewise used in Neh. 13:11 for how the exiles had "forsaken" the house of their God). Yahweh forsakes those who forsake Hm (2 Chron. 24:20). Possibly this was the cause of his dilemna- he knew that the exiles didn't need protection if they had not forsaken their God. But there was likely plenty of evidence that many of them still had forsaken their God. Ezra had not, so possibly they were not attacked on the way because of his faithfulness.
Josephus claims that the treasure annually remitted to Jerusalem from Babylon in Roman times was escorted by an army of 20,000 men. So to travel without any soldiers for defence was a truly brave and faithful undertaking. Indeed, Ezra seems to reason that to accept such human strength would be to "forsake Him". To not trust in God, to hedge our bets, as it were, is portrayed here as forsaking Him.
Ezra was ashamed to ask for help against Judah’s enemies, the implication being that he wanted that human help but was ashamed to ask for it from the King. He had initially believed those words of Isaiah, but found it hard to maintain that level of faith. But they should have had faith in the restoration prophecy’s promise: “Fear not ... I will help you” (Is. 41:10). Yahweh had promised support for them if they returned to the land; He would preserve them on the way. Consider Is. 50:10: “Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice [s.w. Ezra 1:1 re the proclamation of Cyrus] of his servant [i.e. Cyrus, Is. 45:1], that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God”. Yet Ezra was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers to guard them on the journey only because he had earlier told the king that Yahweh would be with them (Ezra 8:22), as if he really did want the support but was ashamed to ask for it. He disallowed Isaiah’s prophesy that the restored Israel would never be ashamed [s.w. Ezra 8:22; 9:6] nor confounded (Is. 45:17; 49:23; 54:4). Nehemiah accepted such support when he came up from Babylon (Neh. 2:9).
Ezra 8:23 So we fasted and begged our God for this: and He was entreated
of us- This is Ezra writing up the incident after having reached
Judah safely. "For this" may refer to
the fact that as discussed on :22, they had forsaken their God and so had
no right to presume upon His protection. So Ezra the legalist is forced by
circumstance to throw himself upon God's grace. Just as so many have
experienced. "He was intreated" is the phrase used of God responding to
the prayers of repentant sinners in 2 Sam. 21:14; 24:25; 2 Chron. 33:13.
Ezra 8:24 Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even
Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them-
But Sherebiah and Hashabiah were Levites (:19). The priests are elsewhere repeatedly distinguished from the Levited in the phrase "the priests and the Levites" e.g. in :33. As elsewhere (see on :28), Ezra the legalist seems forced by circumstance to not be stritcly obedient to God's law. This was all part of God's attempt to bring him to grace. Just as He does with so many.
LXX "And I assigned of the chiefs of the priests twelve unto Sherebiah". This would place the priests in a subordinate position to the Levites. Perhaps this was intentional, because Ezra had been disturbed at the lack of Levites amongst them, as likewise was the case in Ezra 2. There were many who wanted the glory of priesthood, but very few prepared to do the humble work of service. And he therefore exalts those humble workers. See on :15.
Ezra 8:25 and weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels,
even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his
counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered-
"There present" is literally "that were found", as if out of the huge
Jewish population in Babylon, these were the only ones found present. Ez. 40:42 speaks of the vessels to be used in the temple [AV
“instruments”] with the same word used for the temple vessels which were
brought up out of Babylon back to Judah, in fulfilment of several of
Isaiah’s ‘Kingdom’ passages (Ezra 1:6-11; 8:25-33 cp. Is. 52:11; 66:20).
The restoration of the kingdom could potentially have happened at the time
of Ezra. But Ezra didn't take this potential forward, for he neglected the
commands in Ezekiel to only use Zadokite priests, and he was obsessed with
keeping the law of Moses, the old covenant, rather than accepting the new
covenant and the new, non-Mosaic worship system of Ez. 40-48.
Ezra 8:26 I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver,
and silver vessels one hundred talents; of gold one hundred talents-
The total value of all this is huge. I don't believe the figures are
exaggerated; it is simply so psychologically credible and true to
experience that when a majority refuse to respond to God's call as
required, they are eager to donate wealth, as if to as it were buy
themselves out of their personal responsibilities.
Ezra 8:27 and twenty bowls of gold, of one thousand darics; and two
vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold- The total value of
all this would probably have worked out at something like 130 million
British pounds as of 2018. To carry all this in cash without military
escort, and to arrive with it all safely after a four month journey
through Bedouin and robber infested territory, was an amazing miracle.
Ezra 8:28 I said to them, You are holy to Yahweh, and the vessels are
holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the
God of your fathers-
"You are holy to Yahweh" is declaring those priests holy and able to handle the holy vessels. But in the restored temple, the Levites were not to come near the holy things- only the sons of Zadok could. Ez. 44:13,14 was clear on this (see on :15). Did Ezra have some Divine mandate to now declare them holy and able to deal with the holy vessels? There is no evidence he did. It is not recorded. We wonder whether he was driven by a lack of alternatives to just do the best he could in the situation. But we would rather read of some attempt to find the required "Sons of Zadok" and some apology for being unable to follow Ez. 44:13,14. Again and again, Ezra invites us to ponder his motives, and the degree to which we can break one Divine principle in order to attempt to keep another. This in fact is the spirit in which the book ends, with the otherwise strange comment after Ezra had made the Jews divorce their Gentile wives: "some of them had wives by whom they had children" (Ezra 10:44). Ezra is looking back and reflecting on the long term impact of his decisions. For there was no Mosaic command to separate from Gentile wives. We could say that what he did haunted him, even though there were strands of sincerity in his motivation. Just as those who disfellowship individuals from churches in their zeal for "God's truth" end up wrecking families... and at the end of their days must look back and wonder about what they did...
Ezra perceived a parallel between the vessels and those who carried them. Paul uses this same idea, describing all believers as a vessel made holy to the Lord (1 Thess. 4:4; 2 Tim. 2:21). Perhaps his allusion recognizes that the situation at the restoration didn't come about as was prophetically possible, and has now been reinterpreted with reference to God's new people and their spiritual work in the spiritual house of God today.
Ezra 8:29 Guard and keep them, until you weigh them before the chiefs of
the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers’ households of
Israel, at Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of Yahweh- "Guard" is
Heb. 'keep awake'. To remain awake and keep that committed unto us is very
much New Testament language (e.g. 1 Tim. 6:20; Rev. 16:15) for our keeping
of that which is committed to our trust until we arrive at Zion, the
future Kingdom of God, when there will be the day of judgment, cp. the
weighing of the vessels to ensure those carrying them had preserved them.
Again, these allusions recognize that the situation at the restoration
didn't come about as was prophetically possible, and has now been
reinterpreted with reference to God's new people and their spiritual work
in the spiritual house of God today.
Ezra 8:30 So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver
and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of
our God- We note how the priests and Levites were given equal
responsibility in transporting this vast wealth. Ezra had been disturbed
at the lack of Levites amongst them, as likewise was the case in Ezra 2.
There were many who wanted the glory of priesthood, but very few prepared
to do the humble work of service. And he therefore exalts those humble
workers. See on :15,24,33.
Ezra 8:31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the
first month, to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was on us, and He
delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandit by the way-
This was no small miracle, carrying such a huge amount of wealth in cash
with no military escort. See on :32. The text implies there were indeed
enemies and bandits by the way, but the hand of God was greater than "the
hand of the enemy". This was to encourage them upon settling in Judah that
the hand of their enemies would never be greater than God's hand- if they
allowed Him to act and humbled themselves beneath that hand.
Passover was to be kept on the 14th day of the first month, with the feast of unleavened bread for some days afterwards. Ezra is noted as a student and teacher of the Torah, with a self proclaimed mission of bringing the Jews back to God's law. But apparently he skips keeping the Passover. He could have argued that he was leading a second exodus, and indeed he was (see on Ezra 7:14). But even so... with such careful attention to imitating the exodus (see on Ezra 8:1), he appears to have omitted the most obvious: To keep Passover as requested. He is recorded as offering thanksgiving offerings on arrival in Jerusalem, even though there was no feast of Yahweh at that time. But he couldn't offer the Passover sacrifice? Nor make use of the command to keep the Passover in the second month if he was travelling (Num. 9:9-13). But it is too much like coincidence that Ezra consciously sought to emulate the exodus. Surely he planned to leave Babylon on the same date as Israel left Egypt. So he was surely aware of the need to keep Passover; but he didn't. Quite possibly because he didn't want to "waste" seven days keeping the related feast of unleavened bread, he impatiently wanted to start the journey. And now in his memoir he is looking back on that choice and drawing us in to his internal reflections... For we too can zealously strive to be so Biblical, but miss the essential points. So often our much vaunted Biblicism is revealed as lacking and empty when it comes to the critical issues of the Christian life. Contra all this, we could consider that his decision was based upon Dt. 16:5,6: "You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell in, there you must sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the time that you came forth out of Egypt". But surely the spirit was important, not the place. Thus "They kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho" (Josh. 5:10); and Passover was celebrated in the Desert of Sinai in the second year after leaving Egypt. Like all of us, Ezra was negotiating between various principles, precedents and scriptures... and musing about having done so in his Divinely inspired memoir. However we note from Neh. 8:14-17 that about 13 years after Ezra had come to Jerusalem to teach the law, the people only then understood they were intended to keep the feast of Tabernacles: "They found written in the law, how that Yahweh had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month... So the people went out, and brought them, and made themselves booths... for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so". Ezra had not exactly been very effective in teaching the law of God about the feasts during those 13 years [unless we take Neh. 8 as being misplaced and referring to Ezra's return].
Ezra 8:32 We came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days-
This
was the result of God's "hand" upon them (:31). When
Nehemiah speaks of them having been redeemed by Yahweh’s “strong hand”
(Neh. 1:10). he is using the language of Is. 40:10, regarding how Yahweh
would come to Zion and save Israel from Babylon and restore them to the
land “with strong hand”. Nehemiah saw the prophecy could have been
fulfilled then. The way Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2; Neh. 7:5-7), Ezra (Ezra 7:8;
8:32) and Nehemiah (Neh. 2:11; 13:7) are described as ‘coming to
Jerusalem’ may hint that they could have fulfilled this coming of Yahweh
to Zion; they
could have been
Messianic figures (Neh. 2:11; 13:7).
Perhaps they remained stationary for three days to praise and thank God; for they had likewise begun their journey with three days of fasting and prayer (:15). So often we forget to thank God with the same intensity with which we asked Him for help. It was this three days of praise which may have inspired Nehemiah to do likewise on arrival in Jerusalem (Neh. 2:11). The Godly examples and prayer patterns of others really should affect us, and our examples likewise influence others.
Ezra 8:33 On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were
weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah
the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them
was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levite-
Transparency is clearly the order of the day- for I have suggested that
there was over 130 million British pounds [2018] worth of gold and silver being
dealt with. We note that the money was counted by two priests and two
Levites. Again we see the Levites paralleled with the priests. This was a
particular theme with Ezra; see on :15,24,31.
Ezra 8:34 Everything was counted and weighed: and all the weight was
written at that time- I suggested above that the total value of all
this would probably have worked out at something like 130 million British
pounds as of 2018. To carry all this in cash without military escort, and
to arrive with it all safely after a four month journey through Bedouin
and robber infested territory, was an amazing miracle. It would have made
the temple storerooms a place of great value.
Ezra 8:35 The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile,
offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel,
ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs and twelve male goats for a sin
offering: all this was a burnt offering to Yahweh- The twelve goats
implied that Israel and Judah were to be united as one at this time. This
was the potential implicit in the restoration prophecies. See on Ezra
6:17. Despite all the great offering of such huge wealth, they offered sin
offerings, ever aware that donation of wealth alone cannot reconcile us to
God. And Ezra clearly had in mind that the community had not repented as
they had been intended to. Many had returned to their land but not to
their God. The way these sacrifices match those offered by Zerubbabel's
group (Ezra 6:17) may have hinted that they had not devoted themselves to
the work as they ought to have done.
Ezra 8:36 They delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps, and
to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people and God’s
house-
Here we have the strongest hint that the Persian support for Ezra was done for political reasons. Ezra's mission was indeed to further God's people and His temple, but the deal was that he reinforced Persian power and civil law in their empire. Clearly, Yehud [Judah] was to remain under strong Persian control, and Ezra went along with that.
This support of the temple and kingdom work by leaders of the Gentiles was a small fulfilment of the restoration prophecies about this. But those prophecies featured the full reestablishment of God's Kingdom, with these leaders themselves becoming proselytes and carrying the Jews back to their land. They were to lift up the people (s.w. "furthered") and bring them back (Is. 49:22). This just didn't happen, because the Jews and Gentiles were not repentant, and Ezra in any case was seeking to only reestablish the old covenant and had little interest in accepting the new covenant, or obeying the laws of the temple system as given in Ez. 40-48.
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