Ezra 8:18

There were two, but only two, priests. But of the family of Levi, outside the priesthood, there was absolutely not one. Ezra might well have been concerned, for it was a sad symptom of the state the people had fallen into. The Levites alone were the appointed ministers in everything that belonged to the service of God's house. Yet when the announcement came that they might return and take up their privileges again, they were untouched and indifferent. They had found a home in the very place where their fathers had hung their harps on the willows and wept when they remembered Zion.

The lack of Levites grieved Ezra as he carefully reviewed the company gathered at the river that runs to Ahava. He had the means for the proper service of God's house, but where were the ministers? He would take no part in disorder in divine things. So in this difficulty he sent for leading men and men of understanding and gave them a commission to a place where Levites were.

He took steps to reach their consciences, so that they might still join him in his mission to Jerusalem. So he sent for some of their leading men, including Joiarib and Elnathan, "men of understanding." It is good for the people of God when, in times of decay and corruption, there are still men of understanding to be found. It is by these that God keeps His people from sinking into still deeper depths, and keeps alive whatever faith and hope may remain.

It is said of the Lord Jesus, or rather, speaking in spirit, He Himself said, "Zeal for your house has consumed me" (Psalm 69:9; John 2:17). He said this because the Father's glory was always His supreme object. God's name and God's honour were always the delight of His soul. And Ezra too, in his measure, desired the Lord's honour in His house, and was therefore in fellowship with the heart of God Himself. This was the secret of his earnestness in seeking to obtain ministers for the house of our God.

Despite everything, we find this expression: "the good hand of our God on us" (v. 18), the only resource Ezra could count on. Even if the help granted to them was not enough, it revealed the great gaps caused by the people's ruin. At least there was some help, and the Lord did not abandon His own.

We meet this phrase many times (7:6, 9, 28; 8:18, 22, 31); and it shows how this man of God trusted the Lord for guidance. It was the good hand of God who brought him to Jerusalem (7:9). His hand strengthened him (7:28). Ezra acknowledges the good hand of the Lord again in bringing them ministers (8:18) and in deliverance (8:31). The same hand that was for good upon Ezra, which guided, kept and shielded him, is still upon all His people who trust Him and obey His Word.

At last 38 Levites come! There are 220 Nethinim, or about six servants for each Levite! Isn't a situation like this very humbling, and can we not find instruction in it for ourselves as well? Where are the ministers among the people of God? As we have said more than once, the ministers today correspond to the Levites of those days. Where are those who serve the house of God and fill the roles God has assigned them? Why is there this scarcity and poverty?