Ezra 8:2

This genealogy reaches to the end of verse 14. It shows how precious to God were the very names of those who answered His call at such a moment. The response itself is the fruit of His grace. Yet in that same grace He is pleased to credit to His people what He Himself had produced in their hearts. It was a fine company of over fifteen hundred people, gathered to return to the land of their fathers. That was the land of all their traditions, and the land of all their hopes.

Some stirred themselves to answer His call to return to the land. God has seen to it that their names are on record in a very permanent way. The names of those who did not stir themselves are almost entirely lost.

There were two priests, but only two: Gershom, son of Phinehas, and Daniel, son of Ithamar. From the Levitical family, outside the priesthood, there was not a single one. Ezra might well be concerned, for it was a sad sign of the state into which the people had fallen. The priests alone had access to the holy place of the house of their God. The Levites alone were the appointed ministers in everything belonging to its service. Yet when the call came that they might return and take up their privileges again, they stayed unmoved and indifferent.

While a small number of Levites had gone up with Zerubbabel, none had joined Ezra. Only two priests were present, Gershon, son of Phinehas, and Daniel, son of Ithamar. What indifference this reveals! They had settled down in the enemy's land and were satisfied to remain there. They were minding earthly things, and the things of God were forgotten by them. Still they were Levites in their holy calling. It is the same today with many who are no doubt saved, but who are worldly-minded and have little desire to live in the separation He requires from His people.

Why is Judah in captivity preserved as a people? Why not scattered and lost among the nations, as the ten tribes are? Because God had a purpose of grace to carry out, and full judgment was delayed. God had set David upon the throne, and it was a pledge that Christ must sit there also. For Christ on the throne of David is God's centre of blessing for this earth. So the tribe the King was to come from is kept safe until the appointed time, when Jesus is born in Bethlehem. During the captivity, when the Gentile held the throne, the line of true heirs was kept as something sacred. After the return from Babylon, Matthew carries that line on to the birth of Christ, and in Him it ends.

There was no merit whatsoever in them. God delivered the remnant from captivity because His word must be fulfilled, above all His promise about the Lord Jesus Christ. That the promised Branch might shoot forth, the house of David must be restored.

The men listed in the first 14 verses, together with their families, went with Ezra. It would have been so much easier for them to settle in Mesopotamia, where they had grown up. But they return to the place of God's choice, and God is with them.