Missing from earth’s honor rolls, how wonderful to have my name written above in the autograph of God.
As we examine the list of names in Ezra 2, two facts should be obvious. First, as in many lists already viewed earlier in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Lord doesn’t miss a thing. Unlike world rulers, God is not only interested in the rise and fall of empires and the tides of war and peace; He cares about every individual. The second fact for which we should be thankful is that the Spirit has limited the list to heads of families, not all 50,000 who made the journey. That would be some chapter! Note that what had once been the free country of Israel was now a province of the Persian empire. The first man mentioned is Zerubbabel, appointed the governor, called in Persian Tirshatha (Ezra 2:63). Then comes Jeshua, in line to function as high priest in the restored temple. Ten other men (nine listed here, and the final name, Nahamani, is given in Neh 7:7) make up the twelve leaders of the expedition. Then we have those listed by families (vv 3-19)—probably because they were all from Jerusalem—and those listed by hometown (vv 20-35). Although God saw this as a return of the children of all Israel (see vv 2, 70), they were principally from Benjamin and Judah, with the exceptions of the Nethinim (the spared Gentiles from Gibeon who assisted the Levites, Jsh 9:26-27), plus the servants of Solomon (he didn’t use his own people for this, 2 Chron 8:9), and those who were unable to prove their genealogies (v 59). There are lists of the priests and Levites who returned (vv 36-40)—most evidently chose to stay in captivity—and the singers and porters (vv 41-42), also Levites. But as far as believers today are concerned, let each take a moment today to “rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Lk 10:20).