Shabbat Shalom! I'd like you to open your Bibles, please, to the book of Ezra. We are studying the book of Ezra, and our study today is in the second chapter, Ezra, chapter 2. Ezra, chapter 2, is a very interesting chapter, because you will notice that this chapter is basically a list of Jewish names, Hebrew names, a list of Hebrew cities, a list of the priests of Israel, a list of the Leviyim, the Levites, the servants among the people of Israel, a list of singers, a list of porters, a list of Netinim servants. Basically, it is a list that gives us the list of those who return to the land of Israel from Babel, from Babylon.

And I want to read just a couple of verses from this whole chapter, because I'm not going to read every name here in that list in Ezra, chapter 2. And yet, I would like to suggest that it is the word of the Lord, and we want to take the word of the Lord to our hearts, because every scripture, every word of God is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of Ruach HaKodesh. And the Bible teaches us that it is profitable for our growth, for our learning, for our instruction in righteousness, that the man or the woman of God will be established in the things of the Lord.

And so let me read Ezra, chapter 2. We begin in verse 1. Ezra 2, verse 1. "But these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem, and Judah, everyone unto his city, which came with Zerubavel, Yeshua, Nechemiah, Seraiah, Re'elaiah, Mordechai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rachum, and Ba'ana, the number of the men of the people of Israel." And from here on we have a list, all the way down. And I would like to read now from verse 36. The priests, the children of Yadaya, of the house of Yeshua, 973.

The children of Imar, 1052. The children of Pashchur, 1247. The children of Harim, 1017. Verse 40. The Levites, the children of Yeshua. Verse 41. The singers, the children of Asaph. Verse 42. The children of the porters. Verse 43. The netinim, the children of Zihah. And we have a list all the way down to verse 44. Then we read in verse 55. The children of Shlomo, Solomon's servant. And there we have them all the way down until verse 60. But I'm going to read verse 59 in the middle. But they could not show their father's house and their seed whether they were of Israel. Then we continue down in verse 61. And of the children of the priests, the children of Chabaya, the children of Koz, the children of Barzilai, which took a wife of the daughter of Barzilai, the Giladite, and was called after their name.

Verse 63. These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found. Therefore, were they polluted, put from the priesthood. Verse 63. And the Tarshatta, this is the governor, and unto them that they should not eat of the most holy thing, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Tumim. Verse 64. And the whole congregation together was 42,360. Verse 65. Beside their servants and their maidens, of whom there were 7,337. And then it's continue. And there were among them 200 singing men and singing women. Verse 66. Verse 66. Their horses were 736. Their mule, 245. Their camels, 435. Their asses were 6,720. And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the Lord, which is a Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place.

They gave, after their ability, unto the treasure of the work, three score, and 1,000 drams of gold, and 5,000 pounds of silver, and 100 priests' garments. This is the last verse 70. So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the nettinging, dwell in their cities, and all Israel in their cities. And I'm going to stop here in verse 70 of this second chapter of the book of Ezra. When I was preparing to share with you this second chapter of Ezra, I was thinking to myself, just like any other Bible teachers, you read such a chapter, and you really wonder, why would this chapter, with so many names that most of us cannot even pronounce, be found in the written word of God?

And you notice, when I have requested the book of Romans, in chapter 16, to be read, and there you have a list of men and women, of whom the Apostle Paul found it necessary to record their name for the benefit for you and I today, who study and learn from the word of God. But beloved brothers and sisters, when we study such a chapter, we must bear in mind, according to 2 Timothy, chapter 3, and verse 16, the Apostle Paul said this, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, And verse 17 says that the man of God may be perfect, mature, that is, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

In other words, we learn that every scripture, whether it is in the Tanakh, that is the Old Testament, or whether it is in the Brit HaChadasha, in the New Testament, is given by the Holy Spirit of God, by inspiration. And it is very profitable for the men and women of God, who want to grow spiritually. It is instructing us, it is helping us to understand the mind of the Lord. This is one way to look at this. But there is another reason why this is a very important chapter in biblical text. Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, that the Jewish people were 70 years in Bavail. And after 70 years of discipline of God, who sent them away through Nebuchadnezzar to Bavail, God have called them through Cyrus, Koresh, back into the Promised Land, and to rebuild the temple and the whole city of Jerusalem.

But not everyone had been awakened to come back to the land. But those that had been awakened were those whom God really treasure. And He understood what it meant for them to do such a thing. That meant for them to leave a place where they had so many privileges there, and now to return back to the land of Israel, to the land of Canaan. It meant for them a sacrifice. And God remembered everything and everyone, and He lists for us this long list of names of these Jewish individuals that returned to the Promised Land, the land of Israel. And I want you for a moment to turn to Malachi 3, in verse 16.

There is a very precious verse that we want to just look at it for a moment. It says, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and their thoughts upon His name. You see, what we really learn here, that the book of remembrance, in Hebrew we call it Sefer Hazikaron, God remembered every deed, every action that the children of God are doing, in this case the children of Israel, the people of Judah who returned back to the land. He remembered everything that they have done, and He remembered their name.

And the Bible said to us that He is writing down, not only what they have done, but who they were. And they are very special to Him, because it says in verse 17 of Malachi chapter 3, They shall be mine, sayeth the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son that serveth him. In other words, this list of the names of these Jewish men and women that were listed have been very precious to the heart of God of Israel. And it reminds me also of the words of Yeshua the Messiah in the Gospel of John.

He says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and I will give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one will be able to pluck them out of my hand. He knows every believer that belongs to Yeshua the Messiah. He knows us by name. He knows the trials and the challenges that we go through in our life, and yet He loves us, and He cares for us, and He makes sure that we understand that He knows everything that we have done for Him here in this world. So, there is a reason why we have that list here in Ezra chapter 2.

But I want to go through this chapter and just lift up some things that will be very encouraging for us today. By the way, there are many lists in the Bible. As such, we have in Genesis chapter 49 the list of the 12 tribes of Israel, which Yaakov, our forefathers, have prayed for. In 2 Samuel chapter 23, we have a list of the mighty men of David, David, Gibboim, Michel David, that have assisted him when he was persecuted. There is a list of the believers, which the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 16, of all those that have assisted him when he served in a ministry. And I can tell you, in my personal ministry, my wife and I, as we serve the Lord, we would never be able to do what we are doing unless there are brothers and sisters who assist us and support us and pray for us.

In fact, the very fact that we have those regular meetings here of Holy Scriptures in Israel are proof of the many that have been a blessing. And God remembered this, and God knows this. And that's why, as far as God's concerned, this book of remembrance is always before him of those faithful servants who serve the Lord. So, let's look over this chapter with a couple of thoughts in this ministry meeting. The first thing you notice, in verses 1 and 2, that we have the leaders. It all really began by those who God raised and they become those ones who are motivating others and leading them. You notice in verse 1, it says, Now these are the children of the province that went up.

Notice the word up. The word olim or ole come from the Hebrew word la'alo, to go up. Come, let us go up to the mountains of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. When you go to Jerusalem, you always go upward. And so he says, these are the ones that went up out of captivity of those which have been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried them away to Babylon and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, everyone unto his city. So here we see now the names of the leaders in verse 2. Now, who are those leaders? The first one, his name is Zerub Avel.

The second one, his name is Yeshua. The third one is Nechemiah. The fourth one is Seraiah. The fifth one is Realiah. The sixth one is Mordechai. And then Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rachum, and Ba'ana. You have a list of names. In the book of Nehemiah, I think there are named 12 leaders of the children of Israel. Some suggest that they may have been one out of every tribe of the people of Israel. Now, think with me for a moment. Remember that the nation of Israel had been divided into these two sections. The northern tribe, this is called Israel, had been carried to Assyria. The southern tribe had been carried to Babylon a few years later.

And some people think that we have what you call lost tribes of Israel. But we don't read it here. Here we find out that they are the one of the people of Israel. You will notice that the name Israel is mentioned three times in this chapter. Even though it was actually Judah and Benjamin and the Leviim that had been brought out. But apparently it seemed to be that some migrated from Assyria and mingled among those Jewish people who went to Bavell. And apparently you have here 11 names. And I think in Nehemiah, Nechemiah chapter 7, you have 12 names that I mentioned. One perhaps from every tribe. The first one is called Zerubavel.

The Hebrew name Zerubavel is sown in Bavell. Zerua be Bavell. He had been sown there in Bavell. When the captivity of the Jewish people had been taken to Babylon, God had sown the nation. Took them from Jerusalem, from the promised land of Canaan. And placed them in a place that is called Bavell. Secondly, you notice that the second name, the name is Yeshua. This is exactly the way we spell the name Jesus in the Brit HaChadasha. Even though this person is not Jesus the Messiah, but his name is very similar to the Hebrew name Yeshua that we have in the Brit HaChadasha, in the New Testament.

You notice it doesn't say Joshua. It doesn't say Isaiah. It doesn't say Hosea. It says Yeshua. In J-E-S-H-U-A. It's actually supposed to be Y-E-S-H-U-A. It's the Hebrew name Yeshua. And you shall call his name Yeshua. Of course, this is only a person that came from Bavell, but it's the very same name of the one that we have of our blessed Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, who was born later on, many, many years later, in the city of Bethlehem, in the land of our fathers. Then you notice there's another two names that I mention here, but we don't want to mix them up with others. It says the third one, his name is Nehemiah.

He was one of the chief of the fathers of the people of Israel. Now, that is not the same Nehemiah that we have in the next book. Ezra Nehemiah, Nehemiah. It's not the same person, and yet you can see how common this name, Nehemiah, means Jehovah Nichemot, he gave me comfort, the comfort of Jehovah. And then, of course, the next couple of names, we have another man by the name of Mordechai. You notice in this verse 2, again, don't make a mistake, it's not Mordechai, the Jewish man that we have in the book of Esther. But again, you see the similar name, the same name, but we don't mix them up.

Mordechai was this uncle of Esther, the queen, that remained in Bavell with the Jewish people who remained. But here is another man by the name of Mordechai, who is going up to the city of Jerusalem, to the land of Israel, to rebuild the temple in the city of Jerusalem. So, in verses 1 and 2, we have the leaders of the returning Jewish remnant. And God mentioned them here in this verse 2, those 12 names of these men, the leaders of Israel. And this is important. If you and I are going to be led in a godly way, to be restored to the place of gathering, we need leaders. God has to raise leaders in our midst, godly individuals that will be an example for us.

Those that will draw us closer to the Lord. Years ago, when I became a believer in Yeshua, some of the brethren used to tell me, Brother Gideon, if you want to grow spiritually, you need to be with people who are more mature than you, that they can help you to pull you up, to draw you closer to the Lord. And then, in turn, we can be used to help others to grow and to become more mature, whether it is a brother, whether it is a sister, to encourage them to grow in their spiritual growth. And we all need those that are older than us in age, but also older than us in the Lord.

The Lord used them to woo us, to help us to be drawn to the things of the Lord. Well, this is the verses 1 and 2. In verses 3 to verse 20, we have the names and the numbers of the families of the returning Jewish remnant. I can give you an idea, like it says in verse 3, Bnei Parosh. Verse 4, Bnei Shephataya. Verse 5, Bnei Arach. Verse 6, Bnei Pachat. Verse 7, Bnei Elam. Verse 8, Bnei Zaku. Verse 9, Bnei Zakai. Verse 10, Bnei Bani. Verse 11, Bnei, and so on, and so on, and so on. The word Bnei means the children of. And then it gives you the name of the person and how many people came.

Verse 3, 2,172. Verse 4, 372. Verse 5, 775, and so on, and so on. I want you just to notice a couple of things about this list. This list of names is repeated in Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter 7, from verse 6 to the end of the 7th chapter of Nehemiah. Again, it is extremely interesting. Why it is mentioned twice in the word of God. The same list mentioned twice. If you have a chance later on, open Nehemiah chapter 7, and you notice that this list is repeated there throughout the very same chapter. Secondly, about this list from verse 3 to 20, this list proves to us of the land rights of these returning Jewish people to the land of Israel.

Why do we have their names? And it says exactly, the son of children of Parosh, children of Shephatiah. It gives us those names in order to prove to us that these people have a right to the land. In other words, God records this for us so to show to us that these people have a right to this land. Thirdly, we can say about this list from verses 3 to verse 20, that this list really distinguish the people of Israel from the Samaritans. When we're going to study, we're going to get back later on, and we're going to see that these Jewish people suffer because of the Shomronim, the Samaritans who were in that land.

Who were the Shomronim? We're going to talk about it later on. The Samaritans were mixed, perhaps had some Jewish-Israeli background, but they were part of the nations of the world, and they constantly opposed the remnant of the Jewish people from building the temple in the city of Jerusalem. So this list is really showing to us and distinguishing for us those are the Jewish people that belong to the land, distinguishing them from the Samaritans, for the rest of the people in the Shomron in Samaria. Fourthly, this list of names show us of God's knowledge of his own people. He knows them all by name, and you can see he's mentioning all those family names one by one.

And this is interesting, because they had to later on to prove their record, and they will be showing their name in order to prove that they belong to the people of Israel. Today, if you would want to immigrate today into the land of Israel, the rabbinical authority of Israel, they will ask you, show us the record that you are Jewish. Show us your birth, who was your mom, who was your dad. You know, we have today in Israel what you call the rights of Aliyah, the rights to immigrate to the land of Israel. And every Jewish person have a right to go to the promised land, to the land of our forefathers.

But he or she must prove it, at least to have a father, a mother, a grandfather, or grandmother, in order to have the right of return back to the land. And so, we have here a list of names that show us that God knows every one of these people. And finally, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 3 to 20, this list of names prove to us that God has a plan for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You remember in Genesis chapter 12, the Abrahamic covenant, God said to Father Abraham many, many years ago, Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless thee, and I will make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee, and I will curse him that curses thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Well, how can the families of this world going to be blessed if the Jewish people are going to be scattered and not back in a relationship with God? And here, beloved brothers and sisters, we learn that this list of names only prove to us that God's plan for the restoration of Israel ultimately under the Abrahamic covenant will surely come to pass. And therefore, this list is being given to us in this second chapter of the book of Ezra. Well, let's move on, beloved brothers and sisters. In verses 21 to verse 35, we have now not so much the names of people, but we have the names of cities, of the returning Jewish remnant who are going back to the land of Israel.

And notice, it began with Bethlehem in verse 21. It continued on, and I'm going to highlight, notice in a little bit further on in these verses, in verse 28, the city of Bethel. And then notice a little bit further down in verse 34, the city of Jericho, Jericho. I just lifted up those names. There are many names that I mentioned here. I just want to highlight some things here about these verses, which is very important. Well, Bethlehem. Why the city of Bethlehem? It's mentioned here, in fact, Bethlehem is actually the first name that is mentioned from verse 21 to 35. Bethlehem, the house of bread. Bait is house. Lechem is bread.

But what's so special about Bethlehem? Well, this is the history of our own nation. Bethlehem. Today, by the way, Bethlehem is handed out to the Palestinians. But Bethlehem is the city of which we read in Scripture, Rachel, Rachel, she died on the way to Bethlehem. We read about it in Genesis 35 and verse 19. We read also, in the book of Ruth, Ruth, it was Naomi and Elimelech who lived in Bethlehem. And when God disciplined Bethlehem, the people of Israel, there was no rain, there was famine in Bethlehem. And you remember, Elimelech and Naomi went down to Moab. And their children, Machlon and Kilayon, married two women.

Then they died. Elimelech died. Machlon and Kilayon died. And there was one woman who returned with Naomi to the city of Bethlehem. Her name was Ruth, the Moabite. Ruth ha-Muabiyah. She came and they went back to Bethlehem. Why? Because God blessed at that time Bethlehem and there was bread now in Bethlehem. Bethlehem belonged to the Jewish people, belonged to the people of Israel. And not only this, beloved brothers and sisters, it was in Bethlehem when David was anointed to become the king of Israel. It was Samuel who went and anointed David to become the king of Israel. Bethlehem. Micah in chapter 5 says, But thou, Bethlehem of Judah, though thou be little among the thousand of Judea, yet out of thee shall come the ruler, the governor, who will lead the people of Israel.

The prophetic word about the birth of the Messiah, Yeshua, was given to us by Micah in chapter 5. And guess who was born in Bethlehem? None else but our blessed Lord, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. He was born in the city of Bethlehem, the house of bread. Bethlehem belonged to the nation of Israel. And here's a list of the names that we have here in verses 21 to 35 of cities. What about the city that we mentioned, the city of Bethel? Bethel is a city, you remember, when Jacob, Jacob, went away from his parents after he stole the birthright from his brother Esav. And after he cheated his father and told him that he is Esau.

And he stopped in Bethel. And there in Bethel, he took a rock and he placed it on the ground and he leaned on it. It became like a pillow. And what did he saw in a vision? He saw in a vision, in a dream, he saw a ladder from heaven to earth and the angels of God ascending and descending upon this ladder. And you remember what our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, said in chapter 1 of the Gospel of John. He said, you shall see the Son of Man ascending and descending upon, and you remember that when he said it in the Gospel of John, this ladder has become a picture of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, who is the way to heaven, who is the ladder in typology.

In order for us to get into heaven, we have to acknowledge Him, Yeshua, Jesus, as our Lord and our Messiah in order to be able to enter into the presence of God, to reach heaven. It is only through Him. Finally, the city of Yericho. All the way down in verse 34, he said, and the children of Yericho, 345, now Jericho. Yericho is the very first city, and the city of Yericho is the first city where Israel took over when Israel entered into the promised land. And you remember the people of Israel surrounded the city of Jericho seven times, seven days, every day, one time, and on the seventh day they surrounded the city of Jericho seven times, and this day and they blew the shofar, they blew the trumpet, and the walls of Jericho fell down, and Israel entered into the promised land.

The first city that our own nation, Israel, conquered was the city of Jericho. And so we have a list of cities which proved to us that it was given to the nation of Israel by God. And I only mention some of them. We have the city of Anatot in verse 23 as well. Anatot was a place which Jeremiah had to buy a field. God told to Jeremiah to buy a field in Jeremiah chapter 32 verses 7 and 9. Jeremiah bought that field by faith because he knew that God said that I'm going to promise you, I'm going to restore you back to the promised land. And simply by faith he bought the field trusting that God is able to restore the Jewish people back to this land.

So I'm just mentioning beloved brothers and sisters to you the names of the cities of the returning Jewish remnant mentioned from verse 21 to verse 35. Now go a little bit further down and now notice how beautiful in verse 36 to verse 39 we have the name of the priests of the returning Jewish remnant. You notice that? It says in verse 36 the priests of the children of Yedaya of the house of Yeshua and so on. You have a list of them in verse 36 37 38 and verse 39. Now what is the ministry of the priests? Can you imagine? These are priests Kohanim in Hebrew who were living now in Bavell because they didn't have a temple to serve it.

They couldn't now minister in the way that they should have been ministering and the Lord have exercised their heart and they say listen I'm a priest I want to go back to the land and who are the priests? The priests are really the descendants of the family of Aaron. The Bible teaches us the first time we get this mentioning of the priest was in Exodus chapter 40 when God had told Moses to raise up of the family of Aaron a priestly family that will serve the people of God. Now they could have stayed in Bavell but they say no we are going to go back to the land of Israel the temple is going to be built and we are going to serve our God in this temple and to serve our people the people of Israel.

So there was an exercise of heart of the priest to go back there to the promised land. Now we continue down these verses in verse 40 to verse 42 we have the name of the Levites of the returning Jewish remnant. Now this is a wider circle because the priests were only from the family of Aaron but the Levites included all the tribe of Levi.

How precious to notice from among the Levites it says in verse 41 there were singers and then in verse 42 there were the porters now what a lesson we learn here they were going back to the promised land to the city of Jerusalem but there was no temple there but they were coming back with an anticipation I'm going to serve the Lord I'm going to build his house and I'm going to serve him and serve the people of God because the Levites were the tribe that were chosen by the Lord to serve him and to serve the people of God and from among the Levites there were the singers you know the word here in

Hebrew actually is meshorerim meshorerim means those who write the psalms you know they probably were those who wrote the psalms like we read in psalm 137 by the rivers of Babylon there we sat down and we wept as we remember Zion this psalm is very precious to my heart when I think about it but there are many other psalms that meshorerim wrote let me read you a psalm look at the psalms some of the psalms that they have written in fact I will read psalm 126 it's called the songs of degrees someone from among these meshorerim these singers these writers of the songs were writing those psalms for us that we sing it the history

of our people is filled with the songs of the psalms and for us today as well when we can sing some of these psalms and the songs that have to do with praising God look at this look at one of the psalms that they may have written psalm 126 when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them the dream then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing then said they among the heathen the Lord has done great thing for them the Lord has done great things for us whereof we are glad turn again our captivity O Lord as the streams in the south they that sow in

tears shall rip in joy he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him you see they put these things to the they wrote this down and they were singing those songs in the temple later on and can you imagine he says when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream for them beloved brothers and sisters it was like a dream to come back to the promised land to the city of Jerusalem to the land of Israel and it says here that they were the singers of the children of Asab they wrote some of these songs and they were

singing you know I want to encourage you beloved brothers and sisters to sing to the Lord there is a reason why we are called to sing singing Ephesians says singing with grace in your heart and to the Lord we have a reason to sing because we have a person that love us and care for us and have done so much for us our blessed Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah now notice about the Levim not only there were singers servants but then it says in verse 42 it says the children of the porters you know what is a porter it says those that were keeping the gates now why it is so important there is an

application for us to learn we beloved brothers and sisters need to be gate keepers what does that mean to be a gate keeper you know in the body of Messiah there is so many false things that have creeped in false doctrine false practices all kind of fallacy because Satan wants to attack the people of God but here are the porters there are those who stand by the gate and watching over the people of God and you know each one of us need to be a porter a goalkeeper by the way it's the same word for a person who plays soccer and he's a goalkeeper so no goal will enter no ball will come not to

lose the game and for us spiritually speaking we need to be those that are keepers of the gate making sure that not legally but graciously that the word of God will be uplifted and the people of God will be kept close to the things of the Lord we need all of us need those gatekeepers that watch over our souls that care for us know how quickly we can go to the right and to the left with all sort of doctrinal things and all kind of things that are not healthy for us spiritually and if we listen to them and get their counsel if they give us the word of God from a sincere heart we

need to listen to these porters who watch over our souls and so we see in verse 40 41 and 42 the name of the Levites and we have the singers we have the door keepers and this shows us the care that they are giving to the people of God and you and I need to be those servant Levites who sing and praise the Lord and watching over the brothers and sisters in the assembly in the church of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah well down the list there are two more things that I have to highlight here as we go down to the bottom in verse 43 to verse 63 we have the names of the

temple servants notice that they are called in Hebrew netinim in verse 43 the netinim of the children of Zihah of the children of Hashupah and so on you have the list and notice the list that you have all the way down to verse 63 now this is also extremely interesting because those netinim here in these verses are people who were servants of the people of Israel some suggest that they may very well not be Jewish by birth or Israeli by birth but let me remind you if you remember when Israel had entered into the promised land in Joshua chapter 9 we read of the gibonite you remember the gibonite came from near but they were

afraid of the people of Israel and they tricked them to make a covenant with them and they said to Joshua and the leaders of Israel oh we came from a far away country and they brought moldy bread their shoes had holes the clothes had holes they looked like they really walked for long distance but in actuality they were next door but they were afraid of the people of Israel they called the gibonite in English and you know Israel mistakenly made a covenant with them and when they made a covenant with the gibonite they had to keep this covenant and those remain among the people of Israel they were carrying the water and they were carrying

wood they were serving among the people of Israel but they were not by birth part of the nation of Israel and they became like servants now now now mind you they often time cause a lot of havoc among the people of Israel they became like thorn in Israel sides because Israel instead of submitting to the Lord and listening to his voice they have allowed others from the other nations to trick them to creep in among them and they constantly were like a sore thumb on the sides of the people of Israel but some of them will become a faithful servant among the people of Israel and so we see this word netinim come from the

Hebrew word latet natan to give of themselves and here we learn about this netinim in verses 43 all the way down you find out that they have been serving among the people of Israel but in between I want you to notice from verse 55 there were also some of Solomon servants you notice that in verse 55 the children of Solomon servants and then give you a list there but here brothers and sisters notice what it says here in verse 59 these were they which went up from Tel Melah Tel Charsah Cherub Adan and Imer but they could not show their father's house and their seed where they were of Israel you see they couldn't prove

that they were part of the nation of Israel in other words they could not prove that they really have a Jewish family or Jewish background or Israeli background so look what we read about them it says in verse 60 the children of the children of the children of Nekodah 650 and so on it give us the number of them but they could not prove that they belong to the children of Israel you see their records have been destroyed some of them have kept records some of them could not prove it so even part of this netinim of servant of Solomon they could not prove that they belong to the nation of Israel because they did

not have any record you notice how important because after all brothers and sisters through the Jewish people the Messiah was going to be born and if he's going to be a descendant of have ultimately kept it but they could not show their father's house and their seed whether they were of Israel they couldn't prove it well down the line we continue and from here in verse 61 62 and 63 it's still part of this section we find out that the children of the priests now there were some who were the children of the priests the children of habiyan the children of cause and so on but look what it says about them in verse 62

these sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy but listen they were not found therefore were they polluted put from the priesthood now here's some descendants of the priests that came back to the land they were supposed to serve among the people of Israel but they couldn't prove that they were priests and if they couldn't prove that they were priests Kohanim from the family of Aaron they couldn't serve in the temple even though the temple was not yet built they couldn't and they were considered to be polluted I want to make an application here for us in our work in the work of the Lord you know sometimes people come and say that

they belong to Jesus they belong to Yeshua the Messiah but their lives doesn't show that there's no evidence in their lives that there's a change in their life Yeshua said in John chapter 2 that many will say unto me also Matthew chapter 7 Lord Lord didn't I do this in your name Yeshua said he knew what was in man's heart and therefore people who claim to be part of the family of God in heaven it was not evident in their life here we find out those people could not prove in their life that they really belong to the Lord now I'm not saying that one is saved by works but what I'm saying if a

person really belong to the family of God to Yeshua the Messiah there must be an evident in his or her life and therefore one has to be careful you see among the people of Israel they didn't allow them to function as priests it says wherefore they were polluted and they put them truly really belong to the priestly line and that's why in service in ministry a person need to not only verbally saying I belong to Jesus to Yeshua but a person need to be born again born from above and there gotta be some sort of evidence it cannot be I belong to Jesus but I live constantly away from him I don't read his word

I don't pray I don't attend I belong to Yeshua well it is not sufficient because it's one thing to say something it's another thing to show an evidence in one's life and apparently look they were very responsible they put them out from the priesthood they couldn't have served in the temple until they have proven that they truly were priests and notice what it says in verse 63 Tirshata the word for Tirshata is governor he said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy thing until there stood up a priest with urim and with tumim now this is very interesting because what is the urim and the tumim those of us that have

studied in the book of Exodus we just talked about the urim and the tumim found in the book of Exodus now this urim and tumim that is mentioned here in this passage it's called lights and perfection the urim and the tumim were two stones that were placed in the breastplate of the high priest in the breastplate it was like a pouch the breastplate had the twelve stones of the twelve names of the people of Israel and when he would enter into the service into the temple he would have the people of Israel upon his heart but inside there was like a pouch and in this pouch was the urim and the tumim and the best

way to interpret the word is lights and perfection lights and perfection and this was a way in which God would give an answer yes or no to the priest concerning some issues and so there would be a question for the Lord and instead of the Lord directly speaking those stones will give light and that will be an indication yes or no yes or no you find out the whim that to be mentioned many times in the scripture beginning with Exodus chapter 28 and verse 30 it was placed in that breastplate that the high priest would have on top of his heart and so beautiful to see that the only one who could show whether these

people would truly belong to the Lord is the Lord himself by raising the high priest and then he will belong to the Lord through the urim and the tumim it was a way in which God communicated with his own people the people of Israel through the priest so it says that the governor said unto them listen no you cannot function as a priest yet verse 63 don't eat of the most holy thing you see the priest could enjoy to feed on the sacrifices that were offered to the Lord but he said to them no you cannot participate in it until notice that until there stood up a priest with the whim and the tumim then

he will give us an indication whether you truly belong to the people of Israel whether you are truly a priest or whether you are not until then you wait sometimes we need to learn that the body of Messiah when we don't know and we cannot have confidence in someone it's better to wait until the Lord will give us an indication and there will be an indication the Lord will show he will reveal to those that seek to have his guidance whether one really belong to the people of God whether one really can function as a priest among the people of God so there's a great lesson here for us to learn in these verses now

notice brothers and sisters we are just about drawing down to the bottom it says in verse 64 to 70 these are last verses we have the total numbers of the returning Jewish remnant there but there are a few things that I want to highlight that I think are very important for us here as well first of all notice verse 64 and 65 we have the exact number of the first of all in verse 64 the whole congregation was 42 360 souls then in verse 65 we have additional 7337 that there were among them these were the servants verse 65 and then finally in the bottom part of verse 65 we have the singers that were

among them 200 singers so if you calculate everything together you have 49,897 individuals that left Bavell and went back to the city of Jerusalem only 49 nearly 50,000 or perhaps a few millions there were remnant small remnant of people who left Bavell they were part of the totality of Israel but left Bavell came to the promised land to the city of Jerusalem with an exercised heart to serve the Lord you know what that tell us and I want to parallel this with the present day assembly the church age we live in a great house we read it in 2nd Timothy we live in part of a great house the professing church of our Lord Jesus

Yeshua the Messiah many people here in the world have accepted or claimed to belong to the Lord Jesus the Messiah but how many are willing to go back to the principles that are taught in his word and to gather together in a way that is pleasing to him on the ground of the one body of all believers but on a basis of the scripture of the word of God not many not many and years ago till today we are just ready soon for the coming of the Messiah we all need to be exercised with the Lord's help that he will stir up our hearts to be you might say the minority maybe who are seeking

with the Lord's help to go back to the place and to the principles that are taught in the scripture in this present time we are talking about the new testament teaching that Yeshua had given to us the apostle Paul and other apostles that have been given to us the truth of the present day dispensation of the ecclesia of the church of Yeshua the Messiah and all of us need to be stirred up by the Lord and really in reality the number here 49,897 it's not a lot of people in comparison to the multitude of the remaining Jewish people remain in Babel including Esther including Mordechai God watched over them God took care of them but

they didn't return to the city of Jerusalem they remained there they were not part of this remnant who came back to the land of Israel and notice what God is now saying to us about these ones he says in verse 66 and verse 67 he shows us that even their animals are mentioned you see it says horses in verse 66 and mules verse 67 camels and donkeys asses now what would that suggest think about it what horses and mules and camels and asses basically those are animals that you would ride upon in order to get to a certain destination but can we say perhaps that you can see all kind of you might say classes

some that were wealthier some that were poorer some that have been more well to do some maybe have been not as well to do the one who were coming maybe riding on a horse maybe a wealthy person who have the means other one on a mule another one on a camel and finally on a donkey on an ass you might see here the animals are mentioned that they were riding upon as they were journeying going and maybe they exchanged one another some road and they animals some the rich and the poor the young and the old the male and the female but they were journeying together towards the promised land to rebuild the city the

temple in Jerusalem and later on to rebuild the city itself when Nehemiah came and the walls around it notice in verse 68 and 69 we are almost at the end beloved brothers and sisters look at the way of their giving 68 and 69 verse 68 says some of the chief of their fathers when they came to the house of the Lord there's no house there it's almost rubble but when they came to the house of the Lord which is Jerusalem they offered willingly nobody needed to push them they offered in Hebrew the word is out of the abundance of their hearts they offered willingly for the house of God to set it up in his

place they were going to build the temple in verse 69 they gave after their ability some had more some had less but they were giving after their ability unto the treasure of the work three score and 1,000 drums of gold and 5,000 pounds of silver and 100 priest garments in other words they were giving gold and silver and garments but the two expressions that are very precious that they were offering willingly out of the abundance of the heart freely secondly they gave after their ability turn with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 16 for a moment Paul Paul instructed the believers at Corinth with respect to the support of the Lord's work he said to them

in chapter 16 in verses 1 and 2 he said now concerning the collection for the saints as I have given order to the churches of Galatia to the assembly of Galatia even so do ye upon the first of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gathering where come you see the apostle Paul Shaul said to the brothers and sisters of the Corinthians he says listen concerning the collection for the Lord's work for the saints in this case in the city of Jerusalem he says listen every week on a regular basis I don't want to come to you and start to force

you to give you some sort of an appeal for collecting funds or support for the Lord's work he says no as you're able as the Lord allows you do so just like those Jewish men leaders of old as it says here offer freely no pressure secondly they gave after their own ability some people are able to give more some people are not able to give more but after their ability out of the abundance of their hearts it's so beautiful to see because they were going to build the house of the Lord in Yerushalayim and they wanted to participate in this for us today brothers and sisters we don't build buildings necessarily but we're building the

house of God the ecclesia the body of Messiah thank God for those missionaries that have gone far and wide and they share the message of the gospel in many places in this world and the Lord uses them well how are they going to do their ministry unless we support them how they can build and bring in more stones you might say to be part of this spiritual house spiritual temple well they need to go out they need to share the word and therefore they need to be encouraged and supported in the Lord's work and any building to be done spiritually speaking it takes energy it takes support otherwise they cannot do it on their own

and finally beloved brothers and sisters back to Ezra chapter 2 and verse 70 interesting chapter I want you to notice the expression here that is so precious because this is the third time the word Israel is mentioned in this chapter and in verse 70 it tells us these words so the priests and the Levites and some of the people and the singers and the porters and the natinim dwelt in their cities and notice this expression and all Israel in their cities now all Israel this expression shows us that as far as God's concern he doesn't see the nation of Israel divided as far as God's concern he look at his people and even though his

people are divided practically God looks at his people as one nation all Israel were dwelling in their own cities well the vast majority of them were still in Babylon in Babel they were very small group that just rose up to go to build the temple in the city of Jerusalem and these ones considered to be all Israel God looks at all his people as united even though they are divided and they are scattered and yet the Bible shows us here that God looked at this as far as he was concerned all Israel and so when we think about Romans chapter 11 and verse 25 and 26 where Paul wrote to the Romans and he says

blindness in part happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in and then he said in verse 26 and then all Israel shall be saved he is taking us to the future when after the ecclesia the church will be taken out of here God will resume his dealing with his earthly people Israel and he is going to deal with them and he is going to take them through the tribulation period and they are going to suffer such as never ever they have suffered before the greatest holocaust really according to the prophets it will be at the tribulation period but those that will enter into the messianic kingdom will be the all Israel who

will be saved at the end of the tribulation to enter into the messianic kingdom and what a future is awaiting the people of Israel but let me close here with a verse from Ephesians chapter 4 just turn with me there and I'm going to conclude with that verse for this ministry meeting today here I wanted to apply this to us today the body of Messiah Ephesians Ephesians 4 verses 4 5 and 6 Paul is saying to the brothers and sisters at Ephesus there is one body and one spirit even as you are called in one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is above all

and through all and in you all Paul wrote to Ephesians and he said to them brothers and sisters even though there is divisions in the body of Messiah as far as God's concerned positionally speaking there is only one body there is not two bodies there is not ten bodies there is only one body and every one of us who truly belong to Yeshua the Messiah is part of this one body of Christ the body of Mashiach we belong to this one body there is not many bodies there is only one single body and we are to endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in bond of peace we are to seek to maintain unity

of the spirit in bond of shalom among the people of God and so all Israel dwelt in their cities safely when they arrive to the promised land and from here on as we're going to study with the Lord's help in chapter three on you will see the challenges that they have experienced as they were building and working on establishing the temple in the city of Jerusalem may may the Lord help us to glean from that and to learn from that and to appreciate what the Lord has to teach us as well today