They Which Went Up from Telmelah - Ezra 2:59

In the book of Ezra, Ezra shared about “the children of the province that went up out of the captivity” which included those who came with “Zerubabbel” among whom were “all the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants”,and in chapter two and verse fifty-nine of Ezra, Ezra shared about, “they which went up from Telmelah” where we read,

And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: 

but they could not show their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:

The verse reads, “And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer:” Ezra began with the words, “and these were they” which means “and the following is a list of the people” “which went up from Temelah” which means “who returned to Jerusalem apart from the location called Temelah whose name means mound of salt and was a place in Babylon from which some exiles of unknown parentage came and returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel”, “Telharsa” whose name means “mound of the deaf mute” and was “a town of Babylon probably located in the low country near the sea”, “Cherub” whose name means “blessing” and was “an apparent exilic settlement in Babylonia from which some persons of doubtful extraction returned with Zerubbabel”, “Addan” whose name means “strong or firm” and was “a place in Babylon from which exiles returned”, “and Immer” or “and Immer whose name means he has said and was and ancestor of a priest”. Ezra listed the places, “Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer” from which the following people arose to go back to Jerusalem.

The verse continues, “but they could not show their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:” Ezra added the words, “but they could not show” or “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover they, the ones who went up were unable to be conspicuous, make known, tell or declare” “their father's house” which means “who their male progenitor or location was”, “and their seed” or “and their, the people who came from the above places, offspring, descendants, posterity or children”, “whether they were of Israel” which means “if and in case they, the people who came from the above locations, existed from Israel whose name means God prevails and the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob”. Ezra shared how the people from the above locations were unable to identify whether their male progenitors' dwelling places and descendants were from “Israel”.

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Ezra how a great difficulty for the people of “Israel”arose when some of the people from “Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer” were unable to identify who their “fathers were” or from what location they derived. We can imagine the trouble this caused because they would be unable to know where to place them. We can be assured of this, God knew who they were and He loved them. He knows us and loves us too. He proved His love when He sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and assure us that He has a place for us in His Kingdom even when we or others are unaware of our progenitors or locations from which we derived. 

Next time Ezra shares about, “the children of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".