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”, and “some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at 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 threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests' garments. So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities”, and in chapter three and verse one of Ezra, Ezra shared what happened, “when the seventh month was come” where we read,
And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities,
the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
The verse reads, “And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, ...” Ezra began with the words, “and when the seventh month was come” which means “”, “and when the seventh month was come”which means “and the seventh month arrived which was probably sometime near September because the offspring of Israel returned to Jerusalem in the spring”, “and the children of Israel” or “and the offspring and progeny belonging to Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob”“were in the cities” which means “exited and lived within the towns, encampments, villages and habitations”. Ezra referred to the arrival of the “seventh month” according to the time that the offspring of “Israel” were abiding within Judah in their towns and encampments.
The verse continues, “... the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.” Ezra added the words, “the people gathered themselves together” or “the human beings both male and female assembled their own selves with one another” “as one man” which means “similar and in likeness to a single male human being” “to Jerusalem” or “toward Jerusalem whose name means teaching of peace and is the chief city of Palestine and the capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split”. Ezra shared how the people of Israel assembled together with one another in likeness to a single male within the city of “Jerusalem”.
When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Ezra how months passed by as the people of Israel went back to their homeland in Jerusalem and Judah. They assembled in a unified manner in “Jerusalem” in obedience to God's directive through Cyrus the king of Persia. God brought His people “Israel” back to their homes, and His work was to continue with them because His Son Jesus was to be brought to the world through them. “God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”, (See John 3:16) and when we surrender our lives to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and assemble us as one to complete His mission of salvation throughout the world.
Next time Ezra shared how the priest built, “the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon”, 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".
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