Children of Israel Going Up - Ezra 7:7

In the book of Ezra, Ezra said, “This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him”, and in chapter seven and verse seven of Ezra, Ezra shared how, “there went up some of the children of Israel” where we read,

And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

The verse reads, “And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, ...”Ezra began with the words, “and there went up” which means “and there arose, departed and ascended” “some of the children of Israel” which means “a number of the offspring and progeny belonging to Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of descendants of Jacob”, “and of the priests” or “and pertaining to the spiritual leaders and spokesmen”, “and the Levites” which means “and the descendants belonging to Levi whose name means joined to and they were the tribe descended from Levi specially set aside by God for His service”, “and the singers” or “and the songstresses”. Ezra shared how a number of the offspring of “Israel”, the spiritual leaders, the “Levites” and songstresses did the following. 

The verse continues, “ … and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.”Ezra added the words, “and the porters” which means “and the gatekeepers, janitors and doorkeepers”, “and the Nethinims” or “and the temple slaves assigned to the Levites and priests for service in the sanctuary”, “unto Jerusalem”which means “to Jerusalem whose name means teaching of peace and is the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split” “in the seventh year” or “within the seventh annual number of sunrises to sunsets” “of Artaxerxes the king” which means “belonging to Artaxerxes whose name means I will make the spoiled to boil or I will stir myself in winter and was the son and successor of Xerxes as the royal leader and emperor of Persia from 465-424 BC”. Ezra added the gatekeepers or janitors and the temple servants to a number of the offspring of “Israel”, the spiritual leaders, the “Levites” and the songstresses who all went back to “Jerusalem” within the “seventh year” of the reign of “Artaxerxes”.

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Ezra how many others went back to “Jerusalem” along with him. Ministers within the temple were necessary to reestablish the worship of Jehovah God, and the people, spiritual leadership, “Levites”, songstresses, janitors and servants to the Levites were all important in the temple. God desires a personal relationship with all of us, and He distributes gifts and positions according to His Divine purpose and plan. When we yield to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and establish us in His place of worship which only requires that we be faithful to Him in whatever place and position He gives. (See Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:11-13; Colossians 3:23)

Next time Ezra shares how, “he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month”, 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".