Priests and Levites Purified - Ezra 6:20

In the book of Ezra, Ezra said, “the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month”, and in chapter six and verse twenty of Ezra, Ezra shared how, “the priests and Levites were purified together” where we read,

For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

The verse reads, “For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover ...”Ezra began with the words, “for the priests” which means “because since and on account that the spiritual spokesmen and leaders” “and the Levites” which means “and the descendants of Levi whose name means joined to and were specially set aside by God for His service” “were purified together” or “were ceremonially and morally cleansed and pronounced cleaned as one group”, “all of them were pure” which means “each, every, the whole and everyone of the priests and Levites existed as ceremonially and morally clean”, “and killed the passover” or “and slaughtered the animal victim or lamb of the passover meal or festival”. (See Exodus 12:21; 2 Chronicles 35:11; Hebrews 7:27) Ezra shared how the “priests and Levites” among the children of Israel were ceremonially cleansed all at the same time, and they slaughtered the “passover lamb” in observance of the festival named thereby on behalf of the following people. 

The verse continues, “... for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.” Ezra added the words, “for all the children” which means “on behalf of each, every, the whole and everyone of the offspring and progeny” “of the captivity” or “belonging to the people of Israel who were exiled in Babylon”, “and for their brethren” which means “and on behalf of their, the children of Israel's, relatives, kinship and kindred” “the priests” or “the spiritual spokesmen and leaders”, “and for themselves” which means “and on behalf of their own selves”. Ezra shared how the “priests and Levites” slaughtered the “passover lamb” on behalf of the offspring of the exiled Israelites, their kindred spiritual spokesmen and their own selves. 

When we think through Ezra's words in this verse, we discover how the “priests and Levites” of Israel went through the ceremonial cleansing as they slaughtered the “passover lamb” on behalf of all the offspring of Israel, their spiritual leaders and their own selves. Everyone needed to observe the bloodshed covering of the lamb that was killed, and in like manner, we all need to be cleansed by the bloodshed of Jesus Christ, God's Son, who came into the world to be the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. (See John 1:19,36) We “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, (See Romans 3:23) and “there is none righteous, no, not one”. (See Romans 3:10) “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (See Romans 6:23) God wants to have a personal relationship with us through His “passover lamb” Son Jesus who died on the cross in our place, and as Paul the apostle wrote, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved”. (See Romans 10:9) Everyone needs to be cleansed from sin, and Jesus was sacrificed on our behalf. All we need to do is believe and receive Him as our “Savior and Lord” and we shall be clean. (See 1 John 1:9)

Next time Ezra shares about, “all such as had separated themselves”, 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".