Ezra 2: How God Preserves His People

Introduction

At the Assemblies of God Evangelical Church of Turin, Angelo Gargano is continuing a Sunday morning series on the book of Ezra. It is a book that is "not very well known," he admits, but "very important," and it holds much more than historical landmarks: it offers teaching that is useful for our lives today, even though it reports events more than 2,500 years old.

This Sunday, he focuses on Ezra 2, the list of the exiles who return from Babylon to Jerusalem. One question runs through the whole message: how does God preserve his people? The goal is clear: that you would regain strength and courage, remembering that you are never alone or abandoned, and that God's eye is always on his people.

The preacher draws out three answers that still hold true today, then ends with another list of names, the one that concerns you directly.

Message Outline

1. A List of Names That Matters

Ezra 2 begins with those who return with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, and others. From verses 3 to 63, the families are listed along with their numbers.
Verse 64 gives the total: "The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred sixty," not counting 7,337 male and female servants, 200 singers, and the horses, mules, camels, and donkeys. More than 50,000 people in all.
Heads of families make freewill offerings to rebuild the house of God, "according to their ability" (verses 68 and 69).
Angelo Gargano admits that when he first read the Bible, he skipped the genealogies and the lists. He thought they were useless. "I think you did too," he says, seeing a few smiles in the congregation.
He then read the whole Bible through several times, "word for word," skipping nothing. He came to understand that "Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). Otherwise, the Holy Spirit would not have placed these texts in the biblical canon.

2. A People Preserved for Seventy Years

The list first shows that these exiles are legitimate descendants of the Jews who lived in the land before the deportation. Scripture records this with great care.
It also shows that God takes care of his chosen people and that he preserved the line through which the Messiah was to come to earth.
The exile lasts seventy years. In 538 BC, God moves the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, who issues a decree allowing the Jews to return and rebuild the temple.
They find a city with its walls in ruins, its gates burned, and its temple devastated, and they have to start over from scratch. Yet after seventy years of captivity, they are still together: years that were "hard, complicated, painful," and yet God preserved his people.

3. God Preserves His People Through Faithful Preaching

During the exile, God did not deprive his people of his Word. The prophet Ezekiel carries out his ministry in Babylon. His name means, the preacher reminds us, "strengthened by God."
God tells him: "Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint: don’t be afraid of them" (Ezekiel 3:8-9). Even facing a "rebellious house," God keeps sending his Word, because they are his people.
Ezekiel and his wife were among the roughly 10,000 Jews deported in 597. His preaching was frank and consistent: it exposed the people's sins and called them to repentance. "If the Lord brings sins to light, it is not to crush, but to call to repentance."
The preacher is troubled to see that in many churches, preaching has been driven out of the pulpit in favor of entertainment, programs, and methods, "on the assumption that the Word is boring." Yet "the Word is the source of life." Without it, he says, all we would have is "a condo owners' meeting."
He gives thanks for music, but it must be "the servant of the Word": preparing people to listen to it, not replacing it. "We want the Holy Spirit to be the one who creates the atmosphere."
"How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14). We need biblical preaching that is "undiluted," without compromise. "It may be old-fashioned, but it is very much in fashion in heaven." What is required of stewards is that each one be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2).

4. God Preserves His People Through Spiritual Family Ties

The genealogies had been kept to prove that those who were returning really were the descendants of those who had gone into exile. This link between generations identified the covenant people, the people from whom the Messiah would come.
Behind these lists lies a strong value placed on family life. God used the warmth of the family to keep his people united.
God's law respects the family: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you" (Exodus 20:12), the first commandment that comes with a promise (Ephesians 6:2). Parents are asked to impress these commandments on their children, at home, on the road, when they lie down and when they get up (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
"The church is not the first one responsible for your children's Christian life." Spiritual growth begins in the family, which is called to be "a little church" where the Word is taught.
The church is made up of households: if the families are spiritual, the church is spiritual; if they are mature, the church is mature; if they are ready to serve, the church will serve the Lord.
Being a parent is not only a matter of biology or affection. Believing parents are asked to meet their children's spiritual needs first. We invest in our children's material needs, and rightly so. The preacher hopes that we will invest at least as much in their spiritual needs.

5. God Preserves His People Through Courageous Men and Women

There has always been someone to stand up and proclaim the will of God, even in times of crisis or persecution.
Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were teenagers in 605 BC when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem and began the conquest of Judah. The king wanted to conform them to the customs of Babylon and demanded that everyone bow down before the statue he had set up. They refused to give in: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not bow down to the statue, and Daniel is found on his knees before the Almighty God.
They relied on a promise that God has never taken back: "those who honor me I will honor" (1 Samuel 2:30).
The preacher addresses the brothers, the sisters, and the young people: "Be courageous, honor the Lord in any setting," at home, at school, at work, in your apartment building, among friends and relatives. The world will try to squeeze you into the same mold: "Stand out."
We remember Daniel for the lions' den, but that was only one episode. Deported as a teenager, he ended his life the way he had begun it, honoring the Lord. For those who shared his exile, he was a light of hope.
"Only consistent and courageous men and women will have a powerful impact on their generation."

6. Is Your Name on the Other List?

Ezra 2, "just a list of names"? Yes, but this faithful remnant tells us today that we are preserved by God. Jesus promised it: "I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).
The Bible speaks of another list: "There will in no way enter into it anything unclean, or he who makes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life" (Revelation 21:27).
"Your name is not written in Ezra 2, and neither is mine. But is your name written in the Lamb's book of life?" Have you repented of your sins? Have you received Christ as your personal Savior?
If not, "the divine pen is ready, this very morning, to write your name." Humble yourself before God, ask his forgiveness, acknowledge Jesus as your Savior, and commit to doing his will.
It is urgent to have the assurance of salvation: "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16), so that one day we may reign with Christ for eternity.

Key Takeaways

Even the lists of names in the Bible are inspired: Ezra 2 shows a God who kept his people together through seventy years of exile.
God preserves his people through faithful, consistent, uncompromising preaching. Music and activities must serve the Word, not replace it.
Faith is passed on first in the family. Parents are the first ones responsible for their children's spiritual life.
God raises up courageous men and women who refuse to conform to the world, and he honors those who honor him.
The list that matters for eternity is the Lamb's book of life. Your name can be written there today.

Personal Application

What place does the Word of God hold in your life and in what you expect from a worship service: the center, or one element among others?
Are you passing on your faith to your family, first by your example, then by regular words?
Do you invest as much in your children's spiritual needs as in their material needs?
In what setting (school, work, apartment building, family) is the world trying to squeeze you into its mold, and how can you honor the Lord there?
Do you have the assurance that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why read Ezra 2 when it is just a list of names?

Angelo Gargano admits that he skipped these lists the first time he read the Bible. He later understood that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable (2 Timothy 3:16). These lists show that God takes care of his people and that he preserved the line through which the Messiah was to come.

How does God preserve his people according to Ezra 2?

The preacher points to three means that remain valid today: the faithful and consistent preaching of the Word, like Ezekiel's during the exile; spiritual family ties, where faith is passed on to children; and courageous men and women, like Daniel and his three friends in Babylon.

What other register of names does the Bible mention?

Revelation 21:27 speaks of the Lamb's book of life: only those written in it will enter the city of God. Your name is not in Ezra 2, but Angelo Gargano invites you to make sure it is written in that book, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.