“Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.”
(Ezra 1:5)
OPEN UP:
In God’s Story, nothing is random. There are significant promises and traditions around each of the three tribes that God preserved to go back to Jerusalem.
People:
heads of the tribe of Judah
heads of the tribe of Benjamin
Levites — all descendants of the tribe of Levi, including priests
priests — descendants of Levi who had been specially commissioned to be priests
Places:
leaving Babylonian captivity to return to Jerusalem
– God “stirred the spirits” of some of the Jews in captivity.
– Those people arose to return.
“spirit” — ruwach — wind, breath, mind
“arose” — quwm — rise, arise, stand; often used for making preparations, especially for travel (see the post for Ezra 1:1c-2a)
Who were Judah, Benjamin, and Levi?
They were three of Israel’s twelve sons. The descendants of the other sons had been almost entirely lost, due to wars, captivity, and intermarriage.
Judah — the royal line
The descendants of Judah were preserved for a few reasons:
1. Practically speaking, they avoided capture the longest because they lived in the fortified capital city of Jerusalem.
2. They stayed faithful to God longer than the other tribes, so God delayed His punishment of them.
3. They carried the prophecy of an eternal king from their line. God protected them in order to fulfill this promise. (Jesus came from the royal line of Judah.)
“The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.”
(Genesis 49:10 NIV)
Levi — priestly line
The descendants of Levi were priests. They had no land allotted to them. They were supposed to be scattered among the twelve tribes, to serve them. The temple was in Jerusalem, so a good portion of the priests (including the high priest) would have lived there.
Benjamin
It makes sense that God would preserve the kings and priests.
But why Benjamin?
Practically speaking again, the land allotted to Benjamin was next to Judah’s land, with Jerusalem on the border.
In later Jewish history Benjamin was closely associated with Judah.
(NICEZN)
The descendants of Benjamin could easily have been preserved within the fortifications of Jerusalem.
Circumstances are rarely random in God’s Story, though.
Many years before, Judah offered his life to redeem his brother Benjamin — foreshadowing Jesus’ redeeming sacrifice.
A quick review of the story in Genesis:
— The brothers sell Joseph into slavery (Ch. 37)
— Joseph rises to second in command of Egypt (Ch. 41)
— Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to ask for food but don’t recognize Joseph (Ch. 42)
— Joseph’s brothers come back for more food, this time bringing little Benjamin (Joseph’s only full brother) (Ch. 43)
— Joseph plants a “stolen” silver cup in Benjamin’s sack of grain, arrests him, and says he will keep him prisoner (Ch. 44)
This is where Judah rises to become a redeemer:
“…if my father… sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die …please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. … Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.”
(Genesis 44:30-34 NIV)
— Joseph sobs, hugs his brothers, and has his dad brought to Egypt (Ch. 45)
The king of Judah has offered His life in my place, to save me from my own prisons.
Because He has redeemed me, I’m lumped together with Him, permanently. His inheritance is mine! God preserves Jesus’ life for the fulfillment of promises. My life is preserved, too (like Benjamin’s), because Jesus once offered His life to save mine.
“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
(Hebrews 9:15 NIV)
“…we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
(Romans 8:17 NIV)
If today were my last day on earth, I would:
…look for ways to sacrifice for others.
God,
I want to be like Judah and Jesus, sharing in their suffering. I don’t do well with suffering, God. But Judah was motivated by his compassionate desire to relieve others’ suffering, just like Jesus was. Please open my eyes with compassion for the misery in the world, and show me what I can do to alleviate it.
For Jesus and His priceless inheritance, Amen.
References:
– Garland, David E. and Longman III, Tremper. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 4. Zondervan, 2010.
– Fensham, F. Charles. New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Eerdmans, 1982.
– Bible Gateway: The Dispersion
– www.blueletterbible.org
All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.