People Who Went with Ezra
8 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes: 2 of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush; 3 of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list; 4 of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 males with him; 5 of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and 300 males with him; 6 and of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 males with him; 7 and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 males with him; 8 and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 males with him; 9 of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 males with him; 10 and of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah and 160 males with him; 11 and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 males with him; 12 and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 males with him; 13 and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and 60 males with them; 14 and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and [a]Zabbud, and 70 males with [b]them.
Ezra Sends for Levites
15 Now I assembled them at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days; and when I observed the people and the priests, I did not find any Levites there. 16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, [c]leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers. 17 I sent them to Iddo the [d]leading man at the place Casiphia; and I [e]told them what to say to [f]Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God. 18 According to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of insight of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, 18 men; 19 and Hashabiah and [g]Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men; 20 and 220 of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, all of them designated by name.
It was important for Ezra, who was going back to Jerusalem to teach the law, to be able to actually follow the law. And for that, they needed Ezra’s kin, the Levites. The priests had been set apart for certain tasks, and the Levites had been designated for certain jobs as well. The exact role depended on which clan they belonged to, but each one had a role to play. By law, no one else could do the job(s) of the Levites.
Now, we don’t have laws that tell us what our job should be, and even back then, most of the Israelites were not constrained in their occupation by the law. It was only the sons of Levi, the priests and Levites, who had a specific calling in the law of God. But, that does not change the fact that each of us has a calling. For some, it is full-time ministry, for others, it is a work that God has hand-crafted us to do.
While we can all play a part in the work of our church, and in doing God’s work, He has given us all gifts to use for ministry and in the workplace. Now, I don’t mean to say that there is only one job that would suit each of us perfectly. But rather, God has given us gifts, and we need to use them, in whatever vocation we choose. Ultimately, they are to be used for His kingdom, and for His glory.