Ezra 2:1,2a,64

Ezra 2:1,2a,64 Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city; Which came with Zerubbabel: The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, Ezra was the priest who went from Babylon to Jerusalem and Zerubbabel was the leader of the people. 42,360 is a lot of people, but only a tiny leftover of the great nation of Israel that existed under King Solomon, the last mighty king of Israel. What a sad little rag tag group. But they were excited to go back. Most of them had been born in Persia, modern day Iraq and Iran. Some of the old people remembered the old days in Jerusalem. They were nervous to return; partly because they were old and traveling was hard for them, and partly because they were afraid of what they would find when they returned home. They knew Jerusalem had been destroyed, but they had to see for themselves. Zerubbabel led the people and Ezra was in charge of the Temple supplies. God had taken care of His people, even though they had been rebellious. God had taken care of them even though they hadn’t deserved it. But that is just the way that God is. He is just and right, but He is also loving, kind, and forgiving. But best of all, God keeps His word. He would not let Israel down. And God will not let you down! He will take care of you and always meet your needs. Do you remember the last thing we heard last night? God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.