Whether it is a sports club, a hobby group, a church, or any other sort of organisation, there is always a need for volunteers and helpers. People who do not mind working away at their part of the bigger picture, helping all the cogs turn, and making sure things happen. Take a look around at church this Sunday and note all the different people and the different things they do to make our church and its various outreaches run! It is far more than just the ones with the titles. They are our real unsung heroes.
The Old Testament people of God were no different. There were plenty of important tasks to ensure the proper worship of God which had to be done, and were assigned to the Levites. The Levites were integral in making sure that the Temple and the Priests were doing exactly as they were meant. So for Ezra, the lack of Levites in the initial group of returnees was concerning. But God provided, as God always does. And God provides for the service of his kingdom here today, as he always has.
Ezra was returning to Jerusalem to bring about further reform of the worship and rule of God’s People there. He went as a man appointed by his earthly king, on the command of his Heavenly King. He did not travel alone, but with thousands of other returnees.
A trip of this nature was tough, time consuming, and dangerous. You needed to be prepared, both for the trip and for when you arrived. Food and other provisions, and security were required. Access to a river was important. No doubt that was why Ezra and his travellers gathered near part of the Euphrates River system, at “ the river that runs to Ahava” (v.15).
There, they camped for three days and Ezra reviewed who had come (v.15). But there was a problem. Ezra lacked Levites! If his reforms were going to take root and bear fruit, then Levites were an integral part. A missing piece of the puzzle.
So Ezra sent for leading men among the Jews, “Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight” (v.16). Ezra was an organiser, but he needed help from men who knew how to influence. So these men were sent to Iddo, a leading man in a now unknown place called Casiphia, to rustle up some Levites to head back to Jerusalem (v.17).
Ezra told them what to say, to encourage these Levites to respond to the holy task which God had appointed their ancestors to (and by descent, them). While Ezra probably could have called on royal troops to press-gang Levites into the party, this was not his approach. Persuasion yes, but ultimately men responding from the heart to the summons.
The persuasion was successful. Eighteen descendents of Mahli, along with 20 descendants of Mehrari, answered the call (vv.18-19). One of these men, Sherebiah, is a particular “man of discretion” (v.18) indicating his great worth to Ezra and his task. Together with these 38 Levites, Ezra’s persuaders found “220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites” (v.20).
All of this was not merely the best efforts of charismatic men and an administrative guru. Rather it was “the good hand of our God on us” (v.18) to grant Ezra that which he needed for the task ahead of him.
Notice that Ezra did not “let go and let God” in solving the lacking Levites problem. Ezra clearly trusted in God to provide all that he would need, but he still used his brain to think through the problem, engage the right people, and provide the right arguments. Trusting in God does not mean that we check our brains at the door, or wait passively for God to provide. We must still use the talents and abilities that God gives us, and others around us, to be instruments of God’s will.
Note also that there were a variety of those gifts given. Ezra was clearly an administrator. A man who liked to organise things. But he was not the best man to persuade a bunch of Levites to leave behind their lives, family members, and way of living for the uncertain future. Others were perfect for that. The church is just the same today. God prides us all with the unique connections and contributions we make to serving God in his kingdom.
We all have different giftings and abilities, natural and spiritual. We all have a part to play. Some of us may even be the person “of discretion” needed for one particular task!
This all works because God is faithful to his promise. God appointed Levites to special tasks for his glory, and provided Levites for Ezra’s task. God appoints individuals to build his church today, and provides them for Christ’s tasks. Where there are servants lacking, God provides the number he desires for the task by his good hand.