Ezra 2:1: “Now these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city.”

October 25th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem in 3 major waves over the span of about 100 years. Ezra 2 details the leaders and families who came in the first wave under Zerubbabel’s leadership, probably in the spring of 537 BC. The second wave returned roughly 80 years later under the leadership of Ezra. Chapter 7 of Ezra tells us they took the same route as Zerubbabel’s group and it took them 4 months to make the journey. Assuming they went by caravan, they would have traveled a main trade route along the Euphrates River until they reached the Orontes Valley of Syria. Then they would have gone down it to the capital, Damascus, and over basically the same road Saul of Tarsus would travel 6 centuries later.

Less that 43,000 Jews came back to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, leaving many times that still in Babylon. They were a small remnant compared to what just the city of Jerusalem, once estimated to be half a million strong, had been. It seems most chose to remain in Babylon. By the time of the Book of Esther (50 to 60 years later), there were still enough Jews left in Babylon to destroy 75,000 of their enemies in only 2 days of fighting. The fact that so many remained is truly strange in light of the kind of opportunity given them.

They were not unlike many people in captivity to sin today. They decided to remain because they were very comfortable there, too deeply involved in Babylonian life to break away, to afraid of failure. What can we learn from this account in Ezra? We often want to stay in Babylon too, where it’s comfortable, where we know what to expect, and where our friends are living. But the reality is that God has so much more for us.

“LORD, give us the courage to step out for You today into new areas where we might be challenged to grow.”