18 Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they sent us a man named Sherebiah, along with eighteen of his sons and brothers. He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mahli, who was a descendant of Levi son of Israel. 19 They also sent Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and twenty of his sons and brothers, 20 and 220 Temple servants. The Temple servants were assistants to the Levites—a group of Temple workers first instituted by King David and his officials. They were all listed by name.
Ezra 8: 18-20 (NLT)
God’s Hand
Here we see it again – God’s hand – as we looked at earlier. Ezra praised and thanked the Lord when he received the letter (end of Chapter 7) and now again. And we’ll see this pattern of praise again tomorrow and the following days.
God Answers
The need was real – Ezra saw the need for Levites and temple servants to accompany them in the return to Jerusalem so he made the request. I assume he prayed as he made the request. And God provided – just what he needed, probably more.
The helpers of helpers
Remember, the Levites were the special tribe dedicated to take care of worship for Israel. A select few of them were priests, the others were to help the priests with temple duties.
In today’s text, we’re told of the Temple servants who were to serve the Levites. Wow! They’re the helpers of helpers. Were they treated as 2nd (or 3rd) class citizens? Gotquestions.org provides more info. on who they were. For sure, they also had an important role to play – as we discussed yesterday.
Even the least matter
These helpers of helpers also had a role to play – and they mattered. It may not have been a glamorous job, but it was necessary for society and for temple worship. I recall the worst job of my life – aligning cheese blocks on a conveyor belt all night at a cheese factory. People in these menial labor jobs also matter.
Look around you. Let’s not despise those of humble means or service, like James instructs us in James 2:1-7.
Maybe you are in a humble situation now. James 1:9-11 would encourage you to rejoice.
