Exodus 2.0

Long before Christian Bale and even before Charlton Heston, God used the original Moses to lead His people out of Egypt after 400 years of forced labor. While you might have seen the movie, I suggest you read the book. Or should I say The Book. Flip back over and check out Exodus 1-15 for the full story. Hollywood spent millions making these motion pictures but they look like bad straight-to-DVD flicks when compared to the epic true story. Did you know that God wrote a sequel to His original blockbuster? You’ll find it in the second chapter of Ezra. After 70 years of slavery in Babylon, God moves the heart of King Cyrus to send the Israelites back to the Promised Land (Ez 1:1-4). Ezra tells the story of the second Exodus. Exodus 2.0.

Before we get to the roster of who’s headed home, Ezra wants to remind us of just how God’s people got to Babylon in the first place. They were “those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia” (v1). Seventy years before, Nebuchadnezzar was the baddest man on the planet. Seventy years before, God’s people had taken His gift of the Promised Land and turned it into a dumpster fire. So as a result, Yahweh used the Babylonian king to, shall we say, get the Israelites attention. Nebuchadnezzar brutally attacked Jerusalem in one of the most bloody assaults ever recorded (1Ki 24:10-14). Just as God had promised, the brutal king’s troops destroyed the city and the temple, stole the temple treasure, and hauled 10,000 Jews back to Babylon. Seventy years later, God uses the Persians and King Cyrus to kick a little Babylonian booty. Not long after that, it’s time for Exodus 2.0.

As folks head home “to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town” (v1), we see a list of those leading the way. “They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reeliaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah” (v2). If you’re looking for extensive bios of these dudes, you have come to the wrong place. We just don’t know much about most of this crew. We do know that this is NOT the Nehemiah that we read about later in the book bearing his name. And we know that this is NOT the Mordecai we read about over in the story of Esther. 

However we DO know Zerubabbel and Jeshua. This dynamic duo play similar roles to Moses and Aaron in the prequel. One is the leader and the other is the prophet. The Z Man is the point man for this return and will take office as governor when they arrive. And check out Zerubbabel’s family tree. He’s a descendant of the one and only King David. And that’s not all! Both Matthew and Dr. Luke list him as one of Jesus’ ancestors (Mt 1:12-13; Lk 3:27)!! So he’s kind of a big deal. We’ll see that he’s also credited with playing a key role in the rebuilding of the temple (Zech 4:9). His tag team partner is Jeshua. He’s the high priest who’ll take the lead in the worship of God once the temple is back up and running. Jeshua’s family history is also pretty impressive. He’s a direct descendant of Levi and Aaron. And if that’s not enough, his name means “God saves” in Hebrew. Yeshua is not only the same name as Joshua in the original language but is also what people would have called Jesus. 

This Old Testament connection to Christ is huge. Our Savior said so Himself. Jesus told the Jewish leaders that they were missing the point in how they read the Bible. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me” (Jn 5:39). Later He goes so far as to say that when Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible “he wrote about Me” (Jn 5:46). After His resurrection, Jesus leads two dudes headed back to Emmaus in one of the most spectacular Bible studies in history. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Lk 24:27). The big idea is that it’s all about Jesus. The purpose of God’s Word is to point us to His Son and our Savior. Jesus is THE HERO of THE STORY. Every book of the Bible predicts or points to Christ in some manner. It’s all about Jesus. Period.

Meanwhile back in Ezra, we read the roster of the Jews headed back home from Babylon. First the author lists the families of Israelite citizens (v2-35). Next, the priests (v36-39), the Levites (v40-42), the temple servants (v43-54), and the descendants of King Solomon’s staff (v55-58). Next we see folks in the traveling party that couldn’t trace their ancestry back before the exile (v59-60) as well as folks who were pretty sure they were priests but couldn’t prove it (v61-62). Let’s call these people “undocumented.” I’m not making a political statement on immigration here, but they were allowed to be part of the second Exodus but had limited rights and privileges. Once everybody was back in the Promised Land, the high priest would try to sort everything out using something called the Urim and Thummim (v63). We’re not exactly sure what this was. Would it be sacrilegious for me to think of this as some sort of divine Magic 8 Ball? Whatever the case, they were part of posse that totals 49,697.

Once they hit the city of Jerusalem, it became obvious that they needed to raise funds in order to fix up the temple. Folks stepped up and “made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site” (v68). I’m pretty sure Jewish leaders didn’t bring in consultants to run a capital campaign for the project. These people gave willingly as an act of worship of the One who brought them out of Babylon. They gave abundantly as an act of thanksgiving for all that God had given them. This isn’t duty. This isn’t obligation. This is love. This is worship. They give because He gave. Think back on all that Jesus has done for you and all that He’s given you. Shouldn’t we give because He gave?

So now God’s people are home. It’s the Exodus 2.0. Will there be another episode in the trilogy? Will there be an Exodus 3.0? Of course there is! Just as God freed His people from slavery in both Egypt and Babylon, He has something else up His supernatural sleeve. The first time He used Moses. The second time He used Zerubbabel. The third time He did it Himself. In the final and most thrilling episode, Jesus personally leads us from the slavery of our sin and self into the Promised Land of freedom and salvation. 

Call it Exodus 3.0.