64The whole company numbered 42,360,
You are probably asking yourself why we are talking about this verse today. In fact, as you read these first two chapters of Ezra, you are probably asking yourself why the Lord included this in Scripture. I want to start in this verse. They went into exile as punishment for their rebellion. They have spent 70 years in a foreign country, but now their time of return has come. Why would everyone not want to return? I am sure most of them had become very comfortable in a foreign land. They had settled down and put down roots. Seventy years is a long time to be in someone else’s land. But I can see how they would not want to move again. Their grandparents still told them of the horrors of war and the forced exile. Who would want to go back and fact that possibility again? But the return had been promised to their ancestors, so return they did. The first verse of the book tells this fact. The numbers and people are important to the Lord. In order to set up worship again, they must establish who is allowed to work in the Temple and carry out the official duties. Only Levites are allowed, so it is important to know their ancestry. I am getting to the stage in life when I want to put down roots and settle in. I don’t want to pull up again and start all over. I have moved too many times in my life. So I can imagine wanting to stay put. But they move back in hopes of the promise of God.
The Arnold Journey 