As we saw yesterday, King Cyrus of Persia gave permission for the people of Judah to return from the Exile in Babylon to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (II Chronicles 36:22-23) The book of Ezra notes this as well: “In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus” (Ezra 1:1). Thus Ezra noted both that King Cyrus was inspired by God, using very nearly the same words that we read yesterday at the close of II Chronicles, and also that God’s actions took place specifically to fulfill the prophecies of Jeremiah.

As the first of the exiles reached Jerusalem, they took careful account of those who were returning (2:1-35). Recognizing it would be important to re-establish the priests and Levites to lead the worship when they got to Jerusalem, they listed them by their ancestral houses (2:36-58).

But there were some who reported that they were part of Israel, but “they could not prove their families” to show that they belonged to Israel (2:59): that is, their names were not in the books. And there were others who claimed to be of priestly descent, yet the details of their descent could not be found in the genealogical records (2:61-62). All of this tells us that these long lists of names were not only held in memory, but also were committed to writings that were carefully preserved – but perhaps not complete, due to war and destruction and distance.

The governor’s ruling with regard to these non-certified priests is interesting: neither a final Yes or No with regard to whether they would be acknowledged as priests. In the meantime, they could partake of the food dedicated to the use by the priests; but that was not necessarily the last word on the topic: they would need a high priest who could consult the Lord via the “Urim and Thummim” – a method of casting lots to discern the will of the Lord (2:63). That is, although the written record certainly appeared to leave these people out, the decision was to wait, rather than declare either that it was fine or that it was forbidden for them to serve as priests – until the community had gained real confidence that they had correctly understood the will of God in this matter.

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O God, we are not good at patience. We want definitive answers to our concerns, and we want them now, and we want the answers to come out in the particular way that we like the best: and it is so hard for us to wait. We pray for your grace, that we may wait with patient confidence until you make the answers clear in your time.