this morning to the book of Ezra,
Ezra chapter two. Ezra chapter two, this morning
as we look again into this wonderful chapter that like so many in
the past didn't look like there was much there, but as an old
preacher that preached here many years ago, I think there's a
little more meat on this bone. Over the years, we have found
many gracious truths about our Savior in what first appeared
to be rather obscure passages of Scripture. I think most would
agree in our recent study of the book of Leviticus, what was
once a very difficult book for me to even read, we found some
wonderful blessings, some great pictures, shadows, Thoughts about
the Lord Jesus Christ in that book that the Holy Spirit revealed
new things about our Savior His salvation and his saved ones
as it was recorded there this second chapter of the book of
Ezra is no exception it is 70 verses long and most of the verses
in this chapter of the second chapter of the book of Ezra has
names and numbers and names and numbers. Now there are a few
verses that have some other thoughts in them, but as we went through
part of this in the past, not that long ago, we found out that
in these numbers the Lord did not round up and the Lord did
not round down and he did no averaging. He recorded the people
that were in those families or from various parts of Babylon
as they began their trek of over 800 miles from Babylon back to
Jerusalem. It took approximately or took
them four months to travel that distance. So we have the list
of them. Now in that passage or those
several passages of scripture here in the second chapter of
the book of Ezra we found this out about God. God is exact. There is an exactness about God
and it's recorded that way in this passage. It would just seem
to us in our natural state, why in the world did you go through
that long list of folks? And it's much like those chapters
we read about, and he begat, and he begat, And he begat. Well, the names that are listed
there all have significance, and God never put a word in his
book, in this book, the Bible, just to fill it up and make it
longer. Every word has some reason for
being there. Look with me at verse 38 in this
second chapter, if you would. Verse 38. This is what I'm talking about.
When I see the exactness of God, and He is exact in all things,
not just putting the numbers down that we're in a family.
Every atom is exact in its creation. The orbit of the sun is exact
in its orbit. I was astonished not long ago
when someone, a scientist, was talking about hair. And I thought,
well, what can you say about hair? He just brought out, what
if the hair on our body grew like the hair on our head? The hair on our arms grow out
to a certain length and stop. The hair on our head grows out
until we cut it. There is an exactness about God
in all that he has ever done. And it's recorded here, one example
is found here in verse 38 of the second chapter of the book
of Ezra. The children of Peshawar, 1,247.
1,247, an exact number. No rounding up, no rounding down,
and no averaging. Would you look with me at verse
39? And the children of Haram, 1,017.
And verse 65, would you travel over there with me to verse 65?
Beside their servants and their maids of whom there were 7,337, There were among them 200 singing
men and singing women. Now, I have not done much research
on what these folks were or what they did, but I appreciate that
there was that large a choir. There was 7,337 servants and
maids. the exactness of Almighty God
in recording these things. Now, if he is exact in recording
the numbers of folks that are in a family as they travel from
Babylon back to Jerusalem, we can count on it that he is going
to be exact about everything else and in particular about
his son and about him being a savior of people. There's going to be
an exactness in everything. If he is exact about the number
of folks that are in a family that are traveling 800 miles,
then he is going to be exact in far greater things as we trace
them out. Would you look at verse, 66.
Their horses were 736, their mules 245, their camels 435,
and their asses 6,720. the detail that the Holy Spirit
moved upon Ezra to write about this movement of these people
that had been separated from Jerusalem for 70 years. Many of them, no doubt, were
born in captivity. They knew no different, but when
God permitted them to go back through the edict of Cyrus, king
of Persia, we find they go back. how precise these numbers telling
us of a very precise God. It did not matter how many of
Benjamin or Judah decided to stay in Babylon, that counts,
to enjoy the good life. It didn't matter how good intentions
even up to the very day of leaving. Then decided to stay in Babylon It does matter how many were
touched by God to leave and that we find in verse 64 Ezra chapter
2 in verse 64 the whole congregation together was forty and two thousand
three hundred and three score and Now how many stayed behind,
we have no idea. But we are assured that there
were some that did, because the scriptures tell us that. They
did not go with the rest. Many of them stayed behind. And
we find out that those that left and traveled those four months,
we could have a list of their names on a book, in a book, on
a piece of paper, And it was going to be those that entered
into Jerusalem after four months. There is no record of anybody
dying on the route. I'm sure that some got wearied.
They might have even got thirsty or hungry. We don't know. But
there's no record that any of those that left Babylon ever
passed away on the trail to Jerusalem. We live right on the Oregon Trail. We're the end of the Oregon Trail. And the record, if we researched
it, to find out the numbers of people that left St. Louis and
never arrived in the Dalles. The record says, what is it,
every 200 feet there was a grave, or every 100 feet there was a
grave, or every 50 feet there was a grave. We have no knowledge
of how many, but many passed away on the route. And here we
have people walking for 800 miles and there is no record at all
of anybody passing the way. These verses about Israel that
we're going to read about that have relationship to this passage
of scripture about how many left Babylon and how many arrived
at Jerusalem is significant because God shares with us many times
that he is very precise in the number of people that are going
to be active and doing something as he moves upon them. You would
turn with me to the book of exodus back to the book of exodus We
read here in exodus chapter 11 and verse 7 now. I want to just
say this These verses of Israel are historical facts and yet
they are also the shadow of good things to come and When we read
about Israel in the Old Testament, we're reading about a sample,
an example, a picture, a type, a shadow of the church. The church
has been alive and well in eternity past, and we find that the first
person on this earth that was ever promoted to glory was Abel,
and he went the hard way, didn't he? Abel is the first one to
fell a seed in heaven. He's the first one to cry out,
worthy is the lamb that was slain. He's the first one, by faith,
he offered a more excellent sacrifice, and his brother rose up against
him and killed him, and he's the first one to say, to be absent
with the body is to be present with the Lord. And there were
going to be many that followed him, but he's the first. Now
these types and shadows and pictures that we read about, about the
church, when we study about Israel, the true Israel is the church. This group of folks are going
to be typical of the church. And let's look at it that way.
In the book of Exodus chapter 11, Exodus chapter 11, We begin
reading some things about Israel in particular after Moses is
selected for their leader and Aaron is also there and they
go through all kinds of things with Pharaoh. But notice with
me in Exodus chapter 11 and there in verse 7, the scriptures say,
but against any of the children of Israel. Now they're getting
ready to leave. They're gonna move out. Their
years of sentence there is over. God is going to move in such
a miraculous way that Israel is going to leave the bondage
of Egypt. And we find with regard to our
own deliverance, to our own salvation, to the work of God in our own
heart, that we truly are in a place that is as bad as Egypt when
it comes to their servitude, In our own life, we're in bondage
to sin, and we're bondage to the fallen, we're bondage to
ourself, and we're enmity against God. And when God moves upon
us and releases us from that, we are thankful, glad, happy,
and we're willing to move on. And yet we find these words that
are such a blessing to everyone that God moves upon to get us
out of Egypt. There's a difference between
the Egyptians and the Israelites, and there's a difference between
the church and the world, and there's a difference between
Jacob's and Esau's. Notice with me here in Exodus
chapter 11 and verse 7, it says, but against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. This last week I had the privilege
of pushing Josie in a stroller down the street and over here
and over here and she had all kinds of places she wanted to
go. We went by three houses and we were recognized by three dogs. What were they doing? We'd hear them and Georgia says,
what is that granddaddy? That's a dog barking at us. They're
doing their job. When Israel left Egypt, God put
a rubber band around the beaks of those dogs. What's it say? And this is what he does. My
goodness, he completely delivers his people. We're not just left
halfway in Egypt. We're not just brought halfway
out of Egypt. We are completely brought out.
In fact, it is such a miracle that the dogs didn't bark at
Israel when they're leaving. Exodus chapter 11 and verse 7,
but against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move
his tongue against man or beast, that ye may know how that the
Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. They
were down there, they were in prison in a sense, they were
captives, they were servants, they were slaves. but it is God
that makes the difference. God makes the difference between
Egyptians and Israelites, and he marks it out here in the scripture,
just as we found over there in the book of Ezra, chapter two,
the number of people that left Babylonian captivity and arrived
in Jerusalem is an exact number. We're gonna find out when God
released the children of Israel from imprisonment down in Egypt,
after they'd been there for 400 years, that when they left, the
Egyptians didn't have a dog bark after them. God has shut them
up to themselves, and he takes them out in a miraculous way
that is so different than anybody else ever escaping prison. No bells went off. No alarms
were sound. It isn't until the Israelites
are out of Egypt that God hardens the heart of Pharaoh to go after
them. And he did it on purpose. For
this very reason have I raised thee up that I might show my
power in you. And he took Pharaoh and the whole
army of of the Egyptians out, and the next thing we're going
to find out about them is Moses and his sister are singing a
song about their bodies being laid up on the beach. Well, let's
just go a little further here in the book of Exodus and see
how God Almighty makes a difference between the Egyptians and the
Israelites. There is a difference between
God, between the world and His church. He has purchased them
with His own blood. He has saved them by His own
grace. He has moved upon them to come
out. He has taken them from the grave. He has raised them out of a horrible
pit, and He has brought them in such a way that even the dogs
don't bark about it. In the book of Exodus chapter
12 and verse 41, We read these words, it came to pass at the
end of 430 years, even the selfsame day it came to pass that all
the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. All the hosts of the Lord. Now when they came out of Babylon
and headed for Jerusalem, we have the exact number. Now we're
gonna have some numbers given to the children of Israel, but
over there it's an exact number of the families that came out.
We have them. It's written in the book about
them. And here it says, all the hosts of the Lord went out from
the land of Egypt. In Exodus chapter 14 and verse
30, would you turn there with me? In Exodus chapter 14 and
verse 30, The scriptures share this, thus the Lord saved Israel
that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the
Egyptians dead upon the seashore. Thus the Lord saved Israel that
day. Doesn't tell us the numbers,
but it is good enough for when we find that the Lord delivered
all of Israel. Well, wasn't there one or two
left there in the Red Sea? Not one. Didn't somebody weary
as they're traveling through there, didn't someone get afraid
of those high mountains of water and say, I think this is a mistake? Not one was left. When that water came down on
the Egyptians, there was not one Israelite in the mix. God is exact, and he's exact
in his salvation, in his physical deliverance of Israel, he was
exact. All Israel came through the Red
Sea. In Exodus chapter 15, if you
would turn there with me to verse 16, fear and dread shall fall
upon them. Exodus chapter 15 and verse 16
fear and dread shall fall upon them By the greatness of thine
arm shall they be as still as a stone Till thy people pass
over O Lord till the people pass over which thou hast purchased
They will be as silent as a stone as they pass through the Red
Sea who is all that you have purchased. Boy, what a statement
is made about the redemption that we have in Christ. Every
time that we use the word redemption in the sense that it comes out
of the Bible, it has to do with a payment for slaves. It has to do with a payment for
those who are in slavery and the Lord's purchase price of
those who are in the slavery of sin that belong to Him. His
purchase price is His own blood. That's what He paid. That's the
purchase price. And here, all those that he purchased
shall come through the flood. All those that he purchased shall
be with him in eternity. All those that he purchased are
his by purchase price and he will lose none of them. How bad
do we feel when we go to the grocery store and we get home
and we find out we left a bag of groceries there? We purchased
them. They belong to us. What do we
do? We get in our car and we go back
and hopefully someone has turned them in and we can get them.
That's happened to Nancy and I several times. We went right
back. They held what we had purchased. This world right now is holding
what God has purchased until the appropriate time to call
every one of us home. But he hasn't left us. He's sending
out for us. He will call us at the appropriate
time. Fear and dread shall fall upon
them by the greatness of thine arm. And then it says, they shall
be as silent as a stone, and all shall pass over which thou
hast purchased. After 40 years in the wilderness,
and there's a lot that could be said during that 40-year period,
they're there for two years before they come up to Kadesh Barnea,
which is the place to go into the land that God had promised
them. It's interesting that Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob had already lived there. That was their home. God had given it to them. During
the time of famine, Jacob brings his Family 70 souls down to Egypt
because there's food there There's the Sun there the Sun that's
been promoted to second-in-command the Sun that is over the storehouses
of wheat and grain that would feed them and After 30 years
of that, 400 years of servitude, they go out into the land, into
the Sinaitic Peninsula, and they spend two years there. God gives
them the law from Mount Sinai, they build a tabernacle, they
dress it, they put all of the stuff in it, and they're ready
to go over and enter the promised land, and God orders 12 spies
to go in. Ten come back with an evil report.
The only way they could come back with an evil report is they
did not trust God. It's why people don't believe
the Bible, any of it, all of it, or parts of it, because they
don't trust God. They came back with an evil report,
two came back. Preachers of the gospel said
God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or
think. It's a glorious land, and it's
a wonderful land, and God has given it to us. All we have to
do is go in. Well, those 10 spent some time with a whole host of
folks that didn't know anything about the grace of God. And God
let them wander around for 38 years until that generation fell
off. Now, Joshua chapter 3 and verse
17, after spending 40 years in the wilderness, two there
by instruction, and 38 out of justice. In Joshua chapter 3
and verse 17, Joshua chapter 3 and verse 17, there's another
body of water to cross. Forty years earlier they go through
the Red Sea. I've shared this with you, I
spent a little time down in Dallas, Texas in a Bible school, and
at that time there was a lot of discussion about how big the
Red Sea was. In fact, they said it should
have been called the Reed Sea because it was not near as deep
as everybody says it is. And the only teacher down there
that I think had any knowledge at all said, well, that's more
of a miracle than I thought. God drowned all those folks in
five inches of water. They went through that water.
They travel for 40 years. They come up to another body
of water called the Jordan River. And it's at flood stage at this
time. That's what the scriptures share. It's at flood stage. And
it tells us here in Joshua chapter 3, and there in verse 17. as they cross, and the priest
that bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry
ground. Now, who are those guys? They're the heralds. It's the
job of the heralds to hold up that wonderful, the symbol of
that Ark of the Covenant who is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the job of the heralds. Hold him up. If I be lifted up,
I will draw all mine to me. And he will be lifted up. Well,
it says there, And the priests that bear the ark of the covenant
of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan
River at flood stage when the Lord dried it up in the midst
of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry land until
all the people were passed, and I like that word that's right
there, clean over Jordan. All the Israelites passed clean
over Jordan and are now in the land that God had promised, Israel. All Israel passed over. What a statement we find here
about God's exactness about His Word, His exactness about His
doings, His exactness about you and I, fearfully and wonderfully
made, His exactness about creation, and His exactness about the spiritual
creation that He promises to all His people. This reminds
me so much as we look into the scriptures, particularly as we
move over to the New Testament, just as Israel came out of Egypt,
a roll call could have been taken and all are present. As they travel through the wilderness,
a whole group, a generation pass off. The book of Hebrews says
they died in unbelief. And here they cross over the
Jordan River and everybody that goes is all, and there could
have been a roll call taken there and everyone, babe in arms, the
aged, the feeble, everybody passed over on dry ground. And when
it took place, those Israelite priests stepped out of the water
and the water went back to where it was. And they're all in the
promised land, the land that God had given Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. And God said, when those Pharisees
during his time on this earth said, we be of Abraham our father. And he responds by saying, I'm
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I'm the God of the living
and not the dead. They worship the tomb of Abraham. They worship the tomb of Isaac.
They worship the tomb of Jacob. They worship the tomb of David.
They worship the tomb of the prophets. And the Lord God Almighty
said, I'm not the God of the dead. I'm the God of the living.
They're with me. In the book of Romans chapter
11, would you turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 11?
As we look at Israel, the exact number, all, all Israel passed
over. From the least to the greatest,
all of them passed over. They left Egypt, all passed over.
They crossed the Red Sea, all passed over. They crossed over
the Jordan, all that were alive at that time passed over. Doesn't
mean that there wasn't a bunch of graves out there in the Sinaitic
Peninsula. It means a whole bunch of them
passed on by God's decree because they believed not. They didn't
enter in. Now, in the book of Romans chapter
11, we have a wonderful verse of scripture about God's promise
and His exactness. Romans chapter 11, verse 26,
and so, All Israel shall be saved. Now I've had several people tell
me, well see, all of those folks over there right now are going
to be saved. God's going to work a miracle with them. They haven't
read the rest of the verse. There are going to be Israelites
saved. There are going to be Gentiles saved. But it's going
to be those that are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life
that will be saved. Notice with me, Romans chapter
11, verse 26. It says, and so all Israel shall
be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer. Who is that? Well, we know him
as the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Deliverer. All Israel
shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion
the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This, for this is my covenant
unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Who's he talking
about? The church. Everyone that God
chose in Christ before the foundation of the world, those who were
written in the Lamb's Book of Life, all Israel, I promise I
will swear on this by my immutability and my almighty power shall be
saved. Well, there's a whole bunch of
folks that are way off in that strange religion, and they used
to be cannibals. Can any of those folks ever be
saved? It was interesting to hear, as
Brother Lance preached, that when they have a get-together
in New Guinea, there can be up to 1,000 people there. 1,000
people came together to hear the gospel. And if we trace out their lineage,
all of them no doubt had family members involved in that horrific
crime of cannibalism, and yet God can save anybody out of anything
if he so desires. And I know for a fact he saved
someone that was in a mess worse than that, and that's me. He
saves His people out of where they are and in what they're
in, and saves us by His grace, and then He says, alright, one
more of all Israel has been saved, and the only thing that is preventing
Almighty God from sending His only begotten Son back to this
earth is that the complete number has not been met yet, and when
that happens, This will fold up like a tent. All Israel shall be saved. What? For this is the covenant to them
when I shall take away their sins. The church knows what that
is about. He takes away our sins. Now, turn with me back to the
book of Romans chapter nine, if you would. Romans chapter
nine. Romans chapter 9, there's a whole bunch of folks that are
saying that God just didn't do what he said he would do. He
just couldn't do it. Well, Paul's gonna head that
off. Romans chapter 9 verse 6, the
scripture says, not as though the word of God hath taken none
effect. if we just keep in mind what
God said about His Word, that it will go forth, but it will
not return void. It will accomplish that whereunto
I have sent it. Not as though the Word of God
hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are
of Israel. Now there are many that were
Israelites by birth from Abraham. They traced a physical line down
through the years until they got to themselves. And yet, when it comes to them
being part of the church, they are not. They are not all Israel
which are of Israel, chapter 9 verse 6. Neither because they
are the seed of Abraham are they the children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. So God has not messed up. God
has not said anything out of order. He said all Israel will
be saved. We just have a different view
of it if we have that view of it. If we think that that's going
to be natural in Israel, we got a wrong view. But if we see it
as they are a type and a shadow and a picture of the church,
if we go back to the book of Exodus and we read about them
all leaving Egypt, and we read about them all passing over the
Red Sea, and they all pass through the Jordan River, and they all
got into the promised land, that's a type and a shadow, a picture
of what God is doing for His church spiritually. He's taking
them, He will take them all out of Egypt. and they will all be
taken into the promised land and he will lose none of them. Not just being related to Abraham
is the issue. Turn with me if you would to
the book of Galatians chapter 3. God's going to do it. He's the God of orderliness. He's the God of exactness. He
has an exact number written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. He
has an exact number out in the world right now. Why aren't there
being missionaries sent to all kinds of places? My brother had
this word when I was talking to him about the gospel, and
I know why he brought it up, because it's exactly the same
thing I brought up What about all those lost people in Africa? What about them? And the preacher
that I asked that question of before I was saved, he answered
it this way. You know, the question is, Norm,
what think you of Christ? Let's answer that question before
we go on to that question. What do you think of Christ?
That's the issue. In Galatians chapter 3, we read
these words, the exactness of God, all Israel shall be saved. All of them in type and shadow
and picture left Egypt and entered into the promised land. Nobody
was left behind. Nobody was left out. Here in
Galatians chapter 3, and there in verse 7, Ye know ye, therefore, that they
which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying,
in thee shall all nations be blessed. What a wonderful gospel. Wherever, whatever, language,
wherever his people are. God will make sure they hear
the truth of the gospel. That they will be like those
who left Babylon and headed towards Jerusalem. When it's all said
and done, there will be an exact number. A number that no man can number,
but a number known unto God. We heard read over there in the
book of John chapter 6. Would you turn over there? I
want to read one verse of scripture in John chapter 6. Brother Craig
read this earlier this morning, but I want to read one verse
of scripture here in John chapter 6. John chapter 6 and verse 37. Jesus said this to a whole group
of folks that were sneering at him. He said, I'm the bread of life
and that just set them off. Have you ever had someone talking
to you and as soon as they mentioned something, you just shut them
off? Have you ever been talking to
somebody and as soon as you mentioned something, they just shut you
off? Whatever it was. Well, the Lord Jesus had that
a lot happen in his life. He'd mentioned something about
himself and they just shut him off. And they're thinking to
themselves of how they're gonna bring up a hard question for
him and they won't even listen to him. Well, only God's people
can listen to all of him. And it says here, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And the disciple standing around
in the church that gets to read that today says, hallelujah. Cuz I know where I'd be if it
wasn't for that. If he wasn't an exact God dealing
with an exact group of people that he knows by name and by
number. If he wasn't doing that, then I would be lost. The Lord knows them that are
his. One verse to go, 2 Timothy 2,
verse 19. 2 Timothy 2, and there in verse
19, we read this wonderful passage of scripture that God left his
saints a long time ago, and his saints have been delighting in
this ever since. The principle is found throughout
the Old Testament This verse is found in the writings of the
Apostle Paul to Timothy, and it's for our benefit, 2 Timothy,
chapter 2, verse 19. Nevertheless, it looks like things
are going awry, but nevertheless, the foundation of God stand us
sure. And we just say, isn't that wonderful? Everything else fall apart, but
the foundation of God stands sure. Having the seal, not in wax, not in mortar, but
a seal made by blood, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And
let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. How wonderful. God would know
his people before the world was ever created. And then in time,
just like them leaving out of Babylon, King gives them great
consent. Go back, go back. In fact, we'll
give you money to go back. Travel over there. And when they
looked down at the register, they said, well, look at here.
There is exactly this many people in this list and they all arrived
safely. My friends, all of God's people
will arrive safely and sing the songs of Zion, worthy is the
lamb that was slain.