So the priests and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities. Ezra 2:70
My mother used to make gingerbread man cookies; they were actually made from her wonderful molasses cookie recipe, and stamped out with a cookie cutter. She would roll out the dough and stamp out as many gingerbread men as she could from the amount of dough used, place the cookies in the pan, add the leftover dough to a fresh batch and roll it out again, cutting more and more cookies until the dough was almost all gone, and then roll the last little bit of dough into a lump, and place it into the pan with the stamped cookies. After they were baked in the oven, all the gingerbread men looked the same, except the leftover lump. Cookie cutter cookies made for a nice consistency, especially when handing out the cookies to a half dozen hungry but picky kids. Sometimes we wonder why God didn’t use a cookie cutter approach to placing people in His Assembly. But God loves variety, and variety is good for our Assembly.
Today’s text summarizes the chapter and its listing of those who left Babylon to return to Israel. The variety is delightful. And each of the groups named has a representation in your Assembly.
The priests represent all of us. Each of us is a priest in the Assembly, with responsibilities and privileges in worship and service. So too with the Levites, those who performed the work associated with serving God. All of us are also New Testament Levites with service to perform for our Lord within the context of His Assembly.
The term ‘some of the people’ reminds us that not everybody takes their responsibilities in the Assembly seriously. Hopefully, most do. But there are always the few who don’t commit much of themselves, their resources, or interest in the Assembly; they just come along for the ride.
I wish I was a better singer. I try, but make little more than a joyful noise, and appreciate the good singers who drown me out. God’s Assembly needs singers, from the harmonious to the horrible, to worship and serve Him. The Assembly also needs porters, those who keep the door, guard against wrong and trouble coming into the Assembly.
What about the Nethinims? Tradition tells us these were the Gibeonites, who came into the nation of Israel undeservedly, and who became faithful and devoted to God. You and I are Gentiles, brought into a wonderful relationship with God. As New Testament Nethinims, we appreciate the extent of God’s marvellous grace.
Do you see yourself in today’s text? We are not God’s cookie cutter gingerbread men, are we? -Jim MacIntosh