Ezra 2:1-2; Ezra 2:59-70
The way to Jerusalem is open. Who are those who will seize the opportunity? There are just under fifty thousand people from the various classes of the people. Moreover, among this weak remnant, there were several who could not prove that they really belonged to Israel. Even the priests had been careless, carelessness which would prevent them from carrying out their holy service. Alas, many Christians are like those Israelites! They cannot state with certainty that they are children of God. If one of our readers finds himself in such a position, let him refer to his "genealogy" (v. 62). He will find it in his Bible. Let him trust definitely in passages such as John 1:12; John 5:1; John 5:13. So many hesitant souls have discovered in these and other verses the irrefutable proof that they belonged to the family of God.
God has His eyes on this weak remnant. He has counted them carefully and will watch over them tenderly, not only because of His mercy but also because He has a great plan for them: it is to the descendants of these Jews, when they had returned to their land, that the Christ, the Messiah of Israel must be presented after fourteen generations (Matthew 1:17).