This chapter gives us a list of those who decided to return to Judea, and it is pretty impressive: 42,360 + people, most of whom walked the long trip. The list only gives the number of each subclan. For most of us, we read through the list to get through the list, but for the people of that day, it was important.
For some of us, there are four main questions that we ask ourselves to try to discover our place in life: (1) who am I; (2) where I come from; (3) why am I here; and (4) where am I going. The second question can get us into our genealogy. A former well-known comedian once said, “If your family tree doesn’t fork, you may be a redneck”.
Tracing your family back can be a real challenge and a real blessing. It was for the Jewish people, at least for the men. Matthew gives a genealogy of Christ through His stepfather back to David, and Luke gives one through His mother to David.
But in this chapter, there are two main characters we must follow to understand the early history of the return. They are Zerubbabel, the governor, and Jeshua, the high priest. These two men help us understand the time frame of the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, and the rebuilding of the Temple.