FAMILY (Ezra 2)

70 years after the end of 2 Chronicles, God did exactly what He promised: Cyrus of Persia allowed Jews to return to their home land.

What is sad that only a little over 42,000 people took  him up on the offer.  They were defined by "families," but those families included some non-traditional groupings.

As someone whose family unit has shrunk dramatically, the thought intrigued me.

Families of Origin. This is our traditional family unit. My grandchildren, if they find the sheets I've created with what I know about my family, will know back to when my greatgrandparents arrived on Ellis Island in the 1890s. Families with mothers and fathers, great grandparents, and children, four or five generations together.

Place of origin.  All Sooners, raise your hands. Texans, may your flag wave forever brave. I'm both a New England Yankee and a devoted Coloradoan. Talk with someone who went to the same summer camp. You are from the same place of origin.

Inherited positions: Priests and levites  Something along the line of guilds, where one generation teaches the next. Blood family or not, one generation teaches the next.

Same occupations: Musicians, security guards, support staff

"Downstairs" occupations: Solomon's servants

Outsiders: Israelites who couldn't prove their family origin.

Anyone who is part of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) has had opportunity to discover the "family" of the same occupation. We are passionate for the Lord and for the written word.

I also know the feeling of being an outsider. New England born and bred, I'm still not quite a native because I wasn't born there. Out west, it doesn't matter you were born. They welcome you with open arms, part of the reason I love living west of the Mississippi..

How good God is. He gave the returning Israelites families. David said, "he sets the lonely in families" (Psalm 68:6.) That's as true today as it was all those thousands of years ago.