After these events, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra – Seraih’s son, Azariah’s son, Hilkiah’s son, Shallum’s son, Zodok’s son, Ahitub’s son, Amariah’s son, Azariah’s son, Meraioth’s son, Zerahiah’s son, Uzzi’s son, Bukki’s son, Abishua’s son, Phinehas’s son, Eleazar’s son, Aaron the chief of priest’s son – came up from Babylon. Ezra 7:1-3 HCSB
My son, Nathan, is very interested in his family tree and has spent many hours studying and researching to discover facts about our past family members. He even had my mother and my father-in-law do a DNA test to determine their ethnicity. My maternal ancestors more than likely originated from Western Europe. It is interesting to discover certain facts about particular family members.
In these verses we discover Ezra’s family tree. It was common for people to document and record their family history. These verses were to show that Ezra was not only a Levite, but he was a direct descendant of Aaron, the chief priest’s son. This proved that he had the right and authority to be a priest in the temple and lead the second group of Israelites back to Jerusalem. Ezra was probably a prominent man in the community and was selected by King Artaxerxes to lead the Israelites back to their homeland.
Challenge: Look into your family’s history to discover if you have had any ministers or prominent people in your family in previous years. Praise God that you are an adopted child in His kingdom and that you have all the rights and privileges of a child of God.