These are the people that would be assigned menial tasks [in the temple service]. This is unglamorous work. It is humble, it is hidden, it is unrecognized and frankly, there are disproportionately few [coming out of exile] that are interested in doing that, but there are some. And so these are the people; they bring a vision for the re-establishment of the public worship of God. They bring with them some who are willing to serve no matter what the task is that needs to be done…
There are scores and scores and scores of hidden things that are going on [in the church] all the time that most of us do not know about. They are hidden. They are behind the scenes. They go unappreciated. They go unpraised. They go unrecognized. And yet they are absolutely essential and it is critical…It was essential for the ongoing work of the ministry of the temple that there be those who are ready to assist the priest in this work. So it is absolutely essential that the whole people of God be involved in all these hidden works that are going on all the time. Those hidden little works like being friendly to people on Sunday mornings. Little hidden works like inviting people into your homes, using your kitchen table as an evangelistic tool; visiting folks in the hospitals, visiting the people who are shut-in. There are folks that come in and print bulletins on a weekly bases, donating their time, sparing the church staff and the church the expense of printing the bulletins. Your deacons, your elders are giving time; they are not compensated for that time. Leaders in the Sunday School, leaders in the women of the church organization, choir members. The list goes on and on. It is absolutely essential.
If we are to rebuild the church as it were, in our day as was happening in Ezra's time, there must be a zeal for the public ministry of the church and there must be a zeal for service. There must be a willingness to serve in these hidden ways. And there are not many who are willing to make the arduous journey from Babylon to the discomfort and hardship—not just the hardships of the journey—but the hardships to be endured once they get back to Palestine. And yet there are some. There is a nucleus of those who are willing to serve.1
Terry L. Johnson
43 The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,