Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town) (EZR 2:1 NIV, 8-14-14)

Actually, they weren’t the ones who were taken into exile. They were the children and grandchildren of the ones taken into exile.

Which points to two acts of faith. First, the faith of these people to move to a land they’d never visited, only heard of.

And second, their parents and grandparents had passed on a faith so vivid that their children caught it.

[Father, help my faith be so vivid that my kids and grandkids can’t escape it.]