Ezra 8:15
And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.
Those who discerned God's providence in Artaxerxes's decree and gladly accepted the privilege of returning to Jerusalem assembled under Ezra's leadership after that decree in 457 B.C. at the river Ahava as the appointed general meeting place for the long journey. There they remained in tents three days before traveling on toward Jerusalem.
After camping three days, Ezra inspected the people and the priests and found that none of the sons of Levi had joined the returning company. The sons of Levi were the tribe set apart for the sacred service of the temple. In captivity they had enjoyed full liberty to minister to their brethren, build synagogues, conduct worship, instruct the people, keep the Sabbath, and perform the rites of the Jewish faith.
Their presence was urgently needed because the rebuilt and dedicated temple at Jerusalem needed more priests to carry on its services and men of God as priests and teachers. They should have been first to answer the call to return and to stand for God on the Lord's side. Their absence showed a failure to discern a special call in the decree and a strange indifference to God's purposes that revealed the attitude of the Israelites in Babylon, depriving others of an example that would have led them to follow. This was especially serious when the king and his princes had opened the way and provided abundant means, while the Jews remaining in Babylon were in danger of restricted religious liberty and of dwelling longer amid heathen influences after warning through Zechariah and through the experience of Esther and Mordecai.