Ezra Chapter 7. And perhaps you are already
there. Let's turn now to Ezra Chapter
7. And before we begin this new
chapter, it's important to remind ourselves of some things
that we've studied up to this point #1 when the Babylonians
removed the Jews from Jerusalem into exile, that took place in
three major waves over a period of time.
In like matter, when these same exiles would return to
Jerusalem, it would also take place over 3 successive cycles
over a period of time. And that's what we've been
looking at these Friday nights. And if you didn't know,
everything that we have covered from Ezra chapter 1 to Ezra
chapter 6 occurred during the first wave of refugees coming
back to their native land. And what we are going to
discover now in this new chapter is the second major group of
Jews who will make their way back to their homeland as well.
Now, in that first wave between chapters one to chapter 6, this
was an initiative led by a man named no Zerubbabel Zerubbel,
who was a selected governor to oversee the Jews and to also
oversee the reconstruction of the what?
The temple. Very good.
Now, as we come to this chapter, we're going to witness once
again the second major group heading their way back to
Jerusalem, led by a man by the name of Ezra, very good Ezra,
the very same Ezra that this book is named after.
So for the first time in this book, we are finally going to
encounter Ezra the man, and he's going to take up the subject of
our study tonight. Now we have to establish the
historical setting for this pivotal moment.
It is generally believed that from the completion of the
Second Temple to this moment here, 60 years had passed.
In other words, the end of Chapter 6 to the beginning of
Chapter 7. In that interval time around 6
decades have occurred, have advanced.
So we're fast forwarding quite a bit of time here, and this is
something for us to consider. During the same period of time,
the story of Esther took place, which is a fascinating thought,
isn't it? Moreover, we also are about to
learn that Darius, the king of Persia, who was the Last King
that we've been studying, is no longer alive.
And now a king by the name of Arctic Xerxes is going to rule
the Persian Empire. And he's also going to provide
help to Ezra and the rest of the Jews who follow him by providing
substantial support and the advancement of the restoration
of God's people in Jerusalem. So keep this in mind.
What we are reading here with Ezra is 60 years after the
temple was completed and 80 years after the first Jews under
Cyrus's reign went back to Jerusalem.
So with that background clarified, let us begin to read
Ezra Chapter 7, verses 1 down to verse 5.
Are you with me there? Now after this, what's the after
this? The completion of the Second
Temple, but also 60 years, nearly 60 years forward.
Now after this, in the reign of Arctic Xerxes, king of Persia,
Ezra the son of Soraya, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of
Shalom, son of Zadok, son of Ahitab, son of Amariah, son of
Azariah, son of Mirayath, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzi, son of
Buki, son of Abashua, son of Phineas, son of Eliezer, son of
Aaron the chief priest. It's interesting, isn't it?
The first thing that we are introduced to as we encounter
Ezra is his genealogy, and it's a very detailed 1, though some
names are omitted. Now, why is the Holy Spirit
beginning this chapter by informing us about the lineage
of this man? Well, we learned from it that
Ezra is what, by way of occupation?
He's a priest. His family line traces back to
Aaron. And again, the reason why God
wants us to know this from the outset is to establish that
Ezra's spiritual leadership is legitimized.
It is authorized by God himself. You have to remember when we
looked at the first genealogy in the book of Ezra, remember in
Ezra chapter 2, all those lists of names Among that initial
group were some Levites who could not validate their
ancestry, and because of that, they were excluded from the
priesthood. But what we're discovering about
Ezra is that he was not among them.
He's he was someone who could indeed prove that he was from
the priestly line. And therefore his function as
the spiritual leader of this generation was legitimized.
It was approved. It was sanctioned by God.
Now, that is the main take away from these first 5 verses, but
there are wonderful applications that glean from them, and I want
you to consider a couple. Number one, from this list of
names that relate to Ezra, we learned this, or at least we're
reminded of it. God requires credentials from
those who aspire to be leaders in His Kingdom.
Thankfully, under the New Covenant, to be a spiritual
leader, the priestly role is not limited to a specific bloodline
or a tribe or a nationality, as we see here with Ezra now.
Instead, one of the glories of the New Covenant is that the
privileges that were once reserved for Israel, even tribes
within Israel, are now shared with the Gentiles.
And that's why Peter has the audacity to write to Gentile
believers and say something like this.
And first, Peter 29, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people for his own possession.
For the longest time that was language, and those were titles
exclusive to the people of Israel, and now Peter is
ascribing this to Gentiles. I don't think even a Christian
can fully appreciate just how radical of a shift this is
unless they have first familiarized themselves and
expose themselves to the long pattern of the Old Testament.
It's been one way for so long, and once Christ enters onto the
scene and inaugurates the New Covenant, so much now has
changed. This is why it was so scandalous
to the Jews, and it was so difficult even for Jewish
believers in the Messiah to understand how these Gentiles
are now grafted in to the Commonwealth of Israel.
And it would have been equally shocking to the Gentile.
You're telling me that we now are a part of this?
It's just really one of the marvels that the Gospel makes
possible. However, however, this
inclusiveness in the gospel does not mean that God has changed
his standards for those who are to be leaders in the church.
So in the Old Covenant, a candidate to be a leader,
specifically a priest, had to prove his eligibility through
genealogy, right? That's what Ezra is doing here.
I want to let you know the reason why I can do what I'm
about to do in this story is because I come from the ironic
line. In the New Covenant, however, a
leader in the church primarily validates his candidacy through
three things. Three things #1 character.
How do you live? Is it consistent with the truth?
Is there habitual sin? Are there things that you are
doing that disqualify you? Character is the first thing.
The second thing is conviction. What do you believe?
Is it in alignment with the truth?
Is in alignment with orthodox Christianity.
There's a contradictive word of God.
If you're going to be a leader, especially an elder, you're
going to be teaching. So what do you believe?
So character, conviction and thirdly, capacity.
Do you even have the gift to lead others?
Do you have the ability to instruct and to inspire your
fellow man? And so these are the things that
are considered by way of summary in the new covenant.
And here's how this applies to all of us.
I believe that all of us in here, at least I hope to believe
that all of us in here are serious about the local church.
And if we are serious about the local church, then we should
also be aware that we can never under any circumstance lower the
standard for what God demands for leaders in his church.
Never. You got to remember in Ezra's
time, they were rebuilding their spiritual identity for so many
years. They had lost their their temple
and their priestly functions and their sacrificial system that
that was done away with because of their their sinfulness.
And now they're trying to restore it.
And there was a temptation there perhaps for just anybody to
almost fill that role for the priest.
But right from the beginning of Ezra, we learned that they
never, ever overlooked or dismissed what God had required
for those who would serve as priests.
They protected that. And what you find in a lot of
churches is that out of desperation or even frustration,
they'll they'll kind of just put anybody who is like half
qualified to serve in a leadership role just to fill
that role. That is disastrous.
That is disastrous for the person who takes that role and
for those who are under that person's leadership.
And So what we reminded here, even in Ezra's story is no, God
has requirements and we have to honor them.
And we also have to trust that God is the one who ultimately
raises up leaders from a community.
Listen, as we study the rest of the book of Ezra, we're going to
see that one of the ways that God blesses his people is by
giving them leaders, good leaders, holy leaders,
insightful leaders, learned leaders.
And that's what Ezra really is. And it's the church's duty,
including ours, that as by God's grace, we continue to grow and
want to align ourselves to His Word, to understand God's
sovereignty even in the establishment of leadership, and
to recognize such leaders prayfully and scripturally.
God takes leadership seriously, and so should we.
But that's not the only take away from this genealogy.
Another thing that we can draw from this is that yes, Ezra was
a priest, but also how his role connects to the meaning of his
name. Does anybody know what the name
Ezra means? The Hebrew speaking men I'm sure
know or brother Christian? Brother Christian's here, he
should know the name Ezra. Help or help her.
It's very simple, but so beautiful.
And think about it now, in this moment of redemptive history,
God sends a priest to help his people.
And the very name of this priest reflects that mission.
And this should remind us that centuries after this, God would
send another priest, a high priest, a greater high priest
who would offer greater help to those who would put their faith
in him. Do you and I remember the words
of the author of Hebrews in chapter 4, where he says in
verse 15 and 16. For we do not have a High Priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in
every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then, with confidence draw near to the throne of
grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. Do you realize that no matter
the nature of our need, Christ Jesus, our great High Priest,
beckons us to come to Him because He is ready and eager to
help us always? He is a strong high priest.
He is never burdened by the frequency of our request.
He is never overwhelmed by how many of us come to Him at once
with our different needs. In fact, fundamentally, the need
that is in view here is when we are enduring any kind of
temptation. That's the context.
Which means what? That in any place, at any time,
no matter the urge, I can come boldly.
Not squeamishly, not hesitatingly, not nervously.
I can come confidently in my weakness before my great High
Priest and expect him to impart mercy and grace to endure it
until I escape it. And this is just one of the
reasons why Christ Jesus is a greater High Priest who offers
greater help than what Aaron or his descendants offered to God's
people. Our High Priest is always
available. He was.
He is constantly accessible, and he never runs out of supply to
empower us in our moments of weakness.
Well, let's come back to Ezra. Now.
Look at the verses we didn't read.
I'm sure there's much more we can learn from these names.
It's clear that Ezra comes from a very rich spiritual heritage.
But let's read verse 6 Now this Ezra, this Ezra went up from
Babylonia. He was ascribed, skilled in the
law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel had given, and the
king granted him all that he asked for.
The hand of the Lord his God was on him.
So now listen, we go from Ezra's genealogy to learning about his
ability and audacity. His ability and his audacity.
His ability is clearly indicated by the description that he was
ascribed skilled in the Law of Moses.
Now there are different kinds of scribes in the Old Testament,
but as a represents the religious scribe, what was the
responsibility of a religious scribe?
Very simple. He spent most of his energy
copying scripture very carefully, very meticulously.
It was a grueling process for a scribe.
But from copying it, they would also interpret it.
They they developed, especially from Ezra's time on, they would
develop the reputation of knowing the word of God and
teaching it to others. And they were essentially
protectors of the law. They were students of the law.
And listen, you and I should be grateful to God for these
scribes because they were imperative to the preservation
of the scriptures that you and I are benefiting from today.
In fact, we are benefiting from the work of Ezra the scribe.
Now this is his work. Interestingly, this professional
class of trained men would continue up to the days of the
Lord Jesus Christ and by then they were highly respected by
the common Jew, they were very knowledgeable of the Word of God
and they presented themselves as obedient to it.
However, how many times we find out the Gospels, the Lord Jesus
Christ rebuking such men because they have become hypocrites,
they've become self-righteous, and even more than that, they
have infused man made tradition to the point that it eclipse the
supremacy of God's Word. And so Christ constantly
challenged not just the Pharisees, not just the elders,
but the scribes, those who are students and those who are
interpreters and copiers of the written word of God.
Now let me ask you a question. That is the general kind of
contention that we find in the Gospel.
Is there any place in the New Testament where Jesus refers to
teachers in his Kingdom positively as scribes?
I see some heads nodding. If you know the answer, where do
we find that? Where do we find Jesus referring
to teachers in his kingdoms as scribes in a positive way?
Any idea? Well, I hope you never forget it
after tonight. Matthew 13.
Let's turn there. Matthew 13.
You know what Matthew 13 is primarily about?
Short parables, about the Kingdom of heaven.
And at the end of these short parables, Jesus looks to his
disciples and he asks them a question.
I want you to see the question he asks them in verse 51 of
Matthew 13. The Lord Jesus says and asks,
have you understood all these things they said to him?
Yes. Pause for a moment.
Don't you appreciate that? Jesus Christ wants you to
understand his word, and it's understandable.
So he looks at the disciples and says, hey, listen, before we
move on, have you understood all these things?
They said, yes, so now look how he follows it up, verse 52.
And he said to them, Therefore every scribe who has been
trained for the Kingdom of heaven is like a master of a
house, who brings out of His treasure what is new and what is
old. So Christ, after acknowledging
that they understood what he was teaching, identifies his
disciples as scribes, as knowledgeable of the Word of
God, and listen, faithful transmitters of divine truth.
And I know that he is referring to the apostles and context, but
this also applies to anybody who teaches God's Word in this way.
In the same way that a scribe in the Old Testament was intensely
devoted to knowing the law, a Christian minister must be
equally devoted to knowing all of God's revelation.
Listen very carefully, especially for those who are in
this place and aspire to be a teacher of God's Word.
In God's house, a pastor is not to be preoccupied with politics.
He's not to be primarily caught up in culture wars.
He's not to be one who is a philosopher or an expert in
psychology. A pastor, a minister in God's
house, is to be a specialist of the Scriptures.
That is the subject matter of his expertise.
That is what he is supposed to be trained in and he's supposed
to be dependable on. In Jesus's own words and what we
just read, every single person who's a minister should own a
storehouse of truth. They should have a treasure
trove of divine revelation stored up through weeks and
months and years of preparation and training and sitting at the
Lord's feet with this word before them.
And they are supposed to from this storehouse continually
bring out articles in order to benefit those within the
household of faith and Ezra as a wonderful model for a righteous,
serious minded, God fearing scribe and Ezra 76.
Notice again that it says that he was skilled.
He was skilled in the law of Moses.
You know what that means? It's a word in the Hebrew that
is rarely used in the Old Testament.
It means that he was an expert. He mastered the word of God.
And what moves me about this concerning Ezra is that he did
not become skilled after he arrived at Jerusalem.
Like it didn't take Ezra to see the temple and draw inspiration
from it. He didn't have to have his feet
planted in the promised land to find the motivation to get into
the law of God. He became skilled in Babylon of
all places. So what?
What does that tell me practically?
Here's what that tells me that Ezra was able to push away all
the worldly distractions to not be discouraged by the limiting
circumstances, and he devoted his life to knowing the word of
God and that made him prepared for God to recruit him and send
him to be a leader among the second group of exiles.
And he reveals one of his major motivations for doing so in this
very same verse in Ezra 76. Did you notice how he speaks
about the word of God? Look at it again.
This Ezra went up from Babylonia.
He was ascribed, skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord, the
God of Israel had given. Remember, Ezra is the one who's
writing this, and this is how he speaks about God's written word.
God had given it. You know how you could translate
that God's word is a gift from God.
I can tell you with absolute confidence that this same
revelation was one of the main motivations for me to read the
whole Bible when I first walk with Christ.
Even though a lot of it I did not understand.
The thing that kept me going through books that are often
neglected, like Numbers and Leviticus and other prophetic
books, was this simple understanding.
I really believe that this is God's word, that out of all the
things that He could have said throughout history, He has
compiled this book. I want to know everything it has
to say. I'm not going to be choosy with
it. How can I neglect a part of it?
How can, how can I rest satisfied in my Christian walk
not at least looking at the entirety of God's Word once.
And some people haven't done it once and they've been coasting
through their Christian life for years.
Ezra understood this thing about God's Word.
It was given by God. So I'm going to receive it as a
gift and I'm going to open it up and look at every compartment of
it and not miss out on one facet.
You know, honestly, if some Christians gave 50% of their
energy from looking at conspiracy theories and the news
to the Word of God, they would explode in their growth between
now and the summer of 2026. Ezra in Babylonia, with all the
distractions and all the comforts and all the ministerial
duties stripped away. Remember, there was no temple in
Babylon. He still found it within himself
to say, I I want to know what God's Word has to say.
Surely scrolls were carried from exile into Babylon.
Surely over time people brought morsels and portions of the
scrolls of Sacred Scripture to make it available for men like
Ezra. And here's what will happen.
Even if you don't understand everything, God will give you
understanding as you dedicate yourself to knowing it and
realizing this is given by God for my soul.
God has given this to me to know him.
Oh, there will be greater illumination, and with that
illumination there'll be greater transformation.
Which leads us now from Ezra's ability He was skilled to his
audacity. Audacity means boldness and
courage to some degree. Where's his audacity found in
this verse? Look again.
He approached the king and asked them for certain things.
Here's what I mean. This second wave of returning
exiles seems to have been triggered by Ezra personally
petitioning to the king to be released and to receive support.
Do you see that phrase there? And the king granted him all
that he asked. What does that mean?
That at some point Ezra walked up to Artaxerxes and made a plea
for him and a new wave of Jews to go back to Jerusalem?
Now here's what I'm thinking as I'm studying this.
Why didn't Ezra do this sooner? Is that a legitimate question?
For me, it is. Why do it now?
Why at this juncture now we're not given an answer?
Here's what I believe, though. There is a correlation between
Ezra knowing the Word of God and him making this move and
approaching the King for permission to go back to
Jerusalem. In other words, one way of of
getting an answer to why now is that as Ezra was studying and
studying and studying the Word of God, he realized certain
things about God's future promises for the people of
Israel. And that emboldened him to go
before the king with the prayerful hope that he would be
released and that Ezra with his own eyes would behold the very
will of God in his lifetime and that he would be an active
participant in it. So already we're seeing, we're
seeing something in Ezra's character, are we not?
He was not just skilled in the law of Moses.
He wasn't just studied. He actually believed what it
said and he applied it. You'd be amazed to know how many
people teach the Bible. But when it comes to stressful
situations, persecution, trials, temptation, I've met some of
them, they don't really believe what the Bible has to say.
They collapse. And sometimes in those
conversations, you just have to ask, do you really believe what
you've been preaching all these years now?
Now it comes to a real life scenario.
Where's the word of God in your heart?
Here's what I see in Ezra. He's studying it, he's mastering
it, he's specializing it. And it so moves in that he says,
I'm going to the king and I'm going to ask him if we can go
and I'm going to go with faith and I'm going to go believing
what God said about restoring his people.
So let's see what happens. That's what's that's what's
happening here. And if you're somebody who truly
believes what God says in his word, I'm not saying this with a
hint of exaggeration. You 2 will be able to stand
before kings. If you really comprehend who God
is, the God that you worship, you will be able to stand before
anybody, no matter their status, no matter their authority.
It won't mean a thing. You will not fear any man if you
stand in the presence of God, living under the banner of His
divine truth. So we read so much here in verse
6, but let's continue in verse 7 down to verse 9.
And there went up also to Jerusalem in the seventh year of
Arctic. Xerxes, the king, some of the
people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the
singers and gatekeepers and the temple servants.
And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the 5th month, which was in the
seventh year of the king. From the first day of the first
month he began to go up from Babylonia.
And on the first day of the 5th month he came to Jerusalem for
the good hand of his God was on him.
So now Ezra is giving a summary of when he left Babylon and made
his way to Jerusalem. And here's what he says.
It happened in the seventh year of Uxxy the king, But he took
off when and verse nine the first day of the first month.
And when did he arrive there? The first day of the 5th month
he came to Jerusalem. So how long was that journey
from Babylonia to Jerusalem for grueling, dangerous testing,
Challenging months. And this gives us an idea of why
it was unattractive for many of these exiles to make their way
back to Jerusalem. And it wasn't just the long
duration. It wasn't just the dreadful time
and all the things that you have to endure on the way.
It was also because it was very, very dangerous to do so.
I mean, four months on foot, yes, that's unappealing.
Four months with children and elderly, that that is not
something that you're going to be willing to sign up for unless
God doesn't work in your heart. But on top of all of that, just
the natural course of action. Ezra gives us more detail about
the dangers of this journey. So go to chapter 8 the next
chapter and notice what he says here in verse 21.
Ezra 821 Then I proclaimed the fast there at the river Ahava,
that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him
a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and
horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way.
You see that they had to deal with enemies on the way, not
just the hot sun and not just the cold desert nights.
There were people lurking, robbers, people who hated the
Jews, Satan working through people to try to hinder the
Jews, coming back to the rightful place against the enemy
on our way. Since we had told the King, the
hand of our God is for good on all who seek Him, and the power
of His wrath is against all who forsake Him.
So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to
our entreaty. Ezra was going to be used
mightily by God in Jerusalem. He is going to be a pioneer for
a sweet, sweeping historical revival because of his influence
back home. But all of that wonderful
testimony would come at a cost, and we saw it.
The distance, the timing, the dangers, the fasting, the
praying, the consoling. Who knows what else he had to do
in order to make it a successful journey for him to get to where
God wanted him to be. And here's what this teaches you
and I. Any of us who yearn to be used
by the Lord cannot, cannot, cannot idolize comfort or
convenience and expect to be used by God in a meaningful way.
Ezra paid a price and those who followed him.
And what this teaches us is that if we want to see God do
something special, if we want to move beyond just mediocre
ministry, it's going to require sacrifice.
It's going to require consistency through adversity.
It's going to demand a constant watchfulness to resist the
temptation of coasting through this life with the pursuit of
ease. There's some people even
professing Christian God help them who their main ambition in
life is to live an easy life. You can't have that mindset and
expect God to recruit you and I to do something significant for
His Kingdom. They're irreconcilable, and Ezra
shows us that here to an extent, and it's very likely that many
in Babylonia refused to follow Ezra when he decided to go back
for that reason. Look again at verse 7.
There's a very important word in Ezra 77.
I'm sure you'll pick up on it. And there went up also to
Jerusalem in the seventh year of Arctic Xerxes, the king.
Some, that's the word, some of the people of Israel.
And in the ESV at least is repeated again and some of the
priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers and the temple
servants, some not all. So even with the second wave, we
already saw with the first wave that not everybody who were in
Babylon decided to go back. Now we come to the second
opportunity where you have the backing of the king at the time
saying go and here's all the resources to help you and still
still some wrap your hand around that one.
But I want to look at it from Ezra's perspective.
I mean, this man, as we're going to see in the rest of the book
of Ezra, he's remarkable. He is godly, like he's
consistent, he's righteous. When he sees the people going
back at the sin, he's going to weep.
He's going to fast over it. He's not casual about this.
This is his life and he's so insightful in the word.
I mean, when we're going to look at the revival that he's going
to lead, all he's really doing is reading the scriptures and
people are going to be cut to the heart.
And yet as influential and as insightful.
Listen, Ezra couldn't convince everybody some and let this be
an encouragement to those who are despondent because you can't
seem to figure out why everybody in your world doesn't share in
your passion for God and for His Word and for the ministry and
for the local church and for the lost.
I've received some wonderful godsend advice throughout my
life, especially in ministry. And one of the things that I
appreciated from somebody is that they said resist the urge
of focusing on those in the church who don't even really
want to be there to begin with. Don't, don't get so caught up in
those who are not coming to church.
Reserve your energy and your service to those who do come.
Don't gear your messages to those who are not paying
attention during the service. Look at those who have come with
an open heart and an open Bible and focus on them.
And in the same way you and I, no matter what our height of
holiness is right Ezra here and only bringing some doesn't
discredit his walk with the Lord.
It doesn't mean that he wasn't faithful to the truth.
It just means every person has a choice.
And listen, there are some people who no matter what you
say to them or how you live, who don't want the things of God.
And what you need to determine is God give me the grace to
serve and to reserve what you've deposited me for those who do
want it and to help them and bless them and equip them.
So as Ezra makes his way, there are some who are going to follow
him. And I want you to notice
something else because we're almost finished here.
There's a phrase that it appears now twice in this chapter, at
the end of verse 9. Did you see it?
Look at it again, for the good hand of his God was on him.
As we advance and the three remaining chapters of this book,
that same phrase is going to appear four more times.
The good hand of the Lord, the good hand of God was upon them,
upon him. So clearly, whatever this means,
it's an integral part to Ezra's testimony.
But what does it mean? If you look at that phrase
throughout the Scripture, both in old and new, it sometimes
means God is about to execute judgement that the the hand of
the Lord was upon this or that and there is going to be
terrible wrath. But if we just work with Ezra
and and factor in every single time it is mentioned, we have a
different conclusion of what this means.
And it's not a contradiction. It just means that this, this,
this phrase involves other conclusions.
It's very inclusive. And here's what we discover.
This is a metaphor. This is a metaphor for God's
power, provision, protection, and providential guidance
resting upon a person's life. In other words, for God's hand
to be upon Ezra means that his favor and blessing is
overshadowing him, resulting in some form of success.
Here's what's so exciting. You find that in the New
Testament. You find the same thing that's
happening here with Ezra in the New Covenant.
Let me give you one example. Go to Acts Chapter 11 and notice
what happens here at this point when the gospel is going beyond
Jerusalem and is touching the neighborhood, the Gentile
surroundings. Look at Acts 11 and verse 20.
Acts 1120 reads. But there were some of them, men
of Cyprus and Cyrene, who when coming to Antioch, spoke to the
Hellenist also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
And the hand of the Lord was with them.
Do you see it? And the hand of the Lord was
with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
So even in the New Covenant we find the hand of the Lord at
work, the hand of the Lord blessing and moving upon and
through His people, bringing about success.
The true 'cause for success in the ministry of the Church here
is because God's hand remember a metaphor of his power and
protection and provision and providential guidance resting
upon his people. Here's what that tells me.
At least two things #1 even in the New Testament, this concept
of God's hand is available, right #2 if that's true, then we
should seek after it. We should seek after it.
Perhaps you've heard somebody say that, Perhaps you've said
that we've heard a minister, or you look at somebody's life.
You say God's hand is on that person's life.
That's a biblical term, but I want it to be a reality in my
life. I don't know about you.
And here's what's so wonderful about this.
If you want to do your own personal Bible study in Ezra,
look at every time the hand of God is mentioned in this book
and draw a conclusion of what is the fruit of that.
It's a wonderful thing to see what God's hand on somebody's
life produces. It's so glorious.
In fact, it can be a sermon, might be a sermon one of these
days. But here's where it gets even
more exciting. We're actually told by Ezra how
one way that we can have God's hand received and resting on our
lives. And it's arguably found in the
most famous verse in the book of Ezra, Ezra 7, verse 10.
Let's go there, shall we? For Ezra had set his heart to
study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes
and rules in Israel. How many of you here have heard
of that verse? Quarter that verse before
reading it together here tonight?
Nobody, I hope. Yeah, Few.
OK, so I'm going to assume that everybody didn't lift their
hand. Never heard of this verse
before. If you haven't, this is one of
the most famous verses in the book of Ezra.
But unfortunately it's because it's so powerful, people isolate
it because it's a it's a just a strong statement on its own.
But remember, we're trying to discover how what we just read
here in verse 10 relates to making the reality of God's hand
on our lives more of a possibility.
How do these things relate? Well, if you again pluck it from
this chapter, it doesn't relate. But if you keep it in its
context, then you'll understand that what we have in verse 10 is
the answer to what we just read at the end of verse 9.
How do we know that? Because there's a connecting
word. It's the word for at the
beginning of verse 10. Do you see it for?
In other words, let me just do this.
Look at the end of verse 9 again says here for the good hand of
his God was on him. Four In other words, the reason
why God's good hand was upon Ezra is because of what we're
going to read in verse 1043 things he had set his heart to
study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes
and rules in Israel. That's why.
So don't make this mistake in thinking, oh, OK, God's hand,
His power provision, protection, providential guidance was
resting on Ezra because he was ascribed.
That's not what the verse says. The verse doesn't say that he
was ascribed. It says because his heart was
set to study God's Word, to do God's Word, and to share God's
Word. And this is an inseparable
equation. If you and I want to live this
life with God's hand over us, this threefold passion must be
ours. So this is what we have to
determine tonight. On what level does studying
God's Word, doing God's Word and sharing God's Word occupy in our
hearts? Because he had set his heart.
You know, if you remove that, then you would think it was just
this was just mere duty. Ezra studied, did the word
taught it. That's not what it says.
He says he, he prepared his heart.
It was his all consuming passion.
And listen again, I know how we think we might dismiss this
because, well, I'm not a scribe. I'm not a theologian.
I'm not a pastor. Remember what Psalm one says
that the psalmist say. Blessed is the preacher who
meditates on the law of the Lord, day and night, who
delights in the law? No, it's blessed is the man.
Blessed is the man. And equally true, blessed is the
woman who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on a day
and night. Not the preacher, not the
scholar, not the faculty member at your local institution, the
man, the woman. And God's will for each of us is
to know Him through His Word. But more than that, you have to
be willing to study it. Are you thinking?
Hold on. I know a lot of people who have
a very familiar and strong awareness of the content of the
Bible, but their lives are a mess.
And you know what I want to say in response to that?
I know them too, because what many people who pursue knowledge
in God's Word fail to do is honor the equation that Ezra
sets out in this verse. They come to the Word of God
excited to know it so that they can teach it.
And listen, You should be if you're, especially if you're a
teacher, there should be a level of excitement of gathering truth
in order to share it with others.
But there is a priority that you should be just as excited to do
it before you teach it. What came before teaching what
you learned doing it. He said.
It's hard to know to do it and then to teach it.
You can't skip the middle part and expect God's hand on your
life. In fact, that's a recipe for
personal disaster, to study it just to tell other people about
it. No, Ezra was so careful.
I mean, he's described for those who are.
I mean, that that moved me. Doesn't that move you?
Think about it, that when I approach the Word, my heart
should be pumping first to discover what God has to say so
I know how to live. How many people approach the
Bible that way? Even for teachers, sometimes you
can get excited because you know you're preaching this Sunday and
you can't wait to share the golden Nuggets that you find in
God's Word. Hold on, before you get there,
you should be just as enthralled by the realization that God's
about to speak to you in your life before you tell other
people how to live. That's sobering to me.
Does my heart get excited to come to the Word to say?
OK, God, what are you going to say to me as a dad?
What are you going to say to me as a husband?
What are you going to say to me as a business owner?
What are you going to say to me about my private life?
What are you going to say to me about my engagement with the
world? What are you going to say to me
about my relationship? The money?
Does that ever cross your mind? If it doesn't, don't expect
God's hand to rest on your life, because this is what God is
saying. God help us.
So please don't misunderstand. I'm not merely advocating
greater knowledge of the Bible. I'm speaking about inspiring
your affections and governing your decisions to the point that
it actually moves you to be unashamed, to share it with your
spouse and to deposit it in the hearts of your children and to
extend it to your friends and at the right time to shine it
before the stranger. It's this way of life for the
man or the woman who can expect God's hand to rest on that life.
Let me say one final thing before we close.
Ezra means help, right? And God is going to set him to
be a help to the remnant in Jerusalem.
If you and I want to really be of help to those around us, we
need to apply this same kind of equation.
We need to know God's Word. We need to live it and be
willing to share with others. Then we can really be of help to
ourselves, to the church, and to a dying world.
We're only getting started with Ezra here in this study.
There's so much more to learn of him.
But for now, let us just sit with these truths and ask God to
make them real to us. Can we do that?
Let's pray. Your word, Lord, is amazing.
It is so sharp, it is so precise, so filled with promise.
And Lord, we've heard the clear application of this section of
Scripture. We all desire your hand to be
upon us. We desire your hand to remain on
Maranatha Bible Church and every ministry represented here.
And we know that the way to that wonderful reality being secure
is by setting our hearts upon Your Word.
We've learned, Lord, that you and your hand on our lives is
determined by how we handle this book.
And so Lord, we we ask for a renewed passion to know it for
ourselves 1st so that we can change and then by your grace be
a means for others to be changed.
We pray, Lord, that if this word is not primary in our lives that
you would change us, Lord, that you would help us understand
what Ezra saw, that it was given to us.
You have placed this word in our lives and we live in an age
where we have so many resources to study it.
But Lord, we need Your help to do it.
And we pray, Lord, that You would give us the boldness and
the love to tell others about it.
Lord, it is my prayer with my brothers and sisters that our
friendships would be seasoned by conversations around the
Scriptures, that we would never shy away to declare the word of
the Lord and a culture that hates it.
And Lord, we pray that if there's anybody here who aspires
to be a spiritual leader in your house, that they would meet the
credentials, they would honor your qualifications, and that
you would help this church and every other church here
recognize future leaders so that they would be a help to your
people. Lord, thank you for this man,
Ezra, And thank you more importantly for your son, the
Lord Jesus who is the greater high priest who offers greater
help and his priesthood is greater than that of errands
even in this store. We need your help to understand.
Lord, we stand to worship you tonight in Jesus name, Amen.
Amen. Let's stand and let's sing to
the Lord together. You know what so touches my
heart when Jesus asks his disciples, do you understand
these things? And they said yes.
He called a bunch of unlearned, mostly fishermen, some running
their own businesses, scribes, scribes.
And I think that gives us hope, doesn't it?
I hope your heart is burning as much as mine was throughout this
Bible study, that there is a way of life that is unlocked when
one person decides to study, do and share God's Word with
others. And listen, if you're saying,
what do you mean share? Well, look, you can't really get
excited about sharing it unless you first know it and do it
right and taste it for yourself. But more than that, that is
accessible for any of us. You don't need formal training
to imitate Ezra. The disciples didn't have it.
I mean, they're the greatest teacher in the world for three
years, but they were outside of the the protocol of the training
of their day in the religious system.
And here's the thing that's true for you.
And I listen in my life, some of the most insightful people I
know with the word of God didn't have to go to seminary.
They didn't, they didn't. I'm not against those things.
I went to Bible school, but you don't need it.
You don't. And so leave here with
inspiration that I have this book and hopefully you go to a
Bible preaching church and you know people who can help explain
things and more importing the Holy Spirit in you for you to be
able to pursue this way of life that more and more will cause
God's hand to rest upon you. That's my desire for each of us.
So Lord, we just pray that we would leave here with a fresh
ambition to study your word. Show us what book to start in.
Show us to be faithful, how to be faithful from book to book.
Give us the right resources, protect us from the wrong
resources. Help us do your word more
importantly to to meet with your word saying God, what do you
want to say to me? And Lord from there may the word
do such a work in our hearts that it overflows through our
mouths and we talk about it over dinner and we we share it with
our elders. And then Lord, we begin to
experience the blessing of your hand on our lives.
The longer we live and abide in your word.
We love you Lord, continue to guide us through Ezra.
It may be a lived reality for each of us.
In Jesus name we pray Amen and Amen.
Only three chapters left in Ezra.
Don't miss a week. God bless you.
We'll see you next week if the Lord wills.
Take some time to fellowship with one another before you
leave. We'll see you Sunday if the Lord
wills as well. God bless you.