author: Ryan Hayden Take your Bibles with me and turn to Ezra 7. Ezra 7. I'm not going to preach a long message this afternoon. But I do think this is important.
We have been studying the book of Ezra. But so far, we haven't heard anything about Ezra. That's because Ezra was a historian and in chapters 1-6 he was writing about events that took place before he was born.
The book of Ezra can be divided into two parts. It tells two similar, but different stories of renewal.
- The first (as we've already seen) is return of the jews from exile and the building of the Temple under Zerubabbel.
- The second is another return under Ezra and a spiritual revival of the people. You could add the book of Nehemiah as the third story that goes with these two, it tells the story of the third return and building of the walls.
So Ezra 7 starts this second story. The story of the second return under Ezra and it takes place a full 60 years after the Temple is built.
So its pretty safe to say that at this point, very few people who are alive lived through the events of chapters 1-6. The people have fallen into a state of spiritual decline. The temple is in shambles. God needs to raise up another leader to revive His people.
Let's read chapter 7 and we'll just read verses 1-10:
[!bible] Ezra 7:1-10 - KJV
- Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
- The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
- The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
- The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
- The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest:
- This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
- And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
- And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
- For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
- For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
Ezra is a fascinating figure. He may be one of the most important figures in the whole Bible - though most people don't know much about him.
In the first few verses, we see Ezra's pedigree. It was quite the pedigree. He was a priest in Aaron's line.
- He was the great-grandson of a priest named Hilkiah - remember him? Hilkiah was the priest who "found the book" during Josiah's reign and helped institute a revival of learning and obedience to scripture.
- He was also a decedent of Phinehas. Phinehas was the priest who, when Israel was sinning against God with the Moabite woman and God was sending a plague - took a spear and went into the tent of a sinning Israelite and speared both him and the woman through - ending the plague.
So Ezra had a godly heritage. God had used several people in his family to bring about revival and spiritual renewal.
But Ezra was born in and lived his whole life up to this point in Babylon, in the Persian empire, under king Artaxerxes.
When Zerubabbel came back, lots of people, even godly people stayed behind. We know of several of these people just from scripture:
- Daniel would have been alive at the time of the return, but he didn't go back.
- Esther and Mordacai lived in the time period between chapter 6 and 7.
- Nehemiah was serving as the kings cup bearer at this point.
There were many godly people left in Babylon, and apparently Ezra was ministering to them there.
So who was this guy? Well, verse 6 tells us that he was "a ready scribe in the law of Moses." Whatever Ezra was, he was a this "a ready scribe in the law."
The word "ready" there just means "diligent." And a scribe was someone who studied. So Ezra is a diligent student of the word of God. That's who he is by reputation.
If someone brought up Ezra, they wouldn't say "Oh, yeah, he makes a mean chicken wing." They wouldn't say "Ezra, man, he's got great jokes." No, when Ezra's name came up people said "That guy really studies his Bible." That was his reputation.
And Ezra's reputation for knowing and studying the Bible got the attention of the king of Persia. Somehow, Ezra had lived such an impressive life, that the King of Persia knew him and trusted him.
And so Ezra, like Nehemiah would, goes to the King and asks to lead another group back to Judah. This time they aren't going back to build the temple, but they are going back to build the people. There is some physical work to the Temple that needs to be done, but mainly they are wanting to build up people of God.
And the King, this would have been Artaxerxes - he grants Ezra's request and sends him on this journey.
If you read the letter that the king sent, Ezra had a mandate to do five things:
First, he was to investigate the spiritual state of Israel. To to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand; (14)
Second, he was to take money and buy animals for sacrifice. You see that in verse 15.
Third, he was to take financial support from the treasurers of the province. (21)
Fourth, he was to let everyone know that nobody working in the temple was to be taxed anymore. Look at verse 24:
[!bible] Ezra 7:24 - KJV 24. Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.
Finally, and most importantly, Ezra was to setup a system of magistrates and judges to rule Israel according to the law of God. Which involved teaching God's law. Look at verse 25:
[!bible] Ezra 7:25 - KJV 25. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.
Now, this is amazing - this is an edict that came from a pagan king. God was moving and helping Ezra.
So he takes this journey and leads a second group of people back.
It's interesting, if you look at verse 9, it tells us how long this journey took. It went from the first day of the first month to the first day of the fifth month. So this is a four month journey.
That's quite the long journey. That's like Oregon trail kind of stuff. That too took four months to complete.
Imagine, how would you even have enough food for four months? This is an arduous task. It was also dangerous, there were known groups of marauders on this trail.
But Ezra went.
Now, I really want to key in on verse 10. It's the key to this whole story:
[!bible] Ezra 7:10 - KJV 10. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
What was truly special about Ezra was that he was a man of the book. He was a man who had a right heart towards the Bible.
There were three things Ezra did here we can learn so we too can have a right heart towards the scripture:
First, Ezra studied the law of the Lord.
That's what this means "he prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord." Ezra was a ready scribe, a diligent student of the Bible. He was someone who took the time to get it right. To rightly divide the word of truth.
He was a faithful student of the Bible.
Church, if God's word is God's word - then it demands to be studied. We have to get it right. We have to make sure that we understand it properly.
We have people who devote their whole lives to understanding the law of the U.S.. We have law scholars and constitution scholars. Why? Because if we are going to govern by the law, it's crucial we understand it.
And if we are going to live by the word of God, it's crucial that we understand it.
[!bible] Proverbs 29:18 - KJV 18. Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
A lot of people like to take that verse and make it about having a vision for your church - but that's not what that verse is saying. In Hebrew poetry, you interpret the first line by the second. They go together.
So what it is saying is when people don't have a clear vision of the law - they perish.
Church we need to be people who know the scriptures. Who prepare our hearts to seek the law.
But notice the second thing about Ezra, not only did He study the word,
Second, Ezra obeyed the law of the Lord.
Notice again verse 10 - he prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it.
That second part is crucial. We aren't studying God's word for intellectual curiosity. We are studying it to do it. We are taking this word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It guides us. It's our map showing us where to go. It is something we need to take action on.
[!bible] James 1:23 - KJV 23. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Church member, how much of your life is guided by the word of God? You come and you listen to sermons - but how often do you put God's word into practice in your life? Is God's law the law of your life?
- Does it govern your marriage?
- Does it govern how you raise your kids?
- Does it govern how you spend your money?
- Does it govern how you spend your time?
- Is it your guide in the workplace?
Ezra studied the law to do it.
Look at the third thing we see in this verse:
Third, Ezra taught the law of the Lord.
Ezra had a massive impact on Israel. When we read the New Testament, and we see Jesus in Israel, I often think "Are these the same people who we read about in the Old Testament?"
I mean, for their faults, and there were some, the jews in the New Testament are dead serious about obeying the Bible and living by it. They have made the synagogue (which is basically a local church) the center of their lives. They are all studying the word. How did that happen? Who did that?
The answer is Ezra did. He didn't just take the time to understand the Bible and personally live it, he made it his life's mission to teach others what the Bible said and to teach teachers of the Bible and because of that, he was up there with Moses and David in the impact he made on Israel.
Church, we need to know the Bible and live the Bible - but we also need to teach it.
I know, you may not be a teacher. Being "apt to teach" is a thing. Some people just aren't teachers and that is ok.
But you still can teach your family. You can teach
