Ezra 7 The Life
that God Blesses!
After
these things …. After the events of Ch.6 –
A)There
is a 57 year gap between chapters 6 and 7.
B)After Darius reign his son
Xerxes takes the throne – Xerxes is Ahauserus of the book of Esther
1)So
it t is in this gap that the BOOK OF ESTHER should be inserted
chronologically.
C)CH.7 Xerxes Son Artxerxes
is now on the throne in
1))It
is here in Ch.7 that we meet the man who wrote this book – Ezra
D))
Amazing man that is used in a powerful way.
Chapters
1-6 deal with the CONSTRUCTION of the temple under Zerubbabel while Chapters
7-10 deal with INSTRUCTION of the people under Ezra.
CH
1-6 deal with REBUILDING while 7-10 deal with REVIVING
As
we work our way thru this Chapter there are 6 things I want us to note about
this man who was radically used and blessed by God.
RD v.1-11
#1
V.6,11 We are told that Ezra was a skilled Scribe in the law of Moses!
A)V.11
Calls him an expert in the words of the law
B) So the first thing that
this tells us about Ezra is that he took his position seriously
C)The
Ch. Starts by giving us his family back ground – the son of .. son of All the way down to Aaron
1)Which
means that Ezra was from the Line of the High Priest
D) Ezra was a part of a
family that was set apart by God for a specific ministry.
He
was to be a man who was so acquainted with the Lord and his law that he could
stand before God’s pp as God’s representative
A)Ezra
took his calling seriously – He applied himself to become skilled at his
calling.
B)He
studied – he poured over the scriptures –
Ezra
was a LOVER OF THE WORD.
C)
He was such a lover and scholar of the Old Testament Scriptures that Jewish
historians say that it was Ezra who compiled the Old Testament Canon.
They
also say that it was Ezra who established the practice of meeting in Synagogues
while in Babylon.
A)Took 10 Jewish
men to make a synagogue -This was to be a system to help the people learn the word of God in a
setting near to their homes they would gather on a weekly basis to study the
scriptures
WE
could say that The whole idea of Church – gather weekly to study originating
with Ezra.
B)It is believed that Ezra
wrote PSALM 119.
1)
It is that wonderful Psalm that is 176
verses long.
C)All but 1 of these verses
makes a direct reference to the Word of God.
NOTE:
The historic contemporaries of Ezra were Buddha, Confucius, and Socrates
A)The
world at large knows NOTHING of Ezra, while it stands in awe of Buddha,
Confucius and Socrates
B)BUT
- Eternity will show that Ezra is the greatest of these. Not in the worlds
eyes, but in the sight of God.
All
of that is the Fruit of a man who took his calling seriously.
A)APP NT says that we as believers are a
B)We have a mandate from God
that is just as serious as Ezra’s { AMBASSADORS
C)But the problem with a lot
of believers is they don’t take that calling seriously
1)Calling to know Gods word –
calling to represent him to the world
D)Especially
grieving when it occurs with someone who is called to full time ministry.
The
People that I often see struggle with this the most are the pp who are the most
gifted.
A)They
have learned to get by on the natural charm Charisma, gifting, and
personalities – that they get lazy.
B)Guys
like myself have to work hard – Not gifted enough smart enough – eloquent
enough.
1)Someone
said to me the other day: When I just talk to you – you can seem a little
spacey – TRUE – talk circles lose train of thought
C)But
then he said but when you are in the Pulpit – you are so focused
1)True
– Hard work – and Holy Spirit
But
it makes me sick when I see pp who are just gifted communicators get up and
–wing it!
A)Because they have some
Charisma – wit – personality - they can pull off sharing
B)But they don’t do their
homework to really deliver anything of any substance
C)Two things will happen to
a congregation sitting under someone like that – 1st they can get
focused on a man
D)2nd they end up
sick and anemic spiritually
Ezra
wasn’t that way he took his calling seriously:
I love to see gifted individuals do that
A)Howard musician and
speaker / Bob Coy
#2
V.6,9 The good hand of the Lord was upon Ezra’s life.
A)This is a much repeated
phrase used to Describe both Ezra and Nehemiah
B)In Ezra’s case I believe
that it was a direct result of the fact that he took his calling and
relationship with God seriously
C)Promise
of Psalm 1 – Person not playing around with the world – committed to the Lord
and his word – Result – whatever they do they prosper
D)Not
a life with out problems or challenges – Ezra faced many
1) But they are blessed in it and thru and
they have a positive impact upon others
The
good hand of the Lord upon Ezra’s life is clearly seen in the Fact that King
Artxerxes gets so behind what Ezra is wanting to do – look at the letter v12-26
A)Amazing to see God’s hand
upon this pagan King – God moving behind the scenes
B)It seems obvious to me
that the King has had some kind of encounter with God
1)Ezra no doubt has
influenced him
V.25 He is impressed by Ezra’s
wisdom – Seems that Ezra instructed Art in the worship of Jehovah
V.23 He refers to Jehovah as
the God of Heaven and whatever the God of heaven commands is to be obeyed.
V.23
There seems to be some form of healthy fear of God – Art wants to avoid his
wrath.
V.14 He is familiar with the
law of God
V.16 He knows that the
offering that God desires are to be freewill offerings
V.17
He knows that the sacrifices are in the form of Bulls and lambs and that grain
and drink offerings were a part of their worship.
V.24 He knows that their
worship system includes Priest Levites singers and gatekeepers
Art gives his full support
to this endeavor – commands that the ways of the God of heaven are to be
followed diligently and whole heartily.
(1)
He authorized Ezra to go to
(2)
He provided a generous grant to buy supplies
and
temple vessels for the temple worship (7:15-20).
(3)
He commanded the treasurers in the provinces to supplement anything else that
Ezra needed, up to 3ľ tons of silver, 600 bushels of wheat, 600 gallons of
wine, 600 gallons of olive oil, and salt without
limit
(7:21-22).
(4)
He exempted all temple officials and workers
from
taxation (7:24).
(5)
he authorized Ezra to set up a judicial
system
to see that these laws were obeyed and that violators were properly punished
(7:25-26).
The
Good hand of the Lord was evident on Ezra’s
life in that God gave him favor with the King
#3
Ezra prepared his heart!
A)With Ezra it wasn’t all
about head Knowledge!
B)Knowledge puffs up but
love builds up
1)A head full of knowledge
but no heart for God is a dangerous thing
C)Problem with the Pharisees
in Jesus day: They meticulously studied the word – but Jesus said – their
hearts were far from God.
Ezra
understood that the starting point of his relationship with God was the
heart
A)He
prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord
B)The
precursor to study was preparation of heart
Prepare = 1.) to
be fixed, be securely determined
He was DETERMINED to study the Word
C) Because it was a heart
thing – Ezra just didn’t want to know God’s word he wanted to live it.
1)So
He prepared his heart to seek it and to live it
#4 Ezra
sought to teach others God’s word – teach statues in
A)This reveals that Ezra had
a heart for other pp.
B)Ezra wasn’t all about self
– self Knowledge – He wasn’t about simply learning – he was about pp.
C)He wanted to take what God
was showing him and pass it on to others!
1)That is the best way to
grow
D)Dead
sea in
We
need to be both a reservoir and a river
A)Reservoir is fed by the
rain and melting snow and feeds the rivers
B)If the reservoir didn’t
have an outlet it would have no life
C)If the river didn’t have
the reservoir it would dry up
We
study the word – we become a reservoir – God’s life and love and word and heart
in us
A)Flowing out like a river
to others
B) It is the very flow that
keeps us from getting stagnate and polluted but it is the constant intake that
keeps us from drying up.
#5 V. 27-28 Ezra knew that his blessings came from God and
he acknowledged that. Rd v27-28
A)Sign of his own humility –
he wasn’t puffed up in thinking – it was his genius that pulled this off
B)It was the Lord – and He
gives glory to God – He knows it was God who moved on the Kings heart
C)He knows it is the mercy
of God being extended to him –
1)Mercy is not getting what
you do deserve.
D)I deserve wrath from God –
blessing
#6 V.28b
Ezra gathered leading men to go up with
Him.
A)I like this – Ezra was not
a lone ranger! Even though he was skilled and a “expert” He knew he needed help
–
B)He knew that he needed
others with him.
C)There is comfort and wisdom in a team