Finding the Key to God’s Blessing

Good afternoon, sorry I missed last week. I got the privilege of doing my 80 year old mom's wedding, she married her 90 year old boyfriend. The wedding was on Saturday and we drove home that Sunday.  Also you will notice that we are looking at Ezra 7 today. I do not know what happened to my study on Chapter 6. So here we are in Ezra 7:1-28.

Location, location, location. Success, we are told, depends on it. Whether one wants to start a business, advance a career, raise a family, or sell a house – location tops the list of critical considerations. The experts, armed with charts and statistics, point to business visibility, traffic patterns, purchasing habits, networking, safety and so on. This may explain why so many Christians equate finding God's will with where they live, work, or attend school. After all its all about location. Or is it?

In 516 B.C., when the temple in Jerusalem was completed, priests and Levites were installed in their duties, and the rituals of the law were inaugurated. The environment for spiritual development couldn't have been better. The holy city was reoccupied by consecrated priests, and Levites. They served in the temple courts, offered the daily sacrifices, safeguarded the golden vessels, and conducted the annual feast; these were men who were well-positioned. Yet, in less than sixty years, the community developed spiritual problems.

In spite of their prime location, the Jerusalem priests remained as peripheral element in the coming spiritual renewal. Instead it was Ezra who initiated reform – a man trained and sharpened for service not in Jerusalem but in Babylon. But, of course, the issue was not where Ezra lived but how he lived. Known for his devotion and integrity, Ezra understood the heart of God and prepared to serve Him anywhere. He knew that God's will was resolved not in a particular location but in holiness and faithfulness. These could be practiced anywhere. Ezra's “success” was not rooted in the neighborhood but in God.

Within the Persian Empire, Judah was designated a “temple-state,” a community whose laws and organization were based on temple codes and conduct. Like other Persian kings, Artaxerxes's government helped assure the proper administration of religious life among its subject people. Ezra, a Jewish priest know for his integrity and piety, was commissioned by the king to travel to Jerusalem to bring social and religious order.

1. Ezra the Man and His Mission (vs. 1-9)

I listen other communicators carefully because I want to learn how to convey God’s truth more faithfully and effectively. As I study others, I have come to some interesting conclusions. Some preachers who demonstrate admirable elocution (vocal control, strong gestures, memorized scripts, poetic eloquence) seem to have limited success. Few people become Christians under their preaching, and their churches are mired in the doldrums of mediocrity. Conversely, other preachers who lack the technical skills often associated with good preaching have led hundreds of people to Christ Jesus while building dynamic, growing churches. Their sermons, which might not earn a passing grade in a seminary preaching class, move people into genuine relationships with God and with other Christians.

I have come to the conclusion, that effective communication of God’s truth requires more than expertise in public speaking. So I wonder: If perfect elocution, while it helps, is not essential to effective preaching, what is? What is the key to God’s blessing in the ministry of communication? Certainly a discussion of God’s blessing must acknowledge His sovereignty, yet to a certain extent we are able to influence God in the matter of blessing. Ezra 7 shows us that “the good hand of God” was upon Ezra, guiding and favoring his ministry, but it also teaches us why God honored Ezra—it gives us the kı̂ (key) to God’s blessing.

After six chapters, Ezra's name finally shows up in the Book named after him. But what do we know about Ezra? Verses 1–5 introduce Ezra by giving his family tree. This long list of ancestors not only emphasizes his importance, but also identifies Ezra as a priest, a direct descendant of “Aaron the chief priest” (v. 5). We learn more about Ezra in verse 6 where he is portrayed as “a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses.” The Hebrew states literally that he was a “quick” scribe, or a fast copier; however, the term implies not only speed, but proficiency in the Law of God as well. The word “scribe” denotes one who is learned, a Torah scholar. We would call him a “rabbi,” or “teacher.” It is likely, however, that “scribe” also designates Ezra as an official in the Persian government. Ezra's highest commendation was that he was a skilled student of the Pentateuch, an honorable practitioner of its commands, and an effective teacher of its laws.

We see in verse 6 that Ezra stood in favor with God and man. We also see that Ezra was a man with a mission. A fifty-year interval lies between 6:22 and 7:1. Notice that verse 1 describes the events of the chapter as taking place during “the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia. At this point we know relatively little about Jewish life during the fifty years between the completion of the temple and the time of Ezra.

 

Ezra went from Babylon to Jerusalem, for the good of his country. Artaxerxes was kind to him; he granted all his requests. Whatever Ezra needed to help him serve Judah was given to him.

When he went, many went with him; priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants. Ezra obtained favor from Artaxerxes, by the Divine favor of God. Ezra's journey lasted 14 weeks, and took the caravan through 900 miles of harsh countryside and treacherous lands. Notice that their safe arrival in Jerusalem was attributed to God's guidance and protection. 

Your safe arrival in New Jerusalem is only by God's guidance and protection.

“ki” a small word, only two letters, but a big word because...

2. “kı̂” = Because (vs. 10)

Ezra was not only skilled in scholarship and knowledge of the law but in living according to its mandates and spirit. His life was held in balance by devotion to wisdom, a commitment to righteousness, and a desire to teach others the way of God. 

 

The word “for” is translated from the Hebrew term “kı̂” which sounds like the English word “key.” This Hebrew conjunction may also be translated as “because.” Here it explains why God’s hand rested upon Ezra. God blessed Ezra’s ministry because Ezra prepared his heart. The phrase translated “prepared his heart” connotes a whole hearted commitment of oneself to something. We would say, “Ezra committed himself completely to God.” 

 

Specifically, Ezra committed himself to three actions:

First, he prepared his heart “to seek the Law of the Lord.” The verb “to seek” is a literal translation of a Hebrew verb that also means “to study.” It implies an energetic effort to find God’s truth as revealed in the Law, the Mosaic Torah.

Second, Ezra committed himself “to do” the Law: Obedience followed the preparation of careful study. 

 

Third, he planned to “teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”: The word “statutes” here more than likely refer to the general principles of the Law, while “ordinances” refers to specific principles.

Taken together, this phrase means that Ezra planned to teach the whole Law, not just parts of it.

Ezra, was a priest, a religious scholar, a student of God’s law, and more importantly a person who followed God and lived and taught what he studied. Because of this he was a man blessed by God. Who or what do you follow?

3. The King's Commission (vs. 11-26)

The letter is addressed from King Artaxerxes to “Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven” (v. 12). As mentioned before, the term “scribe” may have identified Ezra as an official in the Persian government. Here however, the writer once more presents Ezra as a scholar: an expert in God’s law who will teach the people to obey. 

 

The letter from Artaxerxes included several noteworthy factors.

First, it permitted all Jews, including “priests and Levites,” to return to Jerusalem with Ezra, if they wished to do so (v. 13). By granting this permission, Artaxerxes reaffirmed the policy initially established by Cyrus (Ezra 1). 

 

Second, the king sent Ezra “to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, with regard to the Law of your God which is in your hand” (v. 14). It is not known if Ezra had a copy of the Mosaic law, or a portion of it, that he carried from Babylon to Jerusalem. Or if this is a reference to his expertise in the law. But what is known is that he was “to in quire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, with regard to the Law” The sense of the verse (and what follows) suggests that Ezra was sent, among other things, to find out if the people were following the Law. If not, then Ezra was given the authority to teach them and to enforce obedience (vv. 25–26). 

 

Third, the king charged Ezra with the responsibility for carrying gifts and financial contributions for the temple in Jerusalem (vv. 15–19). Once more, like his predecessor Cyrus, Artaxerxes contributed generously to the worship of God in an effort to elicit God’s blessing rather than His wrath (v. 23). He also offered to pay for whatever else Ezra required for the temple (v. 20), and he commanded Persian officials in the region near Judah to take care of Ezra’s financial needs (vv. 21–22). In addition, the officials were forbidden to tax any of those who served in the temple (v. 24). 

 

Fourth, verses 25 and 26 spell out in greater detail Ezra’s duties as a scholar of God’s Law.

He was to appoint “magistrates and judges who may judge all the people,” as long as the people “know the laws of your God” (v. 25). Furthermore, those who did not know the Law were not to be held liable, but were to be taught. Thus Ezra’s second task was to “teach those who do not know them [the laws]” (v. 25). 

  

Finally, the king granted Ezra permission to punish anyone who disobeyed the Law, by “death, or banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment” (v. 26). Accordingly, Ezra was sent not only to inquire into the state of legal knowledge and obedience in Judah (v. 14), but also to teach the Law, to judge by it, and to enforce it.

Fellow Believers, you like Ezra have been called to teach the law, to let it be known that there is a final judgment, and that God because He is righteous will enforce His judgment.

Conclusion: Two things Ezra gave thanks to God for: For his commission: If any good appear in your heart, or in the hearts of others, know that God put it there, and give thanks to Him. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17

For his encouragement: God has extended mercy to you. Ezra was a man of courage, yet he attributed this not to his own heart, but to God's hand. If God give you His hand, you should be bold and cheerful; if he withdraws it, you will find that you are weak. Whatever you are enabled to do for God and those around you, give God all the glory.

For those who do not know Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour, give thanks that He came for you. He came so that you can have an eternal relationship with God, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:16-17