Lessons From Ezra – Lesson 11
Ezra 7:7 …in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
When the Bible takes time to note a certain year of a certain person it is a timestamp. It is a marker. God is making sure that we have the information to know the order in which things happened. And there is a reason for this. When we see this we know that there is something that God wants us to learn from it.
Sometimes, as in this case, corresponding markers are found in other books. The section of History we have been looking at is called the restoration. That is when God brought His people back to Jerusalem after the 70 years of captivity.
The restoration took a long time. It took about 70 years. The account of it is told in 5 books. Esther, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra. To get the complete story you have to look at all 5 books, and that is what we have been doing.
If you don’t look at all 5 as a whole and if you don’t pay attention to the timestamps in all of those books, then you will make mistakes and can really miss a lot of the lessons that God is teaching.
If you restrict yourself to only going verse by verse and staying only in those verses, then you can miss a lot. The restoration is certainly an example of that. It is so much better to do things the biblical way and compare scripture with scripture.
And we are almost done with looking at the restoration. Only a few more chapters in Ezra to go.
Lately we have been going over the initial return and the rebuilding of the temple. Which took about 4 years or so to complete. After the temple is rebuilt life goes on for 36 years before the next Biblical event.
So God sends some people back and 40 years pass and then comes the events in Esther. God uses Esther to save her people, many other people become Jews, and the celebration of Purim is started.
15 years pass until the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. That makes Ezra 7:1 55 years after the return of the first people to Jerusalem. So there are about 51 years between Ezra 6:22 and Ezra 7:1
If you only read Ezra you would think that they finished the Temple and had a joyful feast and then Ezra shows up shortly after. Nope. Haman, Mordecai, Esther and all of that is in between Ezra 6:22 and Ezra 7:1. A lot happened in between those two verses and a lot of time passed.
For the first 6 chapters of the book that bears his name, Ezra was not even born yet. By the inspiration of God Ezra pens those first 6 chapters to permanently record what happened. And now in Chapter 7 Ezra comes on the scene.
Most of the people who celebrated in Ezra 6:22 are now dead. No doubt there were a few children who saw the celebration in Ezra 6:22 still alive, but most likely not too many.
This also explains things when we get to the people’s problem when Ezra shows up. Most likely we will deal with that next week. Without knowing that this is a mostly different group of people it could leave you confused. Why? Because we saw that the group that built the Temple was listening to God and they were fixing some things and their faith was growing.
When Ezra shows up the people were not listening to God. If you did not know that they were different people, if you did not know about all the time that passed, you would be confused with what appears to be a sudden change of behavior.
A lot of time passed. We are now dealing with the children and grandchildren of those who re-built the temple.
In God’s perfect timing, God is going to send Ezra to Jerusalem 15 years before Nehemiah gets there.
Chapter 7 starts out by telling us something about Ezra.
Ezr 7:1 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,
Ezr 7:2 The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
Ezr 7:3 The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
Ezr 7:4 The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
Ezr 7:5 The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest:
Ezra can trace his ancestry all the way back to the 1st High priest. Aaron. Moses’ brother.
In those days was that important?
Yes. God said that the privilege of ministering to the people for God was reserved for the Levites. That rule does not apply to us today. God never extended that rule in the New Testament to Gentiles.
In those days it did apply and it was important. But was it the most important thing? No.
Remember the horrible sons of Eli. They had the blood line to do the job, but the result was awful. The most important qualification for doing the job correctly is not the bloodline but the heart.
But is the heart the only qualification for doing the job correctly? No. A man also needs to be grounded in and know how to correctly handle the Word of God. The Bible calls it rightly dividing the word of truth.
We see this about Ezra in verse 6.
Ezr 7:6 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:
The phrase a ready scribe in the law of Moses means that Ezra knew his Bible. All of it that was given up unto that time. He knew what it said and he could properly teach it to others.
And it implies that he had another extremely important qualification. He actually believed that the Bible was the Word of God that the Lord God had given. It is so very sad to me how few today have the same kind of faith in God’s Word.
I have met and talked to several pastors who really don’t believe the book they are preaching and making a living with.
Ezra believed that what he taught was that which the Lord God had given. I see God’s hand working here. God worked in the circumstances of life to get Ezra prepared and God started working before Ezra ever had a clue about going to Jerusalem.
God had Ezra born a Levite, God got Ezra the training in the Word of God that he needed. And God gave him the talents to teach it and the mind to understand it.
And we know that God is the master of opening doors and shutting doors. And how He can move in the hearts of people to accomplish His will.
Ezr 7:6 …and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
God moved in the heart of Ezra to go teach at Jerusalem, and God worked on his heart to go to the king about it. And God worked in the king’s heart to grant Ezra all his request according to the hand of the Lord his God upon Ezra.
The Bible is clear. God was at work in all of this. And God did not only send Ezra. Ezra was going to need a lot of help. And God worked in the lives of people to provide this help.
Ezr 7:7 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.
Ezr 7:8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
Ezr 7:9 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.
It has come up before and I did mention it, but here is the proof. The trip from Babylon to Jerusalem was not a quick trip. It was an ordeal in those days. They left on the 1st day of the 1st month and got to Jerusalem on the 1st day of the 5th month.
It was a 5 month trip one way. This helps explain how so much could go wrong when Nehemiah finally had to go back and report to the king and stay there a while and then travel back. The travel time alone for a round trip was 10 months.
And remember the several times when they sent a letter to the king and a response had to be sent back. That it took time. Granted a letter carrier can move faster than a group that is moving with all of their belongings. But it still was not a fast trip.
Now comes a huge verse. It explains why Ezra was going to Jerusalem. This next verse explains why the Lord’s hand was upon Ezra the way it was.
Ezr 7:10 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.
It really all does come down to being a heart matter. It really is.
Ezra was not a hypocrite. He did not want to learn the law of the Lord for knowledge sake. He did not learn it to impress people or to be able to awe people with his ability to answer questions.
He seeked the law of the Lord to do it. It was a very personal matter with him. Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord to do it
And he wanted to share what he learned and what he experienced in his life by doing it. He wanted to teach that to others. The word of God had an impact in Ezra’s own life. He wanted the same for others.
This was all a heart matter for Ezra. That is the biblical way it should be for anyone who teaches the word of God. In fact the Bible tells us that it should not be done for filthy lucre.
Now Ezra could have taught the Word of God anywhere. After all didn’t the people where he lived also need the Word of God? Yes. But God has a way of directing the heart of His servants to take the role He wants in the place that He wants them.
It is always best if a man would listen to that. There is a reason that God sent David Livingstone to Africa and Judson to China and Billy Sunday all over America. Billy Sunday would have failed in Africa and David Livingstone would not have been good on the sawdust trail like Billy Sunday was.
God in His perfect knowledge matches the man and the job. America is in a mess partly because men have forgotten this and they go to a big College like Landcaster and then they all want that. God might call them to an inner city or to a small town and they refuse and all go to nice suburbs.
And when that happens the nation suffers and God’s people suffer. Ezra was not like that. God put Jerusalem on his heart and so Ezra goes to the king about it.
The king listens and grants Ezra all of his request. And has a letter written for Ezra to take with him.
Ezr 7:11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.
Ezr 7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
Ezr 7:13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
Ezr 7:14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;
Ezr 7:15 And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
Two times already free will is mentioned. No one was forced to go and no one was forced to give.
Ezr 7:16 And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:
Two more times in verse 16. Freewill offering and offering willingly. And the money given was to be used for God’s work according to God’s will.
Ezr 7:17 That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.
Ezr 7:18 And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.
Ezr 7:19 The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.
Ezr 7:20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.
Ezr 7:21 And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,
Ezr 7:22 Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
The king orders that the work be provided for.
Ezr 7:23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
Are you seeing this king declare at least some level of faith here? Do you remember who his stepmom was? Esther. I believe that this is more evidence of her influence.
This king knew about our God and if you noticed in this letter the king had a solid knowledge of what was required for all of the sacrifices and for the service in the Temple. Oil and wheat and salt and rams and lambs. He knew a lot.
Ezr 7:24 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.
He gave a tax break to the minsters of God.
Ezr 7:25 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.
And this king wanted the Word of God to be taught to those that did not know it.
While the king knew a lot, his next statement shows that his knowledge and faith was lacking in some things.
Ezr 7:26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
Now listen as Ezra clearly states who is to get credit for all of this.
Ezr 7:27 Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:
Ezr 7:28 And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
Ezra gives the credit where credit belongs. Ezra said it was God who worked in the king’s heart. It was because of God that they had mercy before the king and not just the king, but also the king’s counsellors and the mighty princes.
And Ezra says that it was the hand of God that was upon him and strengthened him.
Like we have seen so many times before. Usually when God works it is not by huge miracles like parting the Red Sea. O’ he has done huge things like that and like sending fire from Heaven to devour Elijah’s sacrifice and the altar and even the water in the trench.
But far more often God uses His almighty power in the circumstances of life and in the hearts of people. God is working in Ezra’s life to send Ezra to do a big job. So big in fact that Ezra is going to need help.
Ezr 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.
Ezr 8:16 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.
Ezr 8:17 And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.
And God works and sends help and watch Ezra once again acknowledge the working of God in all of this. Ezra does not get puffed up when things start to happen. He stays humble and gives all the praise and all the credit to God. That is a good lesson right there.
Ezr 8:18 And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;
Ezr 8:19 And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;
Ezr 8:20 Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.
What we see in all of this is a great example of how serving God is heart matter. How someone who has the heart to teach the Word of God needs to know how to rightly divide the word of truth. And how men should let God lead and let God work in circumstances and let God work in the hearts of men.
And always, always acknowledge that it is God that is working and making it happen and always give God the praise and credit for it all.