Ezra 7:28
The Bible is filled with stories of people who lived their lives under the influence of God.... Through deep faith and a willingness to serve, God used them to fulfill His purposes. Ezra is one such example of what can happen when a person determines to seek God and allows the Lord to use him. In 457 B.C., Ezra led a group of Jews from Babylonian captivity back to Jerusalem about eighty years after a group led by Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple. The mission of Ezra’s group was to restore the people of God. In the book of Ezra the first six chapters describe the work of Zerubbabel. The final four chapters relate Ezra’s arrival and the great restoration he brought about. The theme of Ezra’s life and work could be stated as “The Hand Of The Lord My God Was Upon Me,” for six times in two chapters he thus attributes his success.
In our lesson, let’s first notice how the hand of the Lord was upon Ezra. We find this in the receiving his request from the King. Notice Ezra 7:6 “this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe 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.” Because the hand of the Lord was upon Ezra, Artaxerxes allowed him:
1) To go to Jerusalem - Ezra 7:12-13 ‘"Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.”
2) To take silver and gold to buy animals for sacrifice - Ezra 7:14-17 “For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.”
3) To buy what is needed for the service of the house of God - Ezra 7:18-23 “Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury. "And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.”
4) To be free from taxation - Ezra 7:24 “We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.”
5) To set up magistrates and judges - Ezra 7:25-26 ‘"And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach. Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment."’ -- Ezra recognized the hand of God was at work in his behalf! - Ezra 7:27-28 “Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.”
The hand of the Lord was upon Ezra in finding servants for the temple. Prepared to leave, Ezra noted none of sons of Levi - Ezra 8:15 “I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi.” He sends men to find some who will go with them - Ezra 8:16-17 “Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God.” -- By the good hand of God upon them, they find 38 Levites and 220 Nethinim to assist them! - Ezra 8:18-20 “And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.”
The hand of the Lord was upon Ezra in providing a safe journey to Jerusalem. Ezra proclaimed a fast to seek from God the right way to travel - Ezra 8:21-23 “Then I proclaimed a 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, 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.” Having told the king that God’s hand would be them, he was ashamed to ask for a military escort - Ezra 8:22 -- God’s hand was upon them, and they safely arrived in Jerusalem! - Ezra 8:31-32 “Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days.” From beginning to end the hand of the Lord was upon Ezra.
We will continue this lesson next week looking into why Ezra enjoyed the blessings of God's provisions in his life. Is there anything we can glean from Ezra’s story that might ensure the hand of God in our own lives? I believe there is!
