EZRA


A. "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 STATUES TO ISRAEL" - EZRA 7:11-26
  1. The words of our text make it very plain:
    1. That Ezra, living in exile, was a highly educated person
    2. He stood high with King Artaxerxes and was given authority and provision for the return of the Israelites to their homeland
  2. The life and mission of this man is fully described in the book that bears his name:
    1. His family relation
    2. And his part in the return of the Jews to their homeland is full of divine significance and deserves prayerful consideration by us this morning
B. OF EZRA THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS MAY BE MADE
  1. Ezra was the son of Seraiah the high priest who was slain after the taking of Jerusalem - 2Kings 25:18-21:
    1. As a priest, he was a descendent from Zadok and from Phinehas - Ezra 7:1-6
    2. He was also a ready scribe - Ezra 7:6, 11, 20
    3. He was a student and as such he had a duty to himself to study the will of God as revealed in His word that he might hide it in his own heart - Ezra 7:10
  2. In his functions:
    1. He was a ready reader and interpreter of God's law to the people returning from exile - Neh. 8:2-8
    2. He was a copyist with a duty to his own generation in teaching his fellow exiles what he had learned; also, to preserve in tact the very words of God - Ezra 7:10-11
    3. He was an able administrator; he led the Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem in peace and safety and established himself as their leader; reformed them with a vigorous hand
  3. In nature:
    1. He was a man of deep humility - Ezra 7:10-15; 10:6
    2. He was a man of great learning with a fervent zeal for God - Ezra 7:10; 8:21-23
    3. He was a man that was trustworthy - Ezra 7:13, 26
    4. A man anxious to commend his cause to others - Ezra 8:2-20
    5. He was deeply grieved over the sins of the people - Ezra 9:3; 10:6 ` f. A man who spared no pain to bring the people to repentance
C. A TIMELY LESSON TO LEARN FROM HIS USEFUL LIFE AND SERVICE
  1. We learn that God honors:
    1. A person that is devoted to the study of the Word of God; Examples: He honored Daniel's efforts to understand the prophecy in Jeremiah about the time when his people should return from exile - compare Dan. 9:2; with Jer. 25:12; 29:10; Zech 1:12; also the searching of the scriptures by the Bereans - Acts 17:11
    2. This is in harmony with the instruction Paul gave to his spiritual son Timothy, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" - 2 Tim. 2:15
  2. Also, that the priest, teacher, leader:
    1. Must live his own teaching before he can look for others to follow his instructions
    2. Wrote Paul, "To make ourselves an example unto you to follow us" - 2 Thes. 3:9
    3. To the Hebrews he wrote, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the work of God; whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation" - Heb. 13:7
    4. Paul was deeply conscious of the ever present danger of missing the mark - "But I keep under my body and bring it unto subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" - I Cor. 9:27; Jer. 6:30; Heb. 6:8
  3. Truly, Ezra was a man of God in the fullest sense of the word:
    1. Let us study his life and ministry
    2. And follow his pious example


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