Bible Studies
The Hand of the Lord Was Upon Him (Ezra 7:1-9)
Series: Studies In EzraIntroduction:
1. Ezra is among the second group that returned to Judah and Jerusalem (458).a. The first group was lead by Zerubbabel and Jeshua (536 B.C.)
b. 78 years have passed.
c. 57 or 58 years have passed since the completion of the temple.
2. Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the 7th year of King Artaxerxes in the 5th month. C. F. Keil (p. 93) identifies this as the Persian King Artaxerxes Longimanus. 3. Ezra’s lineage is traced back to Aaron, thus, identifying his priestly descent. He is identified as “a scribe skilled in the law of Moses.” 4. But the one thing that sets him apart in this text is that “the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.”a. Why was the hand of God upon him rather than someone else?
b. What did it mean for him to have the hand of God upon him?
c. How did this affect other people?
d. What do I have to do to have the hand of God upon me?
Discussion:
I. That the hand of God was upon Ezra is evident by the way King Artaxerxes supported Ezra.A. “The king granted him all he requested” (v. 6).
1. It is necessarily implied from this statement that Ezra had a plan for going up to Jerusalem.
2. It is necessarily implied that he was bold enough to make a request of the king.
3. His plan and his courage stem from his faith in God and a recognition that he had a place in the plan of God for Jerusalem.
a. I would observe that his perception of his relationship with God was about more than his own personal salvation. As a matter of fact this is never mentioned in the text.
b. Ezra is interested in serving the plan of God, not in the plan of God serving him.
c. Some take a self-centered approach to their relationship with God. For them it is about what they can get rather than what they can give. Such was not the case for Ezra. Ezra has thoroughly given himself to the service of God.
B. The king’s decree evidences that the hand of God was behind Ezra’s work (11-26).
1. Observe that the king knows of Ezra’s relationship with God (12, 14).
2. He authorizes that any of the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites who are willing to go with Ezra may do so (13).
3. He makes a financial contribution to the project and authorizes additional funding (15-16). In our society sometimes projects are authorized and never funded. The project fails for lack of support.
4. Artaxerxes gives Ezra carte blanch to use the funds according to his discretion, according to the will of God (17-18).
5. Further needs for the house of God are to be provided for from the royal treasury (20).
6. The treasurers in the provinces beyond the River (those over Judea) are to provide whatever Ezra requires from them and besides that they are not allowed to tax the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim or servants of the house of God (21-24).
7. In addition, Ezra is authorized to appoint magistrates and judges. He is appointed to teach the law of God and whoever does not observe the law of God, by authorization of the king, Ezra has authorization to judge and execute, imprisonment, confiscation of goods, banishment or death (25-26).
C. Ezra praised God for putting such in the king’s heart observing that it was God that was behind it (27-28).
II. Why was God behind what Ezra was doing?A. “Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel” (v. 10).
1. This purpose, this direction drove Ezra’s life.
2. And because Ezra has given himself to the purpose of the Lord the Lord strengthened him.
B. Even the king recognized this purpose.
1. He identifies Ezra as priest and scribe of the law of the God of heaven (v. 12).
2. He authorizes him to do “according to the law of your God which is in your hand” (v. 14, 18).
3. He authorizes him to appoint leaders “according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand” (v. 25).
C. The law of God permeates the whole mission.
D. Does the law of God permeate your life mission?
E. “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against those who forsake Him” (8:22).
1. Had not this truth been born out in the history of Israel?
2. They had been taken into Babylonian captivity because they had forsaken Him.
3. Their history reiterated what Moses had said so long ago. “You shall keep His statutes and His commandments that I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you” (Deut. 4:40). “You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess” (Deut. 5:33). “So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival” (Deut. 6:24).
F. Do you want things to go well with you? Is your life disorganized and chaotic? Do you want the Lord’s blessing? Set your heart to study the law of the Lord, to practice it and to teach His statutes. Give yourself to serving the purpose of God.
III. Ezra’s commitment to the Lord affected his relationship to others.A. It affected his relationship with the king.
B. It affected his relationship with those in Israel. He gathered leaders to go up to Jerusalem with him (7:28). Are you gathering others to lead in the Lord’s work?
C. It affected his relationship with the treasurers in the provinces (7:21ff).
D. It would affect those in the land that he would teach (7:25-26).
E. When you give your life to the work of the Lord he blesses your work. Too often we are busy about trying to persuade the Lord to bless what we want to do for ourselves. “Help me get what I want.” God blesses those who seek His will.
Conclusion:
1. Is the hand of the Lord upon you? 2. Have you set your heart to study the law of the Lord, to practice it, and to teach it? Or have you set your heart on other things?
