Ezra 7:11
“Ezra the priest, the scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the Lord...”
Webster’s dictionary defines an adjective as, “a modifier of a noun to denote the quality of the thing named… or to specify a thing as distinct from something else.” I wonder what adjectives would be used in a biography of my life. Would I be described as tall or short, grumpy or friendly, rich or poor? It fascinates me that when Ezra’s life was all summed up, he was described as a priest, a scribe, and an expert in the Word of the Lord.
A priest was more than his vocation, it described him as a man who spent time in the presence of God. As a scribe, he was one who transcribed the Scriptures (Tradition holds that Ezra was involved in developing the Old Testament canon). Being an expert in the Word, was the result of spending day after day getting in the Word of God.
When all is said and done, these are the adjectives we should seek to have describe our lives. Take time today to get in the Word and spend time with Christ.
Pastor Jim
Not long after returning to Jerusalem, the people became greatly discouraged in the work of the Lord. Things were moving slowly, and they were facing a great deal of opposition from those around them. Soon, the work of the Lord ceased all together. It is worth noting what encouraged the people to resume the work, and finish the task to which God called them. We read simply, “the prophets of God were with them, helping them.” The help was provided in the form of exhortations to the people to continue in the work of God.
We have all had experiences that have saddened us. Sometimes the word ‘sad’ is too shallow to describe what we are feeling, we might say we are sorrowful or even consumed with grief. When a relationship comes to an end or someone we love dies, the sadness is often so deep it becomes difficult to manage.
Central to returning to the Lord, was the Altar. With it, sacrifices could be offered in accordance with the Law of God. Without it, man would still be striving on his own, attempting to build his way to God. The altar, tragically, involved the sacrifice of the innocent in place of the guilty. This method of atonement was offensive to some; not because of the death of the innocent, but because of the declaration that those offering the sacrifice are guilty.
The bible is filled with great and precious promises. Of these, the one recorded here may be the pinnacle. For the past two thousand years countless saints, facing a vast array of difficulties, have clung to this promise and found God to be ever faithful to His word. The promise itself is both simple and all encompassing. We are told, God is able to create good out of all things that life throws at us.
As we read through the Word, it is important to remember the chapter breaks were added later to make it easier to find specific passages. At times, they can create a break in thought not intended by the author. This often causes us to miss something vital in the text. The thoughts of Romans 8 are an obvious conclusion of what Paul declared in Chapter 7. He referred to himself as carnal, a word meaning worldly; and wretched, meaning deeply afflicted, or extremely bad. The reason for his dire view is that he found himself incapable of living a proper Christian life. The Word of God clearly expresses the kind of life which pleases God, and the particular behaviors, thoughts, desires and actions that are regarded as sinful. By his own admission, Paul knew what was right, but lacked the power to accomplish these things. He writes,
Ezra tells the story of the children of Israel returning to Jerusalem, at the end of seventy years of captivity in Babylon. We find that while hundreds of thousands were taken captive, less than fifty thousand returned. I am relatively certain that many should have returned that didn’t, but we are also given insight into the ones that were willing to leave all and take up the challenge of engaging in the work of God.
There are times when the promises of God seem unlikely, and other times when they seem impossible. The scene in which Ezra is set is one of those, “it looks impossible”, kind of times. Judah had been defeated, the city of Jerusalem destroyed, and the people scattered throughout Babylonia. To complicate matters, the Babylonians were defeated by the combined forces of the Medes and Persians, led by King Cyrus. Set against these conditions, was a remote and seemingly impossible promise. Years earlier, Jeremiah the prophet, predicted a king named Cyrus would rise to power, and give a decree, allowing the Jews to return to their land and rebuild their city. I am sure, for the average Jew this promise seemed remote at best. I love that we read “in the first year of Cyrus.” God wasted no time in bringing His promise to fruition.
Jim Gallagher 