2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
As promised, I am led to continue the story of Ezra, one that will allow us to have a wonderful view of how God interacts with His children to keep His covenant agreements. When we obey God, we experience Him. When we experience Him, not only are we blessed, but His work goes forward through us. That is to everyone’s benefit, all who love and have faith in Him. These are the building blocks of a healthy oneness in the covenant relationship.
When we left off yesterday, Ezra, a scholarly priest with a thorough knowledge of the Jewish Law, customs, and practices as outlined in the Torah, is introduced in EZRA 7. In 458 BC during the reign of King Artexerxes of Persia, Ezra leads the second wave of Jews from captivity to freedom back in Israel. As mentioned, this group was made up of priests, Levites, Temple musicians, and Temple workers. They were sent to investigate conditions in Jerusalem to see if the Law of God was being obeyed. They were also sent with gold and silver offerings, which Artexerxes wanted to give for the Temple [EZRA 7: 13-16]. In view of the fact that Artexerxes and the Persians were not Jews believing in Jehovah as the One and only God, this attitude is most remarkable. I believe it is a supernatural act on God’s part, and not just a practical decision based on what it cost monetarily to keep the Jews captive in Persia. EZRA 7: 21, “I [Artexerxes] command all the treasury officials in West-of-Euphrates Province to provide promptly for Ezra, the priest and scholar in the Law of the God of Heaven, everything he asks you for.” These words exemplified this amazing turn of mind in the Persian king. Furthermore, we are told in (24) that no one in the empire was allowed to collect any taxes from anyone connected with the Temple in Jerusalem, including the priests, Levites, musicians, guards, workmen, etc. Ezra was to appoint administrators and judges to govern the people in Israel. If anyone disobeys God’s laws, he is to be punished by death, exile, confiscation of his property, or imprisonment [EZRA 7: 25-26]. Ezra was also to teach the Law to anyone who didn’t know it.
Ezra acknowledges the remarkable turn of events by praising God and recognizing God’s hand in them [EZRA 7: 28]. EZRA 8 opens with a list of the heads of the clans who had been in exile. I have often said before and will repeat that when lists of names are found in the Bible, they are there for God’s important reasons. Ezra looked at his list of men and realized in (15b) that there were no Levites among them. Thus, he sent for nine of their leaders and two teachers. These men were sent to Iddo, head of the community at Casiphia, to ask him and his Temple worker associates to send people to serve in the Temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem [EZRA 8: 15-20]. A large number of Temple workmen whose ancestry had been designated by King David to assist the Levites were also included in this group. Before leaving, Ezra gave orders for this group to fast and pray for God’s protection, and the Lord answered their prayers [EZRA 8: 21-23]. Ezra reminded these people that they were “sacred to the Lord” and charged them with the responsibility to bring all the gold and silver utensils to God as a free-will offering [EZRA 8: 24-30].
EZRA 9 and 10 give us a view of the degree of deterioration in keeping covenant responsibilities that had occurred in Israel upon Ezra’s arrival there. EZRA 9: 1-2 tells us that the priests and the Levites had not kept themselves separate from the people of neighboring countries (Ammon, Moad, Egypt) or from the Canaanites etc. Intermarriage with foreign women was rampant. The description of the Jewish people is that they were becoming “contaminated.” It must be said here that God didn’t command the people not to intermarry, because He is prejudiced. It was because the Jews were to be separated from all others who didn’t believe in One and only One God. It also made arranging the ownership of land impossible to administer as outlined in the Torah. When Ezra realized this intermarriage was going on, he “tore his clothes in despair, tore his hair and beard, and sat down crushed in grief” [EZRA 9: 3-4]. What followed was Ezra offering an intercessory prayer for the Jews as Daniel and so many other men of God had done, concluding with a confession of sins [EZRA 9: 5-15]. The last chapter of Ezra opens with him suggesting a bold, courageous, and painful plan to correct the situation, a plan that would only be carried out successfully with the cooperation of the people. The people would have to make a solemn, binding covenant agreement to send away all these foreign wives and their children and do what the Law demands. Ezra issued this order on a rainy day to a crowd of the people, and amazingly they agreed to obey [EZRA 10: 10-15]. Only four men opposed the plan. EZRA 10 ends with a list of the men who had foreign wives, and this book ends with the fact that all of them divorced these wives and sent them and their children away [EZRA 10: 18-44]. There is no question that to obey God we must often make very hard, painful choices, as these men did. However, we must examine our lives and consider carefully the consequences of not making these choices. While tough to do at times, obeying God always brings blessings.
PRAYER: O Lord, Your love for Your children is all over the story of Ezra. That despite seventy years of captivity You saw to it that a few Jewish men had the courage and ability to remain faithful to You is a blessing and a miracle. You gave men like Ezra the courage to return to a shattered Israel riddled with moral and spiritual corruption and lead them away from this sin. Your hand is clearly seen in the attitude of Persia’s King Artexerxes, who even went so far as to acknowledge You as the “God of Heaven who should be obeyed.” Again it is seen in the transformation of the people who had intermarried against Your will and bore children of mixed heritage by the renewal of their minds. This supernatural intervention led to them making a decision that would be heart-wrenching and horribly difficult-to divorce these women and send them away with their children. Once again, Your provision is seen in the willingness of the priests, Levites, and others to follow Ezra to Jerusalem and in the willingness of Artexerxes to give silver and gold offerings to You to be carried back to Israel by Ezra and his group. We are given this story, so that we will understand that Your love, command for obedience, power to exercise Your righteous sovereignty, provision, protection, patience, love, and compassion wasn’t just for the ancient Jews. It is for all who believe in You and are willing to put their trust in You and obey Your commands. We acknowledge all these things today and approach You in humility to offer our heartfelt adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanks to You. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to discuss the mark of the covenant-what it means, examples of who has it, and how this demonstrates further the oneness of the covenant relationship. The book of Ezra reveals the love of God in so many ways. When we take the time each day to spend some time with God reading the Scriptures and in prayer, we are exposing ourselves to example after example of how God demonstrates His love for us. He created us to be both pragmatic and moral. The pragmatic part is that we should know that if we disobey God’s commands, we will find punishment, and if we obey them, we will be blessed. The moral part of us allows us to see the ultimate fairness and righteousness of returning God’s love in kind. One of the greatest acts of His love is that He has given us the ability to see at least a part of the goodness in the work He can do through us, if we will allow that. He leads us to unselfishness and to making His agenda of righteousness our own. Now that, Dear Ones, is real love. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn