Ezra chapter 8 shares a number of similarities with Ezra chapter 2.

Look!

Ezra 2:1 … “Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city ….” Then comes quite a long list of names!

Now Ezra 8:1 … These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king ….” More names again, a lot of them!

The first group was led by Zerubbabel, a noteworthy man of God.

The second, by Ezra himself.

And honestly, I see no one famous in all of chapter 8.

Virtually unknown people, these Jews, but still listed in the Book of God, the Bible!

And why there listed?

Because of their FAITH!

Their hearts had been “stirred” by the Spirit of God … to come home to Jerusalem, to the Temple, the Altar of God … to the right Place of worship!

So God has registered them in this historical document, again Ezra chapter 8.

And all this information forms something like a “parable” in my mind … as I sit here in a motel room typing a Bible Study Lesson.

I know another group of virtual “unknowns!”

Leaving a land of captivity heading for a place of Freedom!

On a journey, from earth to Heaven!

Having begun that trip due to one motive, FAITH in the Lord God Almighty, and His Son Jesus Christ!

We too have a Leader, a greater than Ezra (whose name means “Help”). Here I speak again of our dear Saviour! “The Lord of Life!” The Crucified, Buried and Risen Again King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

And this too … our names have also been written in a Register!

“The Lamb’s Book of Life,” Revelation 21:27.

Yes, the old song is right … “We ARE marching to Zion, that Beautiful City of God!”

Is you name written there?

Are you saved?

If not, God is able to touch your heart too!

That’s why Jesus came and died on Calvary!

His, our Lord’s, Own Words … “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24, how to be “saved!”

Or Luke 10:20, with Jesus preaching once again: “But rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Tomorrow we will settle down into the history of the chapter, Ezra 8, more specifically. And it is loaded with practical applications concerning our “trip” to Jerusalem also, including “New Jerusalem” ultimately!

 

Today’s Verse (our Text for the morning) is beautiful!

Any real Bible Preacher on earth could orate on its precious truths for a whole Sermon!

Ezra said, as he faced a difficult journey: “And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me.” Ezra 7:28, embedded in the chapter’s last verse, really.

Yes, a four month trek lay ahead of this man, the leader of hundreds of Jews who would be following his vanguard. Through apparently dangerous territory!

Yes he assuredly says: “the Hand of the Lord my God was upon me,” thus “I was strengthened!”

Wow!

The Hebrew verb employed as “strengthened” here is spelled “chazaq,” literally meaning “hardened” for the task ahead! Not wishy-washy! Not half in-half out! Resolved! Plus this, I just noticed that “chazaq” is translated “to hold” (37 times) in the King James Version. As in … “God’s Hand was upon me … and I was ‘held’ firmly by Him!” The verb here is also “reflexive,” meaning that the action of God is intensely personal, Ezra being in God’s Grip! (Normally a reflexive suggests: the subject of the verb is also the direct object of the verb, expressed or implied!) Like: “I was strengthened, me myself, by God’s Mighty Hand!”

This is impressive, in more ways than one!

Now the phrase “the Hand of the Lord” must be considered.

I find this exact “string” of words 36 times in the Old Testament, located in 35 different places, “the Hand of the Lord.”

From Exodus 9:3, its first Bible appearance: “Behold, the HAND OF THE LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.” All the way to Acts 13:11, its last appearance: “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.” Mercy! Both these times, in both these extremes, the “Hand of the Lord” was stretched out in judgment!

But a few of the times (I am estimating a third of them, I just reviewed them all)  “the hand of the Lord” is used in the Word of God, it is viewed positively!

And certainly so by Ezra!

But also by Ezekiel (who uses the phrase more than any other Prophet, really more than any other Bible character) … “So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but THE HAND OF THE LORD was strong upon me.” Wow, Ezekiel 3:14, here God’s Hand and God’s Strength are again linked!

Furthermore Nehemiah, Ezra’s compatriot and co-laborer, was fond of expressing it this way: “Then I told them of THE HAND OF MY GOD which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.” Nehemiah 2:18, he sure wanted that “for good” in there, didn’t he?

Even earlier in Nehemiah (2:8) we find again … “And the king granted me, according to the good HAND OF MY GOD upon me.” Wow, not God’s Hand of Judgment (its predominant implication) … but God’s Hand of Blessing … “for good, not evil!”

Now our Ezra Text again: “And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me.” Surely I’ve said enough to encourage us all!

Let us ask for God’s Hand to be “upon us” … “for good!”

For strength!

For courage!

(As in 1st Samuel 30:6 … “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: BUT DAVID ENCOURAGED (“chazaq, the very same verb used in today’s Text) HIMSELF IN THE LORD HIS GOD.” What a Verse! “Strengthened himself!”

Oh, Paul said it too, just in a little different way … “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

I didn’t count them today … but once again, Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Ezra the Scribe is ready to lead another group of Jewish refugees (captives who have been set free) from the land of Babylon (now ruled by the Persians) back to the land of Judah, back “home.”

This venture has been made possible (to some degree anyway) by gifts (sizable financing) from the King of Persia, Artaxerxes by name. A rarity in ancient history, such kindness!

Now here are Ezra’s words as he pondered the wonderful turn of events, from slavery to liberty! “Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.” Ezra 7:27

Gold and silver provided by royalty, with a promise of more if needed, from the King’s vast resources!

Yet Ezra does NOT view the King as the ultimate giver in this wonderful act of provision! (Although you can be sure proper respect was shown to the Monarch for his largess.)

No, look at today’s Text again … “Blessed be the LORD GOD of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.”

It was GOD Who caused the gifts to flow!

It was GOD Who wanted His House (the Temple of Solomon being rebuilt, best as possible) beautified!

It was GOD Who placed such a generous “idea” into the King’s heart, mind!

And it was (of course) GOD Who deserved the final praise and adoration and worship, GOD alone!

Wow!

That’s the RIGHT WAY to view the “blessings” that come your way.

Certainly thank (it’s just good manners, etiquette) the individual giver, who (by the way) obeyed God’s promptings in his or her life, the heaven-sent notion to give to a certain person or ministry or cause. Thank them and MEAN it, too! From the depths of your heart.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME … realize that God is the Ultimate Sender of all life’s good things!

(Look: “EVERY good gift and EVERY perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17)

So … thank God, honor Him as the true Source of all Blessing!

(As in: “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow,” the “Doxology” we all used to sing every single week at Church! Or at least we did.)

That’s today’s Lesson, today’s thought, dear readers.

Gifts come … via the hands of others … but finally from the Hand of Almighty God!

Thank the donor!

Worship the Sender, the Lord of Heaven and earth!

One more time, today’s Verse … “Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.”

Amen.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Listen to King Artaxerxes of Persia command our protagonist Ezra. These particular instructions are just part of a longer letter to the returning (from the land of Babylon to the land of Israel) Jewish patriot and Bible scribe … “And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.” Ezra 7:25

Wow!

A King who is conversant with the word “wisdom!”

Not much (if any) of that kind of vocabulary at the United Nations, is there? At least, not any more. In fact, there may have never been!

Yes, here are being sought “magistrates” and “judges” who know the Law of God!

By the way, some of the language the King is using here is Aramaic, foreign to the Jews, but apparently spoken in ancient Persia! (Is the Bible accurate, or what?) For example, the verb “set” is “mena,” certainly NOT Hebrew!

However, “magistrates” is the typical noun for “judges” in the Old Testament, “shaphat.” Here we’re back to Hebrew … to the core!

And the plural noun “judges” is a hapax legomenon, meaning a word used only one time in all a body of literature, here in all the Bible! (Though it appears as a verb a few times, in Ezra and Daniel.) And it is Aramaic again! “Dayan,” simply meaning the act of “pleading” … as in a court of law or in a counsellor’s office. (Let me be clear here. Not that Aramaic and Hebrew are all that radically dissimilar … but they are definitely NOT the same, NOT identical!)

Even the verb “may judge” is Aramaic, used 71 times (!!!) in the Word of God, but all occurring in Ezra and Daniel, “Babylonian Captivity” era Books of Scripture!

A Persian King expressing Wise Godly Ideas … in the corrupted language of the heathen! God is absolutely amazing, His myriad “Ways!”

But that’s not my point today, not yet.

Now … here’s my burden this morning …

If a nation is going to prosper in the eyes of God … she needs the right kind of leaders, both executively and judicially! Legislatively, God had already given Israel the Law by which she was to live. They needed no Congress!

And here in the book of Ezra, Judah certainly had the right kind of executive leadership; first Zerubbabel and now Ezra … and then later Nehemiah!

So, judicial prudence is “on the way!” By the edict of a vile King! Again, his mandate to Ezra: “Set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.”

A people led (governed) by the Law of God!

Like America used to be, in times past.

Before sinful perversion so gripped our Land!

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” Proverbs 29:2

The wrong kinds of judges, with which America is rife (overflowing) these days, men and women who sadly exemplify Isaiah 5:20 … “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Psalm 9:17 is a stark warning, too. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Thought provoking!

Judah needed (and wanted) the right kind of judges.

America needs them too, but does America want them any longer?

Let’s pray for our President as he tries to appoint the right kind of men and women to the bench!

We must believe 2 Chronicles 7:14 is still in force. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Amen.

Let us pray …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Oh, how God moved on the Kings of Persia … leading them to help the Jews as they returned to their homeland, to what we now call Israel.

For example, today’s verse is essentially a “blank check!” Read with me these words spoken by King Artaxerxes to Ezra … “And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.” Ezra 7:20

Yes … “Whatsoever!”

Here’s the “supplying of all the needs” of Judah, according to the riches of the King of Persia!

Out of the King’s very “treasure house!”

Wow!

Yet, and this must be remembered, the people of Judah had been good, obedient (subservient) citizens of Persia for all those decades now.

In obedience to Jeremiah’s counsel, a sermon that could have been titled “How to act in Babylon!”  Here’s the “heart” of what he said: “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And SEEK THE PEACE OF THE CITY whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and PRAY UNTO THE LORD FOR IT: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” Jeremiah 29:5-7

Wow!

The Jews obeyed … gave sincere allegiance to the land of their captivity … and that King eventually opened his “treasure houses” unto them, helping them financially! Again our Text for today … “And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.”

I see in this event a “parable” picturing a certain aspect of the Christian life.

God … in asking His people to be good citizens of His Kingdom, to support (financially) His Causes: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, saith the Lord of Hosts.” Malachi 3:10

And if we indeed “tithe” our income to God … what has He obligated Himself to do?

Exactly what the grateful King of Persia (Artaxerxes by name) did … Malachi 3:10, continued … “Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Amazing!

The (plenteous, but limited) storehouses of the great King of Persia!

And the (unlimited) storehouses of the great God of the universe!

An opened heathen treasury!

And an opened Heaven, its windows pouring our blessing upon blessing!

How much?  ” … that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Looks like kings honor obedience!

And YES, I do believe God still blesses those who tithe!

Either positively, with some type of reward, “blessing.”

Or negatively, by withholding some type of trial. God said if we obey Him in our giving … “And I (the Lord) will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 3:11

Wow!

Truly Paul  was right … “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7

It happened to the Jews who lived long ago, via the Persians.

It’s still happening to multitudes today, via the powerful God of Creation, Who is also the loving God of Redemption!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell