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

 

I think that’s one way to term it, “discretionary spending.” When one has paid all his obligations, and has a little left over, surplus. I am discussing this term because of a verse in Ezra chapter 7. “And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the REST of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.” Verse 18 of the chapter.

The King of Persia had given the returning Jews (who had been virtual slaves for 70 years) a “grant” (silver and gold) to aid in purchasing animals to be sacrificed to the God of Heaven! (“… to buy bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.” Verse 17.)

But since, it appears, the “money” was greater than the “need,” an allowance was added to the royal contract … “And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.” (Today’s Text Verse again)

Maybe funds to care for the Levites, or priests … until the tithes of the land could be collected?

Maybe to add some finishing touches to the Temple grounds?

Maybe to help with the rebuilding of the defenses of the City, walls and gates?

But that’s the point, isn’t it?

Do … “whatsoever shall seem good to thee.”

Isn’t that a summary of human action anyway?

We basically do “what seems good to us!”

I’ve often said about Church attendance (or Church absence) … that a man (or woman) does what he or she WANTS to do!

We go if we want to.

We stay home (or go elsewhere) if we want to!

“Oh, Preacher. I’ll be there Wednesday night for prayer meeting … if I can.”

Really means … “I’ll be there if I really WANT to, badly enough anyway!”

If a man wants to get up at 4:30 in the morning … to go hunting, he will do so if he WANTS to badly enough!

If that same man is asked to get up at 4:30 in the morning to drive his Wife to her Parents’ out-of-State home … he might be too sleepy! Because he does not WANT to do that!

Back to Ezra … “spend the money where you think best, where you want to!”

Bible believing folks tithe their income … if they want to.

They study their Bibles … if they want to.

They pray with their families … if they want to!

Do you get the point of today’s Lesson?

Yes, Psalm 37:4 is still in the Bible, I know. “The Lord shall give thee the DESIRES of thine heart.” God giving a Christian what he wants!

But not until first he has obeyed the preceding verse … “Trust in the LORD, and do good; and delight thyself also in the LORD.” Wow!

If we first want God … then we just might want other things that are right in the Eyes of God!

I am sure the Jews of Ezra’s day spend the overage in a wise manner … because they had the spirit of Matthew 6:33 in their hearts. “But seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and ALL THESE THINGS shall be added unto you.”

Amen.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Oh yes, if we love the Lord with all our hearts, we will want things that … fit into his Will! That’s why our text verse ends this way, even from the lips of a Gentile King: “… that do after the will of your God.”

When we learn to love what God loves, and to hate what God hates … and yes, to want what God wants … our lives will mature faster than ever, to His glory! (“The Will of God,” what a reality!)

 

Ezra 7:14 merely mentions them, “the king, and his seven counsellors.”

This would be King Artaxerxes of Persia.

Who gave the Jews plenty of help as they returned from captivity, going back from Babylon to Judah. Do you remember? “Silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel.” Wow, Ezra 7:15, financing that long (4 month) trip back “home.”

The King “and his counsellors!”

That’s today’s Lesson … a King with all his power (an autocrat in reality, a dictator, a monarch) still feeling the need for advisors!

This reminds me of Proverbs 11:14. Truth indeed! “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”

I once heard a Preacher say that he called together a “team” of counsellors, a “brain trust” so to speak, who shared wisdom with him every time he faced a major decision! (Much like the President has a “cabinet” of experts, helping him make critical decisions!)

There is “safety” in such counsellors … so said Solomon through the Holy Spirit!

The Hebrew noun here translated “safety” means “salvation, deliverance, help, victory!”

It never hurts to get “direction” (“advice”), or at least “prayer support” from a close group of (spiritual) friends as you live your life for Jesus!

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Proverbs 15:22 helps here as well. “Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.”

I’ve just learned that our Proverbs verse is essentially repeated in that great Book of Wisdom! “For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.” This time, Proverbs 24:6. (When God says something TWICE, pay special attention!)

Even Acts 15:6 may illustrate today’s Ezra principle: “And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.”

Psalm 1:1 now, its first clause. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”

Well, I am convinced anyway!

 

I referred to Ezra 7:10 way back on December 12, 2017 … in the second lesson of this Series of studies on the Book of Ezra. But I did not exegete the verse then, and it is of paramount importance to understanding the Book’s namesake, the scribe we call Ezra.

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Ezra 7:10

Remember, the name Ezra means “helper!”

And if any person, spiritually speaking, truly wants to be a “help” to his brothers and sisters in Christ … he must fortify himself with the Word of God. Ezra did!

The man first “prepared” his heart … a Hebrew verb spelled “kun,” meaning “to establish, to fix (as with resolve), to confirm, to make certain!” And the verb is framed to suggest this is a one-time decision, made in the past, likely when Ezra was quite a young man!

By the way, the “heart” (in Hebrew “leb”) can include one’s mind as well, plus at times his soul and his understanding and even his will.

The whole person!

Prepared to do what?

Three things …

“To seek” God’s Law, God’s Word … employing the verb “darash,” here not a one-time act, but continual, habitual, on-going for a lifetime! The verb normally means “to enquire, to consult, to resort to” … but further, 12 times (in the King James Version) it means “to require!” As in IT MUST BE, the Word of God in my life. I’LL DIE WITHOUT IT! That kind of attitude! It is an absolute requirement!

Wow!

“To do” that Law as well! Now “asah” means “to obey” essentially. “To perform” it, to follow through on what it says, what it commands! Again, a lifelong occupation, grammatically speaking.

Then “to teach” the Scriptures to the people, to the Israelites! And “lamad” means “to aid learning, to instruct,” as one would expect. But this third verb is different on one key way, it is written in the PIEL stem! Meaning that the intensity of this verb is emphasized … teaching “with all you’ve got,” thus energetically, whole heartedly!

Wow again!

Yes, three verbs.

But when followed consistently and over time … a recipe for a successful, holy life!

What a man of God, Ezra.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Folks, I don’t know what else to write today! If Ezra’s lifestyle does not challenge us, if the Holy Spirit is not through this Text calling your heart to more diligent occupation with your Bible … things may be hopeless!

In closing, listen to the Psalmist addressing God! “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97, surely the sum result of living like Ezra did!