Ezra's Obedience to God

In the ancient world, God established His own nation known as Israel. If the people of Israel would walk in obedience, God would bless them and protect them. But if they disobeyed, God would bring judgment upon them.

The greatest monument to the glory of Israel was their beloved Temple, built during the reign of King Solomon who was David’s son. At the Temple, sacrifices were made to worship God and to symbolize the cleansing of the people’s sin.

Sadly, for many generations after Solomon, the kings and the people of Israel rebelled against their God. Therefore, God used foreign nations to judge His people. The Babylonians swept into Jerusalem, bringing death, exile, and enslavement, and the Temple was completely destroyed.

But God did not forget His promise to the nation. He had the Persians conquer the Babylonians, and He raised up a king who allowed the Israelites to return. God also raised up leaders who could help restore Israel to her former glory.

Seventy years after the Temple was destroyed, the first group of returning exiles built a Second Temple. It was a time marked by great optimism. But the joy would not last long, and the people soon fell away from God and His Law.

Almost 2,500 years ago—sixty years after the Second Temple was complete—God raised up a new leader who would leave his place in Persia and lead a second group back to Jerusalem. This man’s name was Ezra. He was a scribe, an expert in the Law, and his goal was to bring a reformation in Israel so that the people would once again walk in obedience and experience God’s blessing.

Our study this morning focuses on the journey from Persia to Jerusalem. It’s the beginning of Ezra’s ministry, which we find in Ezra chapter 8. Ezra chapter 8. As we work our way through the text this morning, I want to unfold the story in four chapters, if you will, describing the main actions we see taken by Ezra whom God is guiding.

Chapter 1, I’m going to title “Ezra Gathers the People.” Ezra Gathers the People.

Look with me at Ezra chapter 8, verse 1. Ezra writes—These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

Ezra knows he can’t complete his task alone. He needs a group to go with him and help him. So, he gathers a group, and he takes roll. Verses 2-14 include names and numbers which I’m not going to read. I will point out, however, that genealogies mattered much more to the Israelites than to many of us today.

I think most of us would have a hard time naming our great, great grandfather, but most Jews knew their lineage, not simply because they cared about historical details, but because their ancestral line determined land that belonged to them or roles that had been assigned to them. Knowing which family you came from was how you made sure that the right people were in the right place.

Ezra gathers and numbers the people, but he notices that something isn’t right. Look with me at verse 15. Again, this is Ezra’s own record. Verse 15—I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi.

The sons of Levi were the ones whom, according to the Law of Moses, had been given the responsibility to work in the Temple. No one else could do that. Ezra needs priests to run the Temple, but apparently, none of the priests had volunteered to go back with Ezra’s group. Maybe they were being stubborn, or maybe they assumed he had enough already. Either way, he has zero Levites. And that’s a problem. But again, God is working through Ezra, and it’s all going to work out.

Look at verse 16—Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, [17] and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. [18] And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; [19] also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; [20] besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.

The point there is that, now, Ezra is ready to go. He’s got all the people he needs.

But before they head out on the 900-mile journey, there’s one more thing Ezra needs to do. And this takes us to chapter 2 in today’s story—“Ezra Leads in Prayer.” Ezra Leads in Prayer. Ezra directs the people to pray before they set out.

Verse 21. Ezra says—Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. [22] For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” [23] So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

There is no indication that it would have been wrong for Ezra to accept soldiers from the king for the journey, but he is the leader of this group, and, in this case, he believes that asking for help would work against his message that God was going to bless them and protect them. So, although he doesn’t ask for help from the king of Persia, he makes sure to seek the favor of the King of Heaven.

And by God’s grace, the caravan of people, travelling about 900 miles for 3½ months arrives safely in Jerusalem. And Ezra gives God the glory. That’s a note after the fact. As the story continues, however, the group is still camped by the river. They are getting ready to leave.

Let’s continue, now, to chapter 3 of our story today—“Ezra Assigns the Positions.” Ezra Assigns the Positions.

Ezra had received gifts for the Temple from the people in Persia, and the care of those items was the responsibility of the Levites. So, Ezra immediately puts them to work. That’s why he added them to the team. Look at verse 24. It’s going to mention the same names we saw back in verses 18 and 19. These are the Levites Ezra recruited to join his group.

Verse 24—Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. [25] And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. [26] I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold, [27] 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold.

The Levites are in charge of making sure the gifts of gold and silver and bronze make it into the Temple treasury. A talent was a measurement of weight of about 75 pounds; so, when verse 26 says they had 650 talents of silver, that comes out to over 48,000 pounds (over 22,000 kilograms). One hundred talents of gold is 7,500 pounds of gold (3,400 kilograms).

No wonder they prayed for protection! Taking care of these things is not a trivial responsibility. Someone has to be trusted with this task, and Ezra got the right people for the job. He assigns them their duty.

Verse 28 continues—And I said to them [the Levites], “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. [29] Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” [30] So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

As a father of three little ones, it’s stressful enough to go 50 miles with my kids in the car. Ezra is leading a group of thousands of people to go about 900 miles in a caravan carrying tens of thousands of pounds of silver and gold. But off he goes, in obedience to the Lord.

The people have been gathered. The prayers have been made. And the positions have been assigned. It’s time to go.

Verse 31—Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. [32] We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. [33] On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. [34] The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

By the grace of God, the group arrives safely in Jerusalem, and all the silver and the gold and the bronze is accounted for. So, the people respond in worship. For those who had come with Ezra, this is the first time they get to worship in Jerusalem, the place God had designated for their worship.

Verse 35—At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. [36] They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.

The people worship, and they deliver messages from the Persian King to the local rulers to confirm Ezra’s mission and ensure support for the Jews.

If you were paying attention earlier in the message, I said that I would have four chapters in today’s story. Chapter 4 is titled “Ezra Identifies the Problem.” Ezra identifies the problem.

As chapter 9 begins, Ezra realizes how it is, specifically, that the Israelites have fallen away from the Law of God. I’m going to leave that for our next message when we see what the problem is that Ezra finds out about, and how it is that he responds.

As we close our time today, though, I simply want to help us think about the principles we see in Ezra chapter 8 and how they might apply to us today.

First of all, we saw that Ezra, as God’s appointed leader, gathered the people. He registered them by name. It’s a wonderful reminder of the God we serve who calls each of us by name and gathers us to Himself.

This is how the gospel of Jesus Christ works. The word of God is proclaimed and by the grace of God, people respond. One soul at a time is called by God into His eternal family being forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

If you’re visiting with us today, please know that we’re not just a bunch of people who like to study ancient history. Some of us don’t even like history. But we study the Bible because we know that the story is all pointing to one person—the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.” He leads His people better than Moses and better than Ezra. And rather than lead His people to worship in Jerusalem, Jesus now leads His people to worship through Him. He was the once-for-all sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus, as the good shepherd, laid down His life for the sheep. And yes, His initial sheep were the repentant Jews, but Jesus also said, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

Jesus is calling you today, as well, to come follow Him. Trust in His sacrifice. Trust in His Resurrection. Beg Him for mercy, and He will forgive and transform you. If you want to know more about that, talk to me, or talk to any other member of the church. We’d love to answer any questions you have.

For those of us who have responded to the command of Christ, we also know that He will gather us again on the final day. One day, people from every nation and tribe and tongue will come to Jesus and be saved forever. Jesus will send out His angels, and His people will be gathered, and they will worship forever.

Until that time, we need to walk in dependence on Him. We saw a good reminder of that in Ezra’s example. He didn’t presume on God’s grace. He knew God’s hand was upon him, but that didn’t stop him from praying.

How are you doing in that area of your life? How are we doing in that as a church?

Today, I'm not calling for a church-wide fast in preparation for something to come—I’m not even sure I have the authority to do that—but that doesn’t mean you and I don’t have to be devoted to prayer.

We cannot take God’s grace for granted. Walking humbly before our God means we are people who pray—not just in some ritualistic way before a meal or during a church service, but in regular, humble dependence.

The Bible says: Pray without ceasing… In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God… Continue steadfastly in prayer… Be constant to prayer.

May Ezra’s example spur us to greater faithfulness in that regard.

Lastly, as we think about Ezra designating some positions of responsibility, his example can prod us to think about our own roles in the body of Christ.

When you or I surrendered our life to Christ, we weren’t just forgiven and cleansed of our sin, we became members of a body in which we would make a meaningful contribution.

Some of you make a contribution that is more focused on your speech. Some of you contribute more through acts of service. But whether you end up using a speaking gift or a service gift, God calls you to do it well. Get better and do more to serve and to build up the body of Christ. Find ways to support what the church of God is doing.

It would be so much simpler if whenever anybody joined our church, God gave us a clear indication of how they should serve. Can you imagine that? Someone comes up out of the waters of baptism, and God’s voice speak to us—“This person is going to be part of the Sunday morning singers.” “This person is going to be an usher.” “This person is going to serve the coffee.” “This person is going to help in the Nursery.”

That’s not how it happens. Our job as elders, is help you grow into the image of Christ. It is to equip you for the work of ministry. But that’s not always going to mean that we pick for you. There may be gifts that others will affirm and encourage, but no one else is going to guide you if you’re not doing anything at all.

So, my encouragement is that you do something. Even if you’re not sure. Sign up for a couple months and see how it goes.

When a coach starts out with a new football team or a new baseball team, he needs to see what kind of skills the athletes have before he starts assigning positions, right? In a similar way, your brothers and your sisters and your leaders can’t help point you in a good direction if they don’t see anything.

And if we want ministries to flourish in our church, we need people to make that happen.

Just as an example, we have two of our children’s teachers taking a break this year. One of them is getting married. The other one is having a baby. I’m not sure how long they’ll be away, but that’s an opportunity for people to step up, either as a teacher or as a helper.

Or you can help with hospitality, preparing and serving coffee and bread in between services. Every time someone does that, they are serving the rest of the church, they are helping people connect. And if the team is large enough, the group can take turns, so it’s not always the same person having to step out of class to get things ready.

The same applies to our ushers, or our security team, or our teachers.

The way you serve doesn’t have to be formal, but doing something more formal will make it more structured. It helps make sure that you’re not just serving only when you feel like it. It’s a commitment that stretches you, but also brings a blessing.

As more of us get to work—in and for the church—we move toward the positions that give us the most fruitfulness and fulfilment, and we get better at it.

So, take steps to serve God and to serve the church, and see how God leads. You might find out there are some areas you’re not cut out for. But you will also move closer and closer to the best position God has for you in the body of Christ.

God might even use you to identify some problems that no one else has really paid attention to, and He’ll use you to help bring a solution.