Praise God for His faithfulness and loving kindness in each of our lives that He added yet another week in our spiritual journey from earth to glory. When we read the Psalms written by king David, one thing we can notice is that he experienced the goodness of God in his life. He also invites each one of us to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). In our spiritual journey, we all experience God’s compassion and grace in one way or another at every step we take forward in faith (Psalm 103:8). We personally experience the goodness of God in our day-to-day life because the Lord is good and His love endures forever (1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 136:1). There is a chorus we sing very often (individually or collectively) that says, “God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good (written by Don James Meon)”! In fact, the entirety of creation glorifies God for His goodness towards them all (Psalm 19:1-6; 148:1-13; 150:6). Let us also devote ourselves before God and try to know His will in our lives and do His will in and through our lives and bring glory and honor to Him and Him alone!

The passage for this week’s Scripture for the Week is taken from Ezra 7:10, which states that For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel (Ezra 7:10). Ezra the Priest/Scribe/the teacher of the Law was the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, 2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest (Ezra 7:1-5). If we study both the Biblical accounts as well as the historical factors, we can understand that Ezra was born and raised in Babylon: the Babylonian invasion of Judah began by king Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:1-4) in about BC 605; and the final show down was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign – they completely destroyed the temple and the city by setting fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem and took the remaining people to Babylon as captives (2 Kings 25:8-11), which was in about BC 586. Ezra came up from Babylon to Jerusalem during the seventh year of the king Artaxerxes, the Persian king (Ezra 7:8-12), which was in BC 457.

Let us examine briefly the historical setting of Ezra’s coming up from Babylon to Jerusalem in order to understand the context of all that we are about to discuss here. Initially, let us try to understand the sequence of events in the Old Testament: When we read through the first five books in our Bible (that is, from Genesis to Deuteronomy), we can see the process of the emergence of Israel as a nation. Again, when we read through the next nine books (that is, from Joshua to 2 Chronicles), we can understand that, first of all, God blessed them with a land of their own and appointed leaders/kings to rule over them; secondly, God removed the kings and the people from the land He blessed them with and sent them into exile in the territories of their enemies because they continually disobeyed His laws and decrees and sinned against their God, the God of Israel (2 Kings 24:1-25:21). When we read the following three books (that is, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther), we can understand that God, being compassionate and loving, brought His people Israel back again to their own land as He promised through His servant Moses (Deuteronomy 30:3). The remaining books in the Old Testament focus mainly on (i) glorifying God through praise and worship, and (ii) the ultimate redemption of Israel and everyone else who are saved through faith in Jesus Christ (by the Grace of God) at the end of the age.

From the above narration, we can understand that the nation/people of Israel was chosen very specifically by God for a purpose (Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 7:6). They were His people and He was their God (Jeremiah 24:7; 32:38) but they sinned against their God, the God of Israel (Judges 2:10-15; 2 Kings 17:7-41). The Biblical principle is that if God’s people obey Him, they would live in the land of their own and be blessed; but if they disobey His laws and decrees, He will punish and send them in to exile. In Israel’s case, they failed their God by disobeying His laws and decrees and worshipping the gods of the nations around them. As a result, God’s wrath burned against them and sent them into captivity. When God’s appointed time reached it’s limit, He handed them over to their enemies – the nation of Israel to the Assyrians (2 Kings  17:1-41) and the nation of Judah to the Babylonians because of their sins against Him (2 Kings 21:10-15; Isaiah 1:1-17; Jeremiah 14:1-17:27; Amos 2:4-5). In the case of Judah, the Babylonians started their attack on Jerusalem in about BC 605 and took a large number of Jews as captives to Babylon; and they tightened their fight against Judah and took more captives including prophet Ezekiel to Babylon (2 Kings 24:1-5, 10-16; Ezekiel 1:1-3), which was in BC 597; and the Babylonians completely captured and burned down the Temple and the City and took most of the remaining people of Judah to Babylon and other Babylonian territories as captives (2 Kings 24:1-25:21), which was in BC 586. Also, the Babylonians carried away the articles and treasures from the temple (2 Kings 25:13-17). They took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers, the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisers, the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city and the king Nebuchadnezzar had them executed at Riblah (2 Kings 25:18-21). Ezra acknowledged that God punished His people Israel because they continually sinned against Him: From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today (Ezra 9:7).

However, after Judah’s exile to Babylon, the Lord reassured His people through prophet Jeremiah that He would bring the captives back to Israel after a period of seventy years of captivity in Babylon (Jeremiah 25:1-14; 30:1-3 [also refer Zechariah 1:16-17]) as He promised to their forefathers through His servant Moses that He would gather them again from all the nations where He scattered them (Deuteronomy 30:3). In order to fulfill God’s promise of bringing His people back to Israel, He raised the Medo-Persian kings against the Babylonians and they utterly defeated the Babylonians and assassinated their ruling king Belshazzar and expanded the Medo-Persian Empire throughout the ancient world (Isaiah 44:24-28; 45:1-4; Daniel 5:30 [which was fulfilled sometimes between BC 539 and 537]). The Medo-Persian kings, especially king Cyrus (Isaiah 45:13; Ezra 1:1-11), king Darius (Ezra 6:1-12), and king Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11-28; Nehemiah 2:4-11), allowed the Jews, who were willing, to return to their home country and rebuild the Temple and City (Ezra 6:14-15). During the reign of king Cyrus, a large number of Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest who rebuilt the temple and dedicated it (Ezra 1:1-2:70; 6:13-18). Ezra the priest came up from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:1-10 [about BC 457]) to study the Law personally and teach God’s laws and decrees to others, so that all of them can live their lives according to the God-given laws and decrees that were initially given to them through Moses (Ezra 7:6, 10). Ezra acknowledged God’s faithfulness and prayed that Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem (Ezra 9:9). In addition to Ezra’s coming to Jerusalem, a few years later (in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes approximately BC 445), Nehemiah, the cupbearer of the king Artaxerxes, was also given permission to take a break from his work to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the City and to support the Jews in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:3-4; 2:1-9).

Ezra 7:6a states that Ezra was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given (Ezra 7:6). Ezra’s passion for studying the laws and decrees of God, copying those laws and decrees into the scrolls, and teaching them to others shows that he was an ardent worshipper of Yahweh, the God of his fathers. Ezra, being a descendant of Aaron the chief priest (Ezra 7:5), carried out the responsibility of a priest, a Scribe who wrote down the laws and decrees on to the scrolls, and a teacher who taught the laws and decrees to others (Ezra 7:12). According to Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel. As the devoted followers of Christ, we can learn three important lessons from this particular verse that will help us to improve our relationship with our heavenly Father and those around us:

1. 1. 1. 7:10a Ezra had devoted himself to study the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel
      2. 7:10b Ezra dedicated himself to practice the Law of the Lord God in his life
      3. 7:10c Ezra decided to teach the Laws and Decrees of God to others

Ezra was so passionate and dedicated himself for (i) the study of the Law, (ii) the practice the Law in life, (iii) the writing of the Law onto the scrolls, and (iv) the teaching of the Law to others. By doing all these, he became a visionary and beacon bearer to pass on the laws and decrees that God had given them to the future generation of the Children of Israel. Perhaps, Ezra acted this way mainly for four reasons:

• • due to the sins of the Israelites, the covenant that God made with them is broken, and thus, the relationship between God and His people had fallen short;
  • because the relationship between God and Israel is fallen short, God does not communicate with them very often;
  • because God does not speak to them very often, the people of Israel (individually and collectively) began to depend upon the ministry of the prophets for God’s guidance and leading in their lives, which was about to come to a conclusion with the ministries of prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi; and
  • if God does not speak through the prophets in order to warn the people of their mistakes, they would continue in their sin and God’s wrath would fall upon them heavily and they will be destroyed.

In the context of such situations, as a faithful follower of the God of Israel, he dedicated himself to study the laws and decrees of his God, the God of Israel, and pass it on to the people of his era, so that they in turn will pass it on to the following generations of the Israelites. The study of the laws and decrees of the God of Israel will enable the people to repent of their sins, reconcile with their God, return to their God, the God of Israel, and escape from the wrath of God (Deuteronomy 7:9-11; 10:12-13; Joel 2:12; Acts 3:19). Always, God has His own ways and means to communicate His message to His people.

Remember, Artaxerxes king of Persia gave permission to Ezra to go to Jerusalem because he understood that he was the priest and teacher of the Law of the God of heaven (Ezra 7:12). Ezra himself testified that the good hand of the Lord his God was on him as he served the God of Israel among God’s people Israel (Ezra 7:6, 9, 28; 8:22-23, 31). God wants His people to study the laws and decrees He had given, put them in practice in their day-to-day life, teach them to others so that others would live a life that is worthy of their calling, and write them down on scrolls and keep them safely for the future generations to learn. God spoke through Moses to the Children of Israel that:

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

As the followers of Jesus Christ, it is our calling to follow the Lord Jesus Christ wholeheartedly, dedicate ourselves for studying, teaching, and preaching the Word of God, and sharing the gospel of Christ with everyone near and far. As Ezra testified that the good hand of the Lord his God was on him as he served the God of Israel, Jesus promised His presence will go with us until the very end of the age (Matthew 18:20). If the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ goes with us wherever we do His ministry, our life and ministry would be a blessing to everyone whom we serve, which will bring glory and honor to God. It is time for us to keep away all our personal interests but just trust Him and obey His commands. Let us do what He wants us to do. We might not be able to fulfill God’s purpose in and through our life with our own strength or ability, but the Holy Spirit will help us. Jesus said:

15 If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them (John 14:15-21)

As Ezra prepared his heart and mind to seek the Lord, to study the Law, and to teach the Law, let us also prepare our hearts and minds to seek the Lord and do what God wants us to do. It is time to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over our life and dedicate ourselves to trust, love, and obey the Lord and Savior of our life – Jesus Christ. May the Lord God Almighty Bless us all! Amen!