Ezra 7-10
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
Introduction
Under the ministry of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the leaders of the
people have pushed the work of the Temple Temple March 12, 515 BC (nice day, huh?)
We are now going to skip ahead some 58 years to the time of Ezra. This is the man who wrote this book. We also believe he is the one who authored 1&2 Chronicles.
Ezra 7
:1-10 Ezra goes to Jerusalem
:1 Now after these things, in the reign of
Artaxerxes king of Persia
Ezra – ‘Ezra’ – “help”
Seraiah – S@rayah – “Jehovah is ruler”. The father of Ezra.
He was the high priest when Jerusalem
(2 Ki 25:18-21 KJV) And the captain of
the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and
Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: {19} And out of
the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of
them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the
principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and
threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city: {20} And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought
them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: {21} And the
king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah
in the land of Hamath. So Judah
Ezra is of the priestly line. He is
qualified to be high priest.
:5 The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest:
The point of this is to show that Ezra was a descendant of Aaron, Moses’ brother and the first high priest. This is not the complete list of ancestors, just enough to make clear who Ezra is.
If you wanted to be a priest, you had to be able to trace your genealogy back to Aaron.
If you read the historical account of Korah’s rebellion and what followed (Numbers 16-18), God made it very clear that all priests must be descendants of Aaron. God told Aaron:
(Num 18:7 KJV) Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep
your priest's office for every thing of the altar, and within the veil; and ye
shall serve: I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of gift:
and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
The Jews today are planning on following this command as well. They have even isolated a certain genetic fingerprint that can show whether or not an individual is a descendant of Aaron. The Jewish name “Cohen” means “priest”, the priests are called the “Kohanim”.
I see this as one of the many flaws in Mormon theology. It seems that
Joseph Smith wasn’t too keen on all the details of the Scriptures. In his fictitious
story in the book of Mormon, he tells of a group of people who are from the
tribe of Joseph. These people supposedly end up traveling to America 5:26 ). Yet
in doing this, this character was violating the Law of Moses.
The Mormon church claims that on May
15, 1829 , John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic
Priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. The
Mormons today believe that they have a revived form of the Aaronic
priesthood. The problem with all this is, you can’t be a priest is you’re not a
descendant of Aaron.
:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon
ready – mahiyr – quick, prompt, skilled, ready
scribe – caphar – to count, recount, relate; enumerator, muster-officer, secretary; learned man, scribe
The scribes were experts in the Scriptures. It’s possible that they got their start as those who made the copies of the Scriptures.
:6 according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
This phrase “the hand of the LORD” is something that is used a couple of times in this period of history.
(Ezra 7:9 KJV) For upon the
first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon Jerusalem
(Ezra 8:18
KJV) And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of
understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi,
the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and
his brethren, eighteen;
(Ezra 8:22
KJV) For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen
to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king,
saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his
power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
(Neh 2:8 KJV) And a letter unto Asaph the
keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the
gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the
city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me,
according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Lesson
No such thing as luck.
Ezra and Nehemiah use this phrase because they saw God working in the situations around their lives.
(Phil 2:12-13 KJV) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. {13} For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
(Rom 8:28
KJV) And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose.
:7 in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
7th year of Artaxerxes – That would be 457 BC. The Temple 6:15 ),
58 years earlier.
Persian Kings
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||
Kings
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Chapters
in Ezra
|
Other
OT Books
|
Cyrus (559-530)Cambyses (530-522)Smerdis (522)Darius (521-486) |
Chapters 1-6 |
Haggai (520)Zechariah (520-518) |
Xerxes I (Ahasuerus) (486-465) |
4:6 |
Esther (465) |
Artaxerxes I (464-424) |
4:7-23; chs. 7-10 |
Malachi (450-400) |
Darius II (423-404) |
|
Nehemiah (445-425) |
:8 And he came to Jerusalem
It took them four months to get to Jerusalem
:9 according to the good hand of his God upon him.
good – towb – good, pleasant, agreeable
hand – yad – hand
:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the
law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel
had prepared – kuwn – (Hiphil) to establish, set up, accomplish, do, make firm; to fix, make ready, prepare, provide, provide for, furnish; to direct toward (moral sense); to arrange, order
heart – lebab – inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding
to seek – darash – to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require
to do it – ‘asah – to do, fashion, accomplish, make
to teach – lamad – (Piel) to teach
Lesson
A Recipe for
success?
(Ezra 7:9-10 NLT) He had left Babylon Jerusalem Israel
I’d say we ought to pay attention to the way Ezra lived his life.
:11-26 Artaxerxes’ Letter
:11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest
What happened to Artaxerxes? How come he’s sympathetic?
In 4:7-23 we have an account of how some of the Jews’ enemies had written to Artaxerxes and had accused the Jews of being a stubborn and rebellious people. After search was made through the royal archives, it was found that the Jews had a history of being independent. As a result, Artaxerxes commanded that the work of rebuilding the city had to stop.
Now in the 7th year of Artaxerxes, something has happened to
change his mind as he sends Ezra with gifts to Jerusalem
In his 20th year, he will also send Nehemiah to help the work of the rebuilding of the walls.
Some have suggested that Artaxerxes’ change of heart may be due to the fact that he’s suffered some big defeats at the hands of the Greeks. Perhaps he’s looking to get all the “gods” rooting for him.
:14 of his seven counsellors
Apparently this was some sort of governmental group in the Persian
Empire . Ahasuerus also had the same group:
(Est 1:14 KJV) And the next unto
him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven
princes of Persia
:22 Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
Artaxerxes gives a limit to how much he’ll help.
an hundred talents of silver = 120,000 oz (3.75 tons, or 3.4 metric tons).
an hundred measures of wheat = 600 bushels (22 kl).
an hundred baths of oil – no, this is not with Oil of Olay. One bath
was equivalent to six gallons, this would be 600
gallons of oil.
:24 …it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.
Those in the ministry of the Temple
:25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates
Ezra was in charge of appointing the government.
:26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him
Artaxerxes gives Ezra and those he appoints authority to enforce the both the Law of Moses and the Law of the Persians.
:27-28 Ezra’s thankfulness
Ezra 8
:1-20 Ezra’s group
:1-14 These are now the chief of their fathers,
and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon
The total of men mentioned in verses 2-14 is 1,499.
The men are mentioned by families rather than individually.
:15 I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava…found there none of the sons of Levi.
Ahava – ‘Ahava’ – “I shall subsist”. See map
When Zerubbabel came to Jerusalem
:17 And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia
Casiphia – not sure where this is. Some
think there was a colony of Temple
:18 Sherebiah, with his
sons and his brethren, eighteen;
He would become a leader among the priests in the time of Nehemiah.
:20 two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.
Nethinims – Nathiyn – Nethinims; temple slaves assigned to the Levites and priests for service in the sanctuary
Temple
:21-23 A fast for protection
:22 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
The road to Jerusalem
Lesson
Recklessness or
faith?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.
We might think that Ezra should have just done what was safe and asked for a military escort.
It’s not wrong to have a military escort:
When Nehemiah went to
(Neh 2:9 KJV) Then I came to the governors beyond the
river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the
army and horsemen with me.
But it seems that Ezra has been witnessing to the king about how Great God was.
Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn’t put ourselves in situations like that a little more often.
Illustration
In his book Miracles in Black, Dr. John C. Wengatz tells of an African convert who was left at a new mission station to carry on the Lord’s work with a cannibal tribe. It was the dry season when Joao Mbaxi took over, but soon the tropical rains would be coming. Month after month went by, however, without a cloud appearing in the sky. Then came the time for the normal dry period. By now everyone was suffering, and many were on the brink of starvation. In all the years they had worshiped their ancient gods, the rains had never failed them, and so Joao was told that he must leave the country and take “the white man’s God” with him. The courageous Christian refused to go. Then, flushed with anger, the chief sullenly warned, “If your God is as good as you say and so powerful that He rules the sky, why doesn’t He send us the needed showers? If it doesn’t rain by sunrise tomorrow, we will drink your blood and eat your flesh!”
Recalling the Biblical account of Elijah, Joao went to his hut and prayed for divine help with the same urgency as that of the ancient prophet. Meanwhile the members of the tribe waited for the dawn when the Christian leader would become the victim of their horrible feast. Just before daylight, thunder was heard in the distance, lightning flashed across the sky, and abundant rain refreshed the entire region! As a result, the believer was able to continue his work for Christ.
:23 So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.
Lesson
Prayer and fasting
They were SERIOUS about this.
We might think that fasting is a way of twisting God’s arm into listening to us.
It’s really a way of making us more open to the things of the Lord. As we are denying our flesh, we are learning to depend on the Spirit. We find ourselves in a better place to be used by the Lord.
:24-30 The Treasure is assigned
:25 And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels
These men will be entrusted with protecting the treasure.
:26 I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;
silver – 780,000 oz (24.4 tons, or 22 metric tons)
silver vessels and of gold – the
equivalent of 120,000 oz (3.75 tons, or 3.4 metric tons).
:27 Also twenty basins of gold, of a thousand drams
Equivalent value of 297 oz (18.6 lb, or 8.4 kg) of gold.
:30 So took the priests and the Levites the weight
of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem
Rather than put all the treasure in one wagon, they split the treasure up. Perhaps if they were to be raided, they might not lose it all at once.
:31-32 The trip to Jerusalem
:33-36 The Treasure is accounted for
:35 twelve bullocks for all Israel
twelve … for all Israel
Ezra 9
:1-4 Mixed marriages
:1 Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands …
Ezra will have been in Jerusalem 8:31 ).
Lesson
Mixed marriages
This was not an issue of interracial marriage. The Canaanites were a Semitic people like the Jews.
It has to do with what “god” you follow.
God had warned the people:
(Deu 7:3-4 KJV) Neither shalt thou make marriages with them;
thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take
unto thy son. {4} For they will turn away thy son from
following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be
kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
This is one of the not-so-obvious reasons why the people had been in captivity. They had gone after other gods, and some of it started by the intermarrying with people that worshipped other gods.
Christians have a similar rule:
(2 Cor 6:14 KJV) Be ye not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
:2 …yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
The rulers had been at the head of committing this sin.
:3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
Lesson
Grief over sin
It wasn’t Ezra’s sin. Yet he was grieved.
He wasn’t the one who had sinned, yet notice how he’ll use the pronouns “I” as if he had sinned.
I think this shows that Ezra loves these people.
The Bible says that love …
(1 Cor 13:6 KJV) Rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
