Ezra 8:1

The Bible says in Ezra 8:1-15, “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.[2] Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush.[3] Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.[4] Of the sons of Pahath-moab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.[5] Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.[6] Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.[7] And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.[8] And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.[9] Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.[10] And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.[11] And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.[12] And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.[13] And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.[14] Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.[15] And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.” Ezra was a scribe, and so it is not surprising that he kept such good and detailed records of what was taking place. Ezra was one of the people that God used to write the scriptures. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” There is a lesson from the fact that Ezra was also a scribe. In order for us to have the Bible today, God used scribes as well as the prophets who wrote the Bible. Without the scribes we would not have the Bible. That means that God used the prophets to give us His Word without error, and then God used the scribes to preserve for us and to transfer to us the Word without error. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pas away.” That means that God used the scribes just as much as He used the prophets and other writers of the books of the Bible.

The Bible says in Ezra 8:16-23, “Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.[17] And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.[18] 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;[19] And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;[20] Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.[21] Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.[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.[23] So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.” Ezra found other men to help him in his work. He called them “men of understanding.” The greater the job that God has called you to do, the more that you need people to help you. But you do not need just any people: you need the best. You need people who have knowledge and wisdom. Notice the great statement that Ezra made in verse twenty-two, “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.” If we tell people that God can do anything, and that God can help us, are we ourselves living and making decisions based upon that belief?

The Bible says in Ezra 8:24-36, “Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,[25] And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellers, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:[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;[27] Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.[28] And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.[29] Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.[30] So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.[31] Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.[32] And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.[33] Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;[34] By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.[35] Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.[36] And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God.” The thing to notice about these verses is that the gold and silver was weighed out and recorded exactly to whom it was given and what it was used for. To be a good Christian leader requires not only spirituality but also practicality. Many ministries have been ruined for financial reasons. There are several ways in which a ministry is ruined by not handling finances properly. One way is that the leaders enrich themselves with the money that was given. That did not happen with Ezra. The money went for the Lord’s work. The New Testament tells us that a pastor must not be “greedy of filthy lucre.” If they are, it does not matter what other qualities that they have. They are disqualified from being a pastor because they will bring reproach upon the Gospel. Another major mistake that can be made with money is that some over-extend themselves. They have a good idea, but they need money to do it. They take out loans, trusting that God will give them the money later. Sometimes that future money never comes in, and the work gets sold or goes bankrupt. Why not trust the Lord to give the money before starting the project. Ezra made detailed records of where the money went. He provided things honest in the sight of all men. Take good records and make them open and available for inspection so that no one could even hint that things were not being done properly from a financial standpoint.

The Bible says in Ezra 9:1-4, “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, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.[2] For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.[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.[4] Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.” Ezra hears the terrible news. Even though he is serving the Lord the best that he can, many of the people of his land are not. The problem is stated very well in verse one that the people “have not separated themselves from the people of the lands.” This is a critical Biblical principle that is emphasized over and over again. Let’s look at just a few reminders. It says in Psalms 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” It says in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…” It says in First John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” And it says in Second Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” If you know Jesus as your Savior and you love Him, and you are seeking to be married, make sure that you pray for and look for a spouse who also knows Jesus as Savior and who also loves Him.

The Bible says in Ezra 9:5-9, “And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God.[6] And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.[7] Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.[8] And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.[9] For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.” This is the first part of Ezra’s prayer. It is a great prayer from a heavy heart. Ezra is burdened because of the sins of his people. They sinned terribly in the past, and they deserved the punishments that came their way. Ezra knew that the blessings they had were only by the grace of God. Each of us are in the same situation. We are great sinners. We live in a corrupting world that is all around us. Notice in verse eight that Ezra said, “for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God.” Ezra recognized the “little” time and the “little” opportunity that God had given them. There is so much to do in the world. Very few know Jesus, and their ministries are very small. We do not need two or three good Christian colleges, we need two or three thousand. Yes, God has given us just a “little space also.” And even that is by grace. We do not deserve an opportunity to serve Him. We also have sinned. Ezra asked for forgiveness. That it is a good prayer request to make, in that we are all still sinners. We are evil, in fact. Thankfully, God always answers the prayer request for forgiveness. Jesus died for us. The Lord simply wants us to be honest with Him, and to seek to do better. He loves us. He forgives.

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