Ezra Pt 11: Remember God is Watching
Notes
Transcript
3 At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?
4 Then said we unto them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building?
5 But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.
Introduction
Illustration: Kaiden & Addison Smart Devices - I can see what they do, turn them on and off
As their loving Father i want to protect them, I want to keep an eye on them because I love them.
Now how they view my desire and ability to control their technology usage, can go one of two ways depending on perspective
They can appreciate that they have a father who loves and cares for them dearly and wants to protect them or they can view it as a burden that spoils their fun
The fact of the matter is though, that regardless of their perspective, I will not stop watching over them. You the fact doesn't change regardless of the perspective.
Perspective cannot change truth...Perspective can change your opinions, but it can never alter the truth..
look at this slide
Illustration: GODISNOWHERE slide - What do you see? God is nowhere, or God is now here?
It’s a matter of perspective as to what you see, but that cannot change the truth!
What we are going to see from this mornings passage from Ezra, is that the truth that God was watching over his people, His eye was upon them.
He was watching His people, as He was then, He does so now, regardless of our own personal perspective on that Biblical truth.
Challenge: I wonder this morning do you need a reminder that God is watching, does your perspective of God’s presence and power need a reset, to fall in line with Biblical truth?
God is watching beloved, God is watching.
Transition: Let us now turn our eye to our passage in Ezra, as will see that the eye of the governor was upon the people, but so was the eye of their God! Lets read Ezra 5:3-4 again as we see the eye of the governor on the people
The Eye of the Governor was on the People
3 At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?
4 Then said we unto them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building?
It was a Malicious Eye
Tatnai and his crew come along to stir up trouble
The question that comes is “by whose authority are you doing what you do”
This seems a simple enough question
no harm in asking, why would you call this malicious Pastor?
Well, remember what is said early in this series?
when the work of God begins, the opposition of the enemy intensifies
what has happened in verse 2 of chapter 5?
2 Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.
the building begins !! then we have verse 3
3 At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?
notice “at the same time”
this is no coincidence, this question is not an innocent one
further to that it seems that Tatnai, was out if his jurisdiction
he was governor of the trans Euphrates province
Judaea was a province in its own right
8 Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands.
Tatnai it seems was acting outside of authority
it wasn’t his business, but he made it his business
why, because this was a malicious attempt to stop the work of God.
Not only was the eye of the governor a malicious one, it was also a manipulating eye
it was a Manipulating Eye
4 Then said we unto them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building?
Here the KJV isn't helpful in its translation, and neither is the NKJV
the MEV gives us a little clarity
4 They also asked them, “What are the names of the men building this building?”
as it is the governor and his agitators who are asking the people the names of the elders
this is cleared up for us in verse 10 of chapter 5 in the KJV
10 We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them.
and further the response is detailed in the preceding verses, which we will examine next time we are in Ezra
The point is, the enemies of Gods work where trying to get the people to report on their own people
they wanted the people to betray one another!!
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The Eye of God was on the People
5 But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.
It was a Managing Eye
God was watching over his people
Now understand this is not the literal eye of God!
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
What we have here is whats no as an anthropomorphism
The word anthropomorphism comes from the Greek words anthropos (man) and morphe(form).
In theology, the term anthropomorphism includes the idea of referring to God by human characteristics.
Examples
Face
25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
Hands
11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: The Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.
Arms
10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; Thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
Ears & Eyes
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.
Many of these references are used to help readers understand a concept God was attempting to convey.
what then was the eye of God meant to convey?
well it is tied in with Gods sovereignty and his divine attributes
The eye of God was upon the elders so that they could not cause them to cease
could not, means they tried
but God was sovereign over all
He was was just waiting for His people to respond to his will!
when we walk in his will, we are sure of his protection
God had his eye upon His people
It was a Motivating Eye
The eye of God upon his people should have been a motivating eye
I mean hadn’t God always been faithful to his promises to Israel when they where obedient and faithful to him?
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him.
8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.
this is the covenant of the law, given to Israel
its really gods marriage vows with Israel
if you will, i will
Israel agreed to God’s terms and he affirmed His commitment to them
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Failure to fulfil the commitment from Israel brought trouble
14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
The people knew this, they had these scriptures
they knew they had just come out of exile, and exile that was as a result of their idolatry and disobedience to God
knowing this, knowing that the eye of God was upon them should of motivated to do the work that they where called to do
and when they did the work they where called to do, their God who had his eye upon them, also provided protection for them!
Conclusion
Make no mistake the eye of the governor was on the people! The eye of the Enemy
And it was a malicious eye - trying to stop the work and cause trouble
It was also a manipulating eye - trying to turn brethren against brethren
But the Eye of God was upon His people
A managing eye - protecting and providing for His own
A motivating eye - that should of motivated the people in their work for the lord.
And it was the Eye of God that was greater than the eye of the enemy, because there is none like the Lord our God - NONE..
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
“Safety comes in our nearness to God, not in our distance from our enemies.”
GOD WAS WATCHING.....
He was watching then, and He is watching now.
I wonder what your perspective is on that statement, as we close this morning?
You see now we get to application for us today, and I want to give you two thoughts on the the Biblical truth that God is watching
First thought - God knows all you do
Second thought - God knows why you do what you do
As we let these thoughts sink in this morning, we have to look at them from two perspectives - The positive and the negative
You see God knows all you do - both good and bad, both the things you do, and the things you dont !
And God knows why you do the things you do, and why you dont do the things you should do!
13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
God is watching and He see all..
I wonder what he see’s when he looks into your life and into your heart?
Remember, GOD IS WATCHING
Let’s Pray