Ezra 7
Notes
Transcript
Handout
1 Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,
2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,
3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth,
4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki,
5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest—
6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.
7 And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants.
8 And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
9 For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him.
10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel:
12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now
13 I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
14 For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand,
15 and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
16 with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem.
17 With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.
18 Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God.
19 The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem.
20 And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.
21 “And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence,
22 up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
23 Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.
24 We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25 “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.
26 Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”
27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem,
28 and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.
The Second Return
The Second Return
The next few chapters (7-10) cover the return of the second group to Judah, led by Ezra, during the seventh year in the reign of Artaxerxes.
1 Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,
2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,
3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth,
4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki,
5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest—
“After this” - fifty-seven years has passed since the events of the last chapter ended. The temple was completed in 515 B.C. in the reign of Darius I.
Darius death in 486
Xerxes (Darius son) ruled 485-465 (20 years)
Also called Ahasuerus in Esther (events of this book occur between Chapter 6 and 7).
Artaxerxes (Xerxes’ son) ruled 464-424 (40 years).
515-458 (Artaxerxes’ seventh year) makes 57 years.
We also see a condenses lineage of Ezra, tracking back to Aaron, the first high priest. The full lineage (plugging in the gaps) appears in:
7 Meraioth fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub,
8 Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Ahimaaz,
9 Ahimaaz fathered Azariah, Azariah fathered Johanan,
10 and Johanan fathered Azariah (it was he who served as priest in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem).
Seraiah was the high priest when Jerusalem fell in 58, and Ezra (it appears) would be his great-grandson. Because of his lineage from priests, Ezra would have had the authority to teach.
In Ezra is seen the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless the descendants of the godly.
40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
5 The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!
6 May you see your children’s children! Peace be upon Israel!
6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.
The term “scribe” refers to a learned man who could read, write, and teach what he read in God’s Law - he would have been well versed in the Law. We see him referred to as “teacher or scribe” four times in Ezra 7. He is also referred to as “scribe” six times in Nehemiah (8:1, 4, 9, 12; 12:26, 36).
Ezra has earned the blessing of King Artaxerxes (a pagan King - as well as the blessing of God. This teacher/scribe description of Ezra means this would be his major function in life. He used his relationship with the King to also ask for his favor to further the cause of God and the returned exiles. We again see a description that furthers Ezra’s importance - the hand of the Lord his God was on him. Ezra was a priest and a man of strong character. Therefore, he was the right person for God to use to stir genuine revival among the people. Furthermore, he was a godly leader who could arouse the backslidden priests and Levites to return to their duties in the temple.
Ezra was very skilled in the art of persuasion (vv. 6–7). Everything he asked of the king, the king granted. Nothing was withheld, and no request was left unanswered, for the hand of the LORD was upon him.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2004. Print. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible.
7 And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants.
8 And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
9 For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him.
10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
The seventh year of King Artaxerxes would put it around the year 508 B.C.
Notice there is not much description of this return from Babylon to Jerusalem or the preparations they underwent. However, we see those linked with the same people that returned with Zerubbabel - priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants. The trip back would take from the first to the fifth month - or 4 months total.
Ezra also had an exceptionally strong will and determination. There would be a long journey ahead, roughly 900 miles, with around 5,000 returning exiles. It was dangerous, with robbers and enemies who despised the Jews. He was 100% committed to both the Lord and His people.
“Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord” - we also see his devotion and determination to study God’s Law, obey it, and teach it to others.
One of the great needs in the world today is for men and women to be totally committed to the LORD and to His Holy Word. Most of the world is ignorant of the LORD and His Word. To prove the point, think how little time is spent in daily prayer and study of the Bible. We should ask ourselves, How much time do I spend in daily prayer? Daily Bible study? In serving the LORD by meeting the needs of others?
What Prompted the Return
What Prompted the Return
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel:
12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now
The King wrote a letter to Ezra allowing him and the others to return to Israel, and appointing Ezra as a representative of the King. There isn’t any reason why this decree was given, but it could have been that Ezra asked permission and this is the official correspondence granting the request.
13 I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
14 For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand,
15 and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
16 with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem.
17 With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.
18 Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God.
19 The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem.
20 And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.
21 “And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence,
22 up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
23 Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.
24 We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25 “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.
26 Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”
Artaxerxes listed certain freedoms the people were to have as they journeyed to and lived in Israel.
He gave them permission to any wanting to return to go to Jerusalem (v. 13). Again, God allows those in captivity to be set free. How are we set free today? We are given the opportunity to be set free from our sins, freeing us from their captivity in our lives, and we are given a promise that we too can return to OUR homeland someday - heaven.
He gave them silver and gold to take with them and he allowed them to get more in Babylon (vv. 15–16, 20). He said that they could offer sacrifices on the altar at the temple (v. 17). They were also given freedom to make their own decisions (v. 18). They could take back the utensils of worship for the temple (vv. 19–20). (Apparently not all of them had been carried back with Zerubbabel; cf. 1:7–11.) They could have whatever else they needed for the temple up to a certain limit (7:21–22). The wheat, oil, and salt were for use in the grain offerings (cf. 6:9; Lev. 2:1–2, 7, 13), and the wine was for drink offerings (cf. Ezra 6:9; Lev. 23:13). The amounts were enormous: 100 talents (3 3/4 tons) of silver, 100 cors (500-600 bushels) of wheat, 100 baths (500-600 gallons) of wine, 100 baths (500-600 gallons) of olive oil, and salt without limit. Artaxerxes also gave Ezra the right to request help from the political officials who governed the empire west of the Euphrates (vv. 21–24). This was a large territory, which meant that the taxes collected by the government amounted to huge sums of money for the royal treasury. But, the priests and Levites were not to be taxed (Ezra 7:24).
To make sure the officials supplied whatever Ezra needed, Artaxerxes issued a warning to the officials (vv. 23–24). They were to provide quickly for the temple of God in order to secure the protection of the Jewish God and to prevent His wrath from falling upon them.
In return for granting these privileges the king was to receive some benefits from the expedition. Why would Artaxerxes fear the God of the Jews when the Jews had been so easily conquered under the Babylonians and the Persians? No doubt, in his mind, the God of Israel had not been able to protect the Jews. Why, then, would he now be thinking that the God of the Jews could protect them or cast His wrath upon the Persian Empire? Scripture says nothing about the matter. Perhaps Artaxerxes had heard of God’s astounding, miraculous deliverance of the Jews from the Assyrians during Hezekiah’s reign in Israel. The backbone of the Assyrian army had been broken. In one night, 185,000 soldiers were killed by the angel of the LORD (IS. 37:36). Whatever the case, it seems evident that God was at work in the heart of Artaxerxes, moving him to show favor to the returning exiles.
In closing his letter of commission, the king gave Ezra a threefold royal authority; to appoint magistrates and judges, to teach the Law of God, and to execute justice on anyone who did not obey the commandments of the Law of God and the law the king.
He wanted to avoid uprisings or feelings of anger against him (v. 23) and to have order in that part of his empire (vv. 25–26). Ezra was responsible to administer justice to all the people of the area, that is, to all who knew the laws of his God—the Jewish people.
27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem,
28 and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.
Ezra’s response to the king’s decree shows what kind of man he was. He praised the LORD for what was being done under him.
By calling Yahweh the God of our fathers he linked himself with the godly line that had been concerned with proper sacrificial worship. He also noted that God had given this idea to the king (put it into the king’s heart). Ezra added that the purpose of all this was to bring honor to the house of the LORD. The privileges granted by Artaxerxes were for God’s glory, not Ezra’s.
Ezra also said that God’s good favor was shown to him in front of all the king’s pagan advisers and officials. “Good favor” translates ḥeseḏ, God’s covenantal love for His people.
(That Heb. word is rendered “love” in 3:11, in each verse in Ps. 136, and elsewhere.) It refers to more than love; it means covenantal love, love borne out of loyalty to a commitment. Because Ezra saw that God was working through him (the hand of the LORD my God was on me; cf. Ezra 7:6, 9; 8:18, 22, 31), he began the task of selecting people to make the difficult trip. This probably was difficult and must have involved much personal contact and persuasion. But he was successful in enlisting leading men … to go with him.
Every believer has been commissioned by the LORD, commissioned to lead people to the promised land of heaven. Sadly, many people are not going to heaven because they are alienated from God, cut off from Him. They are neglecting and ignoring the LORD, even denying Him. Tragically, they have nothing to do with the LORD in this life; consequently, they will have nothing to do with Him in the next life. If they live apart or separated from God now, they will live apart and be separated from God through all eternity. For this reason, the LORD commissions us as believers to go forth to proclaim the truth to the world. Through Him alone can a person become acceptable to God. If a person wishes to approach God, he must approach through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is The Way to God. He is The Truth we are to live by. He is The Life we are to receive and live. As Christ Himself declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father but by me” (Jn. 14:6).