Ezra 10

Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, "We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it."

(Ezr 10:1-4)

I love passages like this. It starts with one man, one man who is broken before God… and it spreads rapidly to a LARGE group of people. Look at what Ezra is doing… He is praying primarily, but while he prays he is engaged in three other things: Confession, weeping, and bowing down. As Ezra confessed his sin he was broken hearted and began to weep. He wept over his own sins, and the sins of his people. He realized how awful they were in the eyes of God. He then bowed himself before the Lord, symbolic of his reverence and Godly fear. Ezra was putting himself in the proper place before the Lord.

I love this… He didn’t go on a campaign to stamp out sin, or condemn those around him, he carried these things to the Lord. If Ezra had gone to these people caught up in sin and attacked them for their sin, I don’t think they would have responded the same way. When they saw Ezra, they broke… they recognized how evil their actions were in God’s sight, and they joined Ezra.

When was the last time you were broken over the sinfulness of the world we live in? If you want to be effective in your witness for Christ, it must begin with brokenness… the brokenness we see here led to revival; maybe we can see revival if we will be broken like Ezra was.

Ezra 9

When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass." So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God.

(Ezr 9:1-5)

Sin. How do you respond to sin? Are you indifferent towards it? Do you rejoice in it? Does it break your heart? We see here that Ezra responds properly to the sins of his people. The Israelites were unequally yoked, they were marrying people that worshipped idols of every sort, and were being caught up in the idolatry. This is something that God views as WICKED. It is not the way that He wanted His children to live.

Ezra response shows us the heart of God. First he tore his clothes… this was an old school way of showing that something awful was happening, it normally took place after the death of a loved one. Why would Ezra do this now? Because there WAS death; death in the relationship between God and His people. When these people sinned, they separated themselves from a holy God… their choices made relationship with God cease.

Notice the Godly men and women in this passage… they are referred to as men and women who “tremble at God’s word”. This doesn’t mean they were literally frightened by it, but that they took it SERIOUSLY. God’s word is to be taken seriously. His commands are not mere suggestions, and the consequences for continued sin are grave. May we be like Ezra and the other Godly men and women; broken hearted by the sin we see, taking God’s word SERIOUSLY.

Ezra 8

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, "The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him." So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.

(Ezr 8:21-23)

Fasting. I’m sure you all know what fasting is, but at times feel like you don’t know what it’s all about. You can define it as a “time when you stop eating so you can have more focused time to seek the Lord”. That definition works, but it still doesn’t really tell me when, how, and why I should fast. In our passage today, we see a whole group of people fasting, and we are told the when, how, and why of all that goes on. Let’s take a peek at these verses and see what we can learn.

1. The fast was a way for them to humble themselves before God. – Unlike God, we are completely dependent upon food and drink for our survival. God alone is a fully independent being and He is completely self-satisfied. We are spiritually dependent upon the Lord. When we fast, we are humbly acknowledging our dependence on Him, how much we need him. It acknowledges that we CAN’T MAKE IT ON OUR OWN, that we NEED THE LORD’S HELP, and we need Him to provide us with CLEAR DIRECTION.
2. They were seeking the RIGHT WAY. – The right way for them, for their children, and for their stuff. Have you ever been in one of those situations where you come to a fork in the road and you don’t know which direction to go? Spiritually, this happens more often than we are willing to think or admit. Often, we come to this point and we just make a choice, hoping it is right. For Ezra and his fellow settlers, they NEEDED to make the right choice, THEIR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT. So they fasted. For them, fasting seemed like the best way to make a wise decision in the situation… not the only way, just the best way.
3. It was to be a testimony – Like I said, there were other ways they could have gotten help; but they were concerned mostly with the WITNESS THEY HAD TO THE WORLD AROUND THEM. They had claimed that the Lord would help them; if they turned now and sought help from man; it may cause the men around to wonder if God had let them down. We can get help from outside sources, but the best thing we can do is to seek the face of God. Fasting is a way we can demonstrate that we truly believe God has the answers, and He will help us.

So, where does that leave us? I hope it clarifies a bit of the when, why and how of fasting… helping us to feel equipped to utilize this gift the Lord has given us. We need to view fasting as a privilege, not a burden; a special way for us to “kick it up a notch” when we really feel like we need God’s direction. Don’t be afraid, fasting is your friend.

Ezra 7

Ezr 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

We are so funny concerning our walks with the Lord. Sometimes we feel that just arriving is enough to have a good relationship with Jesus. Have you ever had a friend who treated you this way? They arrive at your house and their body language just makes you feel like their saying, "Well, I am here. Entertain me." I feel that we do this all the time with Jesus. We finally take some time out of our day for Him or we enter church with the attitude, "I arrived, You do the rest."

Ezra's heart as nothing like this. The verse above tells us that he prepared his heart just so he could seek the Lord. Another thing that stands out is as he prepared to read the Law of God, he was preparing to do it. What a great attitude to have. I would encourage you, as you prepare to read God's Word today and tomorrow and for the rest of your life, first prepare your heart to obey it. If you read His Word with no intension to obey it than you truly are content with just showing up.

Finally, Ezra was preparing to teach and share God's Word. This is the beautiful step by step instruction for diggin into God's Word. You dig in to seek God, and to do His will, and finally to share that will with others. It was as if Ezra was saying, "Unless I am willing to do all of the above, I am not reading the Word." Ezra is a warrior. I need to be the same way. This is not just for me to take in, but it is a sword. Unless you intend to dish it out, it does no good. Let's all learn from Ezra and approach God's Word with a new heart.

Ezra 6 Round 2

I tried posting this this morning and the computer decided to mess up and delete the devo. Sorry its late...


Ezr 6:22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the LORD made them joyful,

Here we have the people of Israel finally getting to use their new temple. It was twenty years in the making and it was filled with adverisity. Now they were ready to put it to use, they were ready to use it as a way worchip the Lord. We are told that they were joyful in worshipping Him, and the Lord made them joyful.

Something I have noticed in the lives of most Christians is that there is a lack of joy in their lives. I know I am especially guilty of this. Here I am, blessed beyond belief, and yet I still spend time thinking about complications rather than being filled with the joy of the Lord. I like the picture made here. Israel came filled with joy and God made them joyful. Israel already had the right attitude, and God made filled them with even more joy. This is what the Lord will do for us.

We need to live lives that show we are filled with the joy of the Lord. There is something so attractive about a joyful person. It draws others toward them. We, as Christians, have something which should put a little more hop in our step. We have something which should make us more excited to live life. We have a relationship with Jesus. Let it show.

Ezra 5

Ezr 5:8 Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the temple of the great God, which is being built with heavy stones, and timber is being laid in the walls; and this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.

Israel now has to deal with politics as they continue to try to build their wall. In one sense they were being disobedient to the government. They had been commanded to stop for the time being. On the other hand, they had a very valid point in that King Cyrus gave them the decree to build therefore they shall build. So what was the right move? The right move was following God's plan.

Because you live in this world you will deal with politics. You may get involved in politics as pertaining to the government. You may not be interested in that at all yet you find yourself dealing with work politics, school politics, church politics, and even personal politics. Politics simply means, "The science of government." Since we all live in governments (Your home, your school, etc...) we find ourself victim to politics. The most important thing to do in this politically correct world is to keep your eyes on Jesus.

Keeping your eyes on Jesus may be the least political move possible. I would encourage you to read the biography on Charles Colson. He was deeply involved in politics. In fact, he was the main character with Nixon behind the Watergate scandal. Yet, he got off free and clear. Through all this the Lord touched his life and he became a Christian. Further evidence brought him back to court, but this time, he admitted to everything. Not a political move. He ended up making prison his stage for preaching Jesus. To this day he runs the ministry known as Prison Fellowship. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Let Him make your decisions for you.

Ezra 4

Ezr 4:1-3 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, (2) they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers' houses, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here." (3) But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel said to them, "You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

The enemies of Judah and Benjamin hear about Jerusalem being rebuilt. What do they decide to do? They decide to help Israel build the temple.

Notice that they were not looking to help build the walls, or homes, but they specifically were interested in building the temple. Why? Because the temple was the place of communion between Israel and God. This is where man would talk to God and God to man. It represented the relationship between God and His people, and if the temple was defiled than Israel was defiled. 1Co 6:19 tells us "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" This is the New Testament equilevent of the Old Testament Temple. We now, through the Holy Spirit that dwells in this body, have access to our Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 21:22 tells us that in heaven there is no temple, but only God. This represents that we will have complete access to Him and will no longer have to go through something else.

Our enemy has similar tactics. Satan will stop at nothing to get something in our temple that will distract us from Jesus. He will even make it sound like a good thing at first. He will say he is helping us. We let God rebuke Satan. But indeed, like Israel, we need to learn to say to those distractions in our hearts, "You may do nothing with us to build the house of our God..." Keep your eyes on Him and keep your temple undefiled from this world.

Ezra 3

Ezr 3:12-13 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, (13) so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.

Have you ever returned to a house you grew up in or a place from your childhood. When you look at everything over again it looks way smaller because you remember it from when you were tiny. Israel was taken into captivity for 70 years. Therefore, anyone who remembered the old temple was very young when they saw it and was no doubt very old now.

We have a funny picture here. The people of Israel were rebuilding hte temple. Now the old temple was built by Solomon. Solomon was famous for his vast amount of riches. Consequently, he had plenty of money to pour into building the temple. The old temple (Solomon's temple) was huge, grand, and breathtaking. The new temple was none of these because Israel was returning as a nation without foundation. Conbine this with the childlike perspective of the old temple and we an see why the old men cried when looking upon these new foundations.

What I find refreshing about this verse is that the others were not crying. They were instead rejoicing at the new temple being built. This is a challenge to us. Our Christian lives are never to be lived in the past. We are never to look at a past outreach or past experience as a way to measure what is being today. If God is truly doing a work, than today is the day for rejoicing. The young people of Israel were all rejoicing over the new temple because they knew nothing of the old one. They were just happy that a house was being built for the Lord. Be glad for the work the Lord is doing today. Do not weep for latter days, because it takes you away from being used in the now.

Ezra 2

Have you ever been away on a long trip? Do you remember how it good it feels to finally come home after that trip? Now, imagine for a moment what it was like to be a Jew at this time in history. They had all been away from their homes for a LONG TIME. It had been 70 years for many of them. They didn’t have homes to return to really, they had been chased out, their homes burned to the ground… then they were rounded up and herded like cattle into Babylon. For 70 years they lived as captives in a land that was not theirs, but then the Lord moved, and they were allowed to return to their land, to rebuild their homes, and to restore their kingdom.

For the average Jew, this must have been such an incredible time. Though there would be great sadness when they saw their land and the destruction there, there was also great GLADNESS as they realized that GOD WAS AT WORK, AND HAD NOT FORSAKEN THEM. Over 40,000 people are listed for us as returning in this chapter; they were coming back to a lot of hard work, to a lot of sweat… But they were coming back with the assurance that GOD WAS STILL AT WORK.

Remember that simple thought as you go about your day today, GOD IS STILL AT WORK.

Ezra 1

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.

(Ezr 1:2-6)

We pick up right where we left off yesterday. Here we see in the beginning of Ezra, that people are beginning to respond to Cyrus and return to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the temple. The difference here is that Cyrus’ decree contains some detail here in Ezra that we weren’t given in 2^nd Chronicles. Cyrus tells us as is recorded here, that those of the Jews who couldn’t go down to Jerusalem should still involve themselves in the work by giving of their resources.

So here we see a two-fold response; the heads of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, all of the priests and Levites, and those who had their SPIRIT MOVED BY GOD head for Jerusalem; those who stayed behind gave willingly of what they had. So, why were some moved by God and others not?

I think the answer is simple; God didn’t want everyone to go back. We need to remember that. It doesn’t mean that those who stayed behind were less godly, gifted, or spiritual; it just means that God had other plans for them. There will be times in your life when you feel a strong move of God’s Spirit upon you to do, say, or be something. Maybe it will be a type of ministry you are called to, and maybe it will involve leaving. What you don’t want to do is get upset when some of the people around you fail to share your enthusiasm for what you are doing. Don’t go thinking you are better than them; instead just realize that God has different plans for everyone. The key is not “why aren’t they being moved?!?!” it is “God what are You moving ME to do?”