Blessings for the Obedient

0:50And over those next nine chapters, you see all manner of intrigue and hijinks and shenanigans as Jacob repeatedly cons Esau out of his rights and blessings as the firstborn son. Now Jacob was not a particularly honest guy for most of his life. In fact, his name can be translated deceiver. And that's sad. But what's even sadder is that Esau willingly gave up his blessings because he didn't value them enough. And in the end, Esau was left weeping. Desiring to obtain the blessings, but it was too late.

1:36And the author of Hebrews interprets the sad ending of his life in this way. Look on the screen. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. Esau's story, though better known, is not unlike so many other stories of our day and perhaps even our own. At some point, we all come to the realization that what we want in life is blessing. And for many people, we realize that we don't just want blessing from our parents or from our employers or from our spouse or even our children in some respect. What we want ultimately is the blessing of the Lord. We want God's blessing. And so many people just assume that God will bless them, but they never get around to asking the question: what kind of life does God bless? What kind of person does God bless?

2:45And today we're going to have that question answered for us in Ezra chapter 7. Finally, our main character, Ezra, arrives here in the story, and his life becomes a picture, a model pointing us forward to Jesus. Pointing us forward to his ultimate salvation and what he offers as our perfect priest. But we have in the life and the person of Ezra this example and this model of what a life of blessing and what a blessed life looks like.

3:14And so, what we're going to learn today is that God's hand of blessing rests on his obedient children. The outset of chapter 7 here, 60 years have passed since the end of the last chapter where the temple was completed and dedicated. And over that time period, King Darius and his reign came to an end. And then King Xerxes and his reign came to an end. And then Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, he assumed the throne in 464 BC.

3:44And chapter 7 picks up in the seventh year of his reign. So we are about 458 B.C. when Ezra finally enters the story. Now, who is Ezra? Isn't it funny that we're six chapters into this book, and we don't even know who this guy is? Well, here he comes onto the scene. Who is Ezra? He is one of the most significant figures in the Old Testament. He is right up there with Moses and Abraham and so many other godly men and women in the Old Testament that had a significant impact on the nation of Israel and on our history as well as believers.

4:21Well, in verses 1 through 5, these first five verses of the chapter, we learn of his priestly lineage, which of course can be traced back to Aaron the chief priest, because all Priests in Israel were ultimately descendants of Aaron. So they were all Levites, they're all from the tribe of Levi, and then specifically they're descendants from Aaron. But you also note in these first five verses that he has all of these other somewhat famous and godly men in his background. So you see, for example, Zadok mentioned. Zadok helped return the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem after it was gone for a long period of time. And then he was the priest who stood by David during his son Absalom's rebellion.

5:02And so he comes from this really godly and accomplished lineage. And in verse 6, we learn that he's living in Babylonia at the outset of this chapter. So this is the seat of the Persian Empire that was the seat of the Babylonian Empire before that. And King Artaxerxes has a very high view of his character. That becomes evident all through the chapter. He has such a high view of his character, in fact, that it's safe to assume that Ezra lived in close proximity to the king so that the king could actually know him and know his character and have the highest level of confidence in him. And most significantly, what we see here in verse 6, look there, is that Ezra was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given.

5:52Now, what is a scribe? We don't have a lot of scribes around today. And I think for a lot of people, you see In the word, the word scribe, and you immediately assume this is a copyist. This is a man or woman who spends all day just kind of like copying documents and then passing them on, you know, before we had copy machines and all of that kind of thing. But that's actually not what a scribe is. In fact, a scribe was a lawyer.

6:17A scribe was a lawyer, and those titles are used interchangeably all throughout the Old and the New Testament. So sometimes they're called scribes, sometimes they're called lawyers. And their job, remember that Israel is a theocracy, so the law of the land was God's law. Their job as scribes or lawyers was to interpret and apply the law of the Lord to the people. Well, by Jesus' day, the scribes were the most revered spiritual leaders in Israel. They were called rabbi or teacher, and their teaching, which was their interpretation of the law and their application of law, was known as their yoke.

6:56And so if you wanted to become the disciple of any particular rabbi, you would then go and bear his yoke. Now, sadly, by Jesus' day, most of the scribes, most of the lawyers, were living a very hypocritical life. That's why Jesus excoriates them so many times for saying one thing and doing another. And that lends additional significance to Jesus' very famous statement when he tells the crowd of people listening to him, Come to me, come to this rabbi, because my yoke is easy.

7:30And my burden is light. And so by Jesus' day, what the people really needed, they needed a true scribe, a true lawyer, who would rightly interpret and rightly apply the law to their lives. And by the time Ezra was leaving for Jerusalem, the people who had come back earlier under King Cyrus and his decree, they were in need of the same thing. They needed a true scribe. They needed a true lawyer. Because, you see, worship had been going on in the temple for the past 60 years. This thing was completed in 516 BC, and 60 years roughly have passed since that time. But as we will see in the subsequent chapters in this book, the people didn't have their lives or their worship ordered any longer by the word of God.

8:19Their lives were marked by compromise and disobedience, as they had been in the past. And so look at what Bob Files says about the significance of Ezra's coming back. He says, temple without Torah had proved disastrous before the exile. Right? That's one of the main reasons that they were sent away and disciplined by God. It had proved disastrous before the exile. So the next state of the return is the establishing and teaching of the law of Moses. And the man who is to do this now comes onto the stage.

8:51Ezra has arrived. And one of the main reasons that God moved in Ezra's heart to make him want to go back to Jerusalem, and the main reason. That God moved in King Artaxerxes' heart to send him back to Jerusalem was so that he could teach the people. That's why Ezra is repeatedly identified in this chapter as a scribe who is skilled and learned and obedient. He represents the very best of what the priesthood had to offer.

9:24And so, according to verse 9, he leaves for Jerusalem on the first day of the first month, and then he arrives on the first day of the fifth month. This is a four-month journey, covering 900 miles. So, just think about that. Think about walking with your family and your friends for four months through the desert, 900 miles. That doesn't sound fun at all. The people of God are doing this again and again. And it's just so symbolic of God having to bring us back, isn't it? Over and over again in our lives, bringing us back again and again. Now, how is Ezra able to accomplish this? How is he able to bring all of this people back to Jerusalem, this third Exodus, if you will? How is he able to accomplish this as well? Look at verse 9. For the good hand of his God was on him.

10:13For the good hand of his God was on him. So this is just like when Cyrus sent the exiles back to return and rebuild the temple, or when Darius recommissioned the work and then financed the work on the temple. God was going to have to move in the heart of King Arthur. Artaxerxes for this to happen. But even after Ezra is granted permission to go back and to do the things that he wants to do, there's just no way that he's going to arrive safely and be able to accomplish the things that he is setting out to accomplish without God's blessing.

10:49And as we see here in the text, a main reason that these people had the blessing of God was because Ezra was leading them. Now, this is just the logical flow of the text. Look here with me at these verses. Look at the start of verse 9. It says for. Look at the middle of verse 9. It says for. Look at the start of verse 10. It says for. You see this preposition again and again. For is explanatory in nature. You can substitute the word because anytime you see the word for. It's explanatory in nature. And so let's do that with these verses. Why did Ezra receive permission to leave Babylonia and then how did he lead the people safely back to Jerusalem? Because the good hand of his God was on him.

11:40Next question. Why was the good hand of God on Ezra? Go to verse 10. Because he had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. As I said earlier, Ezra represents the Very best of what the priesthood had to offer. He is a model spiritual leader, and in that sense, he's not just a model for new covenant and new testament pastors and leaders. He is a model for every Christian believer. He is a model for every Christian believer. Why did Ezra receive the blessing of God?

12:24Because he set his heart to do three things. First, Ezra set his heart to study God's Word. Ezra set his heart to study God's Word. Look on the screen at Psalm 1. This is one of my favorite Psalms. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

13:00So, where does blessing come from? Not from indulging in evil, but from delighting in God's word, which results in meditating on it day and night. When God's Word is our delight, when we love it, what do we then do? We meditate on it day and night. So many people want God's blessing, but they don't give themselves to study the word of God, and so they don't know God's will. They don't know the attitude. And actions that God will bless.

13:33But Ezra was blessed because he delighted in God's word. He wanted to know and understand God's will. So he set his heart to study God's word. Second, Ezra set his heart to obey God's word. Ezra set his heart to obey God's word. In Luke chapter 11, you have one of the more awkward exchanges in the New Testament. You may be familiar with this passage. As he, this is Jesus, said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed. I mean, I just imagine her calling out in this kind of awkward, you know, and it's just kind of like, and everybody kind of turns and looks at her, and Jesus is like, blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.

14:31Where does blessing come from? It doesn't come from your parents. It doesn't come from your social status. It doesn't come from who you know. It comes from hearing and keeping the word of God. Many people want God's blessing, but they don't obey the word of God. And if you've read the New Testament before, particularly the Gospels, particularly the letter of James, particularly the letter of 1 John, you know that this theme and this Teaching is so prominent. If we love God, we will obey what he commands. It is just plain and simple in the text. Ezra was blessed because his desire wasn't simply to know the word of God, but to do it. So he set his heart to obey God's word.

15:26And then, third and finally, Ezra set his heart to teach God's Word. He set his heart to teach God's Word. Now, ladies, y'all are studying the Sermon on the Mount this year. I'm really excited for that. And in a few more months, you're going to get to these verses in Matthew chapter 5, verses 19 and 20. Jesus says, This, therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the who? The scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Where does blessing come from?

16:14It doesn't come from relaxing God's commands, kind of taking it easy and saying, you know, obedience really isn't that important in my own life. It doesn't come from relaxing God's commands and teaching others to do the same, dragging them down with you. No, blessing comes from doing everything. And teaching them. That's the highlight in this verse: doing and teaching. Many people want God's blessing, but then they relax God's commands and they teach others to do the same. And friends, we have to understand that God is going to hold us accountable, yes, for our own obedience or disobedience to His Word, but He's also going to hold us accountable for how we are leading and teaching others with our words and our actions. He's going to hold us accountable for those things. And Ezra was blessed because He didn't just study God's Word, and He didn't just study and obey God's Word. He was blessed because He studied and obeyed and then taught others to also obey the Word of God.

17:19Now, friends, this is a great summary of Christian discipleship, isn't it? What is a Christian disciple? It's one who knows and obeys and teaches others the Word of God. But unfortunately, in the United States today, we have adopted a definition of discipleship that is foreign to scripture. We have defined a disciple as one who prayed a prayer at some point or who accepted Jesus at some point and now frowns upon certain behaviors or attends worship or kind of Christian activities a couple of times a month. That has become how we have designed discipleship. Decided who is a disciple and who is not. But that definition is foreign to scripture, and it's a far cry from what we see here. Ezra set his heart to know God's word and to obey it and to teach it. And so it would be good for us individually and collectively as a church this morning to evaluate our discipleship.

18:27Are our lives marked by studying and obeying and teaching the Word of God? Are our lives marked by helping others to do that? Are we making disciples through studying and obeying and teaching the Word of God or not? Would Ezra recognize us as disciples? More importantly, most importantly, would Jesus recognize us as his disciples through the way that we are living our lives? So Ezra sought to know, obey, and teach God's word, and that's a primary reason why the blessing of God rested upon him. And you're going to see the blessing of God exhibited in his life and through him, all of these people who are returning to Jerusalem in verses 11 through 26. So let's pick up in verse 11 here. Look there with me.

19:20This 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. Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, peace. Ezra, at the outset of this letter, is given permission by the king to return not just with many of the people of Israel who are still there in Babylonia, but specifically with the temple servants. But what if they were stopped along the way?

19:59900 miles. And you could almost get from Texas to either coast in the United States in that kind of distance. What if they were stopped along the way? What if somebody said, hey, who are you? Why are you traveling with this large group of people through the desert? Are you coming to attack a city? What are you doing? What if they were stopped along the way? What if, like from previous chapters, government officials asked them, who gave you authority to do this? Whether to travel that distance with that group of people or to go back and to do these new things with the temple? Well, this letter spells out the king's decree in very specific terms. And we see in these verses God's amazing provision for his people. So in verses 13 through 20, this next section here, he gives permission for any Israelite who volunteers to go to return to Jerusalem. And he also sends with them three important gifts. First, look at verse 14. He sends Ezra with a copy of the book of the Lord. Law.

21:03Now, that might not strike us in 2018 as very significant, but I want you to think about this. How many copies of the book of the law probably existed? Well, before the temple was destroyed, there may have been a good number of them, but remember, the temple was burned to the ground. What was in the temple? All the stuff, right? All the copies of God's law, all of the instruments that they used to worship the Lord. This may have been one of the last remaining copies at this point of the law of the Lord. And so he is giving him this priceless gift, the written word of God. They don't have to depend on oral tradition, which can be corrupted over time. No, instead, they have this historic document, the written law of the Lord, to take with them so that they can make sure that what they're re-establishing in the temple, what they're re-establishing in the nation of Israel, is what God intends.

21:54Second, look at verse 15. He sends Ezra with silver and gold. Now, we know man does not live on bread alone. We live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. And so I think it's even significant how this chapter is arranged. The silver and gold isn't mentioned first. The word of the Lord is mentioned first. But also, the silver and gold is mentioned. These people were going to need provision to live and to make this very arduous journey, and then to pay for all of the stuff that they were going to have to pay for to re-establish sacrificial worship in the temple as God has. Prescribed. And in fact, when you get to verse 20, he basically says, Look, whatever you need, we'll pay for it out of the temple treasury. What an amazing picture of God's provision for us.

22:43And then look at verse 19. Here it says that the king is sending him vessels to be used in the temple. And that's significant because compared to Solomon's temple, this one was really simple. It didn't have the same beauty from the way that it was built to the stuff that was used inside of it for worship. But Artaxerxes is personally donating vessels to be used to beautify the temple. It's amazing. Then you go to this next section, verses 21 through 24. And here Artaxerxes commands the treasurers to provide whatever else Ezra may need up to a certain cost. And he tells them specifically, don't impose any taxes on any of the temple servants. Now look at verse 23. The motive is impure. He says, 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.

23:43So he doesn't want to incur the wrath of God, and so he's being generous. His motive is questionable at best, but this is a great reminder to us that the Lord owns all the resources in the world. It doesn't matter what people or what institutions are currently in possession of. Them, God can redirect the resources that he owns, which is everything, in any way that he chooses. And then finally, you come to verses 25 and 26. And Artaxerxes here gives Ezra authority, look at what he says, to appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province beyond the river. And then he adds this caveat: all such as know the laws of your God.

24:31Fascinating. He says, not only am I financing your trip, not only am I giving you permission to go, not only am I giving you these things to beautify the temple and a copy of the law of the Lord, but I am giving you, Ezra, authority to appoint magistrates and judges. But here's the one thing. They have to know the law of your God. Again, his motive, probably not totally pure. He doesn't want the people sinning and incurring the wrath of God on his kingdom. Not the best motive. But nevertheless, what a blessing, what a gift that Ezra is being commanded. You have to appoint biblically qualified leaders. You have to. All of the men, any women that you appoint to serve in government, they have to know the law of your God. They have to be biblically qualified. And this section, in a small way, points us forward to the future when. Jesus and his word rule over all people perfectly for eternity. I want you to look on the screen at Hebrews chapter 8. And in this section, the author is interpreting the prophecy that Jeremiah made. So look at this. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor, and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

26:26Isn't that a beautiful picture? You have, as you see, Ezra able to appoint these biblically qualified magistrates and judges to rule in God's ways with God's word over his people, you get this small glimpse. This is what the new heavens and the new earth are going to be like. This is what it's going to be like, all people living in peace and harmony and love and unity under God and his word forever. Points us to the perfect reign of Jesus. You see, Jesus didn't only die and rise again to Ensure that we didn't have to pay the penalty for our sins. I think too often that we would just equate those things and just stop there: that Jesus' death and resurrection means we no longer have to pay the penalty for our sins. That's true. But there's so much more, so much more than that. Jesus died and rose again to institute a new covenant and a new kingdom where he reigns forever under his loving leadership, where all people will know his law in their hearts, and we will live together in communion with God and others for eternity. And friends, we get a small picture of that in the church. A community of God's people living together in love and unity, seeking to honor him and to bless one another. And praise the Lord, we get to take the Lord's Supper together today. See a picture of that unity again, that communion that we enjoy.

27:56It's a beautiful thing. So you come to the end of verse 26 there, and all these good things are happening. And we ask the question that we've been asking all through this book: how is this stuff possible? How do these good things keep happening to God's people again and again? How do they keep getting blessing from pagan kings to do what God has commanded them to do? Look at the ending of this chapter and what Ezra says.

28:23Verse 27. Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as This is into the heart of the king to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, 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.

28:54So, after reporting the content of Artaxerxes' letter, Ezra, now speaking in first person, you probably caught that, he moves seamlessly into praise. He moves seamlessly into worship. There's no commentary, he just moves into praise and worship. And friends, when we know and believe that everything that happens in this world is ultimately the result of the good hand of the Lord, it moves us to worship. Ezra does not take credit for these things that have happened. He doesn't say, you know, it was all my doing, it's because of my own obedience, or it's because of, you know, my political savvy with the king. He doesn't take credit. He doesn't give King Artaxerxes the credit. He knows that it is ultimately the good hand of the Lord. So he blesses the Lord, the God of our fathers, because he put all of this into the heart of the king.

29:48You see, biblical theology begins and ends with God. Biblical theology begins and ends with God. Romans 11, 3. 36, for from him and through him and to him are all things. Biblical theology begins and ends with God. And Ezra knew and believed all of that. He believed that God was in control of all things, as we've seen all through this book. And so when God gave him favor in the eyes of the king and his counselors, he took courage because he knew that it was the good hand of the Lord that was on him. And a big part of the reason that the good hand of the Lord was on him and his leadership specifically was because he had set his heart to know and obey the word of the Lord.

30:44Now, Ezra had a huge task ahead of him, much bigger than he probably knew at this point. Not only did he have to take these people 900 miles back to Jerusalem, but when he arrived, he was going to discover that the people had settled back into lives of compromise and disobedience. And Ezra's difficult task over the next many years was going to be to call the people to repentance so their lives looked like his. Studying God's Word, obeying God's Word, and teaching others to do the same.

31:19And if you're a Christian, you have that exact same calling on your life to study and to obey and to teach the Word of God. Look on the screen at Matthew 28, what we call the good. Great commission. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

31:55We say that our mission here at New Life is to preserve and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to make mature disciples of all nations for the glory of God. And you notice how active that mission statement is. There's nothing passive about it. We are preserving, we are proclaiming, and we are seeking to make disciples of all nations. If you're a Christian, Jesus has not called you to a passive life, but to an active life of obedience.

32:27I mean, Jesus himself says in Luke 6, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? And so I think there's some of us in the room today, we need to recognize that we may have been calling Jesus Lord for a very long time, maybe for most of our life. But the reality is, Jesus is not the master of your life. You're the master of your life. You've been calling the shots. You're living for you and not for him.

32:58And if that's the case, You have to understand the blessing of God does not rest on your life because you haven't been obedient to the first and most important work of all. Look on the screen at what Jesus says in John 6. Then they said to him, What must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. So, in other words, the answer for you, if you have been living as the master of your own life, if you've been calling the shots, if you've been sitting here saying, What do I need to do to inherit eternal life? Is it these religious works? Is it ways that I need to spend my money or my time differently? You have to understand that, first and foremost, the work that you are called to is not to, per se, do anything. The work that you are called to is to believe in Jesus, who worked on your behalf, who was the perfect priest for you, who knew the word of God, who obeyed it perfectly, who taught others to do the same, and then died and rose again for our failure to do those very things.

34:14That's what you're called to do first and foremost, is to receive the person and work of Jesus by faith today. That way, you'll no longer be working for the favor of God. You'll be working from the favor of God. And that changes. Everything. For the rest of us, Ezra's life and example, if you are a believer in Jesus already today, is a challenge and a corrective for us. And so we need to hear that same question today: why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?

34:48As disciples, our Master's command is clear, isn't it? We're to go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe everything that Jesus has commanded. And what that presupposes, friends, is that we have interactions in our life on a regular basis with those who don't yet know Jesus, who need to come to know him, and with those who have recently come to know Jesus and are younger in their faith than we are, so that we can help them grow and mature as disciples. We have to stop defining discipleship in Western American modern terms that says a disciple of Jesus is simply one who has accepted Jesus at some point and now does religious activities more regularly than not. The Bible defines discipleship as knowing, obeying, and teaching. And we want the blessing of God on our lives. That's a great desire. That's the best thing that we could desire. But we must remember, God's hand of blessing rests on his obedient children. Let's pray.

36:31Father, we want to be disciples of Jesus, who think about discipleship in the ways that he framed it, not in the ways that we have framed it over the last 20 or 40 or 60 years here in American Christianity. We want to be those who study your word, who know it, who seek to obey it, and who are making every effort to teach others to do the same. Father, we pray and we ask, believing that you hear us and will answer us, help us become the kinds of disciples that bring honor and glory to you. Help us to make disciples of all nations. I pray that. We would not rest content in simply going through the motions of showing up, of having our eyes just pass over the words of the pages of scripture, of offering a few words of prayer here or there.

37:51But God, I pray that we would hunger and thirst for righteousness. I pray that we would hunger and thirst to see other people come to know and worship you, just like Ezra did, and as we'll see in the rest of this book. God, we want your blessing. There could be nothing greater than having your blessing. But we know that to receive that blessing, we have to be obedient. And so, God, help us. Help us to be obedient children who bring glory and honor to your name through the way that we study and obey and teach your word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

38:39Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.