A promise flickers its outrageous hope in the hearts of a common people who had been taken into evils captivity. A once destroyed city now bustles with business. It was rebuilt upon a chaotic history of ruin. With a history of devastation, obscene cruelty, and lies, this one tiny slice of ground gets fully restored. These fickle people were chastened, and in need of frequent rebuke. Like all mankind, our hearts are mostly ruled by emotion and not God’s Word. Most astoundingly, in one day, this city of hope eventually becomes a thriving nation. For thousands of years, as violent threats continue, GOD has His way! The Promise Keeper has kept His people and Jerusalem alive by His wild interventions. This ancient city provides us with a divine blueprint for how a people who trust God can recover all that was ever lost, and more. Ezra was a priest and a scribe, a direct descendant to Aaron, the brother of Moses. His faithfulness to God was his priority over ambition. Ezra confronted sin with humility as He trusted God in the face of uncertainty. The life of Ezra is an ongoing inspiration and a challenge to all generations who think power is more important than the One who sits above all principles. This teaching video is a deep dive into God’s Word with valuable lessons for such a time as this.

Hope in God does not disappoint. As a heart hopes in the Lord, remember that a delay is not defeat. God’s timing is always perfect! Our Father makes provision happen as His people worship, regardless of their circumstances. Outcasts get set free after the Lord stirred the heart of the most unlikely leader. God will use whoever He chooses to do His will, in His unprecedented way. History reminds all future generations that DELAY is NOT DEFEAT. When the people of God returned to the ruins of the temple, the first thing they built was an alter.  They burnt offerings to worship the God of all provision.  Daily, our God still demonstrates His ongoing mercy, grace, provision, and forgiveness. Praise the name of Yaweh, Jesus the Christ, our Savior, the Messiah, our Lord, the King of all rulers! AMEN

Ezra wept and prayed. “I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to You, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today. But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a REMNANT and giving us a FIRM place in HIS sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and HE has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem. But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands You gave through Your servants the prophets when You said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, You have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. Lord, the God of Israel, You are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in Your presence.” Ezra 9

Daily, our holy God still demonstrates His ongoing mercy, grace, provision, and forgiveness. Isaiah 40:66   The number of jubilant captives released totaled a population of 49,897. It took seven months for the Israelites to settle in their towns before “the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.” Ezra 3:1. After much opposition, it took 20 years to finish. 

EXPECT OPPOSITION. God tests our faith. Under the reign of Artaxerxes, the enemies filed an accusation against the people of Judah. Tattenai, the governor sent a letter to the king. “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple. In the first year of being a king,  Cyrus Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.” Ez 5:11. Ezra a priest and scribe, had devoted his life to the study and application of God’s word.  God blessed Ezra’s obedience. Permission was granted to any priest or Levite willing to exit Babylon with Ezra. Those who had settled in Babylon left their comfort as an act of worship. They exited Babylon with gold, silver, wheat, wine, olive oil, and salt. No tax was to be imposed on the priests. Ezra listed names as every contribution, large or small was significant. Excellent.

Ezra had proclaimed a fast as the people of God had mingled the holy race by marrying pagan people. We must humble ourselves before God. “While Ezra prayed and confessed, weeping and falling face down before the house of God, an extremely large assembly wept bitterly” Ezra 10:1  When the people saw how their sins affected Ezra, one person confessed and Ezra led them into a sacred covenant with God. A long prayer of confession is found in chapter 9. There are many great lessons in the book of Ezra, and it is always wise to learn from the mistakes of others.

Originally Ezra and Nehemiah were combined as one Hebrew book. Ezra was gifted bu God with a photographic memory. When the Temple was destroyed, so were all the scrolls. Ezra gathered the few copies left and enrolled the help of 120 scholars to pen the scriptures off of what scrolls he gathered.  Ezra instituted the synagogue worship. Under Ezra we see the great revival of Bible study. He is credited to writing portions of 1 and 2 Chronicles, and the first chapter of Job. 

The name of Ezra  (עזרא in Hebrew) is a unisex forename of Hebrew origin, means “help” or “helper”.

Deuteronomy 30:8-10 “You will again OBEY the Lord and FOLLOW all HIS commands I am giving you today. THEN the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands… The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, IF you OBEY the Lord your God and KEEP His commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and TURN to the Lord your God with ALL your HEART and with all your SOUL.” The condition of “if” still applies for us to remain holy; as He is holy.

Jerusalem will “Go forth like brightness, and it’s salvation will burn like a torch” Isaiah 60. Someday, “the glory of this later temple will be greater than that of the first” Haggai 2:8. Isaiah wrote about king Cyrus 700 years before the fulfillment described in Ezra chapter 1. The PUBLIC READING of the Law by Ezra was done in full view of ALL the people and read from daybreak until noon. ALL the people stood and listened attentively. Ezra praised the Lord and with their hands uplifted they shouted AMEN and bowed down humbly to worship the Lord with their faces to the ground.”This day is holy to the Lord your God.” Nehemiah 8:9 

LESSON: Be OBEDIENT during opposition and WORSHIP GOD even through delays.  “You did not abandon them in the wilderness because of Your great compassion. You sent Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst. You provided for them in the wilderness 40 years and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. You gave them kingdoms and peoples and assigned them to be a boundary.” Nehemiah 9:19-22

Opposition comes against every act to serve God. It took 20 years to rebuild the temple. God is faithful. Ezra 6:15-16 “The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.”

Pain on Purpose?

“I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by PRAYER and supplications, with FASTING, sackcloth and ashes.” ‭‭Daniel‬ ‭9‬:‭3‬ ‭—Draw near to God. Watch God move as you choose to fast from food, empty words, and pleasures. Pay attention to Who God is and what He is doing constantly, behind the visible on behalf of humanity. Praise the name of Jesus, for He is worthy. He intercedes for you so that You will know Him and His plan for you. AMEN

Rees Howells

Intercessory prayer