Restored Blessing

David Helton

Deep Creek Baptist Church

Restoration: Our Ruins His Restoration • Sermon • Submitted 10 months ago • Presented 10 months ago

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Ezra 7 -8

Page 463-465

Ezra 7:1 “1 Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,”

60 Years

· Between chapters of 4 and 5 there was a 16-year gap and now between 6 and 7 there is a 60 year gap. A lot has happened in that time.

· And 5 and 6 and chapter 7, it's one quick turn or one quick gaze on our Bibles, but it's actually a representation of 60 years between these two chapters.

· And you think about, think about the history of the world and even our history in America, 60 years is a little bit, a little bit less than one-third of the existence of our, a little bit less than one-third of the existence of our nation as a free nation.

· So, a lot happens in 60 years. So 2023, you can go back if you don't know your your world history or even US history.

· Think about all that's occurred in the country of the United States from 1963 to 2023. 1963,

o we are smack-dead in the middle of the civil rights movement and all that goes along with that.

o We had just gotten out of the Korean War about 10 years prior to that and we are preparing in five years to assist the French in Vietnam and we as the country in just six years after that will be in Vietnam headlong into a controversial war until 1972-1973.

o Not shortly after that we're in Kosovo where we have first desert storm, we've got Iraqi freedom, and we're still over there. And that's just from a war perspective. We even mentioned 9-11 and all that happened there, and that's 2001, and that's just military, and that's just the United States.

· Think about the Presidents that we've had from 1963 to 2023.

o The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. happened.

o JFK was assassinated.

o Robert Kennedy was assassinated.

o Ronald Reagan was shot, killed, and revived. Right?

· So many different things have gone on. Laws and jurisdictions, legislation, all that has come out. In 60 years, so much has happened.

o In the past 60 years Abortion was considered a constitutional right then it wasn’t

o Affirmative action was the law of the land and then it wasn’t not.

o 60 yeaers ago a family constituted a man and a women and kids. And now there is no rym or reason.

· Think about how your body has changed, for some of you, in 60 years.

o That's almost like, you know, a lot's happened in 3 years. Forget 60. There's so much that has occurred.

· So here in Ezra chapter six to chapter seven, 60 years has gone by. 60 years that throughout this time, the altar was built, the temple had been completed, the walls are being built, and the prophets Haggai, Zechariah are preaching to revive the hearts of God's people once again.

o Three prophets that you might know, Haggai, Zechariah I just mentioned, and the last one, the last one in your Old Testament, anybody? Pop quiz? Malachi.

o That is the last prophet that preached. There was no more spoken revelation until John the Baptist come son the scene some 400 years later.

o We also see that during this gap in time the events of the book of Easter happen and more than likely had a great impact upon the events of these two chapters.

o Ezra is not listed as a prophet, but more as a scribe.

· So Ezra actually wrote these things down.

· It's kind of this period where the prophets ended in 513 B.C.

· This year where Ezra comes back to Jerusalem is roughly 486. So as far as prophets in Jerusalem preaching to return their hearts to be prepared to declare has ceased for almost 40 years. And this is the first 40 years of this 60 in between this chapter of the next 400 years of silence. The next prophet that comes to Jerusalem or comes to God's people is whom? John the Baptist. So we are 40 years roughly into silence that will persist for another 360 years as far as prophets go. Now we know that God was not silent, but as far as a prophet, flesh and blood, you're not getting one until John the Baptist. So 60 years, just a flip of the page, just this is an appreciation, a point for what God is up to, what God does in the world, and for us to take a step back and say okay what happened and what can happen in 60 years? The truth is the people of Israel at this point are enjoying somewhat of a time of favor under the king of Xerxes. If you know your Bible a little bit you can read the book of Esther. This is all happening in this time period where Esther influences Malachi. All this kind of stuff is influencing the king Xerxes who is losing battles worldwide against Greece And wants to rid the area of the Jews, but his own wife is Jewish. So all that, Mordecai, all that kind of stuff with Esther influences him to say, you know what, the Jews can stay. And that favor continues into Artaxerxes, which is what we'll read here, which is Esther's son. So Esther was a queen, married to a Persian, who now has a son who's now the king of Persia in this time when Ezra's preaching and influencing the Jews. Pretty neat how God even worked in that time period to bring about safety for the Jews so they could actually finish their walls and now Artaxerxes actually gives them more of what the Kings have been doing which is safe passage, safe existence, and all the funds they need from someone else's treasury to do exactly what they need to build the city of God. All that's happening in 60 years.

· But what can happen over time, and it doesn't take 60 years, is a heart that was prepared that's no longer prepared.

o Israel went form restoration and rebuilding the temple to practicing and then over time they began to be influenced by culture. A heart that was influenced by God doesn't take much time for it to be influenced by its surroundings. It was during these 60 years that the people began to slowly turn form God and take wives of the surrounding culture, the began to turn form worship of God and even the priest were turning away from God. Their priorities had shifted.

o Think about our lives. I'm 39. I'll be 40 in a couple months in June. I think about, thanks Dave, I think about all the stuff that's happened. I became a disciple of Jesus in 2003 at 19, and think about the ups and downs of my relationship with God and his people. And think about where my heart has been at certain points, and where my heart has been at certain points, and places that aren't great. Where my heart has been soft and eager and excited to follow God, and other times it's been more a duty at best. Or times where I love God's word, and I'm pouring into it, and I'm excited to have my heart get hit by what's ever in there. And there's other times where I know what's in there, and I don't want to read it, because I don't want to be reminded of where I've fallen short, where sometimes, honestly, I just don't want to change. And I know I'm not alone, but I'm okay with that if I am, but I'm pretty sure you guys have that going on too. But the beauty of who God is and his story and the narrative that is the Bible is that God is constantly working to have our hearts be prepared, for our hearts to be softened once again, for us to be a people collectively not just individuals showing up to church filling a seat but Collectively have a heart that wants to be prepared by God so they can go into the world and Declare God And that's exactly what's happened here, but over the course of 60 years they go from temple city Thank you. God God is with us to now being influenced by the Chaldeans who are preaching magical arts and all the different idols. How do we move form being influenced by the culture around us and then

Ezra 8:22 “22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.””

What Ezra says here in verse 22 encapsulates the theology of the book of Ezra.

God’s good hand will be on those who seek Him, but His wrath will be against those who forsake Him.

God will glorify Himself by showing justice and mercy.

He will also be glorified in salvation through judgment

All through Ezra 7–8 we see the hand of God for good on Ezra and those returning with him:

Blessing from the hand of God are found for those who find and follow God.

Ezra 7:6 “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 king grants his request because of God’s hand on him.

Ezra 7:9 “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.”

Ezra arrives in Jerusalem because of God’s hand on him.

Ezra 7:28 “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 has courage because of God’s hand on him.

Ezra 8:18 “18 And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18;”

Upstanding Levites are provided by the good hand of God.

Ezra 8:22Ezra 8:22 All who seek God have His hand on them for good. “22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.””

All who seek God have His hand on them for good.

Ezra 8:31 - They are delivered from enemy and ambush by God’s good hand. “31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.”

They are delivered from enemy and ambush by God’s good hand.

The Blessings given to Ezra and Israel.

If you have God’s blessing on your life,

you may die a painful martyr’s death in your twenties

or you may live happily into your nineties.

You may live in a physically impaired body like Joni Eareckson Tada or in a robust and healthy body.

But either way, you will be irrepressibly joyous and successful in the true sense of the word if God’s hand of blessing rests on you

The world’s blessings promise happines

but deliver ultimate emptiness and pain.

Yet most people, and sadly, even many professing Christians, live for the world’s blessings.

Favor

It takes the miraculous hand of God to have the request of Ezra be granted by the Persian king.

King Artaxerxes, the successor of King Cyrus has nothing to do with the God of Israel.

Being the king of the empire who conquered Babylon and its king Nebuchadnezzar

he may feel so secured and proud to pay respect to Israel which they also captured.

But Ezra knew that even the heart of the king is under the hand of God.

Ezra cannot do anything to influence the king.

But he knew that only God can do it in his favor.

Resiliency

Ezra 7:9 “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.”

Resiliency means the ability to bounce back.

And by the hand of God,

the Jews return from captivity with all the support and approval of the King.

To come back to Jerusalem is Every Israelite’s dream during the time of captivity.

But they cannot imagine that they will come back with the King’s blessing.

It’s like a dream comes true for all of them.

Some of us may already fell down spiritually or financially.

We may be experiencing setbacks in some areas of our lives.

But in God’s hand, we can be flexible and resilient like the people of God.

We will bounce back and we will return stronger if the hand of God is with us.

Courage -

Ezra 7:27-28 “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 becomes strong man because of the hand of God.

Some of us may be feeling weak and fearful.

Some of us may be feeling afraid to start some good things or afraid to stop some bad things.

We may never have the courage or a brave heart to endeavor for a challenging task or projects.

But if you are sure that you have the hand of God with you, then you don’t have to be afraid because God will give you the courage and the strength.

You have divine force in God’s hand.

Fellowship

Ezra 8:18 “18 And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18;”

Sometimes we are afraid to obey God because we are afraid that people will abandon us and we are afraid to go alone.

But if we really have the hands of God with us, God will send us people who will support us and join us to do the will of God.

As we continue our journey in serving the Lord, the Lord will add more people who will join us

until it will become a fellowship of believers or a divine family for the glory of God.

At the start, God may test our obedience by letting us going alone,

but if we will obey him in the lone moment,

He will send us support group along the way if we are trusting the hand of God.

Protection

Ezra 8:31 “31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.”

Ezra was ashamed to ask for a security escort from the king’s troops because he had already boasted that the hand of God is able to protect them along the way to Jerusalem.

So they fasted and pray for the hand of God to protect them.

We have to understand that they are carrying with them tons of gold which are needed for the temple of God.

That wealth and even the purpose of their journey would encourage their enemies to come against them along the way and even kill them.

But even the minds of their enemies are under the hands of God.

They were able to arrive at Jerusalem without any problem along their way.

Indeed, the hand of God is our best protection along the journey of our life.

Seek God by:

Reading and obeying God’s Word

Ezra 7:10 “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 connection between Ezra and God’s Word is repeated no less than eight times (7:6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 21, 25, and 26)!

There is a definite correlation between our commitment to know and obey God’s Word and His hand of blessing being upon us.

God’s blessings come to those who study and obey His Word.

I realize that Ezra was specially gifted for the role of teaching God’s Word, and that not all are so gifted.

But whether you are gifted to teach in a formal way or not, you are nonetheless required to learn God’s Word so that you know how He wants you to live.

Every Christian wants to live in a manner pleasing to the Lord.

To do so, you must grow in your understanding of His Word.

Bible scholars believe that Ezra wrote the great Psalm 119, which extols God’s Word for 176 acrostic verses.

The word “skilled” means “swift” or “ready,”

implying that Ezra was quick to understand and put together the various parts of God’s Word.

While giftedness has something to do with it,

skill also requires effort and practice.

Ezra had “set his heart to study the law of the Lord” (7:10).

It was a deliberate decision on his part to spend time in God’s Word.

Even if you are so gifted, studying God’s Word will not happen automatically and spontaneously.

You have to discipline yourself to do it, and the minute you let up, other things will crowd out the Word.

We all lead busy lives.

We all have the same number of hours in our day.

We all must make decisions about how we spend those hours.

Will I scroll through facebook, watch TV, play computer games, or get into God’s Word?

When you do spend time in the Word, make sure that your bottom line is obedience.

Ezra “set his heart” not only to study God’s Word, but also “to practice it” (7:10).

It is nonsense to say that you want God’s blessing while you are knowingly living in disobedience to His Word.

The goal of Bible study is not to fill our heads with facts, although facts are important.

It is to change our hearts and lives into conformity to Jesus Christ.

Note, by the way, that Artaxerxes trusted Ezra’s character and integrity to the extent that he gave him enormous material resources and told him to use it for the temple.

Ezra 7:17-18 “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.”

If anything was left, he told him to do with it according to the will of his God (7:18)!

Ezra’s obedience was obvious to this pagan king.

Our obedience should be obvious to those in the world who know us.

The study and obedience of God’s Word are the foundation for teaching it to others.

Again, not everyone is gifted to teach in a public setting.

But whatever you have gleaned from God’s Word and incorporated into your daily life

ought to be passed on to others whom God puts in your circle of influence.

If you teach others what you know in your head but do not practice in your life, you become like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day—hypocrites.

This does not mean that you must be perfect before you teach God’s Word,

but it does call for the integrity of admitting your shortcomings and the honest effort to apply it to yourself.

One of the occupational hazards of preaching God’s Word each week

is that I can easily fall into the trap of studying the Word so that I can tell everyone else how they should live, but not applying it to myself.

I often think of what John Calvin said, “It would be better for the preacher to break his neck going into the pulpit than for him not to be the first to follow God” (cited by J. I. Packer, in a sermon in Anaheim, California, 3/5/86).

Thus we all should seek God’s blessing above all else.

His blessings come to the ones who study and obey His Word.

Such study and obedience are the foundation for imparting the Word to others,

whether personally or in public settings.

Seek God by:

Remembering what you were called to do.

Ezra’s own genealogy, tracing his line back to Aaron through Phineas, is given in 7:1–5. So these priests who can validate their genealogy and this heir of David lead these returnees back. Before we look at 8:15, recall the decree of Artaxerxes in

Ezra 7:11-13 “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.”

Now look at 8:15, where Ezra states,

Ezra 8:15-20 “15 I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi. 16 Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, 17 and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. 18 And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; 19 also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; 20 besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.”

What? Anyone who wishes to return to the land can go, the king decrees, and none of the Levites show up to return to the land of promise?

How can this be anything other than a failure on the part of the Levites?

Like the Levites who joined Korah in his rebellion against Moses and Aaron,

the Levites of Ezra’s day either don’t know who they are, or they don’t want to be what God called them to be.

The Levites were supposed to assist the priests at the temple.

Korah and his Levites rose up against Moses and Aaron, rejecting their identity and role.

Levites exist to minister at the temple, but these Levites apparently prefer exile in Babylon to the temple in Jerusalem.

Do you know your identity? Do you know who you are?

Revelation 1:5–6 “5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Paul calls us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices

Rom 12:1 “1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

We are made in the image and likeness of God, and we are being conformed to the One who is the image of the invisible God, Christ (Col 1:15).

Are you embracing your role as a royal priest in the kingdom of Christ?

Or are you wanting to stay in captivity.

The levites chose to stay in the comfort of their homes and lives, instead of doing what would be hard,

They want ease instead of fulfilling their purpose.

But even when we decide to take the easy road instead of the hard road we are called to do, God is merciful and forgiving.

Let’s take stock of how much time passed as these events played out.

Ezra 7:9 states that the journey began on the first day of the first month of the seventh year of Artaxerxes (cf. 7:7).

Ezra 8:15 says they camped by the river to Ahava for three days.

Ezra 8:15-20 “15 I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi.

They sent a delegation to fetch the Levites,

16 Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, 17 and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. 18 And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; 19 also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; 20 besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.”

and then verses 21–23 say they fasted to seek God.

. So if they fasted for one day, that means that between days 4 and 11 these three Levite leaders,

their clans totaling almost 40 men, and 220 temple servants were summoned to return to the land, made the decision to go, and set out.

That means that over the course of seven days they were summoned, made their preparations, joined the returnees, and set out for the land of promise.

In a seven-day period, 260 people leave everything for the kingdom of God.

Would you be prepared to leave your whole life and go seek God’s kingdom?

Or would all the trappings of luxury and familiarity hold you back?

Are you on the edge of faith in Christ and not sure whether or not it’s worth all it will cost you?

Follow the example of these Levites who saw that it was better to pursue the kingdom of God than to wallow in Babylon.

Lastly: Seek God by:

Relying on God alone

Our text does not reveal what must have been quite interesting, namely, the details of how and when Ezra told the returning exiles that there would not be any armed guards accompanying them on the return trip!

It is amazing that there is no indication that people began bailing out when they heard the news.

It is equally amazing that there was not a group of dissidents crying out, “

This is insane! It’s suicide to venture out into that hostile, robber-infested desert, loaded with gold and silver, with no military protection!”

Ezra 8:21-23 “21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.”

It’s interesting that later Nehemiah, who was also a man of faith, accepted the king’s protection for his trip (Neh. 2:9).

There is no indication that he was sinning or lacking in faith for so doing.

This raises a thorny question, which I can only touch on:

When is it wrong to use human means in addition to trusting the Lord?

I think that the normal pattern is to trust God while thankfully using the means that He provides.

You pray for protection on the highways, but you fasten your seat belt and drive carefully.

You pray for healing, but you go to the doctor and take the prescribed medicine.

You pray for a job, but you prepare a resume, dress appropriately, and go for job interviews.

God normally expects us to use the means He provides, along with faith in Him.

But sometimes using human means will lead us away from trust in the Lord,

or it would be a poor witness to unbelievers.

Often, this is an individual matter before the Lord.

For example, George Muller believed that it would not demonstrate faith in the Lord and thus not honor Him to advertise the financial needs of his orphanages. I’m sure that he was obeying God in the way he operated, making his needs known only to God in prayer. Yet others have revealed the needs of their ministries to God’s people, while trusting God and asking Him to provide.

We just need to be sure that we’re seeking to honor God and that we are consciously trusting Him.

Our text shows that as God’s people seeking to do God’s work, we need to recognize that there are enemies and ambushes along the way (8:31), and thus we desperately need “God’s hand over us” to protect us.

The enemy is seeking to destroy us and our little ones (8:21) by tearing apart families and by bringing down church leaders.

Knowing that there are enemies and ambushes along the way,

we must humble ourselves and seek God’s protection through prayer, and in special times of need, through fasting.

God will bless His work through us when we seek to honor Him by humble faith.

Conclusion:

Do you want the hand of God on your life for good?

I can’t promise you that God will bless you in all the ways He blesses Ezra.

I can promise you that if you will do what Ezra does,

if you will turn from your sin and seek the Lord in the person of Jesus Christ,

you will experience the good hand of God on your life.

Romans 10:13 “13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

If you will turn away from forsaking God and if you will seek Him,

as Ezra 8:22 says, you will be delivered from God’s wrath and

enjoy His good hand upon you.

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