Ezra 8

Last week, as we finished chapter 7 of Ezra we looked at how Ezra set an example for us in continually giving praise and glory to God in moving the heart of King Artexerxes and the leaders who sat under him. How Ezra acknowledged that God is in control, even of the hearts of kings and rulers, and we looked at several other pagan rulers that God used to accomplish His purpose. These are valuable lessons for us in a day and age when we struggle with the godlessness of leaders in the Nation we live in. Rest assured, God has a plan, just as He did in the times of Ezra, Daniel and Isaiah.

We also looked at God’s desire to beautify the Temple in Jerusalem and that, in this instance, the beauty He desired had nothing to do with outward adornment and everything to do with the hearts of His people fully surrendered to Him. At how when our hearts are fully surrendered to Him, we have the potential to have a positive affect on those around us. as well as their willingness to joyfully give that His Name would be lifted high.

This brings us to chapter 8. In chapter 8 Ezra begins by going through a list of 1514 men who committed to going with him on the 900-mile journey back to Jerusalem.

English Standard Version Chapter 8

8 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: 2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush. 3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men. 4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men. 5 Of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. 6 Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men. 7 Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. 8 Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men. 9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men. 10 Of the sons of Bani, Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men. 11 Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men. 12 Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men. 13 Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men. 14 Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

If you include women and children, the number likely approached 6-8,000 people.

I imagine things were pretty chaotic for this journey so after about 8 days on the move Ezra decided to stop and assess the situation and review the people that had joined him on the journey. They stopped near the river Ahava and camped for 3 days. As they were reviewing the people that were returning with Ezra, it didn’t take long before Ezra noticed something that had to really disturb him. Here they are going back to Jerusalem to do the Lord’s work which included service in the Temple of the Lord, and not a single member of the priestly tribe of Levi had joined them.

The Levites were essential workers for the system of temple worship that Ezra was going to promote once they returned to Jerusalem.

Understanding the need of Levites in temple worship, Ezra selected some of the leading men that had gone with him and sent them back to find some Levites so that they could persuades Levites to join them. While this caused a significant delay, it was absolutely necessary.

By the way, I want you contrast the heart of Ezra with the hearts of the Levites.

Ezra was willing to serve the Lord no matter the terms, The Levites only wanted to serve the Lord on their terms.

Ezra had set his heart to study, obey and teach the Word of God. He was willing to sacrifice a great deal to do so. Additionally, he was willing to drop everything he had become accustomed to in the Persian Empire, make the 900-mile journey back to Jerusalem, to a city that was still very much in shambles.

While the Levites seemed to want to only serve God on their own terms. We do get the impression from verses 17-20 that these men did perform some sort of service to God in Babylonia, but they showed no interest in returning to Jerusalem. They had grown so comfortable in the Persian Empire that they had to be persuaded to go to their homeland.

This brings us to an important lesson we need to understand: Next Slides

God Sets the Terms of our Service to Him , Not Us.

We need to pattern our service to the Lord after Ezra, not the Levites we see in chapter 8. By the way, remember what you are seeing in the hearts of the Levites, this will come into play as we look at chapter 9 & 10.

Let’s look at verses 21-23 together now. I’ve entitled these verses: Next Slides

Who Needs and Army When You Have Jehovah Sabaoth? Vss. 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.”

Did you pick up what happened here? Ezra had been boasting to King Artaxerxes about how great his God was, now God had put Ezra and all those with him in a place where they had to really trust in their great God.

This journey they were about to go on was very dangerous, and they were bringing with them about:

24 1/2 tons of Silver, 7,500 lbs of Gold, not to mention the silver vessels, the 20 bowls of gold and all the other items. Word had to spread about all they were bringing with them. There is little doubt they would likely face attack. But because Ezra had boasted of the greatness of his God, he didn’t want to diminish the greatness of his God by asking for soldiers to accompany them. So, they spent some time in fasting and prayer seeking protection from Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts.

While that may not have been the Name for God Ezra was using at this time, there is little doubt this name was used in many of their prayers during this time of fasting and prayer. It had become a pretty common name the Israelites used for God since the days of David. Actually, before David had become king. This is the name David used when he faced Goliath. Do you remember the scene? It starts in 1 Samuel 17:45. “45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

By the time the days of fasting had ended, Ezra and all of those with him were able to make the journey with confidence in the Lord of Hosts.

This brings us to the next key truth for us today. Like Ezra and his companions, much of the time we are in over our heads in this world we live in. Also like Ezra, and particularly as we put to practice the truths we learned in our study last week (1.Setting our hearts to study God’s Word. 2. Setting our hearts to apply what we learn as we study God’s Word. 3. Being willing to teach what we have learned and applied from God’s Word to any God placed under us.) Next Slides

We Can Trust Jehovah Sabaoth in the Battles We Face .

Now let’s move to the last section of Ezra 8, I have entitled this section: Next Slides

Protection in Accountability . Vss. 24-34

English Standard Version

24Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. 25And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. 26I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold, 2720 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. 28And I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. 29Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the LORD.” 30So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God. 31Then 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. 32We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. 33On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. 34The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

Here we see Ezra exhibiting Godly wisdom. Not only did he divide all of the valuable items they were bringing with them, but he weighed each item and recorded everything. Ezra understood that accountability always brings with it protection.

That brings us to the last key lesson for us this morning, which you see right now on the screen.

There is protection in accountability. That is one of the reasons why we have so many small groups here at Liberty Chapel. These small groups provide an added level of accountability we don’t get from just attending church on Sunday mornings. We study the Bible together, share prayer requests and praises, come alongside one another during hard times. Visit one another in the hospital....the list goes on and on of the great things that take place in our small groups. If you are not a part of one, you need to be.

As we close out our time this morning, let’s review the key applications for this week:

1. As God moves in our life’s, we need to give Him the praise and glory He deserves.

2. We need to understand the fact that God is in control and trust Him.

3. We need to know that our time in God’s Word and our faithful giving to further His work brings Him great joy.

4. We need to acknowledge that God Sets the Terms of our Service to Him, Not Us.

5. We Can Trust Jehovah Sabaoth in the Battles We Face.

6. There is protection in Accountability.

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