Fifty-seven years after the temple was completed, another group of exiles returned to Jerusalem. The new king of Persia, Artaxerxes, commissioned Ezra, a priest and scribe, to go to Jerusalem and reestablish the Law of Moses. One ancient Jewish tradition holds that Ezra had memorized the 5 books of Moses so perfectly he could write them out word for word from memory. Ezra understood that his efforts were not being blessed because of his clever leadership but solely because “the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.” This phrase is repeated two more times in this chapter and three more times in Ezra 8, emphasizing that God arranged favor for Ezra before the king. Everything Ezra requested the king agreed to, providing him with all he and the other exiles needed to travel safely.<\/p>\n
The Jews had spent 490 years in the Promised Land but had wandered away from a dependency on God, and because of that they were taken into captivity in Babylon. Ezra and the other exiles were now making the journey from captivity back to the Promised Land, and their path lay through a land filled with the enemy. Sustained by the hand of God, they were strengthened and protected all along the way. This story serves as an analogy for our own lives. We can expect the same kind of blessings and protection from the Lord when after being in the spirit-filled life, our faith becomes frail and we stumble into captivity but are making a concerted effort to get back to Him. He takes our puny, flawed human efforts and amplifies them. If we turn back toward Him today, He will turn toward us. If we put our hand in His, He will direct our paths. Blessings await the child of God who simply calls upon the name of the Lord.<\/p>\n
“LORD, we confess and repent, turning to You again. Cleanse us, use us, fill us, and bless others through us, we ask in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ezra 7 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest:\u00a06<\/sup>This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0his God upon him.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And there went up\u00a0some\u00a0<\/em>of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>in the seventh year of the king.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0For upon the first\u00a0day\u00a0<\/em>of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first\u00a0day\u00a0<\/em>of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the\u00a0LORD, and to do\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. 11<\/sup> Now this\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>a scribe of the words of the commandments of the\u00a0LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect\u00a0peace\u00a0<\/em>, and at such a time.\u00a0\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.\u00a014<\/sup>Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in thine hand;\u00a0\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in Jerusalem,\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in Jerusalem:\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in Jerusalem.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God,\u00a0those\u00a0<\/em>deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>out of the king\u2019s treasure house.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And I,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which\u00a0are<\/em>beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing\u00a0how much\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>not.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0Blessed\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of our fathers, which hath put\u00a0such a thing\u00a0<\/em>as this in the king\u2019s heart, to beautify the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in Jerusalem:\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king\u2019s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0my God\u00a0was<\/em>upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fifty-seven years after the temple was completed, another group of exiles returned to Jerusalem. The new king of Persia, Artaxerxes, commissioned Ezra, a priest and scribe, to go to Jerusalem and reestablish the Law of Moses. One ancient Jewish tradition holds that Ezra had memorized the 5 books of Moses so perfectly he could write […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7349"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16398,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7349\/revisions\/16398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}