The Hearts of the Fathers Must Turn

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/GH05B.mp3

The Key to Obedience is Blessings

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/GH05A.mp3

Wholehearted Households

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/GH04B.mp3

Ezra 9

This chapter begins on a discouraging note. The princes of Jerusalem came to Ezra and told him of a sin that the people were involved in: they had married people of the surrounding countryside who were not Jews. God had specifically commanded them not to do this because it would corrupt them and lead them away from serving him. When all the people gathered together, Ezra came before God and poured out his heart. He confessed the sins of the people before God and thanked Him for His mercy.

 
 

There are two things we should learn: God commands us even today to be separate from the world around us and with good reason. The influence of constantly associating or marrying someone who does not believe as we do will corrupt our beliefs and damage our relationship. Also, we can learn from Ezra to always rely on God in times of trouble. He didn't know what to do. These people had incurred the wrath of God. So, he just poured out his heart to God in humble repentance. Today, we should do the same thing when we face insurmountable problems. Just give it all to God and He will provide, often in a way we couldn't even have imagined.

Ezra 8 The Return

In this chapter Ezra prepares and returns to Jerusalem. He began by numbering all the people at the meeting place. But, when he had accounted for all the people, he found that there were no Levites (people who did the work of the temple). So, he put out a call for some to come and quite a number responded. After they had been added to the company, he proclaimed a fast for the safety of the journey. He did not want to ask the king for soldiers to protect them because he had just told the king how God protects His people, and God faithfully protected them on their journey. Before they left, he entrusted the gold and silver by weight to some of the priests and Levites for safekeeping during the journey. It took them about four months to make the trip. When they arrived at Jerusalem, he again weighed everything as it was returned and found that nothing was wanting.

 
 

There are a number of lessons that we can learn from this passage:

1. Trust God and He will take care of us
   
2. God blesses those who answer His call
   
3. God will bless those who are trustworthy
   

Ezra 7 The Law and the money

With the House of God completed, it seems that the work at Jerusalem may have suffered from a lack of funds and a lack of the knowledge of God's Law, but God saw that the people were sincere and were doing their best to serve Him. So, He provided for these needs as well. God moved in the heart of Ezra, a scribe still in Babylon, to go back to Jerusalem and teach the people. Most of these people had lived in a heathen country all their lives and were not very familiar with the Law that God had given to Moses. So, while they were sincere, their lives didn't entirely line up with God's Will. God honored the people's desire to do right and sent them a teacher. He also sent plenty of money and the promise of more as needed from the king.

 
 

God is watching out for us. He knows what we need. He knows if we are sincerely serving Him even when we fail or unknowingly go against His will. But, He will not leave us in such a state. He requires us to obey all His commands. So, if we are seeking Him with our whole heart, He will continue to lead us to a fuller knowledge of His will. He will never leave us without excuse if we truly follow Him to the best of our knowledge. Lord, thank you for all of Your will that You have showed to me. This makes me very responsible to You. Help me to take this responsibility seriously and live for You with my whole heart all the time.

More Pictures of Promise

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/GH04A.mp3

Ezra 6 God blesses the Jews

The neighboring people had been making trouble for the Jews as the built the temple. They had gotten a command from the king to stop them once. However, after several a new king took power, the Jews resumed building again. Their neighbors were unhappy about this and tried to get the king to stop them again. Instead, this new king commanded their neighbors to help them by giving all their taxes directly to the Jews. He also commanded them to provide animals for sacrifice.

 

What an amazing turnaround! These people who had been doing there best to stop the work now were forced to help with the work. God often works that way. When things seem like they are all going against us, God has a way of turning it into something that glorifies Him and amazes us. Let's always trust God to take care of us and He will.

Ezra 5, The Work Resumes

In the last chapter, the work had been stopped by the king. This chapter begin several years later with two prophets who inspired the people to begin work again on the temple. They didn't wait for a command from the king. Rather, they simply obeyed God's command. Of course, their enemies were not happy about this idea and they asked them who was in charge of this building and who had commanded them to resume work on the temple. The Jews simply told them that they were building a house for the God of heaven and earth, and they would not be convinced to stop. They continued building faithfully while their enemies sent letters to the king to see if they had the authority to do so.

 
 

We can learn several things from these people:

1. We should not worry about what other people say, think, or do if we are obeying God.
   
2. When people ask us about the work we are doing, we should be sure to give the glory to God. We can do nothing of ourselves.
   
3. We need to keep up our work even if other people disapprove. God's approval is the only thing that matters.
   
4. If we are doing God's work, God will look out for us. It may seem like God's work is being defeated, but God is eternal and He knows what will happen next. We are human and can't see the God's plans or even a short distance into the future. So, we just need to trust God and do our best with what He has given us.
   

Ezra 4

In this chapter we see Satan at work again. It seems that this is very often the case. When God is doing a great work, Satan works extra hard to frustrate it. The Jews were making progress on the building of the wall and the temple. The surrounding nations were not at all pleased about this progression. So they set out to hinder it as best they could. First, they offered cordially to help with the building of the temple. They claimed to be serving the God of the Jews (which they were at the time in a twisted way that was mixed with idol worship). When that approach did not work, they did their best to discourage the workers and they hired counselors to give them bad advice, but the work kept moving forward. Finally, when a new king of the empire took the throne, they wrote a letter to him falsely accusing the Jews and finally got the king to command the work to be stopped.

 
 

That is just how Satan works today. He is ruthless in his methods and tireless in his energy to stop the work of the Church. But, we need not be discouraged. We have God on our side. Sometimes it may seem that Satan has won and God's work is not going forward, but God is all-powerful and what seems like a setback is often just the beginning of something greater. Let's not be discouraged. Let's trust God and He will help us.