Ezra the Priest

Brother and I want to start with a question today. Don't raise your hand in answer, but just think about this. Have you ever wished you could have lived during a different time in history? Some of us might have romanticized about living during the days of chivalry, when daring knights competed in jousting tournaments for the favor of fair maidens. Or if you're an outdoors type, you might have thought you'd like to live at a time when pioneers were raging across an untamed land and carving out of the wilderness places to live. When I was a teenager, an older teen, a friend of mine once speculated to me. He said, Frank, we were born too late. What do you mean, too late? He said, well, you know, if we'd have been born a couple decades sooner with our brains and our work ethic, we could have taken advantage of that big economic boon that followed World War II. We could have built great companies and been captains of industry. My friend was a little more sold on our abilities than I was at the time. But when I think about it, at that time in our lives, it was in the 1970s when the country was a little depressed. I don't mean economically, although there was a great recession going on. It was fueled by the fuel crises. The nation was demoralized by Watergate and the Vietnam War. It was easy at that time to look back and say, wow, times used to be better. And that's a human trait. We often tend to think of the good old days. Do you think any of the people who ever lived in the Bible did that? Do you think there were some points where they said, ah, if I'd have been a little sooner, think of what I could have been a part of? Especially if they lived after some of the great events. Today I want to look at the life and the work, briefly, of a character in the Bible who I think is a little bit overlooked. Someone who we don't spend a lot of time with. But I think he's one that, if anyone ever could, might have looked and said, oh, I just missed it. Why couldn't I have come along a little sooner? And that person I want to talk about today is Ezra the priest. And try to see what lessons we might derive from what he experienced. Now, we're pretty much familiar with the name Ezra, because he has a book of the Bible named after him. And I am speaking of the Ezra that we think was the author of that book, along with Nehemiah and 1 and 2 Chronicles. I was reminded of a joke that wasn't in my notes, but some time ago, every now and then, I used to watch Saturday Night Live. I rarely mention in sermons, not because I'm embarrassed, but it's hard to say all those syllables and get it to come out right. But there was some kind of joke during the news segment about the top of the music charts today was the group Ezra. And I said, oh no, the top of the charts was better than Ezra. And number two was Ezra. I remember thinking that was really funny, but I think I'm the only one. Let me get back to the Ezra of the Bible. In his writing, he doesn't tell us that much about himself. He was a Levitical priest, and we'll discuss that a little bit later. And he appears in the story late in the Bible, late in the Old Testament at least, during what we tend to call the post-exilic period. That means the time after the Jews had been taken into captivity by Babylon and then allowed to return.

And it'll help. Remember, I'm speculating about how he might have considered that he was born a little too late. So let's consider where he was in the vast timeline. All of those things that happened before Ezra came along. Of course, God created the heavens and the earth. He made Adam and Eve. A couple millennia, perhaps, later was Noah's flood. That subsided. God worked with the patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He spoke to them personally. Jacob's descendants went into Egypt, grew into a nation, were put into slavery. Then God worked through Aaron, Moses, and Miriam to bring them out. And I was going to say, bring them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land with a little forty years of wandering mixed in between. All of that happened before Ezra was even a twinkle in his father's eye, or his great-great-great-great-great grandfather's eye. After coming into the Promised Land for a while, Israel was somewhat disunited, ruled by judges. And as it says, there was no king, and every man did what was right in his own eyes. But then came the kingdom. First Saul reigned. He was followed by David. Then his son Solomon. And that's where things got pretty interesting for the priests. God allowed Solomon to build a temple for the name of our God. And there's a story in 2 Chronicles 2, and I'm not going to turn there and read it. You can make note there, but there was a fabulous dedication that if I were a priest, that would be something I really was aware of in history. When the temple was finished, they had this great ceremony, sacrificed a lot of animals. Solomon made a great prayer, and fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifice. And the glory of God, they called it Shekinah Glory, filled the temple. And all the priests had to get out. It was so powerful. Wow! That was something! So I said, if I were a priest, I would read that and say, that's exciting!

I wasn't alive for that, but what's going to happen in my lifetime? Well, Ezra might have been glad he wasn't alive in that time. Well, maybe things were okay for a while, but of course after Solomon, some pretty negative things happened. The kingdom divided. The northern ten tribes retaining the name Israel, but not retaining the worship of the true God.

And in time, they fell away. They were conquered by the Assyrians, taken away into captivity and lost to history. Not lost to us. We know where they ended up, but most people think of them as the lost ten tribes. The southern kingdom retained the dynasty of King David, son after son after son, ruled, and they had the temple with the Levitical priesthood.

However, they had their down times. For most of that history, the true worship of the true God was somewhat marginal. But there were times of revival, and studying his history, I think Ezra would have paid close attention to those. Perhaps especially the time when Josiah reigned, because he was the king who said, We need to clean up this temple. We need to hire some workers, get it remodeled. Let's fix things up. And while they were in the process of doing that, somebody said, What's this? This ancient-looking scroll, they discovered it was the book of the law. The Bible doesn't say, but I tend to think it was the very one that Moses wrote on. They brought it to look, we found this book. And it inspired a return to worshiping God more than ever.

Again, a young man who was a priest, who was taught in the ways of God, might have studied that and said, What an exciting thing! I wasn't there for that, but what is there for me? What's going to happen in my lifetime? Of course, there were disasters yet ahead. The southern kingdom followed the example of the northern. Only they weren't conquered by the Assyrians. The Babylonians came in. They overran Jerusalem and destroyed that temple that Solomon had built. But then the prophecy that God had given to Jeremiah was fulfilled. 70 years later, Babylon was conquered. And the new emperor, Cyrus, reversed the policy of Babylon. The Babylonians had followed the example of the Assyrians and relocated peoples, taken them out of their homelands. The Persians said, No, we don't need to do that. We can let people return to their homelands. Let them worship whatever God they choose. And so I do want to pick up the story and read in 2 Chronicles 36. 2 Chronicles 36, we're narrowing in on the story where I want to take it. Starting in verse 22. In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the eternal by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the eternal stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom. And also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, All kingdoms of the earth, the Lord God of heaven, has given me, and he's commanded me to build in a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is among you of all his people? May the Lord his God be with him and let him go up. That's where the book of Ezra begins. You might have noticed it's right across the page, so obviously it's where it begins. But the first chapter of Ezra... I can't get the words out. Ezra. Maybe I should say it that way. It's easier. The beginning of Ezra quotes this proclamation as well.

Now, I will admit, the book of Ezra itself doesn't make my favorite reading in the Bible. It's not one you just read through and go, wow, what a great story, because more than half of the book has lists. A lot of lists of names. Recopying of official documents. I don't want to take time to look at all that right now. But within all of that is a pretty fascinating story of people struggling to build a new temple.

And I say struggling not because it was so hard to build a building, but there was opposition. Some of the surrounding peoples that weren't Jewish weren't so thrilled to have a bunch of Jews move back into their neighborhood and start raising this building and then later wanting to build up a wall around the city. Not to mention there was the problems of apathy. So to understand Ezra's story, which we're going to be getting to, we need to understand that story. If we'll turn to chapter 3 of Ezra.

There it is. I knew my Bible had a chapter 3. Ezra chapter 3, beginning in the first verse, When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. At this point they were united in their purpose.

Then, Jeshua, the son of Jazadak, and his brethren, the priest, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shiel, and his brethren. By the way, Jeshua was the high priest. Zerubbabel was the governor. So you have the religious leader and the civil leader, both together. And they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

So we see the formal worship and the form of animal sacrifices, as God commanded Moses in the wilderness, is restored. This is done even before they start building a temple. We drop down to verse 10. We'll see that they begin the temple to follow. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the eternal, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites, the sons of Asaph and with symbols, to praise the eternal, according to the ordinance of David, king of Israel. And they sang responsibly, responsibly, praising and giving thanks to the eternal.

For he is good, for his mercy endures forever towards Israel. I wonder if they hit the cords the same way the choir did here today. If so, maybe the people standing around as that foundation was laid had shivers going down their spines, and they were excited, were worshiping God. Then all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the eternal, because the foundation of the house of the eternal was laid.

But many of the priests and the Levites and the heads of the Father's houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of the temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted for joy, and the people couldn't discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.

So there's mixed feelings reflected here. There's this great joy. We're building the temple. But there was also some weeping. It doesn't explain here why there was the weeping. We do know we believe the explanation. We'll come to that in a little bit. But we'll take note first that that opposition, the people that didn't want that temple built, were still active. They didn't give up just because the foundation was laid, and some people were very happy about it, and the sacrifices were now going.

Remember, it says, according to the word of the Eternal, that he gave to Moses. So that means there's a morning and an evening sacrifice every day, and every Sabbath there's an extra sacrifice, and on from there. And they want to have the temple fully built. But those who didn't want that done were working behind the scenes with the government, trying to put a stop to it, contacting the powers that be, sending letters all the way back to the capital of the empire. And finally, they made the right accusation, and we'll see the response that came in chapter 4. Ezra 4, in verse 17, the king, this is the Persian emperor, sends a message back to this province that includes Jerusalem.

Starting in verse 17, the king sent an answer to Rehum the commander, to Shimsheh the scribe, and the rest of their companions, who dwell in Samaria, and to the remainder beyond the river, peace and so forth. I always wonder if the Persians actually wrote and so forth, or if when Ezra was copying they said, I'm not going to write all that stuff down, I'll just put in so forth and get to this important stuff. This isn't really part of my sermon, but I'm curious about that. It says, the letter which you sent to us has been clearly read before me.

And I gave command, and a search was made. They searched the archives, and it was found that this city, meaning Jerusalem, in former times has revolted against kings, and rebelled. Sedition has been fostered in it. And they've also had mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the region beyond the river, meaning beyond the Euphrates. And tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them.

Now give command, and make these men cease, that the city may not be built until the command is given by me. Take heed now that you don't fail to do this. Why should damage increase to the herd of the kings? Make them stop building that temple. This is going to hurt us. And when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum Shimshay, the scribe, I could say, and so forth, they went up and hasted Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease.

Thus, the work of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, ceased. It stopped. It was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.

This is kind of sad, in a way. It's a shame that people would be intimidated and made to stop by the physical government. But that's easy for us to say. We live in a land that, for over two centuries, has had freedom of religion written into its constitution. But it hasn't always been that way. And we, as a matter of fact, I could find examples in American history when there was religious oppression, especially if we go back to before it was a nation in the colonial period. And for most of human history, freedom of religion might have been a dream or not even a thought. So, as I said, it's easy for us to think that now. It hasn't always been that way. It might not always be that way in the future. That's something for us to consider. And if, in the future, we come under persecution and government officials come by force of arms to make us cease during the work of God, I hope that we'll look to the example that we see in Ezra 5, more than the one in chapter 4. Because we see God sent messengers. He had a job that He wanted done. And chapter 5, verse 1, And the prophet Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Edo, prophets prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and in Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. I'm going to move this back a little bit there. Now, this is a section of a story in the Bible where it's one of the places where the different books of the Bible intersect more clearly than any other. So we can find what these prophets said to the people. We're going to come back to Ezra, so if you want to put a finger or a marker there, I'd like to turn, though, to the book of Haggai. Haggai, chapter 1, there's only two chapters in it, so it's not... No, wait a minute. Yeah. I'm going to say 2 or 3. I'm supposed to know that.

Haggai, chapter 1, verse 3. Then the word of the Eternal came by Haggai the prophet. So we just read that he and Zechariah's friend came and spoke. Here's what they said. Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses and this temple to lie in ruins? Remember, they laid the foundation we're building and then they stopped. God said, is it time for that? Consider your ways. Look at what's happening in your lives. You've sown much and you bring in little. You eat, but you don't have enough. You drink, but you're not filled with drink. You clothe yourself. No one is warm. He who earns wages, earns wages to put them in a bag with holes. He's saying, you're not being blessed. This might have inspired them, if they had a copy of the Bible, to read Deuteronomy 28 and see those blessings and cursings and think, yeah, we're not getting the blessings. And in verse 7, God says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Go up to the mountains, bring wood, and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it, and be glorified, says the Eternal.

Now, it's interesting. God says that I might take pleasure and be glorified. Now, we know God is spirit. He doesn't dwell in buildings made with hands, so he doesn't need that temple. But he takes pleasure in our efforts to serve him and to do his will and to be a part of his work. That's a lesson we want to remember. I want to go back to Ezra, but I'm going to come back to Haggai. So, if you're like me, I'm holding two places here, and these chapters that are falling out, we won't need, I hope.

But let's go back to Ezra 5, verse 2. After we have that message from God, Ezra 5, verse 2 says, So is the rubbable, the son of Shaltiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jazadak, rose up and began to build. So they say, Yeah, we're going to do this work. I don't care what the officers and the government say. And they began to build the house of the God, which is in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them. It's almost like a cheerleading team. Yeah, go, Zerubbabel! Go, Jeshua! It's hard to say all that. I'm guessing they also had a lot of workers doing the work. But it was clear to everyone that this building didn't quite measure up. Remember the people who were crying? Back in Haggai, chapter 2 again, and we're going to come back to Ezra. So, back in Haggai, chapter 2, he had some people that remembered how fabulous Solomon's temple was. How great the work of God had been in his era. But God wants to tell them that's not what's important. Haggai 2, verse 1.

That's a way of saying, how many of you old guys remember Solomon's temple? And how do you see it now? How do you see the temple that's being built? In comparison with it, is it not in your eyes as nothing? This just doesn't compare. And I'm guessing those of us who have been in the church a few decades are thinking, there's an analogy that becomes very clear to us. I don't want to go there just yet. But there's encouragement. He says, Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel, says the Eternal, and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehazadak, the high priest, and be strong, all you people of the land, says the Eternal, and work. I'm with you, says the Lord of hosts. That's a powerful thought. That's reassurance. God says, I'm with you. Yeah, it's not what it used to be, but you know what matters? That I'm with you. Be strong. Do this work. And he was pleased. And there's even more assurance for what's going to happen in the future. He was there with them right then, but drop down to verse 7. He says, I'll shake all nations, and they'll come to the desire of all nations, and I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of hosts. Don't worry about the past one that's not there anymore. I'm going to fill this temple with glory.

Interestingly, if you note, you can look in the Bible and you'll see when Moses and Aaron raised up the tabernacle, that tent in the wilderness, the Shekinah glory came into it, and they had to get out because his power was so great. When Solomon's temple was dedicated, the Shekinah glory came in, the fire from heaven, and it drove them out. There's no record that that happened with this temple. No Shekinah glory.

But God says there's going to be a greater glory. I'll fill this temple with glory. And we know that in years ahead, it would be quite a few years ahead, God in person would come to that. The very temple they're building is the one that Jesus Christ went into. Matter of fact, we could say also the one that his parents carried in their arms when he went for the dedication, and Anna the prophetess took him in her arms, and so did Simon. I didn't look this up in my notes, but he was the one that was there. He came later and drove out the money changers and cleared it. That's this temple.

Verse 9, the glory of this latter temple will be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. In this place, I will give peace, says the Lord of Hosts. That's a powerful thought.

But getting back to Ezra the person, something we should realize. We've gotten this far in the book, but there's no Ezra. Ezra wasn't around. He came along after the second temple was built. So this is an exciting story that we need to know, but Ezra the man doesn't appear in Ezra the book until the seventh chapter.

Joshua was the high priest who oversaw building that temple. You know, and it makes me wonder when Ezra was a young man, because he came along not just a couple of years later. It was several decades. It's possible, and I'm only speculating because it doesn't say, but there's room to think Ezra could have felt like, boy, I missed out! All that big stuff, working to rebuild the temple and the work of God, it was done! Was there nothing left for him to do? And that's where I want to pause. Before we continue and discuss what it was that Ezra did do, let's think about that parallel for our time. As I said, I think looking at the two temples has arisen in all of our minds what's happened in the Church of God in the last few decades. And it's an apt analogy. Remember, Peter said that we are the temple. The Church of God is God's spiritual temple. Is it possible that young adults in God's Church today could look around and say, big jobs were done? Maybe I was born a little bit too late? Well, let's consider that parallel with Ezra. And I'll mention one of the reasons I thought about this. I was actually thinking I wanted to speak about Ezra. That brought some of this to my mind. And also, I've had this experience. Most of you know I've been involved in the Summer Camp Program for several years. And as the years have ticked by and we've gotten further from the start of the United Youth Camp Program, we've had new generations of young people. And I've seen ministers, or seen and heard ministers, and I've even become one of those ministers who might be talking about what happened in the 90s, the great heresy that happened, and they'll be talking about it. You know, as though everybody remembers and they'll say, Oh, you guys weren't here yet. You don't remember that. And so they move on, reframe the statement. And I thought, you know, young people might say, Yeah, I missed out on the crisis. Sometimes we say, Oh, it was a terrible time. It was so gut-wrenching. Aren't you glad you didn't have to go through that? But some of the young people could say, I missed the crisis, but I also missed the excitement of the rebuilding. I wasn't there when a church was started again, when people made that stand for the truth.

You know, we can make an analogy, and I'm not the first one to make the analogy, and I don't want to draw it out too far, but when those elders went to Indianapolis in 1995 to build a new home for the people of God, a new corporate home, the church has always been the people of God, the body of Christ. But we could see an analogy with them going there and making that stand to Zerubbabel and those people going to Jerusalem and starting to build a new temple.

And then I think, will teens and young adults today think of those events the same way that Ezra could have felt about that second temple? Could they say, well, yeah, sure, it's cool and all, I'm really glad that got done, but we missed it.

We were born too late. What is there for us to do? And by the way, those of you who are older than being a young adult, you're not left out of this. But I am addressing in some ways teens, young adults, is there much of anything left for you to do? Were you born too late? Is there nothing to do but sit around and wait for Christ to come? And you older folks, have you done all that you need to do?

Are you done and you're just waiting for Christ to return? I hope that's not our attitude, but in case it might possibly be, a way to overcome that could be to consider a number of things and among them the example of Ezra. I don't think that he did let that thought linger in his mind if it ever did come to him. It's possible that he thought of it, but it's also possible he was too busy with other things.

Let's turn and begin looking at Ezra's life at the place where he begins talking about it in chapter 7 of Ezra. Chapter 7 in verse 1 says, Now, after all these things... I think it's fitting Ezra was the one that recorded all that, put the story together. So now, after all that, that great exciting story, Artaxerxes, king of Persia, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Saraiiah. He goes on through a list, a partial list, at least, of his genealogy.

I'm not going to read all these names because I'll mispronounce them anyways. But we get down to... and it does show us, though, that he was not only a Levite, he was a priest. He was descended from Aaron. So he was part of that family. And we get to verse 6. This Ezra, that one that's a priest, came up from Babylon. Although I should note, he wasn't the high priest. He was a priest, but only one person would be the high priest.

It's sort of like you can be a prince, but only one person is the king. But this Ezra came up from Babylon, and he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses. He calls himself Ezra the priest the scribe in many places. Actually, down in verse... there we go. Down in verse 11. No, it's not in verse 11. Okay, I'm going to just say, he calls him... there it is, yeah, in verse 11. Ezra the priest the scribe. Sorry, I can't read my own writing sometimes. A scribe had a special position.

It was somebody who could not only read or write, but was skilled enough in reading and writing to make legal documents. And if he was a Levite who was a scribe, he could make copies of the law of Moses, make copies of the Bible. Jewish traditions consider Ezra to have been a scribe's scribe, which is a way of saying, boy, he was really good.

He was an elite scholar of his time. So going back to verse 6, this Ezra came up from Babylon, and he was a skilled scribe. I still prefer the old King James says, a ready scribe. That just rolls off the tongue. He was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given.

The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. Here's a hint. Ezra was going to leave Babylon and go to Jerusalem, but it must not have been his own idea. It says, the hand of his God was upon him. God had a job for him to do. Now, the temple had been done for decades, but God didn't say it's all done, just sit and wait for Messiah. It wasn't too late for Ezra, and it's never too late for us to do what God wants us to do, what he directs us to.

I want to specially note verse 10. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the eternal, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. Despite the fact that the big jobs had already been done, Ezra prepared his heart. He probably worked and studied very hard for three things that are listed. To seek God's law.

This seems he must have studied it and knew it inside and out, backwards and forwards. But it's not just that. It says, to do it. He didn't just have head knowledge. He had experience of it. He put it into practice. He knew by however long a lifetime he'd lived at this point, that this way works.

And it says, and to teach it. Being able to teach, and committing to teach God's law, I believe is a high calling within God's work. But if we remember Deuteronomy 6, it's a calling that everybody has. If we have children, we need to be prepared to know it, to do it, and to teach it to those under our care. We're all teachers of God's law, and some of us get to do it a little more than others. Ezra's story shows very clearly that whether or not the temple is already built, and here's where I have them in my notes.

It's 1 Peter 2 and verse 5 that tells us the church is a spiritual temple. But whether or not the temple is built, whether or not that Indianapolis conference occurred, there is a need for people to carry on, to continue. Continue doing what? To seek God's law, to do God's law, and to teach God's law. And I'm a little, I guess, self-serving here, but that's one of the reasons I'm thrilled to be part of Ambassador Bible College now.

I get to be immersed in studying God's law, you know, almost all the time. I get to constantly be looking to the future, and that makes it exciting. I'm not thinking about sitting around thinking, Oh, you know, we just got to sit and wait for Christ to return, you know, big jobs are done.

I'm looking at it, and I hope all of us are looking at it as we've got work to do right now. We've got to carry on. Now, are we at an in-between stage? That's possible. Some might describe it that way. Ezra seemed to have been at somewhat of an in-between stage, but he sure wasn't sitting around watching the world go by, waiting for Messiah to come. We see some of what he did in the latter chapters of the Book of Ezra. In one place, we see him working with leaders in the nation of Judah to correct a dangerous practice that had developed. And this was long after the temple had been rebuilt. And he does what he was prepared to do.

It turns out, in this case, the Jews had begun intermeering with people of other religions. You'll read, they use the term, pagan wives. It seems that not that many years after getting the temple built, leaving Babylon, re-establishing themselves, the people grew a little bit lax. They started compromising with something that God's Word pretty clearly condemned. And Ezra was a spiritual leader who plainly wanted to show his people that God said, that's not okay. What they were doing amounted to syncretism.

I love getting to use that word because it makes it sound like I'm smart. But syncretism is that thing of taking God's way and mixing a little bit of false religion.

Let's turn to chapter 9, Ezra 9 and verse 3. They were doing it literally with their families, but it came out to a spiritual result. Ezra 9 and verse 3... Now, I'm skipping the description of the intermeering, Ezra is writing in first person, and he says, When I heard this thing, I tore my garment in my robe and plucked out some of my hair from my head and beard and sat down, astonished.

He went into an outward show of deep mourning. He was very upset. If we drop down to verse 5, it says, At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting, having torn my garment in my robe, and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to the Lord my God.

He said, Oh my God, I'm too ashamed and humiliated to lift my face up to you. My God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads. Our guilt has grown up to the heavens. And he goes on praying and confessing, and we'll see that people noticed what he was doing. Now, he was in a leadership position, but notice he's just humbling himself, praying to God.

This is one of the things that can show us that the actions of one person can make a big difference. I have one example. Look in Ezra 10 and verse 1. Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, and weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel, for the people wept bitterly.

It goes on to describe in efforts to end this practice that had been going on. And I'm not going into a great amount of detail here, because I want to remind us that at that point in time, and in that culture, to marry someone of a different nation automatically meant marrying into a different religion. At that point, there wasn't separation of church and state. Only one people had the true religion. And so God said, don't marry people of other nations, they don't have your religion. And I'm citing this because there were times in the church, some of us who were older remember, and we cited this to strongly condemn any interracial marriage.

And we've since moderated our view to realize that these scriptures talk about marrying outside of the religion much more than that. As a matter of fact, some of the women that are described were Moabites and Ammonites, who were of the same ethnicity as the people of Israel. So I don't want to go into that, I just want to make a note. I'm not going down a track, but I do want to focus on religious revival, saying we've got to live by God's law.

It was a big accomplishment. Ezra, you could say, put the church back on track. That's something I remember hearing, what was it, 30-some years ago? 40 years ago? Churches get off track and they need to be put back on. Let's also notice what happened in... Actually, I want to go to the next book. Ezra begins working closely with a new governor, Nehemiah. As Ezra is not sitting around thinking all the work is done, let's turn to chapter 8 of Nehemiah. Say, all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Watergate.

And they told Ezra the scribe, bring the book of the law of Moses, which the eternal had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. We already know what's in this book of the law. The first day of the seventh month has significance. He read from it in the open square that was in front of the Watergate, from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand, and the years of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood, which they'd made for the purpose. Beside him, at his right hand stood Mattania, Shema, a lot of guys whose names ended up. Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people, when he stood up, all the people rose. And actually, I wanted to drop down to verse 8.

In verse 8, they read distinctly from the book of the law of God, and they gave the sense, helped them to understand. It sounds like giving a sermon, a better sermon than you normally hear, perhaps. Or at least, maybe better than I'm doing now. But, giving the understanding of what this really means.

And Nehemiah, who is the governor, Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to the people, Today is holy! I wonder if they just now realized it, or if they were making the case. It's not just us telling you this, I just read it from the Bible. Today is holy to the Lord your God. Don't mourn nor weep, for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. And they said, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Don't sorrow, for the joy of the eternal is your strength. Again, here's a reawakening of religious zeal here, largely because of the work of Ezra, who had prepared his heart to seek the law of his God. He wanted to protect that truth. If we drop down to verse 13, Now the second day the heads of the Father's houses and all the people with the priests and Levites were gathered to Ezra the priest in order to understand. So now all the people want to understand. And they found written in the law which the Eternal commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the Feast of the Seventh Month. Hey! It's the Feast of Tabernacles! We should do this! And so they would. Let's drop down to verse 17.

So the whole assembly of those who returned from the captivity made booths, sat under the booths. For since the days of Joshua the son of Nun, until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the book of the law. And they kept the Feast, seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. And then on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to this prescribed manner.

It sounds like Ezra became a feast site coordinator. Which I've learned from experience, is a lot of work. But boy, it's a job that brings a tremendous amount of joy when you lead people coming together to worship God. This was happening because Ezra had studied and he was there to teach the people. He wasn't going to let those truths slip away. I wonder how much Ezra did that's not recorded in the Bible.

But I think we can safely say, he was not born too late. And that's where I'll say, neither is anyone that's in this room. We need to keep in mind, though, that Ezra would never have been able to play this part when the time came, if he had not already well in advance, prepared his heart to seek the law of the Eternal. To do it. And to teach it.

And I'll go further to say that, you know, although this religious revival he read that he led was important, it was very significant, it might not have been the most important thing that Ezra did. I think it might have been more important that he studied and that he taught and that he preserved the knowledge of the truth. Remember, Ezra was a scribe-scribe. He'd prepared to teach the law as well as to do it. And we believe he played a huge part in passing on the knowledge of the truth, not only through teaching, but he's also acknowledged by most Bible scholars to have worked to do what's called canonizing the Old Testament, meaning he gathered the various scrolls and brought together a collection that said, these are the holy writings. And he made sure they were intact and protected. Now, I want to make the note, of course, that we believe God inspired him in doing so, if indeed he did, just as God inspired every writer of the Bible, so we would say he also inspired the people who put it together. But if we think of the things that went on to happen after Ezra's time, Ezra certainly didn't come along too late. Matter of fact, he lived, even though late in the Old Testament, early in human history. You know, he was early in what we could call the time of the period of the Gentiles. After God stopped working with Israel and Judah as particular nations, he revealed a dream to Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel interpreted, showing what would happen thereafter. Great empires to rule that part of the world. First Babylon, the head of gold, then Persia, the arms and shoulders of silver, Greece, the belly and thighs of bronze, and then Rome, the legs of iron.

Ezra was only during the second of those empires, but he preserved God's Word to make sure it would endure through all of them. There's a prophecy in Daniel 11. I want to turn there. Daniel 11 and verse 32.

Students are familiar with this. Mr. McNeely's covered it several times. But of course, during the long prophecy of Daniel 11 describes much of what would happen after Ezra's time and before Christ came on the scene. There's a lot of detailed events, but at one point there's what we believe was an early abomination of desolation when a man named Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated that temple that they worked so hard to build. But some people were motivated to resist that, and they rose up and threw off that foreign rule. And that seems to be what's described in Daniel 11 and verse 32. Those who do wickedly against the covenant heal corrupt with flattery, but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.

The fight to oppose those who tried to desecrate God's temple was done by those who knew their God. They were only able to know their God because of the work of Ezra and others like him. I think if Ezra hadn't come along and done it, God would have raised someone else. As a matter of fact, remember when Christ was coming in Jerusalem and they told him, Quiet your disciples, he said, Well, if they don't say it, the stones will cry out. God will make sure the work gets done, but what a blessing to be one of those who's called to do it. Ezra was not born too late for great things. Because of his work, he inspired others later. And because of that, when Christ came in the flesh, there was a temple to come to. Ezra was not born too late for great things. Neither are we. Sure, many of us who are younger, you know, missed the time when the Church of God was much larger than it is today and had a broader reach. We thought that was really impressive when we were mailing millions of magazines out every month and on radio every day and every night. But we shouldn't look back at what's been. And we can enjoy that, but there are things yet to happen. Paul wrote in Philippians 3, something I want to read, Philippians 3 and verse 13.

This is a motto, I think, for all people at all time, or at least it could be and perhaps should be.

Many scholars believe that that prophecy about the abomination of desolation is a dual prophecy, that there is a fulfillment yet ahead. And if that's the case, perhaps Daniel 11.32 is also a dual prophecy. Maybe there's yet a time when the people that know their God are going to be strong and do great exploits. If you're a young person in this audience, you might be one of those people. I've read that often and thought, you know, I'd like to do exploits. I'm not sure exactly what an exploit is, but I'm pretty sure I'd like to do it.

Now, that could be our case, but even if not, maybe it's going to happen later on. Someone is only going to be able to be ready to do those exploits if someone before them prepares their heart to study the law of God, to do it, and to teach it, and to pass it on. Preserve the knowledge of God's truth. There is a particular example I'll mention of someone who I think did that. And this is an example that might bring it in for older members of the audience as well as younger. That's a fellow by the name of Barzillii. I'm waiting for Sue to go, oh, him again. I like talking about Barzillii. Not only because I like the name, but he did something really interesting, and we overlooked that. We're mostly familiar with the story of King David and his son Absalom having a bit of a disagreement. A bit more than that, actually, that's an understatement. Absalom schemed to steal the kingdom from David, and he undermined the hearts of Israel and had David and his men had to flee in a hurry with almost nothing just to preserve their lives. And when David and those who followed him were at their weakest out in the wilderness, a couple of men who had some money, actually they were fairly wealthy, came and brought supplies. They brought all kinds of food and beds and basins, probably tents, all that stuff. And with that help, David and his commanders were able to reorganize an army. And with the blessing of God, they fought Absalom and won. And David was then ready to return to Jerusalem. And here's where we're going to meet Barzillii again. It's in 2 Samuel 19. I'm near the end of looking at Scriptures, so 2 Samuel 19, in case I'm... I always get confused. Some churches have 2-hour services and some have 90, so... If I end somewhere in between, maybe we'll be good. 2 Samuel 19, verse 31... Okay, so David is going back to Jerusalem. His government has been overturned. He's not sure who to trust. And here's where a... what some people see as a casual comment, I think was much more. And we see, in verse 31, Barzillii the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and went across the Jordan with the king to escort him across the Jordan. Now Barzillii was a very aged man, 80 years old. If you're above 80, please forgive me. I didn't... the Bible said that's really old, so... And he'd provided the king with supplies while he stayed at Mahonaim, for he was a very rich man. And the king said to Barzillii, Come across with me. I'll provide for you while you're in Jerusalem. Now this sounds like it might have been, come visit me for dinner. You know, come on over after services, we'll order a pizza. But if you put it in the bigger context, I think it was more than that. I think David had to rebuild his government and needed loyal men, and I see this as asking Barzillii, Come back with me. I'd like to give you a job, maybe a position in his cabinet. Sort of like, if you come with me to Washington, D.C., I'll make you Secretary of State. You know, I'm speculating here. It's not certain, but I see that as a possibility. But whatever the invitation, Barzillii declined. Look at verse 34.

Barzillii said to the king, Well, how long do I have to live that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? I am today eighty years old. Can I discern between the good and the bad? Can your servant taste what I eat and drink? Can I no longer hear the voice of singing men and singing women? My senses are getting dull, getting out of bed as a pain in the morning. Why then should your servant be a further burden to my lord the king? I'll go a little way across the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward?

So please let your servant turn back again. Then I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and mother.

But here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king and do for him what seems good to you.

King looked at him, I imagine, and said, Kimham will come across with me, and I'll do for him whatever seems good to you. Whatever you request of me, I'll do it.

Now we might think, if what I'm suggesting is true, that the king was offering Barzillia a position, Barzillia might have the opposite feelings that we've been talking about. Instead of saying, oh, I was born too late, he could have been saying, oh, I was born too early. If I were only a young man, I could go help rebuild the nation.

But there's no indication he felt that way.

He'd lived his life doing what he thought he needed to do, and I think that he did need to do. He devoted time and energy, I believe, to passing on what he knew to the next generation. And that included a young man named Kimham, or Kimham. I go back and forth how to pronounce it. I don't think he would have recommended that young man to King David if he didn't know him and trust that he would be valuable to the kingdom.

And I believe that's probably because he'd worked with him and taught him.

Now, there are a couple of scriptures in Ezra. Actually, I'll give them to you if you want to look them up. I'm not going to turn there, but Ezra 2, verse 61, and also Nehemiah 7 and verse 63, gives an indication that this very Barzilii had daughters but no sons, because it mentions that there were men who married his daughters and took his name.

Now, that's a guy who's pretty influential in the village. People marry his daughter and say, I want to be named after you more than my own dad. I suspect maybe Barzilii didn't have sons, but he worked with the young men of his village. Kind of like I've been to a lot of congregations in the church, where there are certain men that just pay attention to the younger folks, get to know them, talk to them. I remember when I was a teenager, there was a fella that, I'm not sure if he was a deacon yet or became afterwards, but he would always come over to where us kids were hanging out. You know, teenagers, we were kind of like that. But he wouldn't be put off, hey, how you doing? He'd talk to us, ask how we're doing, and he'd just let us know that we mattered. You know, and I get the feeling Barzilii was like that. He took them under his wing, and he taught them, passed on God's law, his knowledge, showed them how to live by example. And if Kim Ham was one of them, when a time for doing exploits came along, Barzilii said, Kim Ham's ready to do exploits. I've done my job. And I think doing that, preparing those young men, was Barzilii's chance to do great exploits. He knew his God, he feared him, and he was every day knowing God's law, doing it, teaching it. That should inspire those of us who are young, and those of us who may not be so young. We all have our part to play. None of us were born too late. None were born too soon. We all have important roles to carry out in doing the work of God, and preparing to seek the law of God, to do it, and to teach it. The story of Ezra the priest described is one that the Bible doesn't tell us in great detail. And I suspect that, in part, that's because of Ezra's own humility. It doesn't promote himself. When it came to including his own story in the Scriptures, it was pretty minimal. But what we do find there can be a pretty powerful example. At a time when other people in his position might have been despondent, could have been thinking, oh, I was born too late. Not Ezra. He was a ready scribe. He prepared his heart to seek God's law, to live by it, and to teach it. That's an example that I want to follow, that I'm striving to, however imperfectly. And I want to encourage us all to do that, so we can be ready whenever God calls on us to be strong and do exploits. Whatever it is those exploits are, if it's providing for future generations, when we come up in the resurrection, I hope God will say, you did well. Let's be like Ezra. Let's prepare our hearts to seek the law of God, to do it, and to teach it.