Were You Born Too Late?

Thank you, Mr. Petty. Good afternoon, everyone. It is definitely a privilege and an honor to be here. And Mr. Petty said that the Chattanooga Nashville...am I gonna get in trouble now?

That there's a lot to offer here, indeed, but I would say that the greatest thing here is the hospitality of the brethren. So we want to well thank you so much for welcoming us here. I'm gonna stop and sit down. Thank you for welcoming us and your hospitality, and I wanted to say especially to the Horovaths who kindly opened their home, their country manner, to take in all the students. And it's been a privilege being here, and we're looking forward to our time.

And I could comment...I hesitate to say such nice things about the students while they're here to listen, but it is a privilege to get to work with them, and they're a special group. I'm really sad that graduation is coming up, but of course we always look forward to the next year, and I'll probably be saying similar things about whoever comes in, you know, about a year from now.

But I remember Mr. John Paul Jones said that the food was smelling really good downstairs, or I said the food was smelling good, and he said, keep your sermon short because people want to eat it. So maybe I should get into that. Let me start off asking a question. Have you ever wished you could have lived at a different time in history? Maybe you romanticized about living during the time when daring knights practiced chivalry to win the hands of fair maidens? Or you thought of the time when pioneers moved across the virgin country here as Daniel Boone led some through the Cumberland Gap, settling these areas? I remember when I was a teenager, I had a good friend. One day we were talking and he said, Frank, we were born too late. What do you mean we were born too late? I don't think my mom thought that, but we said, you know, we're smart enough and our hard work. If we'd have been around in the boom after World War II, we could have built great companies and been captains of industry and gotten rich. Now, I don't know if that was true, but, you know, I was a teenager in the 1970s when, you know, the economy was in decline and the energy crises that really dragged things down. People were demoralized by Watergate and the Vietnam War.

And yeah, it was easy to start thinking, you know, maybe things were better earlier.

No matter when we lived, there's a time when people look back and say, all the good old days. Do you think people living that we describe that are described in the Bible ever thought that? Did they ever look back to something previous and say, wow, I wish I could have been there for that and maybe wonder what's left for me to do?

And today I want to look a little bit at the life and work of a person in the Bible that I think he's often underappreciated. And if there is anyone who might have had an opportunity to look back and say, oh, I was too late, it could have been him. And the person I'm thinking of is Ezra. Ezra called Ezra the priest the scribe. Now, most of us are quite familiar with Ezra. He's got a book of the Bible named after him. But Ezra in his writing doesn't tell us that much about himself. He was a Levitical priest, as we'll see. Ezra appears late in the Old Testament. During the time that biblical scholars called a post-exilic period, meaning that's the time after the Jews had been taken into captivity, spent that 70 years in Babylon, and then some had come back to begin rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple.

If you think, we can imagine a brief timeline of all the things that happened before Ezra.

God created the universe, and then specifically Adam and Eve.

Sixteen hundred or so years later, there was this flood you might have heard of.

Then, after the flood cleared, God worked with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Jacob's descendants went down to Egypt, where they grew into a great nation that was enslaved.

But then God worked through Moses and Aaron to bring them out through powerful miracles.

After a slight delay of 40 years, he brought them into the Promised Land.

All that, long before Ezra.

For a time, Israel was governed by various judges.

As it's described, every man did what was right in his own eyes. But then came the monarchy. First Saul reigned, then David, and his son Solomon.

For the priests, things got really exciting during Solomon's reign. He built the temple.

Or, actually, he directed a whole lot of workmen who built the temple.

A description of that story begins in 2 Chronicles 2, and then the next several chapters describe this huge building project that took place.

And when the temple was finished, Solomon led a special dedication. The priests carried the Ark of the Covenant with the poles on their shoulders into it, and the other items that had formerly been in the tabernacle.

And there was a sacrifice led there, and God sent fire from heaven to ignite the sacrifice. The Shekinah glory filled the temple so that the priests had to flee. They couldn't stand to be in the presence.

In my notes, it says, Wow! I'm sure the people said something like that.

That's a moment in history that a priest like Ezra would know about, perhaps studied.

And maybe he would think, I would have loved to have been there for that.

Of course, in the centuries afterwards, Israel broke into two separate kingdoms. The northern kingdom retained the name Israel, but did not retain the true religion that God revealed.

And eventually, God allowed the Assyrian Empire to conquer that nation and take them away into captivity, where they would go into legend as the Ten Lost Tribes.

The southern kingdom became known as Judah. It retained the dynasty of King David and the temple with the priesthood. Over many years, the people went back and forth.

Sometimes the population worshipped God, but other times they became neglectful.

But there would be times of revival.

And as a young man named Ezra studied his history, he might have spent special attention to the reign of King Josiah.

King Josiah directed to have the temple repaired. And in Hilkiah the priest found a scroll.

He brought his book, I found this book.

Or he said whatever Hebrew or Aramaic word means, scroll.

But it inspired one of the greatest religious revivals in history.

I could see Ezra as a young man looking back at that story with longing. That was something.

But what's going to happen in my lifetime?

Well, it wasn't that long before Ezra's lifetime, relatively speaking, that Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian army moved in, conquered the southern kingdom, destroyed Jerusalem and that temple that was so special.

But as I mentioned, God had prophesied through Jeremiah that after 70 years, the people would be allowed to return. Cyrus, Cyrus the Persian emperor who conquered Babylon, reversed the Babylonian policy.

Instead of taking conquered peoples out of their homelands and moving them to other places, the Persians would allow peoples to return to their homelands, would allow them to reestablish their own religions.

They just wanted to make sure they still paid their taxes.

That sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Thus, we can read, if you'll turn with me, to 2 Chronicles chapter 36.

2 Chronicles 36 will begin reading in verse 22.

Notice we're at the end of Chronicles.

Now, 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 the kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, all kingdoms of the earth, the Lord God of heaven, is given to me, and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Who is among you of all his people? May the Lord God be with him and let him go up.

If you're looking across the page, if your Bible is laid out like mine, you'll see that that's exactly where the book of Ezra begins. The first four verses of Ezra quote the same proclamation. The first chapters describe people who were moved to then go, go to that city, and begin rebuilding. Now, I'm not going to read a lot of the book of Ezra here because, to be honest, it doesn't make great reading. Half of the book or more is made up with lists of genealogies and lists of people and official documents. But there is a story in there. It's a fascinating story of people struggling to build that temple, to re-establish the true worship of the true God. And to understand Ezra's story, we should understand a little bit of that story. If you'll turn over a page or so to Ezra chapter 3. Ezra 3 beginning in the first verse.

And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. Gen-Jeshua, the son of Jazadak and his brother in the priest, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shaltiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

So we see the formal worship in the form of animal sacrifices was restored even before they started working on a new temple. Then dropping down to verse 10, when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priest stood in their apparel with the trumpets and the Levites, the sons of Asaph with the symbols, to praise the eternal according to the ordinance of David, king of Israel. They sang responsibly, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever towards Israel.

Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was made. But many of the priests and 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. In a moment, we'll consider why some folks were crying while others were rejoicing. But we'll notice for a brief time after this, the forces that opposed rebuilding that temple and establishing the worship of God had some success. Across the page in chapter 4, actually across a couple pages, those who opposed building this temple sent messages to the emperor of the Persian empire, warning him that this could be trouble for him. And he sends a response as we see chapter 4 verse 17.

The king sent an answer to rehome the commander of to Shimsheh the scribe. I forget about these names. To the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria and the remainder beyond the river, peace and so forth, the letter which you sent to me has been clearly read before me. And I gave a command and search has been made, and it has been found that this city, this is referring to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was this city, and former times has revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition have been fostered in it. There also have been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the region beyond the river, and tax tribute and custom were paid to them. Oh, give command to make these men cease that this city may not be built until command is given by me. If we drop down, well, take heed now that you don't fail to do this.

Why should damage increase to the herd of the kings? And when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum Shimshay, the scribe and their companions, they went up and hasten 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 was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius, King of Persia. I wanted to read all that together.

You know, it can... to us, it seems a shame. God's people would be intimidated and stopped from doing His work by a mere government of men. It seems a shame, but then again, it's worth us remembering. We live in a country where freedom of religion is written into our Constitution. We tend to take it for granted, but it hasn't always been that way, and it might not be that way for very much longer. So, if in the future we do face persecution for striving to do God's work, I hope we'll react less like the people we just read of in chapter 4, and more like the people we're about to read in chapter 5.

In chapter 5, verse 1, it says, Then the prophet Hagia and Zechariah, the son of Ido the prophet, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.

Now, if you will, maybe keep a finger here in Ezra, because I want to come back, but if we turn to Haggai, chapter 1, we'll see what God had them prophesy. And Haggai is almost at the very end of the Old Testament, if you're looking for it like I am.

There it is, right after Zephaniah and before Zechariah.

So, in Haggai 1, we'll begin reading in verse 3, because we just saw in Ezra that God sent Haggai and Zechariah with a message. And here is that message, beginning in verse 3. Well, we'll see. The word of the eternal cane by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins? Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways.

I want to emphasize that, because my friend and mentor, Darius McNeely, likes to quote this and mentioned that it's a lesson for us in the church. Consider your ways. He tells them, 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, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages, earns wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord God of hosts, consider your ways.

Go up into the mountains, bring wood, and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in, that I may take pleasure in it, and be glorified, says the Eternal.

I find it interesting, God doesn't need a physical house to live in. The heavens of heavens can't contain him. He inhabits eternity. But he does take pleasure in the physical things that we do to honor him. And for his work to be accomplished in certain prophecies, he wanted that temple built. Now, I'm going to come back here to Haggai, so if you've got extra fingers, you might put one here and then flip back to Ezra, where we were. Back in Ezra 5 and verse 2, we'll see what happened.

Ezra 5 too says, so Zerubbabel, the son of Shaltiel and Jeshua, the son of Jazadak, rose up and began to build the house of God, which is in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them. I imagine also a lot of workmen and overalls were with them helping. And it became clear to those building that this new building didn't quite measure up to what they had had before. The temple that Solomon had overseen being built was fabulous, like one of the ancient wonders of the ancient world. And that's why some of the men had been crying.

Again, keep that finger there in Ezra, but if you go back to Haggai, Haggai 2 will see that described. In Haggai 2 and verse 1 it says, in the seventh month, the 21st of the month, the word of the eternal came by Haggai the prophet, saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shaltiel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua, the son of Jehazadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? Meaning the building that Solomon had built. And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes? It's nothing? Yeah, they didn't have the resources. They didn't have the means to build that great, beautiful temple. They were building something, but they knew it wasn't a match. And God knew that, but He tells them this in verse 4, Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel, says the eternal, and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehazadak, the high priest, be strong, all you people of the land, says the Lord, and work. For I am with you. I am with you, says the Lord, God of hosts. That was a reassurance for right then and there God said, I'm with you. He was letting them know He wasn't as concerned about the size of the building or how much gold it had. He was pleased at their effort and that they were honoring Him. There was more reassurance for the future. Here, still in chapter 2 down in verse 7, says, I'll shake all the nations. They'll come to the desire of all the nations and I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, the gold is mine. He says, I don't care how much gold or silver you have. I already own all that. He says, the glory of this latter temple will be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place, I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts.

This latter temple was going to have Jesus Christ in person come to it.

God was concerned with His presence, with honoring Him. And I'm sure all of you, or many of you, have heard we've drawn parallels between this rebuilding process and the rebuilding process that we have done as a church. And I'll address that more a bit later. But, you know, sometimes we see the spiritual temple of God now might not seem as large and as impressive as it was.

You know, back when I had been born a little too late, and growing up in the 1970s.

But it's worth remembering what God does. And my notes, it says, getting back to Ezra, and I took my finger out of there. We'll get there. But remember, Ezra the person is not here in this story yet. I've been telling the story that we need to know before we tell his story. Ezra the person doesn't appear in Ezra the book until chapter 7, after the second temple was built. He had not a thing to do with it. It was Joshua the priest who oversaw building it, along with Zerubbabel. No students notice I said it with just the right amount of bees.

In the classroom, I can almost never do that correctly. But can you imagine young man Ezra reading this story and hearing from the elders and thinking, oh, I missed out!

I missed out on that big stuff, working to rebuild the temple of God.

Was there nothing left for him to do?

Well, I want to go consider some of what he did, but it's also worth considering the parallel with our time. Because I've often thought young adults in God's church today could sometimes look and say, oh, all the big jobs of this era have been done. And they were done before we ever came along.

I've seen that working in the summer camp program. Sometimes I heard it before I was an ordained minister. The minister is talking about some of the big things that happened, and it's referring to what happened in the 90s when heresy was introduced, and a lot of people left us. And they thought, oh, that was before your time. And the youth might think, yeah, yeah, I know, I missed out on the crisis, but I also missed out on the excitement of starting over, of rebuilding.

In God's church today, we could consider the efforts of those people who stood up for the truth. And when I say those people, I know it's many of you people, of us people.

We can think of those big jobs. Maybe the men who assembled in Indianapolis in 19—was it 95?

I know I'm supposed to know that, but like Joshua's irreveable and crowds of people going to Jerusalem to lay that foundation. And would teens and young adults now think of those events the same way Ezra might have looked at events before him? Did they ever think, well, yeah, that was cool. I'm glad it got done. But we missed it. We were born too late. What's left for us to do?

So I ask, teens, young adults, is there anything worthwhile left for you to do? Were you born too late? Is there nothing left for us to do but just sit around and occupy a seat on the Sabbath while we wait for Jesus Christ to return? Thankfully, I haven't seen that to be the attitude of many in the church. But just in case it could possibly be, it's worth considering the story of Ezra. There are other stories as well, but let's begin looking at Ezra's life. Ezra the priest the scribe, as he's described back in Ezra chapter 7. This picks up a little after the story we've covered, and there are gaps and chronological challenges in putting the book of Ezra together that I don't want to worry about today. But this begins in chapter 7. Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes. So this is long after Cyrus, after Darius, we're here to Artaxerxes, king of Persia. Ezra, the son of Saraiiah, a lot of son-ofs here, it traces his ancestry back to Aaron the high priest.

And then in verse 6 it says, this Ezra, the one that was descended from Aaron the high priest, came up from Babylon, and he was a skilled 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.

I'll make reference. Says he was a skilled scribe. I'm still partial to the original King James version. That's when it calls him a ready scribe. And there's something about that. He was a ready scribe. A scribe was someone who could read and write and do it well enough to create legal documents. A Levitical scribe would be able to participate in making copies of God's Word, in making sure it was preserved and passed down. So being a scribe, whether a Levite or not, was a high calling. And Jewish tradition says that Ezra was a scribe's scribe. He was one of the best.

And I think that says something. As I said here in verse 6, he came up from Babylon, and it says, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. This gives us a hint that for Ezra to leave his probably comfortable life in Babylon and go to Jerusalem wasn't just his own idea. The hand of God was on him. God had a job for him to do, which in itself answers the question of is there something for him to do? And I think for us, it's never too late for anyone to be doing what God directs us. Let's look at Ezra 7 in verse 10. This scripture is the heart of what I wanted to discuss today. For Ezra, Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Eternal, to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinance in Israel. So despite the fact that he might have thought, well, all the big jobs have already been done, Ezra prepared. He prepared for three things to seek God's law. That means he must have studied it. He learned it all but inside and out, forwards and backwards, and he's prepared to do it. Ezra wasn't limiting himself to head knowledge, but he was ready to put it into practice. He knew by experience that God's way of life works, brings results, brings blessings, but he also prepared to teach it. Got to count and make sure I've got three. Being able to teach and committing God's law to others was a high calling within God's work. Ezra's story shows us very clearly whether or not the temple was already built, and I'll pause and remind us that in 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, it tells us that God's church is the spiritual temple. Whether or not, though, the temple is built, there's a need for people to carry on and continue. Carry on and continue to do what? To seek God's law, to do God's law, and to teach God's law. And one of the reasons I was motivated and inspired to write this sermon this way is that I considered one of the greatest honors about being associated with Ambassador of Bible College. To get to focus on studying God's Word and teach it is a great privilege. And I'll mention it, we're thrilled that we get Mr. Petty to come up and teach at times. I think he would come more, but he's so dedicated and devoted to serving all of you that he wants to spend all of his time here, and I honor and respect that a great deal.

We might wonder at times, are we at what we could call an in-between stage in God's work? Sort of, we might say, was Ezra at an in-between stage? Maybe, in some ways.

But if that was the case for Ezra, he wasn't sitting around watching the world go by, waiting for that Messiah that was prophesied to come. There are chapters, and the latter chapters of the book of Ezra, describe him working with leaders in the country to correct a dangerous practice that had begun developing after the temple had been rebuilt. The Jews had started intermarrying with people of other religions, and I'm not going to go through all of it. It uses the term often, pagan wives, and that was leading people to compromise God's religion. And I don't want to make it sound like I'm sexist, but that's just the way society worked. The men had more control. They wouldn't have approved of women marrying pagan husbands. You just don't see that phrase. But Ezra was a spiritual leader who plainly showed the people that God does not consider mixing his religion with others to be okay. We use that term syncretism for mixing religions. God doesn't like that. He didn't like it then. He doesn't want us to do it now.

If we look ahead to Ezra chapter 9, Ezra writes in first person here describing how he reacted when he learned what had been happening.

In chapter 9 in verse 3, When I heard this thing, I tore my garment in my robe. I plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard and sat down astonished. Moving to verse 6, At the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, and he'd been fasting, and people knew it. And having torn my garment in my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. And I said, Oh my God, I'm too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads. Our guilt has grown up to heavens. And I'm not going to keep reading, but his example motivated others. It motivated a revival and repentance across the land. And it can go away, quite a way, to show us that when one person is willing to stand up for what's right and publicly acknowledge the need to do something, it can motivate others. It reminds me, I didn't have any of my notes there. If you've heard renditions of that song where it talks about one voice singing in the darkness and then others join in, it's kind of like that. Ezra started out as the lone voice, but others joined in. If we skip over to chapter 10, Ezra 10 in 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 very bitterly. And it'll go on to describe their efforts to end marriages with people of other nations. And it's worth mentioning, at that time and in that setting, being of another nation was automatically to be of another religion. And there was a time in the past of the church where we used these scriptures to teach very strongly that any and all interracial marriage was sinful. The church doesn't promote that or say that it's a good idea, but we've come to see that the scripture more accurately is interpreted to say that we must not marry of different religions because it does lead people astray. And that's not my main focus today. I just don't want to be interpreted out of out of context here. This was a big accomplishment, though, that he was leading people to seek purity in their religion, in their worship of God, and the nation followed him. I'm even more impressed by what he did that's described in the next book. In the book of Nehemiah, which in many of the ancient manuscripts is one book, Ezra and Nehemiah, together.

If you will turn to chapter 8 of Nehemiah, I think here it's vital to see the preparation that Ezra had done. Remember that he'd been preparing his heart to seek and do and teach God's way. Chapter 8, verse 1, it says, All the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the water gate, and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of the men and women, all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month, first day of the seventh month, feast of trumpets. And he read from it, he read from the book of the law in the open square that was in front of the water gate from morning until midday. So if I go a little long, give me a break. I'm not doing that.

Okay, I'm glad somebody chuckled. I'd be in trouble.

He read in the ears of those who could understand in the ears of all the people who were attentive to the book of the law. You'll skip down to verse 8. So they read distinctly from the book and the law of God, and they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading. That's something that a scribe who'd studied and prepared could do. He could make sure people understood what it meant. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God. Don't mourn or weep, for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

But then Ezra gives the instruction, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

I love that turn of phrase. Do not sorrow, the joy of the Lord is your strength.

And this began a reawakening of religious zeal among the people, a devotion to obeying and worshiping God. In verse 13 it says, Now on the second day the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people with the priests and Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe in order to understand the words of the law. They wanted to know more. They wanted to understand. When they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities in Jerusalem, saying, Go out to the mountain, bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle trees, palm trees, leafy branches to make booths as it is written.

The people went out and brought them. They made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house or in their courtyards, and the courts of the house of God and the open square and the water gate. I've often thought it's like Ezra now takes on the job of being a feast site coordinator as they're preparing. So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and 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. I'm astounded by that. It doesn't say they had never kept a feast of tabernacles, but they're doing something that had been discontinued since the days of Joshua. Was Ezra born too late to do great things? No, this was a big thing that needed to be done. And it says, continuing to the end of the chapter, Also day by day from the first day until the last, he, Ezra, read the book of the law of God. They kept the feast seven days. And the eighth day was a sacred assembly according to the prescribed manner. I wonder how much Ezra did that's not recorded in the Bible. As I said, I think he was fairly humble. He tells enough of himself in the story as much as he has to. I suspect he might have done much more. It's safe to say Ezra was not born too late. And I say with confidence, neither was anyone in this room. None of us were born too late for the things that God has for us to do. But of course, we need to keep in mind that Ezra would not have been able to play his part if he had not in advance of that prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach it.

Of course, he did other things. The religious revival he led was very important. But remember Ezra being a scribe scribe. He played a huge role according to tradition that I think is true in preserving and passing on God's Word. He is credited with being the primary person who canonized the Old Testament. That means gather together the scrolls and make sure that God had all the books that he wanted to be his Bible there and kept and preserved. Of course, I believe God made the decisions, but he worked through a human being who had prepared himself.

And if we think of what was going to happen after Ezra's time, Ezra lived during a time that some people describe as the time of Gentiles. When you remember the image that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of, that Daniel interpreted of that statue with a head made of gold, shoulders and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass and legs of iron. And of course, that covered history from the time of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel all the way until Christ would return, when the stone cut without hands would smash that idol on the feet.

We understand that these things happen. God stopped working with Israel as a separate nation when he let them go into captivity. He wasn't done with Israel. He would bring them back.

Ezra lived during the second of those four major empires.

So there were two more to come. There was lots of important work to do for other people to be prepared to do. The prophecy of Daniel 11, which we won't turn and read all of Daniel 11. I'm glad you guys do have a clock here. I've gotten used to that. Giving a sermon in a room without a clock is like... I think what's a good analogy for that? It's like letting a preacher go without anybody telling him it's time to eat.

But among those... well, actually, I do want to turn to Daniel 11 and read one scripture. Not the whole chapter, but Daniel 11. I want to read verse 32. It's one of my favorites.

And it's describing the time... well, we believe it might be a dual prophecy, but the earlier fulfillment and the one we're fairly certain of is a time when the Jewish people led by a group called the Maccabees would overthrow the rule of the Seleushid Empire and gain independence, which was important to God's prophecies. Daniel 11 verse 32 says, Those who do wickedly against the covenant, he shall corrupt with flattery, but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.

And the fight to oppose the desecration of God's temples, which we believe was done by Antiochus Epiphanes, that was great exploits. They threw them out. They cleansed the temple and restored worship of God. That was made possible partly by the work of Ezra, preserving knowledge of God's way and teaching people. Because of that work, and because of the people Ezra taught, there was a temple to be restored. There was a temple for Jesus Christ to come to and overturn the money changers. Ezra was not born too late for great things. We are not born too late for great things in God's work.

As I said, many of us who are younger might have missed the time in the modern era of the church when it was large, when we were mailing out 8 million magazines a month and on radio across the nation every night. But we don't need to look back. That was a special time, and we honor it and appreciate it. There are big things yet to happen. I want to read Philippians 3, verses 13 and 14.

Philippians 3. I have a little trepidation. This is a copy of the Bible that the New Testament's not in good shape, but I still have Philippians 3. Verse 13, Paul says, Brethren, I don't count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press towards the goal. Press forward to the goal, not looking back. I press forward towards the goal, the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. As we all mentioned, many scholars studying the prophecies in Daniel 11 believe that part of that might have a dual fulfillment, or part of it be for yet ahead.

And if Daniel 11.32 does look ahead, maybe there's a time yet ahead for people in God's church to be strong and do exploits. Students know I like to say that. I've always said, I'd like to do exploits. I'm not sure what they are, but I want to do them. For those people, they will not have been born too late. Could be some people here. And even if the timing doesn't work out for teens or young adults of today, it's only going to be possible for a future generation of people to be strong and do exploits if we are now doing what Ezra did. That is, especially if the youth in the God's church prepare their hearts to seek the law of the Lord God, to do it, and to teach it.

That is, we must preserve the knowledge of the truth of God's word and pass it on to future generations. I think I'm on track for that hour 45 services that I was talking about with some brethren earlier. There is one example of doing that I want to mention briefly because I don't want those who might be older among us to feel left out. I want to encourage young people, but there is a man in the Old Testament who is one of my favorite characters but goes by the name. I pronounce it Barzillii. Joni says it's Barzillii. Is that right? I'm still going to say Barzillii. I like that extra syllable. Now, he comes along in the story of King David, and we're familiar with how David's son Absalom at one point in his life schemed to take the kingdom away from David. And he won. He stole the hearts of Israel and led them in revolt, so much so that David and a few followers had to flee out of the city. They ran for their lives, crossed the Jordan, went out into the wilderness. And there are a few men who met them there with supplies. One of those was Barzillii, who was a wealthy man even in his old age. And he brought supplies and food and everything they needed to rest and rebuild and to gather an army. As I said, I don't want to describe it, but God gave David the victory. And if you will, be turning to 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel chapter 19.

There are some other lessons for David to learn, but finally David was leading a retinue back towards Jerusalem. He was going to reclaim the throne and rule. And with him at this point, 2 Samuel 19, beginning in verse 31, was not a young man, an older man, a man named Barzillii. As we see in 2 Samuel 19 and verse 31, Barzillii the Gileadite came down from Rho-Gelim and went across the Jordan with the king to escort him across the Jordan. Now Barzillii, I'll say it that way once, was a very aged man, 80 years old, and he had provided the king with supplies while he stayed at Mahonaim, for he was a very rich man. And the king said to Barzillii, come with me and I'll provide for you while you're at Jerusalem.

Now, if you just read over that, it sounds like he's inviting him to come over for dinner, which would be reasonable, but it's worth considering the situation they're in. David had just fought back after a major revolt and he had to replace former counselors and supporters. I interpret this to be not just a dinner invitation, but I suspect he was inviting Barzillii to come and serve in his government, be at his court, the equivalent of maybe a cabinet position today. It'd be like saying, come and be my secretary of state. I'm making some inferences here. That would be a great thing, but what does Barzillii say? And verse 34, Barzillii said to the king, how long do I have to live that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? I'm 80 years old. Can I discern between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear the voice of singing men and seeing women? Why then should your servant be a further burden to my lord the king? Your servant, meaning himself, I'll go a little way across the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward? Please let your servant turn back that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother, but, but, King David, here, here is your servant, Timham, or Kimham. Let him cross over with the lord my king and do what seems good to you. And the king, I imagine, he sized him up and said, okay, Kimham will come with me, and whatever you think is good, I'll do. Now, think about, as I said, I think there's much more story behind this. Kimham was a young man, apparently, and I would say perhaps he was a young man who had been preparing his heart, perhaps preparing to seek the law of God and to do it, to teach it, and perhaps he'd been helped a great deal by Barzillia. So I said Barzillia, I might have the opposite problem to that as I was describing earlier on. He wasn't born too late. He could say, I was born too early. I'm 80 years old when the king wants me to come and serve.

There's no sign that he thought so. He'd lived his life, and, intriguingly, he'd been busy during that life. He'd spent time and energy passing on the things that he'd known and working with young men in his village. And I'll mention there are some genealogies in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah that imply, without specifically stating, but they imply that Barzillia, as great a man as he was, had no sons. He had daughters, but no sons. Who is this chimham? Perhaps a nephew? Perhaps a young man in his village that Barzillia took the time to spend time with, to make sure that he knew God's way. He knew him well enough to recommend him to the king. That's something special, and he was confident that when the time came, him-him was ready. It reminds me of when I was younger in God's church, attending a congregation when some older men would pay attention to me. Ask me how I'm doing. Make sure that I was learning God's way. I imagine there are men and women in this congregation who have done the same, helping the younger generation to be ready, be ready for when the time comes to do exploits. And I hope that should inspire all of us, whether we're young or old or in the middle.

We all have our part to play. None of us was born too late. None of us was born too soon.

We all have important jobs to play. Oh, actually it says, important roles to play. That sounds better coming off the tongue. We've got a job to do carrying on God's work, preparing our hearts for what God has us to do. That's why the story of Ezra, the priest, the scribe, it's one that the Bible doesn't tell in great detail. And I think that's largely because of Ezra's humility. He didn't promote himself. He didn't tell extra about his story. But what we do see there is a powerful example. At a time when others might have been despondent. Ah, they went ahead of us and rebuilt the temple. We're too late. But Ezra was ready. He was a ready scribe, and he prepared. That's an example that I want to follow, one that I encourage us all to follow. Let's strive to do what Ezra did so that we can be ready whenever God might need us to be strong and do exploits. Or when he needs us to prepare the next generation to be strong and do exploits. Let's be like Ezra. Let's prepare our hearts to seek the law of God and to do it and to teach it.