Ezra
8:21-9:15
Ezra
8:21-36
This
section is pretty straightforward. What things do you see here? There was real
danger traveling in those times, but then it wasn’t the James gang, it was more
like Ali Baba. The worry was heightened by the value of what they were
carrying. They literally had tons of stuff.
Vs. 21-23
Notice that the fasting wasn't just for the trip. It also had to do with the
heightened sense of danger and putting God on the line to protect them. Fasting
is very specific to what a person is seeking from God, and it involves humbling
oneself. Being proud in fasting sort of cancels itself out. Isn't it
interesting what Ezra told Artaxerxes in v. 22? That message of accountability
before God is a part of the gospel. Ezra wanted to fully trust the Lord as a
testimony to Artaxerxes. When Nehemiah came, albeit on a different kind of
mission, he took soldiers. He knew he would need the muscle and Persian
presence in Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. Ezra's mission was about honoring
God and showing He was sufficient.
Vs. 24-30
This would have been a huge caravan with big wagons carrying tons of stuff. It
is interesting that Ezra divided the gold and vessels among the 12 families of
priests. They counted it out before they left, and they counted it again when
they arrived. I guess Ezra's motto was, "In God we trust, all others get
counted twice."
Vs. 31-34
According to Ezra 7:9, the trip took four months. You couldn't travel straight
west because of the desert, so you had to follow what they called the
"fertile crescent;" that is, you went north and west along the rivers
and then headed south into Israel. It is interesting that they rested for three
days before getting down to business. I imagine that those who walked were
tired, but in great shape.
Vs. 35-36
This had to have been a very special and solemn experience for many of the
returnees. It was the first time in their lives they were in Israel. This would
have been true of Ezra. Their sacrifice mirrors their devotion and thanks to
the Lord.
V. 36 Then
they handed over the official papers to the Persian governors. These papers
would have contained the letter from Artaxerxes with the commands that provided
materials, money and food. Also, Ezra was given a lot of power.
Ezra 9
Vs. 1-2 It
sort of makes you wonder why, if the officials knew there was a problem, they
didn’t take care of it themselves. The message of 1 and 2 Chronicles showed
that godly leaders organized and led the people in worship. After Zerubbabel
and Joshua were gone, the next generation hadn't continued to focus on
remaining devoted to God. But now Ezra came on the scene. Not only did he have
the authority of God and the willingness to go to the wall over this issue, but
he also had the authority of the Persian king behind him. If the chief men had
not agreed, Ezra could have appealed to the king and forced the Jewish leaders
to comply.
Regarding
this intermarriage, it is good to note that Israelite men could marry outside
of Israel; but those women had to give themselves to worship Yahweh only, like
Ruth did. When you see all the foreign women who "ruled" Solomon, you
realize that they only added Yahweh
to their list of "gods to worship." They continued to worship pagan
gods. Verse 1 indicates that these women were still worshiping the gods of
their countries. It doesn't say that the men had worshipped with them, but the
next generation certainly would have been lost.
Vs. 3-5
You have to go back to Moses and Aaron to understand this reaction. Sin isn't
just personal; it affects the entire group. For Ezra, this was like watching a
child walk out in front of a car. His reaction to this sin wasn’t extreme; it
was a proper reaction to this breach of faith, particularly knowing that the
people had just returned from exile because of these kinds of sins. In a way,
in our cultures our reaction to sin might be extreme in its indifference and
tolerance. Sin is very serious. Anyway, Ezra might look like a nut-case, but I
think he had a good estimation of the problem and its consequences.
Vs. 6-15
What a great talk with the Lord. What speaks to you in this prayer? This was a
totally legitimate use of "OMG." Verses 8-9 show that Ezra had a
humble, honest understanding of their situation.
V. 15 What
is amazing is that this admission wasn't just Ezra's heart, but many of the
people were sensing the same thing. That was a miracle.
The book of Ezra concludes tomorrow and this
situation seems to be the main event in Ezra's life. God used him for this
crisis in the life of Israel. We always think that success in ministry is a
constantly rising peak before us. What if God's "use" for us is just
one event? This idea seems to be at odds with the expectations we and others
put on us, but whose expectations are we to live by? The Lord is the one we
follow. If we are pleasing Him every day in the harvest, who cares what we or
others think? You notice in Acts that we never hear anymore of most of the
other apostles Jesus chose, like Thomas, Matthew, Phillip, Andrew, Simon the
Zealot, James the son of Alphaeus,
and Thaddaeus who was apparently the son of James the son of Alphaeus. How come
we don't hear of these guys? Is it because they were failures? Not at all. God
makes His choice in how we are used based on His purpose, not ours. We won't
hear much more about Ezra. He is in the book of Nehemiah, and he was probably
the guy God used to prepare the people to follow Nehemiah, but there are no
more big events. Living for Christ, striving to reach the lost and make
disciples, has to be our only expectation in the harvest; and really, our
expectations have to be so simple and complete that they are only about Jesus.
1
Corinthians 5
This is
another of those great chapters. Sometimes you hear some great truth or point
of Scripture mixed into a message and years later you try to remember where it
was. You know it’s in the Bible, but you don’t know where to start looking. As
you read these chapters in 1 Corinthians, you will find a lot of these truths
hidden within the pages in their original context. Here, we not only have
teaching on church discipline, but some great teaching and understanding about
the Lord.
In chapter
5 you need to think of the dynamics involved here. This church was largely
Jewish, meaning that most of the people had lived under the laws and traditions
of Judaism and Pharisaism. When they came to Christ, many of them discarded this
cultural background in an extreme way. This church was also very open to
different cultures. They were located in a large cosmopolitan city. The
temptation would be that without the restraints of Judaism, they would flow
into the freedom of their surrounding culture. Finally, as in any group of
people, it is hard to stand firm in the middle of differing opinions. Like Ezra,
Paul was a trusted authority who could say a strong word on these issues.
Vs. 1-2
The “infraction” was that a man was having a sexual relationship with his
stepmother. Notice it doesn’t say “his father’s widow.” Apparently the father
was alive and still married to her. What was amazing here is that the church
not only didn’t know how to deal with the situation, they were proud of their
inaction and apparently they were proud, actually boastful, of their
high-minded reasoning for their indecision. Paul wasn’t so tolerant. This kind
of relationship was forbidden in the law. They were free from the law because
of Christ, but their moral reasoning was definitely getting messed up. And
remember, these were believers.
Vs. 3-5
This is Paul’s clearest explanation of “delivering” someone to Satan. The best
way to understand the destruction of the flesh and the spirit being saved is an
example like the prodigal son. His “flesh was destroyed,” in that he suffered
as a result of his sin and being away from his father's influence and
protection. Suffering like this brought him to his right mind and he was saved.
As we’ve seen before, the word “saved” has a broad range of meaning. This isn’t
saved as in salvation, but saved in terms of seeing truth and escaping the
influence of Satan and the damage from sin.
Vs. 6-8
Since these people were Jews, Paul used the illustration of leaven, which was a
big deal for them, especially around the time of the Passover. Notice that the
reason to cleanse out the sin is because Christ has died for our sins and we’ve
been saved. Paul says that every day ought to be a festival of joy and
gratitude. There isn’t a good reason to tolerate sin if your heart is full of
gratefulness to God for His salvation.
Vs. 9-13
So, if the point wasn’t clear enough, Paul explained something he wrote to them
in that lost Corinthian letter. What do you think of this? The list in v. 10
seems very easy to understand, except that we don't seem to see idolatry, greed
or robbing anymore. Paul is saying that if these things are part of a person's
lifestyle, they are not believing. Jesus has to make a change or He is not
there. As believers, we shouldn't play around with things that identify those
whom God will judge.
We cannot
leave the world, but we can strongly encourage people to walk with Christ. We
don't need to be pharisaical in the church, but obvious sin needs to be dealt
with. John also mentioned something like this in 2 John 1:7-11. It isn’t the
sin outside the church that is of greatest danger to us; it is what we tolerate
in the church in the name of brotherhood and tolerance that can hurt us.
This might
not be the “fun” stuff of discipleship, and I’m sure this wasn’t the high point
of ministry for Paul either. However, if we are going to glorify the Father by
bearing much fruit in the harvest and so proving to be disciples of Jesus, we
have to address sin, whether it is actions or attitudes, in the church. Isn’t
it interesting that we would have this chapter in Corinthians and the reading
in Ezra on the same day?
Psalm
31:1-8
There was
an old Blood, Sweat and Tears song that had this line, “I’ve been down so long,
the bottom looks like up.” David had a lot of days like that. Imagine being on
the run like “The Fugitive” (a TV show in the States) for 10 years, except
Israel was much smaller. David did a lot of crying out, and over and over again
the Lord assured him with small “salvations” and reminders that He was watching
and helping. The “big” deliverance didn’t come for a while, but in v. 7 David
slowly gained total confidence. And did you notice the line that Jesus quotes
when He’s on the cross? It was the last thing He said.
Vs. 1-2
This desperateness was what God used to train David. Some people would have
just become bitter. I notice too that this sounds a bit like Paul. In the first
chapter of Philippians, Paul talks about his assurance that God would not let
him be put to shame.
Vs. 3-5
David was still in danger, but the Lord had become David's only hope and
salvation. Note v. 5. Did you ever think that Jesus' final words were a
quotation of Scripture? I never did.
V. 6 This
seems like a verse that transitions between both parts of the psalm. How could
anyone put their hope in a thing, when there was a living God who heard, who
made promises, and who could be trusted?
Vs. 7-8
Here again is what David learned as God allowed his heart to be tested. David
learned God's steadfast, loyal love. David perceived that God was hearing his
heart as evidenced by the number of times, and by the unique ways, God had
rescued him.
Proverbs
21:1-2
I usually
understand “king” as “the spiritual person in Christ.” These verses seem to be
saying that even in our decisions, God is sovereignly directing us. The
spiritual follower of Christ would welcome that. Thankfully, even though we
think we are right, God weighs our hearts. The Spirit intercedes for us and He
directs us.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/
and click on “Every
Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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