The 2^nd wave… (4 things)

• 1^st – Ezra the Scribe… vs. 1-10
  • 1^st – Who was Ezra… vs. 1-6
    • After these things – in the reign of King Artaxerxes…
      • Meaning there is a gap between Ezra 6 and 7 – 58 years after completion of the Temple
      • Artaxerxes Longimanus – or Artaxerxes I – reined from 465-423 B.C.
    • Ezra the son of Seraiah…
      • Seraiah was from the line of Aaron – the High Priestly lineage…
        • Seraiah was the High Priest when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem – 586 B.C.
        • He was executed by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah – II Kings 25:18
        • Saying that Ezra was the son of Seraiah can be confusing – he died 128 years earlier…
        • So either Ezra was REALLY old – or the term son refers to grandson / or great grandson!
      • This is often the case when it comes to genealogies – not every generation is mentioned…
        • In the genealogy of Ezra given here – there are 16 generations between him and Aaron…
        • But in the account in account in I Chronicles 6 – there are at least 22 mentioned!
        • This is not a contradiction – it just simplifies the Genealogy – more of an overview
    • Ezra was a Scribe from Babylon (one of the exiled Jews)…
      • Ezra was a scribe – not the High Priest – suggesting he was not the first-born…
      • The Scribes were the copyist of day – there were no copy machines – no printing press…
      • In the Bible they represented the educated (had a degree) in the Law of Moses…
      • Ezra was a ‘Skilled Scribe’: Skilled – mahir – quick / Scribe – caphar – to declare
      • Ezra was quickly to declare the Word of God – because he knew it had the power to save!
      • We know LOTS of people who do not believe in Jesus – what are we doing about it…
      • How can people believe – be saved – if someone does not declare to them the truth…
      • It is easy to say people need to be saved – but are we quick to tell people about Jesus!
      • Romans 10:14 – “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”
        
  • 2^nd – The mission of Ezra… vs. 7-10
    • In the 7^th year of King Artaxerxes – 458 B.C. – Ezra set out for a 5-month journey to Jerusalem…
      • The King had granted the request of Ezra to take a group of Jews back to Judah…
      • Jews who had not gone 80 years earlier when Zerubbabel led the first wave back…
      • The list consisted of Priests /Levites / Singers / Gatekeepers / and Nethinim…
      • The Nethinim – servants of the Temple – descendants of the Gibeonites – Joshua 9
      • The whole list was made of up those who would serve in the Temple!
    • Because Ezra had prepared his heart to teach the Word of God in Israel…
      • Whether the people would want to listen – Ezra 9-10 – was anther story!
      • When you step on a nail – you need to get a shot to save your life…
      • But there are people who refuse to get the shot – because it ‘will hurt’!
      • In the same way people do not want to hear the truth – because it hurts…
      • They do not want to hear about sin / judgment – they would rather be entertained…
      • Because of this a lot of churches have gotten away from teaching the Word of God…
      • These churches are more interested in ‘filling the pews’ – than ‘making saints’!
      • They resort to gimmicks to try and get the attention of people – II Timothy 4:3
      • But the church is not a theatre / or a concert / or a place to tell funny jokes…
      • The power of salvation is in the Word of God – so we need to speak the truth!
      • Acts 20:27 – “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.”

• 2^nd – The letter of King Artaxerxes… vs. 11-28
  • The commissioning letter of Ezra… vs. 11-13
    • Artaxerxes permitted Ezra – and any from Israel who volunteered – to return to Jerusalem…
      • The King certainly had a high opinion of Ezra – calling him an expert in the Word of God…
      • The question has to be asked – why did the Ezra and the Jews find favor with him…
    • Artaxerxes was the son of King Xerxes – the grandson of King Darius…
      • King Xerxes is the same Ahasuerus mentioned in the book of Esther…
      • That would make Artaxerxes either the stepson / or perhaps even the son of Esther!
      • It is no wonder that he would have had such a fondness for the Jewish people!
      • Because a young woman stepped out to defend her people – a King had favor on the Jews!
      • Esther 4:14 – ‘For such a time as this…’
      • If we do not step out – God still gets His work done – He just uses someone else…
      • But then we miss the blessing – we miss the opportunity to see God use our lives…
      • If the Lord is stirring your heart – step out – for such a time as this!
  • 1^st – Artaxerxes and his seven counselors had 4 commands for Ezra… vs. 14
    • First to inquire the spiritual condition of Judah and Jerusalem…
      • Years had passed – Zerubbabel / Jeshua / Haggai / Zechariah / Daniel – were all gone…
      • And there was concern about the spiritual well being of the people…
    • It is quite possible rumors had come to the Jews in Babylon – Jerusalem was not doing well…
      • And the Law required the Jews to investigate rumors of sin in the Land!
      • Deuteronomy 13:14 – “You shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently…”
      • It does seem rumors of the bad things spread much more quickly than the good…
      • Turn on the news – bad news is far more popular than good news!
      • But rumors can be very dangerous things – we do not know if they are true or not…
      • Do not jump to conclusions – or pass on the latest gossip – inquire if it is true!
      • Leviticus 19:16 – “Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people. Do not try to get ahead at the cost of your neighbor’s life, for I am the LORD.”
        
  • 2^nd – Carry the free will offerings given to the God of Israel / people of Jerusalem…  vs. 15-19
    • All the King had freely given / and anything freely offered from the exiles in Babylon…
      • II Corinthians 9:7 – “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
      • We are not required to give anything to God – we give because we want to…
      • God does not need our money – He is the creator of all heaven and earth!
      • But He does love to get His kids involved in His work!
    • To be carefully used to purchase sacrifices for the Temple – to be offered on the Altar…
      • And for whatever other purposes seemed best to the Jews – according to the will of God!
      • When the money was given there were no strings attached – just use it for God!
      • Pastor Chuck – man gave him a signed check for $10,000 – ‘no strings attached’…
      • Gave him anther unsigned check for $100,000 – with some small contingencies…
      • Chuck ripped up both checks and told the man – keep it – God does not need your money!
      • When we give – we do not give to the church – we give to the Lord no strings attached!
  • 3^rd – Oversee the ongoing financial needs of the Temple… vs. 20-24
    • If there were any other needs – they were to be paid for from the treasury of the King…
      • Up to 100 talents (1 talent = 75lbs) of silver / or 75,000lbs – $1.5 million dollars!
      • 100 kors (1 kor = 59gal) of wheat / or 5,900 gallons of wheat!
      • 100 baths (1 bath = 5.9 gal) of wine and oil / or 590 gallons of wine and oil!
      • And they could have as much salt as they wanted – without limit!
      • Also the King exempted the Priests / Levites / Singers – from paying taxes!
    • Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven – for the sake of the King and his sons…
      • Not that Artaxerxes believed in the God of Israel – he called Him ‘your God’…
      • But he was ‘hedging his bets’ – why not give a little more ‘just in case’…
      • There are people who go to church / own a Bible / even give to ‘the Lord’…
      • Not because they believe – but just in case – they do not want to get the ‘big guy’ angry…
      • But we cannot buy our way out of hell – our cannot earn your way into heaven…
      • There is no paying the priest – to give to us the ‘extra good works’ of the saints…
      • We cannot give enough money to the poor – to make up for our sin…
      • The only way to be all right with God – it is through Jesus Christ!
  • 4^th – Establish a Judicial system to enforce the Laws of Moses… vs. 25-28
    • Ezra was to appoint judges – who knew Bible – to judge those who are in Judah…
      • They were permitted to execute judgment – all the way up to the death penalty…
      • Rather than let unbelievers judge – the King was allowing Ezra to appoint believers!
    • Paul saw the need for this in I Corinthians 6 – the danger of going to the world for justice…
      • He argued God has given believers wisdom/ability to be able to judge right from wrong…
      • They were more than qualified to address any problem that might arise in the church!
      • One day we – believers in Jesus (the church) – will judge the world – Revelation 2:26-27!
      • One day we – believers in Jesus (the church) – will even judge the angels!
      • Revelation 12:4 – 1/3 of all the angels rebelled along with satan against God…
      • We know that there is a judgment that awaits these fallen angels – II Peter 2:4
      • Already Jesus has given us complete power over fallen angel…
      •  Luke 10:19 – “Behold, I give you the authority… over all the power of the enemy.”
      • But it appears one day we will also take part in helping judge the fallen angels!
      • We will look at satan in amazement – this is the guy who caused all that trouble!
      • Isaiah 14:16 – “Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world?”
    • The point is simple – if we will one day help rule the whole world with Christ…
      • If we are ‘qualified’ to stand in judgment of satan and his angels…
      • How much more should we be able to handle simple problems in the life!
      • When we come up against problems in life – whom do we look to for answers…
      • Do we run to friends/family – our political officials – who may not even know the Lord…
      • They might mean well – but they are not going to have the right answers…
      • We need to turn to the people of the Lord – turn to the wisdom of the Word of God!

• 3^rd – The 2^nd wave of captives… vs. 1-20 Read Ezra 8:15-20
  • 1^st – There were 3 waves of migration back to Judah – 2 mentioned in the book of Ezra…
    • Chapters 1-6 – covered the 1^st return of the exiles under the leadership of Zerubbabel…
      • The focus of Zerubbabel was to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem…
      • He worked on restoring the religious system that had been destroyed by Babylon…
      • The prophets Haggai / Zechariah prophesied during this first return of exiles!
    • Chapters 7-10 – cover the 2^nd return of exiles under the leadership of Ezra the Scribe…
      • The focus of Ezra is on the people who had returned from Babylon…
      • His desire is to bring about spiritual revival by teaching the Word of God!
    • The 3^rd wave of exiles returned with Nehemiah…
      • His focus will be the restoration of the city – building the wall…
      • Nehemiah returned to reestablish the civil government of Jerusalem…
      • The prophet Malachi – final prophet in the OT – spoke to Israel during this period!
  • 2^nd – The names of those returning… vs. 1-20
    • The men are listed according to their houses – the total number was 1754…
      • But that only counted the returning men – not the women and the children…
      • It is possible that the total number was closer to 5-6 thousand returning exiles!
    • They camped for 3 days at the river that flows to Ahava (in Babylon)…
      • It was there the group met up to prepare for the 5-month journey to Jerusalem…
      • But it was also there that Ezra realized there were no Levites in the group…
      • There were priests who were Levites – but there were no Levites who were not priests…
      • So he sent Eliezer (helper) and 10 other men to look for men willing to go…
      • They brought back 38 Levites / and 220 Nethinim willing to return to Jerusalem!
    • Ezra saw the need to help encourage his brothers who were not following the Lord…
      • When we see a brother or sister caught up in the world – not living for Jesus…
      • It is our responsibility to come along side them to see if we cannot encourage them! 
      • If they want to continue in sin – we can help – praying God sends ‘the Helper’ to convict…
      • If they are overwhelmed – we can help to carry their burden – Galatians 6:1
      • In fact when we see our brother – ‘over loaded’ / weighed down we NEED to help…
      • In doing so we fulfill the Law of Christ that Jesus gave us to us – John 15:12

And they received support for the House of God – and for His people!

4^th – The journey to Jerusalem… vs. 21-36

1^st – Proclaiming a fast… vs. 21-23

Before the group departed from Ahava – Ezra proclaimed a fast to pray for a safe journey…

Fasting is not required – Matthew 6:16 (subjunctive) – but it is a powerful tool…

We take the time that we save by not eating / watching TV / etc. – and spend it with God…

Fasting can be a wonderful way to deny ourselves and focus on the things of the Spirit!

But if we fast – do not fast like the Hypocrites – let it be between us and God…

The Pharisees would paint their faces white and frown so you knew they were fasting…

Their motivation for fasting was not denying their flesh – it was to impress others!

Be careful what you say…

The reason for the fast was because of the boast of Ezra to King Artaxerxes…

The road to Jerusalem was fraught with danger – thieves and marauding bands…

But when the King offered to send military protection – Ezra was ashamed to take it…

He had insisted the hand of God was upon them – and God would keep them safe!

To often people speak – make a hasty comment – then think about what they said…

We need to think about our words – before we open our mouth to speak!

2^nd – The journey to Jerusalem… vs. 24-36

Ezra took the treasures that were donated – and gave them to the 12 leaders of the priests…

750 talents of silver – 30 tons – $12 million! / 100 talents of gold – 7,500lbs – $125 million!

As well as 20 gold basins – and 2 highly polished bronze vessels…

The priests were holy – so the offerings were holy also – they were to watch over them!

Money is not holy – or unholy – it depends on who has it and what they use it for…

There are a lot of rich people who are completely sold out to Jesus…

And because they are living for the Lord – their money is holy – set apart for the Lord!

The problem is people when make money their god – instead of Jesus!

That kind of love of money – is the root of all kinds of evil – I Timothy 6:10

After the 5-month journey – they arrived safely in Jerusalem…

They delivered all the freewill donations into the hands of the High Priest…

The newly returned captives offered their first burnt offerings to the Lord…

Then they delivered the command of Artaxerxes to the regional governors (satraps)…