Ezra 7:27-28

3. Ezra's thanksgiving and compliance

TEXT, Ezra 7:27-28

27

Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to adorn the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem,

28

and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king's mighty princes. Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

COMMENT

In Ezra 7:27 Ezra pours out his heart in gratitude to God for inciting the king to do so much for the Temple at Jerusalem. Note the personal tone of these words!

Ezra 7:28 continues Ezra's thanks, now for God's graciousness to him personally. Because the hand of God was upon him to bless (for the opposite expression, where the hand of God is against someone, see Ruth 1:13), Ezra was strengthened and encouraged to lead the band of returnees back to their homeland.

The reference to leading men from Israel is taken to be a designation of laymen, as opposed to Levites:[48] see Ezra 2:2; Ezra 7:13. The next chapter will begin with this distinction.

[48] H. E. Ryle, D.D., The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, Ezra and Nehemiah, p. 98.

WORD STUDIES

SCRIBE: (Ezra 7:6): to scratch, scrape, write; thus a secretary or scribe; then it became a designation of one skilled in the sacred books and in the law.

TEACH (Ezra 7:10): Lamad (Talmud comes from this word). To beat with a rod, chastise, hence to train, teach, accustom. It is the name of the twelfth letter of the Hebrew or Aramaic alphabets, and in its early form it looked like a whip. This is apparently a recognition that to be taught, one must often be willing to accept some discomfort and discipline.

TEACH (Ezra 7:25): Yeda: to cause to see, perceive, understand, know. Our word, idea, may come from it.

IGNORANT (Ezra 7:25): not to know (see above). Some are ignorant because they have had no opportunity to know. Of course, some have rejected the opportunity to know (Hosea 4:6). One who simply does not know is an excellent prospect for teaching. This would be a good description of Gentiles, in the O.T.

(This is a different word from that used of sins of ignorance [Leviticus 4:2], which indicates wandering or straying unconsciously.)

SUMMARY

Ezra chose to go up to Israel from Babylonia, taking more of the exiles with him. He was qualified as a leader since he was a priest, descended from Aaron. He had further prepared himself by study and practice, that he might be a leader of his people. God gave him favor before the king, who recognized his capabilities, approved his mission, and contributed substantially to the fund for supplies and furnishings for the Temple. Ezra proved his qualifications because the trip was successful; he brought the returning exiles, with the contributions from both the government and private sources, to Israel.
King Artaxerxes furnished Ezra with a letter permitting the transportation of all these materials, and ordering the full co-operation of the neighboring tribes in the province in providing supplies for the expedition. Ezra is then put in charge of selecting officials and judges to govern Israel and to teach his religion throughout the community. Ezra expressed his gratitude to God, whose will he saw being done in all of this.