We take a step forward as Ezra records his personal account of what led up to his departure from Babylon and his eventual arrival at Jerusalem.
Ezra 7: Ezra Sent to Teach the People
1 Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,
2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,
3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth,
4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki,
5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest---
6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.
7 And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants.
8 And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
9 For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him.
10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel:
12 "Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now
13 I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
14 For you are sent by the king and his seven counsellors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand,
15 and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
16 with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem.
17 With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.
18 Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God.
19 The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem.
20 And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury.
21 "And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence,
22 up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
23 Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.
24 We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25 "And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.
26 Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment."
27 Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem,
28 and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.
Ezra 8: Genealogy of Those Who Returned with Ezra
1 These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:
2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.
3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men.
4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men.
5 Of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men.
6 Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.
7 Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men.
8 Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men.
9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men.
10 Of the sons of Bani, Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men.
11 Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men.
12 Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men.
13 Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men.
14 Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.
Ezra Sends for Levites
15 I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi.
16 Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight,
17 and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God.
18 And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18;
19 also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20;
20 besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.
Fasting and Prayer for Protection
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, "The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him."
23 So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
Priests to Guard Offerings
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them.
25 And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counsellors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered.
26 I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold,
27 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold.
28 And I said to them, "You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.
29 Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the LORD."
30 So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.
32 We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days.
33 On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui.
34 The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.
35 At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.
36 They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.
Things to think about…
1. Artaxerxes is mentioned in chap 4 which makes following the path of events difficult as we go through the book of Ezra. By the time we get to chap 7 he is mentioned again. Artaxerxes reigned from 465 – 424BC. I.E eighty plus years after the initial events that the book of Ezra records with the rebuilding of the temple. Ezra inserts current events with past events making the trail difficult to follow. We have a time stamp for when Ezra returned in Ez 7:7,8 which says it was in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes – I.E 458BC. The temple has long been built (finished 516BC) and Ezra who has been in Babylon. He is now returning to Jerusalem to restore right worship. This of course was during the ministry of Nehemiah who would rebuild the walls. Hopefully that has not confused too many of you.
2. Look at the grace of God given to Ezra through Artaxerxes Ez 7:11-25. Just like King Darius before him and Cyrus before him we see this pagan king giving so much to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the means to restore right worship. Ezra knows that this is ultimately from the Lord, Ez 7:26, 27. We know that our jobs and the blessings given to the church in Australia come from a number of different sources, many of them secular. But ultimately they all have their source in the Lord who blesses His people. Rejoice in the Lord’s provision for you today. God promises to lead, protect and bless as we seek Him in the service, Ez 7:21-23. Pray for those in this present crisis that the duration is not long and that there will be full employment before too long.
3. Note that these men listed in Ez 8:1-11 are a different group from those mentioned in chapter 2. Remember these events are separated by seventy eight years. The initial exile was in 536BC under Cyrus. The year Ezra left with his men was 458BC. Ezra was a scribe and as such wanted to make sure proper worship and temple administration was carried out. He needed Levites to do this of course. As he gathered at the Babylonian river Ahava, Ez 8:15 he found he had no Levites. God sent him Sherebiah, Hashabiah and Jeshaiah and their families, plus 220 temple servants Ez 8:18-20. Praise God when people offer themselves for spiritual service. This also needs to happen in the church. Please pray that those who are serving Christ’s body this year. Pray they do so with Christ’s strength and wisdom.
4. The amount of silver was about 24 tons and gold, almost 4 tons, Ez 8:26, 27. You can work out the value. Suffice to say it was a blessing they weren’t robbed on their way to Jerusalem. All in preparation for worship – in this case burnt offerings etc, vs 35. This was an offering which was to make atonement for sin. Christ of course is our offering for atonement, and like the offering given by the Persian king to the Israelites, we have been given this sacrifice by the heavenly king.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon:-“Behold the Nazarite” – Num 6:1-21
a. Jay shared a bit about his weirdness on Sunday with his sucrose intolerance. We are all weird/different to others in some way. What is weird/different about you?
b. The Nazarite vow could be taken by a male or a female, what are some of the things that were required of them? What was the purpose of the Nazarite and their vow?
c. As Christians we stand out more and more in our society due to our values and belief system. What are the ways that we stand out as modern day Nazarites. Samson was a Nazarite and he fell to worldly passions and it cost him dearly. What does it cost the Christian when we fall morally or get dragged back into the world?
d. Pray for our witness with our friends, workmates, family and neighbours who are outside of Christ. Would they come to a Community Day – June 24th Saturday @ Church.
Prayer Points
1. Continue to pray and Andy in Ipswich hospital and for Sally as she continues to battle Alzheimer’s. Give thanks for a loving husband and example of Christ – Richard.
2. The two young people that broke into our church early Friday morning. It was the same ones that broke in 10 weeks ago. A police report with video evidence has been submitted.
3. That those who are new to the church are encouraged and settle in well into the church.
4. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you saved.
5. Pray for Kids@church and our Youth group.
6. Pray for Chuwar Youth and Jarrod’s ministry. Pray as he meets with youth at Westside, this week as well as the growing young adults ministry.
7. How you can serve in ministry this year.
8. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Leaders meeting on Saturday thankyou to all those involved – Especially Shaun and Erika Newberry for their amazing hospitality.
2. Young adult’s ministry is growing – keep praying as Jarrod develops this ministry.
3. Kids@Church and Youth ministries are a great blessing. Pray for Rosie and Jarrod as they start out for term 2.
4. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Mother’s Day High Tea. Sat 13th May 10am Church. Speaker and pampering, 13th May RSVP Suzanne 1/5/2023. Ph:- 0418 889 683.
2. Church information session 28th May after the morning service.
3. Remember to check your duty rosters for term 2.
4. Community Day Saturday 24th June at Church. More details to follow.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
6. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for May...
Q. 8. Who are they? A. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Bible References – Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 20-21.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
