Ezra · chapter 7 of 10
Updated on
Ezra 7 introduces Ezra, a priest descended from Aaron and a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, who goes up from Babylon to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. The king gives him a letter permitting any Jews who wish to go, offerings, funds from the treasury and authority to appoint judges. Ezra blesses the Lord because his hand was on him.
With chapter 7 the second part of Ezra begins. After six chapters about the temple, the book jumps about sixty years and focuses the story on one person: Ezra the scribe. His mission is not to build a structure but to restore the life of the people according to God's law. Here we meet who he is and how he comes to Jerusalem.
After these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah goes up from Babylon, a descendant of Aaron, the first high priest. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the God of Israel had given, and the king granted him all that he asked because the hand of the Lord his God was on him. Priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants go up with him in the seventh year of the king. They leave Babylon on the first day of the first month and arrive in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, because the good hand of God was on him.
Verse 10 explains Ezra's secret: he had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
The text copies the letter of Artaxerxes, in Aramaic. It permits any Israelite, priest or Levite who wishes to go with Ezra. It charges him to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of his God, and to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors freely offer, along with what he gathers in Babylon. With that money animals and offerings are to be bought, and the rest may be used freely according to the will of God. The treasurers of the province Beyond the River are to give Ezra whatever he asks, up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of oil and salt without limit. Priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants are exempt from taxes.
The king charges Ezra to appoint magistrates and judges who know the law of God, and to teach anyone who does not know it. Whoever does not obey the law of God and the law of the king will receive his penalty. Ezra ends the chapter blessing the Lord, who put it into the king's heart to honor his house, and encouraged because the hand of the Lord was on him to gather leaders from Israel.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Ezra is a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, and the king grants him all he asks because the hand of the Lord is on him. The text stresses that his success is due to God and not to his own strength.
Ezra set his heart to study the law of the Lord, to practice it and to teach it in Israel. That order, study, live and teach, is a model for every teacher and leader.
The king charges Ezra to appoint magistrates and judges who know the law of God, and to teach anyone who is ignorant of it. The Lord's law is to be known and administered with wisdom, not merely preserved.
Ezra blesses the Lord who put it into the king's heart to honor his house. He credits God with the king's favor and takes courage, because the hand of the Lord is with him, to gather the leaders of Israel.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: A priest descended from Aaron and a scribe skilled in the law of Moses. — Ezra 7:5-6
Answer: Because the hand of the Lord his God was on him. — Ezra 7:6
Answer: On the first day of the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king. — Ezra 7:8-9
Answer: To study the law of the Lord, do it, and teach its statutes and rules in Israel. — Ezra 7:10
Answer: To appoint magistrates and judges who knew the law of his God and to teach those who did not know it. — Ezra 7:25
Answer: He blessed the Lord, the God of his fathers, who put it into the king's heart to honor the house of the Lord. — Ezra 7:27
Ezra 7:10 is a program for everyone who teaches the Bible: study it, live it and then teach it. In a Sunday school class you can ask which of those three steps is hardest, and how to guard the order so that teaching flows from a heart that has already obeyed.
It is also encouraging to see how Ezra recognizes the hand of God on his own mission. He does not boast of his preparation: he blesses the Lord. Those who serve can ask whether they give God the credit for the doors that open, and whether they prepare seriously for when they open.
Ezra 7 ends with Ezra encouraged and ready to gather the leaders of Israel. Chapter 8 lists those who travel with him and describes the journey back, with fasting and prayer before setting out.
Ezra was a Jewish priest and scribe who lived in the fifth century BC. Tradition regards him as the author of the book that bears his name. He taught the law of Moses to those who returned from exile and led a spiritual reform in Jerusalem. Today he is remembered as a model of studying, obeying and teaching the Word.
The text does not say. Many scholars think it was Artaxerxes I, which would make the seventh year c. 458 BC. Others propose Artaxerxes II, around 398 BC. Most commentators prefer the first date, but the story reads the same with either.