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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Rest, after a long busy day, or a very long journey is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? It’s amazing how God has designed our bodies, minds and hearts to recover with REST each in their own way, isn’t it? In part, that’s what a weekly Sabbath is all about, and have you found yourself caught in the over-stressed life without a Sabbath rest?
Let’s rejoin Ezra and his large caravan who finally arrived safely in Jerusalem after their 4-month walking journey from Babylon. 4 months in the hot, dry middle east climate, walking with about 1500 other people and all the carts with their belongings and even animals, can you imagine? Ezra simply says this: “So we arrived in Jerusalem where we rested for three days.” (Ezra 8:32) Oh my, can you imagine how welcome and refreshing this 3-day rest was for these weary travelers?
For most of them it was probably their first glimpse of historic Jerusalem, the city most revered by all Jews. They took three days to soak it all in, especially the magnificent Temple. But after 3 days it was time to do something very, very significant. Ezra writes: “On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest…Everything was accounted for by number and weight.” (Ezra 8:33,34) What a great sense of relief must have washed over those responsible for the king’s treasure during this long journey! Mission accomplished. The king would be pleased!
But Ezra didn’t waste any time, next on the agenda was WORSHIP and it must have been a glorious worship experience at the Temple for this man who had studied so much of the Biblical history of Israel and the Laws of God. (Ezra 8:35) And then after worship Ezra had one more important initial task upon their arrival in Jerusalem.
Ezra had some scrolls which had been written in the palace of the king of Persia. These important scrolls contained instructions and declarations from King Artaxerxes and so Ezra “delivered the king’s orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of the Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God.” (Era 8:36)
These were Gentile government officials with great allegiance to King Artaxerxes, and now they were being ordered to assist Jewish scholar Ezra and his fellow Jews in their efforts to get the Temple in order and assure that the laws of the God of Israel were being followed by those living in Jerusalem.
There’s a gap of a few weeks between Ezra 8 & 9 as Ezra settled in to familiarizing himself with Jerusalem and the key leaders of the city and the Temple. He had come to encourage them and challenge them to raise the standard in all aspects of living God honoring lives as God’s Chosen people. Sadly, Ezra found himself facing a problem he had not expected.
Ezra 9:1 says: “After these things had been done, the leaders came to Ezra and said, ‘The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices...” (Ezra 9:1)
Oh, how that must have crushed Ezra’s heart. From the days of Moses, God had challenged His people to BE an example to all other people about what it means to live honorably in relationship with Holy God! God had given His people a unique covenant with moral and ethical codes for relationships and all aspects of living. Among these laws were clear instructions that God’s people the Jews would NOT intermarry with or adopt the cultural values of other peoples but would remain a people of God undefiled by the idolatry and immorality of the nations around them. (Deut. 6:12-7:6)
But as you may know, both LOVE and LUST are not easily restrained and both led many of the Jews of Jerusalem into marriage and business relationships with peoples living near them who had no understanding of or interest in the God of Israel. The report which came to Ezra about this rejection of God’s instructions was this: “They have mingled God’s holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness!“ (Ezra 9:2)
I wonder if you’ve ever found yourself living in an environment where the leaders of your organization or city or even your national leaders are the people leading the wicked behavior and the rush toward self-destruction? In Jerusalem rather than the leaders being trustworthy to set the high standards of living God honoring lives, the Jewish leaders were the ones leading the people in their debauchery!
Ezra’s response was this: “When I heard this shocking news, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled! Then everyone who trembled at the word of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles.” (Ezra 9:3,4)
Did you just wince in pain at the thought of pulling out your own hair from your head or your beard? That’s extravagant, isn’t it? But for Ezra, it was an accurate picture of his heart. Ezra had such great respect and reverence for God and such high expectations for anyone in leadership of God’s people that he could not comprehend or imagine the report he had received.
While the New Testament book of James would not be written for more than 500 years after Ezra, his reaction to this terrible Jerusalem news was just as James later warned: “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1)
God holds leaders to a higher moral and ethical standard, did you know that? WHY? Because leaders influence others; leaders teach by their behavior even more than with their words. Leaders shape the next generation, and Ezra was reacting both to what terrible examples the Jerusalem leaders had been, but also Ezra knew the history of God’s judgement on Jerusalem in generations past when those leaders had failed in similar ways,
So, Let’s pause right here friends and ask ourselves some important questions:
1. Is it fair for us to hold leaders to a high standard because of their influence?
2. What are the contributing factors that cause leaders to turn away from God and lead those who admire them down dangerous paths of selfish rebellion and disregard for God?
3. What are appropriate words or behavior for you and me when we find ourselves watching leaders fail those they influence through their bad attitudes, their inappropriate words or their unethical, even immoral actions?
4. What are God’s appropriate responses to failed leadership?
Tomorrow we’ll see what Ezra did in response to this unexpected leadership failure in Jerusalem. For today, here’s a song that calls us back to living lives that honor Jesus and the model life He lived.
While we worship, let’s reflect on those questions and consider what Ezra was facing. Are you facing something similar where you live?
Today’s Scripture: Ezra 8:31-9:4.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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