If asked who the second most important man in the Old Testament is, most people would reply, "David, Elijah, or Abraham." However, early Jews ascribed that position--second only to Moses--to Ezra because of the many things he did to bring revival and restoration. Ezra made a deep impact on the people so recently returned from slavery. Perhaps Ezra's most lasting work was in gathering all the books of the Old Testament that had been written and placing them in basically the same order we have them today. He also is said to have written Ezra, Kings, and Chronicles and may have helped Malachi with his book.
Born into a priestly family, Ezra loved God's Word. He was known as a "ready scribe in the law of Moses," and had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezra 7:10). With the help of Nehemiah, he encouraged revival in Israel by reading aloud God's Word and explaining its meaning.
In reading the book of Ezra, we catch the heartthrob of a man caught up in his love for the Lord: Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly (10:1). His vision was catching, and a great revival occurred. We should be inspired by the impact this dedicated servant of God had on his contemporaries. Let us also call for a world revival. Returning to God's Word and His will brings about restoration and revival. Although many are in bondage today, God has not forsaken us.
“For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.”
Ezra 9:9 KJV
No comments:
Post a Comment