The king granted him all that he asked
Sun, 7 January, 2007: Today’s Bible readings.
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 he 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.
Ezra now enters the scene, coming to Jerusalem with the desire to teach the law of God to the people now living in the land of Israel.
Ezra is skilled in handling the law of the Lord and he has a great desire to teach the scriptures. He is the perfect person for what is needed as the people are slowly restoring Israel under the rule of the Medes and Persians.
God blesses Ezra and grants him favor in the eyes of the king, so that the king grants Ezra everything he asks.
What do we learn from this?
God provides for the needs of His people. The people needed someone to teach them the law, and so God provides Ezra to return to Jerusalem. Ezra needed provisions for the journey and for restoring temple worship, and the king provides them.
We don’t always understand why all things work out the way they do. What we think in our own minds would be the perfect way rarely is the way things go. But yet we can know with confidence that God will provide for our needs.
Where is Christ in this passage?
One great need we have is for His word. We need to learn it. We need to understand it. God provided Ezra to teach the people His word.
But God has provided one greater than Ezra for us to know His word.
