Ezra 8

So I'm excited to get back to Ezra this morning.

This book has been a big encouragement to me personally, I hope it has to you as well.

I think that the Great Commission, when you think about it, it can seem like an impossible mission, it can seem like an impossible task,

especially when you look around and you see how hardened certain people have become, and it can be very

daunting and discouraging.

But the book of Ezra is such a good reminder of how great our God is, how capable he is.

Like the power of God is clearly on display in this book.

He is completely able to push his mission forward, he's working on his own behalf, he's working through

other people.

The book of Ezra just has it all and it's so encouraging in that way.

In case you didn't know, the book of Ezra is perfectly clear.

God is awesomely powerful, abundantly merciful, and ultimately

capable, and he's actively involved in the lives of his people.

So it's good to get a reminder about that, and we'll get right back to it right now.

This morning's chapter starts with a census, or sort of a genealogy, if you

will, which can be difficult to get through.

But as we've mentioned, the genealogies demonstrate that God is into the details, he cares about

the details.

We all know that God cares about the nation as a whole, of course, but he also cares about the individuals, the individual families,

individual people.

No one is unaccounted for.

The scripture says everything was recorded, even the goods that they brought were numbered and recorded.

This all matters to God, nothing is left behind.

So as we worship God, we can take confidence that he will hear your individual prayers, not just our

corporate prayers, but he'll remember you and your family.

I'm reminded again of that fact this morning.

So Ezra lists the families, and it becomes very clear to him, starting in verse 15, that he has a

problem on his hands.

And the problem he identifies is that there's a missing tribe.

There are no Levites.

That's a weird problem to have.

I kind of looked into it a little bit, not too much, but I was wondering why were there no Levites?

Was it just an oversight, or did they intentionally not come?

I couldn't find the answer, but either way, this is a problem for Ezra, and this

is a problem for the people of God and their mission.

If you remember, two weeks ago when we were first introduced to the person Ezra,

we saw that God's good hand was upon him because he had set his heart to study the law of

God and to do the law and to teach the law.

That's why the good hand of God was on him, to study, to do, and to teach.

That's what he had decided to make his life all about.

And the Levites, they were set apart to do the exact same thing.

You see, having no Levites meant that they would not have the right kind of people to serve and worship in the temple, so when they

built it up they wouldn't have the right tribe to work it, so that was a problem.

But also the Levites were responsible for teaching the people the law of God, and so that's also,

for Ezra, very necessary.

This isn't legalism.

We've talked about this so many times, but the law of God is critical because it shows you how to love

God.

It shows you how to love your neighbor.

The law of God is the law of love, and so Ezra knows that if the people do not learn the law, they will not

learn to love.

And of course, if they don't learn to love, then even if they are able to rebuild the temple,

they'll be in the exact same predicament within a generation or two that they're in currently.

So the whole mission of rebuilding the temple and reestablishing Israel would be for nothing

if they don't learn how to love God and love their neighbor.

And so having the Levites there to teach people, that was necessary for their mission, and it's actually necessary today.

Not that we have the Levites teaching us, but...

In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus explains the situation, I think, pretty clearly.

I think that, personally, I believe that the church will rediscover Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 17,

because in some cases I think we've forgotten.

Here's what Jesus says.

He says, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

Now we all know that part very well.

That's pure gospel, right?

Like Jesus accomplishes the law because we're not able to do it, right?

That's why this is so awesome about Christ.

He accomplishes and fulfills the law because we could never do it.

So we love that part.

That's gospel.

But his sentence continues, and this is the Sermon on the Mount, mind you.

This is, you know, epic for the church, right?

This is what we love.

This is pure gospel, too.

It goes on.

It says, For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth passes away, not an iota, not a dot, will

pass from the law until it is all accomplished.

Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be

called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

You see, that's gospel, too.

This is the truth.

This is gospel truth.

We should do the commandments and teach others to do the same, just like Ezra, just like the Levites were

supposed to do.

This is part of our mission.

This is part of the Great Commission.

It's not legalism.

This is the commission.

We need students.

We need doers, and we need teachers.

So if we're going to be about the gospel, we absolutely have to recognize the fact that Christ is our only way to salvation.

Him accomplishing the law perfectly is the only way that we have standing before God.

But that doesn't stop there.

We have to teach and do the law as well.

Not to be saved, but to fulfill that Great Commission.

And that was the same in Ezra's time.

You see, Ezra knew that that was an issue, and so that's why he needed to have Levites with him.

So the Levites come, which is amazing.

It says again, because the good hand of God is on them, the Levites come.

And so they'll have their teachers.

And then Ezra says, you have to do something else now.

You have to have a fast.

He proclaims a fast.

And the reason, he says this, he says, we should have a fast that we might humble ourselves before

God.

And the purpose of it is to seek a safe journey for ourselves and our children and all

of our stuff, right?

He wants everything to be safe.

Now, it seems like a pretty humble request, pretty common request.

We would call this traveling mercies.

It's a common request.

And in those days, it was more serious.

I mean, obviously, we don't want to get in an accident.

We don't want something bad to happen to us.

But in those days, traveling was slow.

Traveling, there were highwaymen.

There were people that could rob you.

And there was really no recourse.

There's no cops waiting around the corner to help you out.

And so this was a more serious request.

But it's interesting, not really what they were requesting, because that's pretty common, I think.

But I think the reason why he recalled this fast is what the interesting part is for me.

In verse 22, he says this.

He says, he called the fast, because I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of

soldiers and horsemen to protect us, 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 those who

forsake him.

That's interesting to me.

He's like almost embarrassed to ask the king, because he had made such a big deal about how God would protect him, and God was

powerful enough to do it.

And so he didn't want to seem in front of the king like he lacked faith in God, or that maybe God wasn't powerful enough to do it.

And he felt like if he asked for the king's protection, that that might look like that.

It might look bad on God.

And that is interesting to me, and I want to make some application about that.

But before we do, this is, I want to make sure that this is really clear.

I don't want you to misunderstand, because the way Ezra chooses to handle this

is not the only faithful and possible way to handle this.

Now up until this point, we've cross -referenced the book of Nehemiah a ton of times, because Nehemiah

the prophet prophesied at the same time, and he's involved doing stuff at the same exact time that Ezra is.

So a lot of the same events are talked about in both books.

And Nehemiah has a very different take on this type of thing.

In chapter 2 of his book, it's pretty clear that Nehemiah actually does ask

the king for protection.

Now it's not clear that it's the same exact moment, although it could be, we don't really know.

But in a very similar situation, they were about to travel, and Nehemiah does petition the king.

He says, king, protect us.

We're about to travel through this dangerous part of town.

We would like your authorization.

We would like protection.

So Ezra and Nehemiah, whether or not this is the same circumstance, in similar situations,

they have a different approach to handling the problem.

And the interesting part about it is, it doesn't seem like God is against Nehemiah's approach.

In fact, if you look at, I didn't quote the verse here, but if you look at the verse of Nehemiah

where it talks about him doing this, it says that because God's good hand was on them, the king grants

the protection that they're looking for.

And so there's more than one way to handle this situation, and the scripture does not seem to

favor one or the other.

Ezra's approach might seem more pious, and it does to me, but Nehemiah's approach

seems pretty effective, and it looks like it's godly.

God affirms this approach.

So what can we gather from this?

That's the question.

Now when I first read this, I'll be honest, the first thought I had was about politics.

And I know sometimes you look at Sunday maybe as a way to get away from politics, and we won't get into it too much,

but no such luck this Sunday.

When you talk about the gospel, I think sometimes it's impossible to avoid politics, because the kingdom of God has very

clear political applications.

And my approach to the last presidential election, if you remember, was kind of similar to Ezra's approach.

I can fully admit that.

Personally, this was how I felt.

I said I felt embarrassed to sort of appeal to Donald Trump just because I feared a Clinton

presidency.

And don't get me wrong, I absolutely did fear a Clinton presidency.

And likewise, I also felt embarrassed to appeal to Clinton because I feared a Trump presidency, and I did.

Maybe a little less, but I still did.

But not only that, I felt embarrassed to appeal to the whole American system of politics

at all, because I feared, just because I feared the eventual result.

The reason I didn't want to do that is because I feel that the American system is not built on a foundation that

values obedience and righteousness to Christ.

And so from the start, we're kind of messed up from the beginning.

So any participation that I had, this is how I felt, any participation that I had would be perpetuating this.

And so that was my reasoning, and so I did not vote.

And what I did instead was I prayed for God's protection.

Even though I was not gonna participate, I was gonna remove myself.

I said, whatever happens, it happens, God, and protect us in it.

And I personally believe that if every Christian did what I did, didn't play the lesser of two evils

game, that we would be in a much better position today than we are.

But that being said, not everyone agrees with that approach.

Not everyone would take the same opinions that I have on that.

Lots of people take a more Nehemiah -like approach, and they look at the choices they have, right?

And what they say to themselves is, God, well, I mean, this is God's providence.

He gave us these choices, and they don't seem like great choices, but I'm just gonna do the best I can with

the hand I've been dealt.

And then I'm gonna trust that God will protect me either way.

That's the more Nehemiah -like approach, so working within the system and trusting God anyway.

And so the question is, were those Christians trusting God any less than I was?

Or was I trusting God less than they were?

That's the question.

And I think that this example from Ezra and Nehemiah tells us that, you know, there's more than one way to skin a cat

that can continue to be faithful to God.

Because I don't think that Nehemiah, by asking the king for protection, I don't think you can say that Nehemiah was

trusting God less than Ezra.

And I also wouldn't say that Ezra, in not asking for protection, was trusting God more or less than

Nehemiah.

I can't say that because the Scripture doesn't seem to be willing to say

that.

I think that Christians can debate strategic decisions without

trying to, like, make it seem like the opponent isn't being as faithful.

That's what I think we can learn from this.

Because Ezra's approach, I think, was totally fine.

He didn't want to ask the king because he had made a big deal about how God can protect them, and then he just put his money where his mouth was.

And God blessed them.

He protected them.

You see, this is the thing, like, there's a lot of Christians that just sort of held their nose and said, okay, I'm voting for Hillary,

or I'm voting for Trump, and they knew that it wasn't, like, the perfect choice, but it was the best thing they could do, they could decide to do.

I don't think that they've sinned if they've done that.

Not unless they were trusting men over God.

Like, if you could somehow look in their hearts, and in their hearts they're like, yeah, I know God would not want me to vote for Trump, but

I'm gonna do it anyway because I just can't, we can't have Hillary.

That would be something that would be different.

That might be sinful.

Or, like, if Ezra was like, or if, like, Nehemiah was like, yeah, I know, like, like, Ezra thinks that God

could protect us, but I just don't think he can.

So we need to ask the king.

If that had happened, that would be different.

That would be a lack of faith.

And so, I don't think we have any indication that that's what's going on here, and we should have a lot of grace towards people who

approach things strategically different than we would.

Because it doesn't necessarily mean that they have less faith than you.

Here, this is, this kind of a charitable approach to disagreements, I think we can apply to so many things in

the church.

There are so many things.

We can disagree on strategies without thinking that the other person doesn't trust God.

One issue that I was thinking of was vaccines, right?

Some of us vaccinate our children and some of us don't.

But the question is, does that mean one side has a strong faith and the other a weak faith, or maybe no faith?

I don't think so.

I think one of those has more of an Ezra strategy and the other one has a more Nehemiah strategy.

One of them thinks God will protect my children, the other one thinks God is protecting my children through the vaccines.

It doesn't mean that one's lacking the faith or not.

What about public school versus homeschool?

This is another one, right?

A lot of us agree on this issue, but not all of us, maybe.

Does the public schooler get to say to the homeschooler, well, you have less faith than I do because I trust that God will

keep my kids saved in public school, or vice versa?

Does the homeschooler get to say to the public schooler, like, you're sinning because you don't have the faith that I do,

because God said that we should do this, and I don't think so.

When we were driving up here from New Hampshire this morning, Brittany said the gun issue is sort of like this, too.

A lot of Christians will say, well, if you have a gun and you need to have them, then you're not trusting God will protect you.

See, that's an Ezra approach, right?

Sounds very pious.

That does not mean the person who has guns is trusting God any less.

They're just trusting his provision in a different way.

So I think we should all sort of get out of this mindset that puts us in this situation where if someone

disagrees with my strategy, that automatically means they're less faithful than me.

It could mean that.

That's the thing.

It could mean that, but it doesn't, it's not automatic.

Like, if you know them personally and they're like, yeah, well, God, prayers don't work, so I got to have my peace because otherwise I won't be

protected.

Like, that's a sin.

I don't think most people are saying that.

I don't think most people are saying that.

Oftentimes the Bible leaves the strategy part of things open to us.

Like, the mission is very clear.

He gives us the Great Commission, but then how to do it, sometimes there's some wiggle room.

Sometimes there isn't, but sometimes there is.

And so the strategy piece is something that we all disagree on and we can debate

on in good faith and not have to disparage or look down on our debate opponent.

So I'm, for one, I'm very thankful that God provided this passage of Ezra's sort of hesitation to ask the king,

but then Nehemiah's like, I wonder, I wish I knew if it was the same situation.

Like, God's, Ezra's praying to God, like, God protect us, please, please.

And around the corner, Nehemiah's like, protect us?

And that's how God is answering the prayer.

Imagine that.

That would be amazing.

So like I said, the church has a mission and most everyone agrees on what the mission is, so that's not really where the debate lies too much.

Most of the debating has to do with strategy.

This one's a more personal kind of example for us in here in Rutland, but like one thing I also thought of

during this was, was, was Pastor Tim Owens, right?

Down the street, he's got a huge church and he does the things a lot differently than we would.

I would never do church the way he does it, and I have my reasons.

And he probably feels the same way about us, and that could be fine.

That could be fine.

I think we ought to be thankful that the Gospels going out to so many people through him, even if we don't

think the practice is necessarily exactly the way we would do it.

I think we could debate him.

That's not to say that, you know, we disagree to disagree, we won't talk about it.

No, we can talk about it.

We can't say, unless you know him very personally, and I don't.

I know him from a distance.

I don't know what his heart's like.

I don't know why he does the things that he does.

I won't ever say about him that he's doing it because he lacks faith in God, or the Holy Spirit,

or something like that.

If I knew him better, maybe I could make a better determination, but I don't, and so I wouldn't say that.

In Paul's day, we read this passage two, three times, or two times today already.

In Paul's day, he knew of people that were preaching about Christ because they were selfish, and they had

envy, and they had rivalry against him.

So he knew, somehow, that these guys were out there preaching Christ, proclaiming Christ, and they were only doing it because they were jealous of

Paul for some reason.

They wanted to be like Paul.

They had a rivalry with Paul.

That is probably the worst thing I could think of, of a reason to preach Christ, right?

And yet he says he rejoices.

Like, Paul, where were the discernment bloggers of your day?

Shouldn't you be condemning these people?

If Paul can say that he rejoices in people he knows for a fact, only preach Christ because they have a

rivalry with him.

This is inspired Scripture.

This isn't wrong, right?

They had a rivalry with him.

That's why they preach Christ, and Paul's like, I rejoice.

Because he says, in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and so he rejoices.

So I think if Paul can say that about people preaching the gospel in rivalry and envy,

those aren't fruits of the Spirit, by the way.

If Paul can say that about those people, we can say it about people with very minor strategic differences than we have.

So let's pray for wisdom and humility in approaching or applying this to

ourselves in our own different situations.

Let's pray.

Lord God, thank you for your Word.

Thank you so much for your example of humility.

Thank you that we're about to read in Philippians 2 that you've considered others more important than yourselves.

Thank you for teaching us that kind of humility, God, in what you did on the cross.

And God, I pray that you would give us a much softer heart than we've had ever before towards

Christians who disagree with us, even if they don't return the favor, God.

Even if some people think that we're heretics because we're Calvinist or whatever, or something like that, or whatever it is.

I mean, it could be anything.

Just because somebody thinks that about us, we don't have to return that favor, God.

We can be glad that your sacrifice in the cross is being proclaimed, Lord, and

that if we just trust and believe in you that we could be saved, God.

Even if they're, oh, gasp, Arminians.

We're thankful that they're doing it, God.

That we can support that, Lord.

God, I pray that you give us wisdom to know the times when we should debate, when we should maybe have a conversation, a

hard conversation about someone who's doing something that we don't think is right.

Because we all have plenty of stuff like that.

It could be any issue.

It could be the gun issue.

It could be vaccines.

It could be homeschooling.

It can be anything, God.

Help us to know when it's wise to confront someone.

Help us to know when it's time not to.

Keep our mouths shut.

And Lord, help us to just have that humility, God.

To consider that person more important than ourselves.

Consider the fact that they might be right and we might be wrong.

It's not to say that there is no right and wrong.

It's not some sort of postmodern thing, God.

But we just pray for wisdom.

We don't want to be people that are causing division.

We don't want to be separatists.

We don't want any of that stuff, God.

We want to be united with the body of Christ in every possible way that we can, God.

Obviously, we know that there are divisions that must happen.

But God, we pray that we'd have the wisdom to know which ones those are and which ones those aren't, God.

Thank you for your word.

Thank you for this awesome kind of look behind the scenes at two different prophets doing the same, working the same

group in the same time period and handling something so differently.

And there's no indication of any conflict.

Maybe there was one.

Maybe Ezra was mad at Nehemiah.

We don't know.

But God, thank you for providing the church with different people with different strategies and different skill sets and everything, God.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.