Be like Ezra. Study God’s Word. Keep God’s Word.
This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is January 7, 2025 and this episode of Scripture for Students is called Don’t Overlook the Obvious. Grab your Bible and let’s get started.
Our readings for today are Genesis 7, Matthew 7, and Ezra 7.
I had a strange experience the first time I ever went to Mexico. Honestly, this is pretty embarrassing to admit, but when I got to Mexico, I was surprised that all the street signs were in Spanish. I could understand “aeropuerto” and a few others, but mostly, it was a foreign language to me.
I should not have been surprised and if I had thought about it ahead of time, maybe it would have occurred to me. But sometimes it is easy to overlook the obvious.
I bring this story up because we are in the seventh day of Scripture for students. One week in. And there is a theme that comes up in today’s reading that we’ve already talked about several times. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that it is there: we need to try not to overlook the obvious.
I’d like to ask you to follow along as I read Ezra 7:1–10.
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 Ezra 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.
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah document the return of God’s people from exile in Babylon. They came back in the three waves. First, at the beginning of Ezra, a group returns with Zerubbabel. Here in chapter 7, a second wave returns with Ezra. And in Nehemiah, a third group returns with Nehemiah.
This is a serious relocation. Ezra and those who traveled with him had to walk about 1000 miles from Babylon to Jerusalem. Did you notice in verse 9 how long it took Ezra to make the journey? They left on the first day of the first month, and they got there on the first day of the fifth month. That’s a four month journey! And apparently that would have been considered a good pace because it says, “for the good hand of his God was on him.” Maybe it could have taken even longer.
But what is most important about this passage is not the journey itself but what Ezra did when he got there. Ezra 7:10 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I’m sure you noticed that there are three steps to what Ezra does. Every Christian is called to join him in at least the first two.
First, it says that Ezra set his heart to study the Law of the Lord. Knowing and studying God’s word is a fundamental part of following God. God speaks to us through his word. This is how we have a relationship with him. He speaks to us through his word and we speak to him through prayer. If we aren’t growing in our love for God’s word and our knowledge of God’s word and our study of God’s word, we should ask: in what sense do I really have a relationship with God? That’s exactly why I’m doing Scripture for Students, to help students like you grow in your love for and study of God’s word.
The second thing Ezra does here could be easy to miss. It is just four words: “and to keep it.” Ezra set his heart on studying God’s word and keeping it. If that seems like a strange way of saying it, what this phrase means is: Ezra was resolved to obey God. And this is what I meant earlier about overlooking the obvious: for Ezra, studying God’s word went hand-in-hand with keeping God’s word.
There are several places in Scripture where the idea of keeping God’s word is quite prominent. One important verse about keeping God’s word is in Deuteronomy 6:1–2,
1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it,
2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.
Another one is in Revelation 1:3,
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
So from beginning to end, let’s not overlook the obvious: God has given Scripture to students—and everyone—so that we might know him. And he has called us to follow him by keeping his commands.
The third thing Ezra did was to teach God’s statutes and rules in Israel. That part is not something that everyone has to do. Ezra was a scribe, so it was a part of his job and it is a job that pastors are called to today: teaching God’s word to God’s people happens every Sunday morning and throughout the week in every Bible-loving church. But every Christian is called to study God’s word and to keep it.
So let’s not overlook the obvious! If you are listening to this podcast, I’m sure it is because you want to study God’s word. You want to read it and know it better. Great work! God will bless that desire in you!
Are you as committed to keeping God’s word? Another way to say that is: how are we obeying God’s word today, this week, and this year? Don’t overlook the obvious! We study God’s word so that we can know God and obey him by keeping his word.
If you take a minute this morning and pray and ask God to show you one or two ways that he wants you to obey, that is a prayer that the Lord loves to answer. He will show you. And if you’re still not sure, ask your parents for help. I bet you they have ideas about how you can obey God today, this week, and this year.
So let’s not overlook the obvious! Let’s look for ways that we can be like Ezra, studying God’s word and keeping it!
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!