August 1929
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
393
I n t e r n a t i o n a l L e s s o n C om m e n t a r y By David L. Cooper 1
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FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTL INE P R A Y E R ROVIDENCE ROGRESS And he delivered us.—Ezra 8:31.
walk with Him, is to set the heart to seek the law of God with the object first to practice the teaching in the life and to pass on the teaching to others. Jesus first did, then taught (Acts 1:1). 2. Ezra’s Letter of Authority. Vs. 11- 26. In these verses, which are written in Aramaic, the world speech of that day, appears the authority placed in the hands of Ezra by king Artaxerxes, Darius Hystasoes. The king acknowledges in verse 12 that Ezra was teaching the law of the God of heaven. In this respect he was like Nebu chadnezzar, who confessed that the God of Daniel was the God of heaven and earth. His manifesto was issued, per mitting all those who were “minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem,” to return. He and his counselors showed their interest in the God of Israel by making special donations of vessels of sil ver and gold. A further bit of evidence of his great interest is recorded in verse 20 in which statement the king is willing for any deficit in connection with the restoration of the temple to be made up out of the king’s treasure-house. In the historical setting the position is set forth that Ezra’s return was in the year 515 B. C., the year following the completion of the temple. This position is confirmed by the generosity of the king and of the language which he employs, as is seen in verses 19-22. The house had just been dedicated in the preceding year. Doubtless many utensils, furniture, and paraphernalia were lacking, as is true when any public edifice is first dedicated. Thus the king, realizing the needs, made these special donations^ and provisions. One is somewhat at a loss to know whether the king arrived at the pure doc trine of monotheism and that the God of Israel was that one God. There is no doubt concerning his having the highest regard for Israel’s God, but the first question will always be unsettled. 3. Ezra’s Gratitude. Vs. 27, 28. For the magnanimity and gifts of the king, Ezra’s heart overflowed with thanksgiving; hence he blessed Jehovah, the God of his fathers. He believed in the providence of God and ascribed the king’s generosity to the fact that God had put it into the king’s heart to beautify the house of God at Jerusalem. Not only did God incline the king’s heart to make dona tions to the temple, but He likewise in clined the king and his counselors to ward Ezra, His representative. As a con cluding statement Ezra speaks of the strengthening of his soul by the good hand of his God upon him. 4. Ezra’s Comrades in Travel. 8 :1-14. In these verses appears a list of the heads of the fathers’ houses who accom panied Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem on the perilous journey. II. Ezra’s Fast at the River Ahava. 8 :15-23.
September 1, 1929 Ezra’s Return to Jerusalem Ezra 7:6-10; 8:21-23, 31, 32.
Golden Text: “For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him” (Ezra 8:22). L esson in O utline Introduction: Historical Setting. I. Ezra’s Commission from the King. 7:1-8:14. 1. Ezra the Scribe. Vs. 1-10. 2. Ezra’s Letter of Authority. Vs. 11- 26. 3. Ezra’s Gratitude. Vs. 27, 28. 4. Ezra’s Comrades in Travel. 8:1-14. II. Ezra’s Fast at the River Ahava. 8: 15-23. 1. Absence of Levites from the Com pany. Vs. 15-20. 2. The Fast. Vs. 21-23. III. Gifts for the Temple. 8:24-30. IV. Arrival at Jerusalem, and Thanks giving. 8:31-36. 1. Arrival. Vs. 31-34. 2. Thanksgiving. Vs. 35, 36. Introduction: Historical Setting. 'T H E temple was finished, according to Ezra 6:15, in the summer of the sixth year of Darius, i.e., 516 B. C. According to 6:19, the Passover was observed in the taxerxes Longimanus, which reckoning would place it in the year 458 B. C. Thus there would elapse a period of 58 years since the dedication of the temple. Every Persian ruler from Cyaxares I. (611-571 B. C.) to Artaxerxes III. Ochus (358-338 B. C.) has been identified as the Arta xerxes of Ezra 7 :1. Thus much confusion has been introduced into the history of this period because of these various iden tifications. Prior to the chronologer Scal- iger the position held by scholars was that Darius Hystaspes was the Artaxerxes and the Ahasuerus of the books of Ezra, Ne- hemiah, and Esther. The present writer is inclined to ac cept the older identification. Therefore he places the coming of Ezra to Jerusalem in first month of the next year, i.e., in 515. According to the usual method of reckoning, E z r a ’s return, which is the subject of this les son, w a s in the seventh year of Ar-
the year 515 instead of 458. The twenty- one years elapsing since the arrival of Zeruhbabel was sufficient time for the re lapse morally and spiritually which was in evidence at the time of Ezra’s arrival. 1. Ezra’s Commission from the King. 7: 1-8-14. 1. Ezra the Scribe. Vs. 1-10. The word “Ezra” means “help.” He was a direct descendant of Aaron the chief priest. In order to prove this point his genealogy is given in verses 1-5. It was necessary that a priest should be able to trace his genealogy according to the public records before he could serve in the capacity of a priest (cf. 2:62, 63). “And he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Jehovah, the God of Is rael, had given.” Ezra is the first scribe who appears in the Biblical record. Dur ing the captivity necessity arose for keep ing the law. Prior to this time the entire emphasis had been placed upon the tem ple and its service, but from the captivity on, the interest of the nation was focused upon the Torah, the law. The scribes, be cause of their constantly handling the law, became experts in the letter of the same. The law with which Ezra was ac quainted is called, “the law of Moses, which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given.” It was the law which Moses wrote and delivered to the priest (Deut. 31:9) and which was deposited in the tabernacle by the side of the Ark of the Covenant (Deut. 31:24-26). It was the law which God spoke at Sinai, and it gives every evidence that it is of Super human, divine origin. “And the king granted him all his re quest, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him.” The granting of Ezra’s request by the king was the result of God’s overruling providence. God is interested in the very least of His chil dren. His eyes run to and fro through out the earth, to show Himself strong in behalf of the one whose heart is perfect toward Him (2 Chron. 16:9). Paul’s pro found conviction was that God is over ruling and working all things together for good to them that love the Lord (Rom. 8:28). He is eager to work in behalf of the one whose heart is perfect toward Him today as formerly. “For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law o f Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.” The first step in the return of a sinner to God, or of a child of God in a closer
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