Sun.’s Devo - The Return

Read: Ezra 7:1-8:20; 1 Corinthians 4:1-21; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 20:28-30 Ezra’s events happened 60 years after Cyrus gave the decree to build the Temple in Chapter one. Ezra was the 17th in the line of Aaron the high priest. He was a scribe and teacher of the law living in Babylon. King Artaxerxes was the King of Persia and he blessed Ezra to return to Jerusalem and gave him everything he asked for. Artaxerxes sent Ezra to further beautify the Temple. He encouraged Ezra to take with him as many exiles as would go. On the first day of their spiritual calendar which would have been Nisan 1, the month of Passover and Unleavened Bread, they left Babylon to go to Jerusalem. It took them 4 months to get there on foot. Ezra was given a letter from the King and his council of seven to see how Jerusalem was lining up with God’s law. The were also to take silver and gold to offer to the God of Israel. The people were allowed to take gold and silver that they had amassed in Babylon as well as any offerings people wanted to give them. These offerings would be used to purchase sacrificial animals and any silver and gold left over could be used as Ezra felt led. Anything else they needed would be supplied by the royal treasury. This letter was his passage through all the provinces he traveled through. They were instructed how much to give him up to 7,500 pounds of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of olive oil and an unlimited supply of salt. Artaxerxes made it clear to them to fear Ezra’s God. He also decreed that no priest, Levite, singer, gatekeeper, Temple servant, or other worker in the Temple of God would be required to pay tribute, customs or tolls of any kind. He told Ezra to use the wisdom God had given him to appoint magistrates and judges who knew God’s laws to govern the people west of the Euphrates River. Anyone who refused to obey the law of God and the law of the king would be punished immediately by death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment. About 1,500 people volunteered to go with Ezra but when he was reading over the list he realized that not one Levite was on the list. He sent a letter to Iddo who was in charge of the Levites asking for some volunteers. He was sent Serebiah and 18 of his sons and brothers which were all Levites. They also sent 22 from the family of Merari and 220 Temple servants who assisted the Levites. In Corinthians, Paul tells the people how they should see them. He and Apollos were just servants of Christ who had been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. They were not to be worshipped or put on a pedestal. Everything they had came from God as a gift. Paul tried to let them see him and all spiritual leaders as just men, trying the best they knew to walk holy before the Lord. Paul said that his conscience was clear but that didn’t mean that he was right, he was just right as far as he knew. God is the ultimate judge who will judge all our motives in the end. He warned us not to make judgments about anyone before he returns. Paul compares the ones like him on the front line of battle like God’s prisoners of war at the end of a victors parade. They are the ones convicted to die. Their dedication leads to ridicule and scoffing. They are the ones who go hungry and thirsty, are beaten and ridiculed and have no home. They are the cursed and abused ones who are treated like garbage for the sake of the Gospel while the rest of the people are comfortable and filled. He knew that some of the churches had become arrogant and thought they would never see him again but he reminded them that he was their spiritual father in the faith and he urged them to imitate his example of faith. He would return to visit them and see if they were remaining faithful to God. Lord, thank you for persistent leaders like Paul because he reminds us of your unrelenting love for us. You are the perfect Father that loves and disciplines us in your love. We want to be ready to meet you.