Ezra's Priesthood Reminds Me Why We Need Daily Reformation Through God's Word
As I'm reading through Nehemian for the nth time - we can see the role of Ezra in the life of Nehemiah. Before Nehemiah is the Book of Ezra. It's said that Ezra wrote Ezra and Ezra wrote Nehemiah which is most probable. What we can see is the role of the Levite priesthood with Ezra. Although we have Joshua the High Priest yet Ezra seems to have eclipsed the former. We do read of Joshua the High Priest in Ezra, Zechariah, and Haggai. Yet, Ezra seems to be focused for a reason. I think Ezra was focused because he was that scribe or historian of the Jewish people. It seems that he did some editing on Nehemiah himself. What we can also read in Nehemiah 8 is the situation of Ezra preaching the Word of God to the people.
Those who say Sola Scriptura wasn't applicable until a certain century fails to see the canon. When it came to God's standards - they had God's Word. The Bible was still an expanding book. The first books that the people had as their Bible was the Pentateuch or the Law of Moses. Later, other inspired books were added making sure that they were inspired and not subject to human correction like the Book of Jasher which was also called the Book of the Brave. Ezra brought the Bible of their time namely the Law of Moses to be read to the people. It was all part of the revival to really go back to the Word of God as the final authority. Critics of Sola Scriptura fail to see what it really means. Sola Scriptura means sticking to what the Word of God says as principles of church authority and tradition. Ezra as a Levite priest had the great responsibility to preach the Word of God to the crowd!
Ezra stood at the pulpit which he was putting emphasis on the Word of God on the Jews on exile. It wasn't enough for Nehemiah and the people to rely on their might and power. They knew that if they were to do God's will - they had to be focused on God's Word. This was a very unusual service as doing it from morning until midday or 12:00 NN. Can you imagine if you had that kind of long service? I was reading J. Vernon McGee's commentary and he says it's a struggle to get people to listen to a 45-minute homily. Ezra was doing a long exposition that would measure the time of a Sunday school combined with a Sunday service. Some people even wonder why we have Bible studies and worship services on Sunday. Sunday school is meant to provide catechesis or training. It's sort of like a class. Then there's the worship service where singing and the Word of God is expounded upon by the preacher. I feel like the Sunday school's meaning can get deeper when you realize that it gets the pulpit ready to understand deeper terms a pastor may mention. I think Sunday school is a spiritual gym class that would get people ready to understand the pastor's deeper sermon. So it's like one subject here and another subject there.
How was revival put by Ezra? Ezra's focus was on God's Word to know how he as a priest (or pastor) should run the flock. Joshua the high priest himself was accompanying Zerubbabel (a descendant of David and a member of Judah) in the revival. Ezra himself was a scribe and he knew the importance of preaching. I can't determine what responsibilities Joshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel were doing. Probably, Joshua the High Priest had assigned Ezra to do some teaching at that time. Maybe, Joshua the High Priest was finished with his turn and now it was Ezra's turn. Ezra was determined to revive the traditions that the LORD gave to Moses under the Old Testament. Ezra knew the importance of bringing people back to God with nothing more, nothing less, than the Word of God for seven straight days.
Nehemiah 9 records the people's repentance. We can see how the people were led to genuine fasting which was different from Ahab's. We can also read that the people ended up confessing their sins and realizing the sins of their fathers too. They acknowledged how often sinning again after a period of rest frequently happens. It felt like the exile was necessary for a revival to happen. Just think that Zerubbabel was the great-great-grandson of Josiah who started to restore the righteousness of David's lineage after his grandfather Jehoiachin and great-grandfather Jehoiakim failed. So, while Josiah failed to raise righteous direct heirs - he still had a righteous great-grandson in Zerubbabel. The people's repentance was much stronger in times of disaster than in times of plenty. It reminds me of how people were having times of prosperity during the time Jeremiah warned them of the upcoming day of disaster and how many revivals happened during the exile period as recorded by Ezra and Nehemiah.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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