Ezra chapter seven and Nehemiah chapter eight combine to give us a marvelous illustration of how to sow the seeds of revival. Ezra was living in Babylon under the rule of King Artaxerxes.
Ezra 7:6-10 sets the stage, “[Ezra] was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.
7 Some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. 8 He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. 10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (NASU)
Ezra was skilled in the law of Moses. The hand of the Lord was upon him because he “set his heart to study the law of the Lord, to put into practice the law of the Lord, and to teach the law of the Lord.” Verse 14 and verses 25-26 of this same chapter make it plain that the pagan king Artaxerxes could tell from Ezra’s life that Ezra had hid the word of God in his heart and lived his life by that word. Furthermore, Artaxerxes respected Ezra because of his devotion to the law of God. That respect caused Artaxerxes to give Ezra official governmental authority over the people in his homeland.
Nehemiah chapter eight resumes the story of Ezra some 12 years later. He read the word of God from morning to midday and the people stayed attentive. They stood up; they bowed low, they worshipped. Afterwards, Ezra and others give the first biblical example of expository preaching.
Nehemiah 8:4-8 gives the details, “Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered, "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place. 8 They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading. (NASU)
I draw your attention to the lists of names in verses four and seven. While Ezra was reading from the word of God, six men stood on his right and seven men stood on his left. Verse eight lists an additional 13 men who stood with Ezra and explained what Ezra read. Ezra really had set his heart to teach the Word of God. 26 trained expositors of the Scripture were the fruit of his work. That is sowing seeds of revival. Shall we begin sowing?
---
pastorsteve8800@gmail.com