FIRST THINGS FIRST (EZRA 8)
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There is an ancient Scottish legend that tells the story of a shepherd boy tending a few straggling sheep on the side of a mountain.
One day as he cared for his sheep he saw at his feet a beautiful flower -- one that was more beautiful than any he had ever seen in his life. He knelt down upon his knees and scooped the flower in his hands and held it close to his eyes, drinking in its beauty. As he held the flower close to his face, suddenly he heard a noise and looked up before him. There he saw a great stone mountain opening up right before his eyes. And as the sun began to shine on the inside of the mountain, he saw the sprinkling of the beautiful gems and precious metals that it contained.
With the flower in his hands, he walked inside. Laying the flower down, he began to gather all the gold and silver and precious gems in his arms. Finally with all that his arms could carry, he turned and began to walk out of that great cavern, and suddenly a voice said to him, “Don't forget the best.”
Thinking that perhaps he had overlooked some choice piece of treasure, he turned around again and picked up additional pieces of priceless treasure. And with his arms literally overflowing with wealth, he turned to walk back out of the great mountainous vault.
And again the voice said, “Don't forget the best.”
But by this time his arms were filled and he walked on outside, and all of a sudden, the precious metals and stones turned to dust. And he looked around in time to see the great stone mountain closing its doors again. A third time he heard the voice, and this time the voice said, “You forgot the best. For the beautiful flower is the key to the vault of the mountain.”
Ezra’s return to Israel was a commission, a commitment and a challenge for himself as well as to others. With much time together – some as long as five months together (Ezra 7:9) – the new community could see one another up-close, especially her leaders. The tests in the long run would focus more on Ezra’s character than his charm, his responsibility than the resources, his transparency than his training.
What kind of a leader do people follow? How are you an example to believers and unbelievers? Why is leadership a referendum on the person rather than his personality?
See the Scope
1 These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes: 2 of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom; of the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; of the descendants of David, Hattush 3 of the descendants of Shekaniah; of the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men; 4 of the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men; 5 of the descendants of Zattu, Shekaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men; 6 of the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men; 7 of the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men; 8 of the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men; 9 of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men; 10 of the descendants of Bani,[b] Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men; 11 of the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men; 12 of the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men; 13 of the descendants of Adonikam, the last ones, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men; 14 of the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zakkur, and with them 70 men. 15 I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there. 16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, 17 and I ordered them to go to Iddo, the leader in Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his fellow Levites, the temple servants in Kasiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God. 18 Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 in all; 19 and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 in all. 20 They also brought 220 of the temple servants—a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.
A website gave this test to see if readers can put 12 things in four boxes by their order of importance: Important and urgent, Important but not urgent, Not important but urgent, and Not important and not urgent. The three things put in each box, on the other hand, have no order of importance. The 12 things are: Busy work, Crying baby, Distraction, Exercise, Interruption, Kitchen fire, Other calls, Planning, Some calls, Time wasters, Trivia, Vocation.
Have fun! The answers are at the end of the chapter!
Important and urgent: Crying baby, Kitchen fire, Some calls
Important but not urgent: Exercise, Vocation, Planning
Not important but urgent: Interruptions, Distractions, Other calls
Not important and not urgent: Trivia, Busy work, Time Wasters
Once Ezra was given the reigns of leadership, he had to decide what and who mattered to him. In chapter 7 his team of priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God had no names. In Chapter 8
Ezra built his team and knew his members. Verse 15’s “check” is understand (biyn) in Hebrew. It is translated as discreet (Gen 41:33), understanding (Deut 1:13), consider (Deut 32:7), instruct (Deut 32:10), perceive (1 Sam 3:8), prudent (1 Sam 16:18), discern (1 Kings 3:9), skillful (1 Chron 15:22), teacher (1 Chron 25:8) and wise (1 Chron 27:32). Ezra was wise – intelligent, incisive and insightful. No stones were left unturned, no slip-up escaped his eye, and no strings were left hanging. Already Ezra was attentive to people, issues details, noting there were 1,514 returnees (vv 1-14), including 18 heads of families and 1,496 other men, but no Levite was found.
Why was a Levi needed? What did Ezra know? Levites were the teachers of the Law (cf. Lev 10:11; Deut 33:10), so they had an extremely important role in the reestablished community. The people desperately needed to understand the importance of the Law as they faced their situation as returnees from exile. The Levites would have a difficult time in the new land for they were to be involved in the disciplined ministry of temple service. Even Zerubbabel had comparatively few Levites on his return (733 [2:40-58], less than 1.5% of the 49,897 [2:64-65]). (Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament)
The plans, the procedure and principles of Ezra in execution were interesting, if not remarkable. In verse 16 he contacted 11 chief men or men of understanding (v 16). The 11 men – nine leaders and two men of understanding – in turn, were to contact Iddo the leader at Kishiphia and the Levites/Nethinims for them to send attendants/ministers of God (v 17) on the trip. In the end they found 258 ministers to serve (vv 18-20). It was a major task, a massive job and a masterful undertaking. He knew his strengths, his shortcomings and his support staff. The chief men were his advocates, Iddo was his ally and the Nethinims were his assistants. There was no concealment, controversy or conspiracy in the process. Nor was there attitude, anxiety or aggression in the team. People were not intimidated, insulted or ignored by Ezra.
Screen the Support
21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
Peter Greer, President and CEO of microfinance organization Hope International, author of the book “Your Help is Hurting,” tells how Hope International founder Jeff Rutt realized philanthropy and alms-giving can actually hurt rather than help. Initially his church sent food, clothes and close things to respond to a crisis in Ukraine, but after a couple of years the team in Ukraine bluntly said, “Your help is hurting.”
Peter said: “There’s an author Bob Lupton, who really nails it when he says that when he gave something the first time, there was gratitude; and when he gave something a second time to that same community, there was anticipation; the third time, there was expectation; the fourth time, there was entitlement; and the fifth time, there was dependency. That is what we’ve all experienced when we’ve wanted to do good. Something changes the more we just give hand-out after hand-out. Something that is designed to be a help actually causes harm. And so, microfinance turns that model on its head, and instead of going in and just saying, “We’ve got a lot of things you don’t, so we’re just going to give it to you,” it turns that model completely on its head and says, “Every single individual is created by a God who loves them, and that means there is worth and there is dignity and there is ability.” So we go in and say not, “What don’t you have,” but, “What do you have? What are you dreams for your kids? What are your aspirations? What are your hopes? What is it that is in your hand to do?” That changes everything. Microfinance then is the belief that everyone has ability, everyone has capacity, and it asks the question, “What is required to unlock that potential in that community to get them in productive employment?” And so, just real quick, just what that means is we do training, we do financial literacy, we do a place for people to save money, and then for people that are ready, we give them access to small loans so they can invest in their business ideas.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jerrybowyer/2013/07/30/your-help-is-hurting-how-church-foreign-aid-programs-make-things-worse/#4f8342b56821
The next step was tricky – how to depend on God when the king had supplied everything. Readers might be surprised that the practice of a “fast” occurs four times in the historical books before the exile (2 Sam 12:16, 1 Kings 21:9, 21:12, 2 Chron 20:3) - twice shamefully manipulated by Jezebel, but it occurs in all the three post-exilic books –were unique books because all three mentioned the noun “fast” (Ezra 8:21, Neh 9:1, Est 4:3, 9:31) and the verb “fasted” (Ezra 8:23, Neh 1:4, Est 4:16). They fasted with earnestly, enduringly and emphatically. Further, Ezra was different from Zerubabbel before him was that Ezra was the one who fasted (v 21). The purpose (infinitive) of fasting was not the action but the attitude - to humble themselves (v 21), or afflict in KJV, also as deal hardly (Gen 16:6), submit (Gen 16:9) and force (2 Sam 13:12). It means to deprive and discomfort themselves of food and drink to pain themselves. The second purpose is to seek the safe journey or right way (KJV) for their children and possessions (v 21).
The reason (ki) in verse 22 was because Ezra was “ashamed” to ask the king for more help after Ezra boldly declared their dependence on God (v 22). Another word for ashamed is confounded (2 Kings 19:26) – to be contradictory, to clash and conflict with one’s belief. Ezra sincerely believed and trusted in God and his hand or good hand - hand of the Lord his God (Ezra 7:6), the good hand of his God (Ezra 7:9), the hand of the Lord my God (Ezra 7:28), the good hand of our God (Ezra 8:18) and the hand of our God (Ezra 8:28). Shame is more than merely shy; it is having no place to hide your face or hang your head. No short or simple explanation is satisfactory or sustainable. It will pain, prick and plague your conscience.
Petition and answer (v 23) are different verbs. Petition or seek is the attitude – to besought - and answer or intreat is to beseech. Petition is the appeal, answer or intreat is to ask.
Survive the Scrutiny
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, namely, Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, 25 and I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. 26 I weighed out to them 650 talents of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold, 27 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics, and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold. 28 I said to them, “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the Lord. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel.” 30 Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem. 31 On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. 32 So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days. 33 On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. 34 Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time. 35 Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs and, as a sin offering, twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 They also delivered the king’s orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God.
A guard in charge of a lighthouse along a dangerous coast was given enough oil for one month and told to keep the light burning every night. One day a woman asked for oil so that her children could stay warm. Then a farmer came. His son needed oil for a lamp so he could read. Another needed some for an engine. The guard saw each as a worthy request and gave some oil to satisfy all. By the end of the month, the tank in the lighthouse was dry.
That night the beacon was dark and three ships crashed on the rocks. More than one hundred lives were lost. The lighthouse attendant explained what he had done and why. But the prosecutor replied, “You were given only one task: to keep the light burning. Every other thing was secondary. You have no excuse.” (Fr. Ernest Munachi Ezeogu)
You might be surprised to know that the most repeated verb in the chapter is “weigh,” which occurs four times in the chapter (Ezra 8:25, 26, 29, 33), more than any chapter in the Bible. Why is it so important to mention the act of weighing so many times? For accountability, acknowledgment and assurance reasons. The first mention of the verb “weigh” was the audience - weighing the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house to the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren in the presence of the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel (vv 24-25). The second weighing was the amount (v 26) - six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents. The third was the authority with theimperative “watch” - Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord. The last weighing was on the fourth day was the accomplishment - confirmed by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites(v 33).
The command “guard carefully” (v 29) is two separate imperatives – watch and keep in KJV. Ezra definitely wanted to get the money out of his hands as soon as possible, because they had experienced enemies and bandits along the way, but the travel had taken its toll on them (vv 31-32).Watch (shaqad) is remain (Job 21:32), wake (Ps 127:1) and hasten. It means to be alert, i.e. sleepless; hence to be on the lookout. It is the concentration versus the caution, which is “remain.” Remain is keep (Gen 2:15), take heed (Gen 31:24), observe (Gen 37:11), circumspect (Ex 23:13), beware (Judg 13:4), mark (Job 10:14), preserve (Job 29:2) and watchman (Song 3:3).
Conclusion: Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, Be more concerned for you character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely wat others think you are.” Do you practice what you preach? Do you say one thing and do the other? Are you a hearer of the word, and not a doer (James 1:23)?
