Ezra 7:1-10

1. Look at the Place WHERE God shows FAVOR! (Ezra 7:1-9)

“….This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given him: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him.”

{The word ” scribe” is saphar, which means to recount, secretary, learned man, scribe; it refers to Ezra in this passage}

    • Favor with those over you (vv 1-9)

“And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month…..in the seventh year of the king,” (Ezra 7:8)

    • Favor with those against you 

“And the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy.” (Ezra 8:31)

    • Favor with that within you 

“And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me.” (Ezra 7:28)

   • Favor with those outside

2. Look at the WAY to get God’s FAVOR! (Ezra 7:10)

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and do it, and teach in Israel statutes and judgments.”

    • Do we have a Holy HEARTBEAT for the Word of God?

“Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord” (v 10).

    • Do we have a Holy HEARTBURN to be a doer of the Word of God?

“And to do it” (Ezra 7:10)

[Do we just hear it read and preached, or do we apply it to our life? (James 1:22)]

     • Do we have a Holy HEART-BURDEN to TEACH the Word of God?

“And to teach in Israel statutes and judgments” (Ezra 7:10)

    • God’s spiritual gift of teaching (Rom 12:7)

Conclusion: At a crucial time in history, the GOOD Hand of the Lord raised up a man named Ezra. God’s plan was to bring His people back to their homeland from Babylon – Persia (after 70 years of captivity), which was accomplished (Ezra 1-6). Using Jewish men, women and even an unbelieving Persian king, Cyrus, the GOOD HAND of the Lord brought BLESSINGS!

Don’t you LOVE the GOOD Hand of the Lord’s BLESSINGS on you? Of course you do!