Ezra 7: Prepare. Seek. Do. Teach.

Post 7 of 10 | Exploring Ezra: Return, Rebuild, Restore

 Fifty-seven years pass between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7. 

The temple is complete. The Passover celebrated, and then silence for more than half a century. During that silence the events of Esther unfold. Then in chapter 7, a man walks onto the page who will define the rest of the book. A man whose life will become the foundation of the Jewish people post-exile.

His name is Ezra, and Ezra 7:10 is the key verse of the entire study.

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. — Ezra 7:10

Prepare. Seek. Do. Teach.

Before Ezra ever opens his mouth to teach, he prepares his heart. Think of the whole burnt offering in the Old Testament. Nothing is held back or reserved, and everything is given to the Lord. Picture total consecration and you’ll understand Ezra’s heart preparation. Paul echoes this in Romans 12:1 — present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Ezra’s preparation was for a lifetime and not a mere moment.

Then he seeks. The word seek here implies treading and frequenting. Ezra tread through the Law of God and was frequent in it. Seeking the Law of the Lord is an act of worship, not merely academic study. Proverbs 8:17 promises that those who seek wisdom diligently will find it. Hebrews 11:6 calls God a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Diligent is the word worth sitting with. How would you seek if you discovered a reservoir of oil beneath your property? You would not stop until it was found. Seek as for silver. Search as for hidden treasure. That is the posture.

Then he does it. James 1:22-25 says it plainly — be doers of the word and not hearers only. If you hear and do not act, you deceive yourself. The word deceive means to delude — to mislead the mind. A man can delude himself into thinking he is walking in faith, pleasing to the Lord, even holy — when the Word is revealing something different. What is the point of looking in the mirror if you walk out the door with dry drool on your cheek and your shirt inside out? Likewise, what is the point of reading Scripture, sitting under teaching, and listening to messages if nothing changes?

Finally, he teaches, but notice the order. He sought the Lord through His word before he attempted to live a life of obedience. He studied and practiced the Law in his own life before he ever opened his mouth to teach it. As John MacArthur observed, the pattern of Ezra’s preparation is exemplary. You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot lead where you have not been.

Early in my walk I felt led to teach, but my motives were warped. I watched the pastor and thought I could do better — pride and arrogance filled my young heart. Chuck Smith’s advice: if you think you’re called to teach, teach youth. From infants to high schoolers, the Lord humbled me and taught me the most important lesson — without Me you can do nothing. Nothing means nothing (John 15:5). The other, having begun in the Spirit are you being made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3).

The hand of the Lord is mentioned twice in this chapter — verses 6 and 9. Both times it frames what God was doing on Ezra’s behalf. The favor Artaxerxes extends is nothing short of remarkable. Permission to go, volunteers allowed to join, provision for the journey and sacrifices, a blank check for whatever more was needed (v.20), and the authority of execution (v.26). The king puts full faith in Ezra, similar to Pharaoh’s trust in Joseph. Why? Because the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). Ezra’s heart was loyal. God moved on his behalf.

The journey itself was 500 miles on foot through wilderness, desert, and roads made dangerous by raiders and robbers who killed and left no witnesses. Ezra lived by faith in action.

Where are you in the sequence? Are you seeking without doing? Doing without having prepared your heart? Teaching without having lived it first? Ezra 7:10 is not just an example. It is a diagnostic.

Prepare. Seek. Do. Teach. Abide in the vine. The fruit will follow.

Exploring Ezra: Return, Rebuild, Restore is a ten-lesson printed study guide through all ten chapters of the book of Ezra with free teaching notes for leaders to help facilitate the study. Available now at Prepared Heart.