Word
of God
Man
does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from
the mouth of God
Matthew
4:4
The
Book of Ezra 7:10
10
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to
do it, and to teach the precepts and judgments in Israel.
Brethren:
Let
us start by thinking upon what is written above; Ezra prepared
himself. This is to say that he opened and humbled himself before God
to ready himself to do what he believed what needed to be done. He
had purposed to live, walk and more importantly teach the people of
God, that is the Israelites, the righteous ways of our Creator. As to
the exact methods, we are not made aware however, it would be prudent
to suggest that he more than likely prayed, fasted, and meditated
(See Psalm 1:2), on God’s word both day during every waking moment
and at night when the mind gathers the thoughts of the day and
organizes them into coherent files upon which we may later draw upon.
But most importantly he humbled himself as stated above in the
opening sentence. When one humbles oneself, a person thereby gives
notice that they are submitting to and placing themselves under the
authority of our Lord and to the opening our hearts to His words and
wisdom.
And
so let us continue forward.
That
which he chose for his study was the law of the Lord. The Chaldeans,
among whom he was born and bred, were famed for literature,
especially the study of the stars, to which, being a studious man, we
may suppose that Ezra was tempted to apply himself. But he got over
the temptation; the law of his God was more to him than all the
writings of their magicians and astrologers, which he knew enough of
with good reason to despise them. He sought the law of the Lord, that
is, he made it his business to enquire into it, searched the
scriptures, and sought the knowledge of God, of his mind and will, in
the scriptures, which is to be found there, but not without seeking.
He made conscience of doing according to it; he set it before him as
his rule, formed his sentiments and temper by it, and managed himself
in his whole conversation according to it. This use we must make of
our knowledge of the scriptures; for happy are we if we do what we
know of the will of God, He set himself to teach Israel the statutes
and judgments of that law. What he knew he was willing to communicate
for the good of others; for the ministration of the Spirit is given
to every man (See James 1:5-6; Revelation 21:6) to profit withal. But
observe and make of the method: he first learned and then taught,
sought the law of the Lord and so laid up a good treasure, and then
instructed others and laid out what he had laid up. He also first did
and then taught, practiced the commandments himself and then directed
others in the practice of them; thus his example confirmed his
doctrine. He prepared his heart to do all this, or he fixed his
heart. He took pains in his studies, and thoroughly furnished himself
for what he designed, and then put on resolution to proceed and
persevere in them.
In
summation therefore he sought this course that he might be master of
it, and expert in it, and know what was not to be done, and what to
be done; he had set his heart upon this, bent his studies this way,
and taken a great deal of pains in searching into it, in reading of
it, and meditating on it. he was not only concerned to get the theory
of it, but to put it in practice, to exercise himself in it, that it
might be habitual to him; and the rather, as his view and intentions
were not merely for the sake of himself, but went even further and
conducted his affairs as to to show and explain the statutes and
judgments wherein by his example, as well as by his instructions, he
might teach the people of Israel and return them to fold of God.
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