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Ezra 7:1-10

The Message

Ezra Arrives

7 ^1-5 After all this, Ezra. It was during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia. Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the high priest.

^6-7 That’s Ezra. He arrived from Babylon, a scholar well-practiced in the Revelation of Moses that the God of Israel had given. Because God’s hand was on Ezra, the king gave him everything he asked for. Some of the Israelites—priests, Levites, singers, temple security guards, and temple slaves—went with him to Jerusalem. It was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
^8-10 They arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king’s reign. Ezra had scheduled their departure from Babylon on the first day of the first month; they arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month under the generous guidance of his God. Ezra had committed himself to studying the Revelation of God, to living it, and to teaching Israel to live its truths and ways.

For Reflection

How can one preserve the faith if one does not know the faith?  Our faith in God and our commitment to live in His Kingdom is at the same time, simple as a child's vision of the world and a complicated as the gray space between good and evil.  The knowledge found in scripture and interpretations by learned scholars is filled with the wisdom of a God-centered life and at the same time empty without a strong faith in the essence of God's grace, justice, and compassion. By grace we are born again into the simplicity and complexity of God's overture of reconciliation and His promise of a righteous life in the hollow of his hand. 

Pray

that you will gain in wisdom and faith by study of scripture and prayer.  Pray that you will examine each new understanding through the eyes of a loving God who is filled with justice, compassion, and forgiveness.