The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1922-08-17
The leader-Gxra (T:1-lO).


l. Who he was wv. I6. Q) A
priest wv. l-5). The leader Of the first
company was Zerubbabel. sort Of
military governor. The great need low
was for religious leader. for the
people had gone fur from God, as we
see from the noble reforms which
Ezra effected. ca A ready scribe
". ~. lie was teacher OF the law
Of God.
.. His high ambition w. 7-l0).
Cd He set his heart To seek the law
OF the Lord" ". lO), He defihitely set
out with the noble purpose to know
Gods Word. To be successful In any
thing one must set out with II purpose.
Daniel was success because he "pur-
posed In his heart" Ministers and
Sunday school teachers should have
this set purpose. 60 He set his heart
to obey the Lord ". lO). He was not
only concerned with knowing Gods
Word. but to obey II. Gods Word can.
not fully he known by the intellect
IL must be experienced. The essential
qualification for IA teacher Of the Bible.
preacher or sunday school teacher,
IL obedience 10 Gods Word 90 He
set his heart To teach Israel Gods
statutes and Judgments ". l0). He not
only had a love for Gods Word. but
desire To lmplant II In the hearts Of
others. When one has an Sxperiential
knowledge OF Gods Word he longs to
teach IL to others
3. His commission G:ll-28D The
king Artaxerxes gave him copy of
the decree authorizing him to lead
company back To Jerusalem. He was
empowered Cd 10 collect funds (vv.
IL, l8) ca To levy tribute wv. 81.
22) (3) To appoint magistrates and
judges ". 20 ca To execute pen
nlties ". 26). So great was the kings
confidence In Ezra that he gave all
these powers into his hand. For this
great honor Ezra lifted his heart to
God In thanksgiving. He was mainly
concerned with the fact that he was
To beautify the Lords house and
acknowledge that God had put this
purpose into the kings heart.
%. The Company (s:l-20).
The company was small-only LISA
males. but including women. children
and SERVANTS, there were perhaps 5000
TO 7.Ooo people in this cnravan.
~. Ezras Prayer and Fasting
q :2l-23).
The first thing he did was to seek
Gods guidance. Not only Gods lead
divine guidance and help In every un-
dertaking-every new journey. every
piece of new work. every business ad-
venture. every relationship. That
which we cannot invoke Gods bless
Ing upon should not be undertaken.
Further. success can only be realized
when Gods blessing Is upon US. He
did not minimize the dangers attend
ing such a journey. but he had told
the king that the hand of the Lord
would be upon all for good who sought
him, and now he was ashamed to ask
the king for a military escort 10 pro-
tect them from the marauding Arabs.
~. The Successful Journey (s:24-
32).
God heard their prayer. The treas
ure entrusted to them was great. Per
haps the entire value Of all the money.
etc, was $5,OOO.OOO. For a weak cara
van to 20 on journey requiring four
months through country infested by
these robber bands, carrying such an
amount of money was most perilous:
but Ezra knew that God was able and
would protect them. Note:
l. The care and honesty Wv. 24-3O).
The money was weighed unto them at
the start and was To be weighed when
turned over to the authorities at
Jerusalem. The incentive to honesty
and strict accounting Of the trust was
that they were holy men and were en-
trusted with that which was holy be-
cause II belonged to God. Most exact
ing care should be exercised In han
ding the Lords money. We should
guard sacredly our trust.
=. Their safe arrival wv. 81. 32).
Some four and one-half months were
required to make the journey. God
proved himself to be faithful. having
protected them and brought them
safely TO their destination.