Luther’s Wittenberg, Calvin’s Geneva, Zwingli’s Zürich, Ezra’s Jerusalem. In each case, God brought a reformer to a city in need of ref­ormation. In each case there was a process of “deformation” that pre­ceded the “reformation.” In each case the reformation was more than a work of man. In Ezra’s case we have an inspired account of how God worked this reformation, and from it we can learn the essential pattern for reformation.

The Word of God⤒🔗

There can be no reformation without submission to the Word of God. This chapter contains many references to “the law of the God of heaven” and other such terms. This should be no surprise. What is reformation other than bringing the church of God back in line with the Word of God, in doctrine, life, and worship? Today we often hear the slogan: the church must be always reforming. What many mean by that is that we are to adapt to changing times. We agree that the church needs reform. This means, however, a return to the Word of God. Any devel­opment that does not bring the church into closer subjection to the Word of God is not reformation, but deformation.

The Bible calls Ezra “a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given” (7:7). This means that he was highly skilled in handling the law that God had given to Israel through Moses. Undoubtedly he had studied it for a good part of his life. As the chil­dren of Israel had been deported into exile, someone must have taken a scroll or scrolls with them into this faraway land. The Word of God had come along with the people into exile. The people may have been with­out the temple, but they still had the record of God’s law. And Ezra had made it his life’s work to become a skillful scribe in this law. He could have identified with what we read in Psalm 119:54: “Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.”

Not only was he highly trained in God’s Word, but he submitted to it with mind, heart, and strength. We read: “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes” (Ezra 7:10). His was not a heartless study of the Word of God. In fact, he took pains to study God’s Word with a prepared heart. Undoubtedly he prayed something to this effect:

Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I will keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart, Ps. 119:33-34

Moreover, he sought to practice the law of God before teaching it. He was not like the scribes Christ spoke against: “Do not ye after their works, for they say, and do not” (Matt. 23:3). Nevertheless, he was still not like Christ, of whom we read: “I delight to do thy will, O my God; thy law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:8).

Nevertheless, Ezra had a deep respect for the Word of God. God had brought this about in him, and God used him to bring it about in others. This is how God would reform the nation that needed reformation.

The Hand of God←⤒🔗

In order for Ezra to reach Jerusalem with the law, the hand of the Lord had to lead him. Without that pro­tecting and directing hand, Ezra would have remained in Babylon. God always directs His providence so that His purposes of grace, including reformation, are accomplished.

This chapter refers frequently to “the hand of God” (7:6, 9, 28). This hand of God was evident in three ways. First of all, the fact that the king permitted and promoted the mission of Ezra was owing to the hand of the Lord. Verses 11-26 detail how the king provided Ezra with everything necessary for his proposed work in Jerusalem. The king gave Ezra as it were a blank check: “the king granted him all his request” (v. 6). Such support was clearly noteworthy, and Ezra ascribed it to the Lord.

Secondly, the hand of God protected Ezra on his jour­ney (Ezra 7:9). Over the span of four whole months (vv. 8-9), God proved to be “their true keeper” (Ps. 121:5). Among the many dangers that could have befallen them, not one did.

Thirdly, the hand of God provided a whole company of people to journey with Ezra. Among them were officers — priests, Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, and chief men. God’s hand had gathered a remnant to return with Israel. He would not be alone. This, too, was God’s providential doing.

It is no wonder that Ezra felt constrained to praise and thank God for the work of His hand. He saw goodness in it (v. 9) and mercy (v. 28) and blessed God. This same providence of God also governs and directs our every step in life. Do we, like Ezra, see goodness and mercy in it?

He also experienced the hand of the Lord as a source of strength. He said: “I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me” (v. 28). He experienced what Isaiah had said: “Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength” (Isa. 26:4). Or in David’s words: “Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand” (Ps. 89:13). The true secret to strength for each day is to lean on the strength of almighty God in Jesus Christ. There His strength is made perfect in our weakness (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9).

The House of God←⤒🔗

What was God’s purpose with His Word and hand? He was reforming His Zion. Or to use the language of our chapter: He was “beautifying” His house (v. 27). In our fallen world everything is subject to decay, even God’s church as it appears on the earth. Just as we need to renovate and refurbish our homes, God “beautifies” His house. He does so by His Word and grace. In this chapter, the wealth of the nations served that end. The king gave Ezra “all the silver and gold” that he could find (v. 16), “and whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God” (v. 20). Isaiah already had prophe­sied as much: “The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious” (Isa. 60:13).

When the church needs reformation, she does not appear in her beauty. But when God brings His Word to bear on her members, and directs His servants by His hand, He beautifies her. He does this in order that He may indwell it. We read of Christ that He gave Himself for His church in order that “he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:26-27). The day is com­ing when there will be no more need of reformation, for the new Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven, “prepared” and “adorned” (Rev. 21:2).

Questions:←⤒🔗

1. Find five verses in Psalm 119 other than the ones listed above that give voice to the concern of Ezra as stated in Ezra 7:10.
    
2. What are ways that we could “prepare our hearts to seek the law of God”?
    
3. The Persian king called the law of God “the wisdom of God” (v. 25). He also saw that there would be wrath from heaven if God’s law would not be obeyed (v. 23). How do you explain that the king had such a high view of God’s Word, whereas many in the church today have such a low view?
    
4. Can we still discern the hand of God like Ezra did? What are some things that point to the hand of God in the church or in our lives?
    
5. How did Ezra respond to evidences of the hand of God? What posture does this teach us with respect to God’s providence?
    
6. What does God use today instead of gold and silver to beautify His house?
    
7. We are not Calvins or Ezras in a certain sense. But where should we begin with “reformation”? And how is Ezra a picture of Christ?