Poor in Spirit: Ezra Part 2

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Bible Study, Christian Character, christian growth, Discipleship, Poor in Spirit

The prayer recorded for us in Chapter 9 of Ezra gives us a look at the character of Ezra as he prays in poorness of spirit; Ezra prays for his people when they had sinned against the LORD,

Now when these things had been completed, the princes approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites.  For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.”  When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair of my head and my beard, and sat down appalled.  Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering.  But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the LORD my God; and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.  Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day.  But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.  For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but He extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.  Now, our God, what shall we say after this?  For we have forsaken Your commandments, which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end and with their impurity.  So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’  After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant at this, shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations?  Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?  O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this!”  (Ezra 9:1-15, NASB)

Ezra prays for the Body of Believers, even though he is not personally guilty of the sin set before him.  He personally asks for forgiveness in complete humility and with the character of being poor in spirit.  Ezra, in his humbleness and complete recognition of the need of God as the only sustainer in the life of the Nation possessed the character I want in my life.  Ezra did not look to his skills or to what the Nation had in their possession rather he turned to God broken and without anything to offer his God- in prayer.  In order to be poor in spirit I must set my heart upon being humble and seeing that only God is the answer in prayer before my Creator.  If you want this character start to pray as Ezra did – in humility.  Learn to be like Ezra!      

Begin to pray like Ezra: with humbleness and understanding that God holds all the answers.

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Poor in Spirit: Ezra

Tags

Bible Study, Christian Character, christian growth, Discipleship, Obedience, Prayer

The Time of Ezra and Nehemiah         

During the time of Ezra and Nehemiah the people of Israel were allowed to return to the Land from years of exile and start rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, its Temple, and its walls.  This was not an easy task for the Israelites because their enemies made it difficult because the enemies opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem in fear.  Ezra and Nehemiah were leaders chosen by God to lead His people in the process of rebuilding.  They were men of character who had the quality of being poor in spirit.  Let us examine in the blogs that will follow in this series what the Scripture tells us about the ministries of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Ezra

Ezra is introduced to us in the Ezra Chapter 7.  The man Ezra was not only a priest but he also was “a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6).  As we read the book that bears his name we observe Ezra as a man full of godly character and God was certainly with him (Ezra 7:6; 28).  Ezra 7:9-10 tells us something about the heart of Ezra,

On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.  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.  (NKJV)

Ezra’s heart was prepared (in the Hebrew: set up, fixed, make firm, to establish) upon studying God’s Word.   As a minister of the Word he devoted his life to the Scriptures.  How can we lead others if we do not know the Word of God?  How can we be guided through life without knowing the Word?  Ezra prepared his heart to know God’s Word.  Ezra was not only a seeker of God’s Word but he was also a doer of the Scriptures, in obedience to the commands of the Lord.  It serves no purpose to study the Word if you do not plan to live by its statutes.  Only through Ezra’s study and obedience to the Word could he then teach the statutes and ordinances of God’s Word to the nation.  That is why Ezra was to be used of God.  Ezra’s eyes were not on himself (self leads us away from God because that is where it leads us to – the self); rather Ezra’s focus was upon the Word of God (the Word of God always leads us to God).  We know that Ezra was a man that was poor in spirit from his ministry as recorded in Ezra 7-10.

We see more of Ezra’s heart in Ezra 8:21 and 23,

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.  So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.  (NASB)

Ezra proclaims a fast because the people needed guidance and protection.  We discussed fasting previously.  Once again fasting is used to focus on God, to draw us nearer so we can discern His will and be shaped into the image of Christ.  Fasting involves humbling ourselves as in this text in which Ezra sought out the Lord and received answered prayer.  A prayer done while poor in spirit yields godly results seen in answered prayer and building godly character as the focus moves from self to God.

Ezra possessed the character we should desire in our lives.  In order to be poor in spirit we must set our heart upon studying the Word of God and to humble ourselves in prayer before our Maker.  If we want this character we must start studying the Word of God with the heart of Ezra and learn to pray as he did – in humility.  Don’t study to be a teacher, but teach and apply the Word because you have set your heart upon it with your whole heart.  Be like Ezra!

This meditation dealt with studying God’s Word and with prayer.  These are two practices that the person that is poor in spirit engages in regularly.  If you struggle with any of these disciplines pray right now that the Holy Spirit changes your heart towards that discipline.  There are plenty of good resources available.  Ask your mentor about resources and ask him to help you in your commitment to these disciplines.

The Plow: A Closer Look at Plowing

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Bible Study, Breaking up fallow ground, Christian Character, christian growth, Discipleship, God's will, Great Commission, Hosea, Plow, Surrender

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.  (Hosea 10:12, emphasis added)

Not being a person with an agricultural background I was not familiar with the terms Tozer used when discussing plowing fallowed ground.  How is soil broken up?  What is fallow ground?  What is a plow as compared to a harrow?  How do the writers of the Bible implement these word pictures?

The Hebrew word for break up is used twice in the Old Testament.  It is used once in our lead-in passage from Hosea 10:12 and once in Jeremiah 4:3.  This word in the Hebrew is a verb meaning to break up something.  It is used in an agricultural sense of plowing untilled ground, but in context it is used of Israel’s repentance and returning to God.  Jeremiah 4:3-4 is as follows:

Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.  Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Israel is called to repentance in Jeremiah 3:6 – 4:4 and Jeremiah ends this call with the picture of using plowed ground to plant new seed.  The old fallowed field is full of weeds and nothing is growing there that produces fruit.  It was time to start from scratch with a new, untilled field in which God can plow the land, cultivate it, and plant new seed.  This passage confirms Tozer was correct in stating that the plow is used after repentance so that God can start a new crop in your life.

The Hebrew definition of fallow ground is a noun signifying fallow, untilled ground.  It indicates farming land, property owned that lies unplowed.

He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, but he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.  (Proverbs 12:11) 

Much food is in the ground of the poor, and for lack of justice there is waste.  (Proverbs 13:23)

Fallow ground is a waste of God’s good gifts and His provision.  God provides food from crops which need cultivation and work due to the curse of the fall of man (Genesis 3:19).  The ground should be broken and upset by the plow in order for the process of crop production to occur.  This process does not work on unproductive, fallow ground.  In the passages of Jeremiah 4:3 and Hosea 10:12 fallow ground is used to paint a picture of the hardened, untilled attitudes of the people of Judah and Israel which needed to be repented of, plowed over, and replanted with the good seed of God’s loving provision.

Plow in the Hebrew is a verb meaning to plow, or to engrave. It refers to plowing and tilling the soil with animals and various cruel instruments to upset the soil so seed can be planted and take root.  In Scripture you can plow for evil or plow for good.  The crops produced follow the plow in either case.  Revolutionaries chose to plow for the Kingdom.

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:62) 

Jesus points out in this passage plowing is a focused task and uses the illustration of plowing as work.  Fitness for the Revolutionary is determined on the focus of the worker and what he is plowing toward.  The eye kept on the Lord allows us to follow the plow to produce a crop consistent with the battle for the Kingdom.  The Plow is concerned with both the work of God and our work done in submission to the Great Commission and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Tozer used the word harrow.  A harrow is an agricultural implement consisting of many spikes, tines or discs dragged across the soil for breaking up and smoothing out soil.  The plow, in contrast, is used for deeper tillage.  Harrowing is done after the plowing to provide a finer finish to a field before adding seed.  Both the plow and the harrow are needed in the life of the Revolutionary.  The heart is to be torn open and rough edges smoothed over by the hand of the Lord, by use of the plow and the harrow.

 Till is a Hebrew verb meaning to work, to serve.  This labor may be focused on things, other people, or God. When it is used in reference to things, this idea is usually expressed: to till the ground; to work in a garden; or to dress a vineyard.  We look once again to Proverbs 12:11, “He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread.”  Tilling is work which reaps a benefit in relation to the work done.  This is a great comfort as we look at the Revolution.  God is willing to work our fallow ground and produce a fruitful crop with our lives for the Kingdom.  He does the plowing.  He does the harrowing.  He is the One who tills and brings in the harvest.  All we have to do is submit to the work of the Holy Spirit and fulfill the Great Commission in making disciples and teaching the Word of Christ.

Waiting: Do Not Exchange the Truth of God for a Lie

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Bible Study, Christian Character, christian growth, Discipleship, Truth

Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.  Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.  (Psalm 25:4-5, NKJV, emphasis added)

Some can exchange the truth of God for a lie, and results in not waiting on Him.

Danger, danger!  The New Testament epistles give a stern warning to the seekers of truth: once you receive the truth do not trade it for a lie.  The following passages are either warnings or examples of people who exchange truth for lies.  Notice truth is singular in these passages because there is only one truth.  But on the other hand Scripture speaks of lies plural, or a lie, or the lie, because there are many lies.  It is much easier for a disciple to learn the truth by waiting than it is to learn all the lies in circulation.  Remember Satan is the father of lies and can only speak lies (John 8:44).  Let us briefly explore these Biblical warnings in the New Testament:

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.  Amen.  (Romans 1:24-25, NKJV)

In the context of this passage the lie is the worship of idols, or the creature.  The truth is worship of God, or the Creator.  Who has the real power and creative genius: the creature or the Creator?  Why would we worship the things made by our hands rather than the Creator?  Is it because when we make something we become like God?  It does not make any sense, but Christians do it every day.  Remember an idol is anything that takes the place of God on the throne of your heart.  Do you have idols in your heart?  Seek the Creator by waiting upon Him.

You ran so well.  Who hindered you from obeying the truth?  (Galatians 5:7, NKJV)

Paul wrote Galatians because the error, or lie, of legalism came through the backdoor and replaced the truth of grace clearly taught by Paul and the authoritative teaching of the Apostles.  Paul wants names and foretells of their ruin in the verses that follow: “This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.  A little leaven leavens the whole lump.  I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you will have no other judgment, whoever he is.” (Galatians 5:8-10)  Remember legalism the godless doctrine of earning your salvation through works.  Works are the fruit of salvation not the cause.  As you wait on God check your heart and determine that no hint of legalism is in it because it only takes a little legalism (or leaven) to cause serious damage (or leaven the whole lump).    

Mystic Moments: Prayer Should be from the Heart (not from a prayer book)

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Christian Character, Discipleship, Prayer, Surrender

Now no Man can be ignorant of the State of his own Heart, or a Stranger to those Tempers, that are alive and stirring in him, and therefore no Man can want a Form of Prayer (pre-written prayers); for what should be the Form of his Prayer, but that which the Condition and State of his Heart demands?  If you know of no Trouble, feel no Burden, want nothing to be altered, or removed, nothing to be increased or strengthened in you, how can you pray for any thing of this Kind?  But if your Heart knows its own Plague, feels its inward Evil, knows what it wants to have removed, will you not let your Destress form the manner of your Prayer?  Or will you pray in a Form of Words, that have no more Agreement with your State, than if a Man walking above-ground, should beg every Man he met, to pull him out of a deep Pit.  For Prayers not formed according to the real State of your Heart, are but like a Prayer to be pulled out of a deep Well, when you are not in it.  Hence you may see, how unreasonable it is to make a Mystery of prayer, or an Art, that needs so much Instruction; since every Man is, and only can be, directed by his own inward State and Condition, when, and how, and what he is to pray for, as every man’s outward State shows him what he outwardly wants.  And yet it should seem, as if a Prayer-Book was highly necessary, and ought to be the performance of great Learning and Abilities, since only our learned Men and Scholars make our Prayer-Books.  – William Law (emphasis in the original)