From the Life-Study of Ezra - Why Did Ezra Return to Jerusalem?

   There were two returns in the book of Ezra.  In the first return God stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation, and this stirred up the spirits of many leaders to return and rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. But sad to say after living in Babylon for 70 years, the Israelites had become Babylonian in their hearts.  

So God put it in Ezra's heart to ask King Artaxerxes if he would let Jews throughout his empire go back to Jerusalem.  I learned from reading the Life-Study of Ezra that because Ezra was both a priest and a scribe, he was fully qualified to reconstitute the hearts of God’s people with God’s law and statutes. 

 This Ezra went up from Babylon, he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given: and the Lord granted him all his request according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him.  Ezra 7:6

 In chapter 4 of the Life-Study of Ezra I liked this quote on page 28, and on pages 33 and 34  of chapter 5:

"Ezra realized that the first return was not perfect, not complete. He realized that there was the need for someone who was skilled in the law of God to help the people to know God not merely in a general way but according to what God had spoken.....He [Ezra] bore the totality of the heavenly and divine constitution and culture. Ezra called the people together and confessed not only his own sin but also the sin of Israel, to bring them back to the Word of God....Today we need Ezras to teach the people, to educate them, and to constitute them with the heavenly truths" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1995, Print).

     What I saw from my reading was it wasn't enough for the Israelites to just return and even rebuild the temple. They themselves needed to be inwardly constituted with the God's word so that they would REALLY be God's testimony on earth. 

   Ezra helped the entire nation align themselves with the law of Moses so that could happen. It's the same today.  This inspires me to spend time in the Bible to learn the truths and be able to share them with others, and in a small way that's why I try to write up these posts from what I've read in these Life-Studies that have helped me understand God's word more than anything else.

     At the end of chapter 5 brother Lee says that both he and Watchman Nee spent a lot of time reading and studying the Bible so that they could become skillful in the Word just like Ezra. The burden of both of their ministries was to teach and educate God’s people with the truths in the Bible.  I've always appreciated how their books have helped me understand the spiritual truths in the word.  

  You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther on Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of these books and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.
 

Other Posts from the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther:

From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - How did Watchman Nee & Witness Lee Take a Stand For the Truth?
From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - Why Did God Make Man in His Image?
From the Life-Study of Ezra - How God Used a Gentile King to Fulfill His Purpose
From the Life-Study of Ezra - Why Did Ezra Return to Jerusalem?
How Did God Use Nehemiah's Aggressiveness in Nehemiah 2:20?
Why Did Nehemiah Charge Ezra to Read the Bible to the People in Nehemiah 8:1-8?
What's Really Happening in the Story of Esther?