Aug 8 Help me be like…

Heavenly Father, what a rich heritage Ezra had. Usually I just skim over the names listed in genealogies, but somehow this time, these names seemed familiar.

I know Hilkiah – during Josiah’s reign, he was the priest who found the Book of the Law that had been lost in the Temple. He brought Your Word back to the people so they could hear Your Word and have their hearts respond with humility. They returned to worship You. In last week’s prayer I prayed that I would hear all Your Word has to tell me, and that my heart would be responsive and humble too.

I remember Zadok. He was the priest who remained loyal to David when David’s son Absalom was chasing him out of Jerusalem. Zadok prayed for David, offered sacrifices, and escorted him with the Arc of the Covenant. Then at David’s request, he stayed behind in Jerusalem to be his spy. And I prayed that I would have the loyalty and support of my friends, and be a loyal support to them.

Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, stands out as a man who was so zealous for Your Word that he drove a spear through a Midianite woman and her Israelite lover who were flagrantly breaking Your Law. This turned back Your wrath from the people and stopped a plague. You gave Phinehas a covenant of peace and perpetual priesthood for he and his descendants. Father, I desire to have that zeal for Your Word.

And Aaron, Moses brother, who You spoke through when You freed Your people from Egypt’s Pharaoh. He became the first High Priest, entrusted with carrying out Your Law. You separated him from the other tribes to be Your representative in intercession for all Israel. Only the High Priest could approach You.

O Father, what a rich heritage for Ezra, who is now the one taking a copy of Your Word back from the Babylonian exile to the people. He will be Your representative in the land, reading and teaching Your Law once again to Your people.

Father, let me be like Ezra and all those in his line. Like Aaron, I can now approach You personally and come boldly before Your throne of grace because of Your redemptive work on the cross.

Give me a desire to obey You like Phinehas, and help me be loyal and an intercessor like Zadok. Make my heart humble to Your Word revealed by Hilkiah and returned to Your people by Ezra.

Thank You Father for each one in this line, who zealously guarded and revealed Your Word to others. Let me do the same. Amen

Ezra 7:1-7

Aug 7 Watching, Protecting, Directing

Father, I pray You would protect me as You protected those who “set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem.”   They returned to the land You had given their people after living in exile in Babylon for seventy years.

When they returned, they were faced with opposition from the ones who had taken over their land. Also from bureaucrats and officials who tried to stop the work of rebuilding the temple. They tried intimidation and challenged the authority the people had to do this work.

The evil officials even wrote a letter to King Darius, with the intention of stopping the work altogether. But Your Word says “the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews and they were not stopped…”

The response to the letter backfired on the officials. A search was made in the records, and it was found that indeed, King Cyrus had decreed that the temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt. Also, the costs were to be paid by the by the royal treasury.

This meant that the very people who had hoped to stop the project, and even schemed to do so; now not only had to support the Jews in their rebuilding efforts, but pay them as well! And not just supplies for the temple, but for the offerings too, on pain of death!

Lord, I do not hear You telling me to build You a temple. I do not even see a great plan unfolding whereby I will have a significant impact on others. But, I seek to do all You have shown me:

walk in the power of Your Spirit,

worship You,

pray, sing, make music,

write down the wisdom You share with me,

treat people with Your love,

be obedient to do what You show me,

align my attitudes and behaviors with Your teachings,

share my faith,

and make time to listen to Your voice.

Grant me what You provided for these Jews in their task. As You sent them prophets, let me hear Your voice, encouraging and guiding me. Allow Your “eye” to watch over me so I am not stopped in being obedient to You.

Turn any opposition, intimidation or forces that come against me, back on themselves, and cause their plans against me to backfire. And even change them from enemies into co-workers that assist me in Your work.

Father, as You did for them, “give me strength and bless me with peace.” Amen

Ezra 5:1-6:22; Psalm29:11