Verse of the Day 3/4

Through the Bible - Exodus 36-38, James 4

 

Good morning,

Recently I read the following verse from the book of Ezekiel:

 

Ezekiel 22:30 (New King James Version) So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

 

It is a sobering verse, God looking for someone to "stand in the gap" and finding no one.

 

Moody's "Today in the Word" devotional is currently going through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah where we find a couple of men who were willing to stand  in the gap.  Ezra in the re-establishing worship in the rebuilt temple and Nehemiah in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

 

For today's verse we'll go to Ezra 7 to read of Ezra the true and faithful scribe, and to see the qualities that enabled him to stand in the gap.

 

Ezra 7:10 (New King James Version) 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.

 

You see present in him the qualities that we've been considering.  God's spirit and His Word were living and active in him.  He sought to know the Law of the Lord, God's Word, and to do it and teach it.

 

John MacArthur writes, "he studied before he attempted to live a life of obedience, and he studied and practiced the law in his own life before he opened his mouth to teach the law.  But the success of Ezra's leadership did not come from his strength alone, but most significantly because "the good hand of his God was on him. (7:9)."

 

Ezra "was respected by the king, blessed by God, and dedicated to knowing and following the Lord's teaching" (from Today in the Word).  Do you desire to have the "good hand of God on you" in order to stand in the gap in your household, church, and community?

 

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ezra 7:6-10 (The Message)

 ^6-7 That's Ezra. He arrived from Babylon, a scholar well-practiced in the Revelation of Moses that the God of Israel had given. Because God's hand was on Ezra, the king gave him everything he asked for. Some of the Israelites—priests, Levites, singers, temple security guards, and temple slaves—went with him to Jerusalem. It was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

 ^8-10 They arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king's reign. Ezra had scheduled their departure from Babylon on the first day of the first month; they arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month under the generous guidance of his God. Ezra had committed himself to studying the Revelation of God, to living it, and to teaching Israel to live its truths and ways.