TSK · Ezra 7:6

“No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him,“but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.”

The Covenant Blessings“If you indeed obey the LORD your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the LORD had given them joy and had changed the opinion of the king of Assyria toward them, so that he assisted them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Artaxerxes Gives Official Endorsement to Ezra’s Mission What follows is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. Ezra was a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the LORD and his statutes over Israel:

He has also conferred his favor on me before the king, his advisers, and all the influential leaders of the king. I gained strength as the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

Due to the fact that the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us a skilled man, from the descendants of Mahli the son of Levi son of Israel. This man was Sherebiah, who was accompanied by his sons and brothers, 18 men,

On the twelfth day of the first month we began traveling from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from our enemy and from bandits along the way.

and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve, so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests, for the good hand of my God was on me.

Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what the king had said to me. Then they replied,“Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” So they readied themselves for this good project.

The People Respond to the Reading of the Law When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were settled in their cities, all the people gathered together in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel.

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priestly scribe, and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them,“This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

“You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

and his colleagues– Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani– with musical instruments of David the man of God.(Ezra the scribe led them.)

Then we will not turn away from you. Revive us and we will pray to you!

He proclaims his word to Jacob, his statutes and regulations to Israel.

Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? Is my hand too weak to deliver you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water.

How can you say,“We are wise! We have the law of the LORD”? The truth is, those who teach it have used their writings to make it say what it does not really mean.

teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Christ’s Resurrection Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand,