Ezra 7:10

Setting Our Heart to Study the Law of the LORD

 

“For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

 

I want to spend a little time in this verse.  This verse really sums up the life of Ezra. Ezra had a great reverence for the LORD.  Pursuing Him was the goal of his heart.  There was no one or nothing that he held in more esteem. 

 

In a broad sense, this pursuit of God, is really what’s in focus here. We’ll hopefully see that more as we go on in this verse.  Studying God’s word, practicing it and teaching it are all ways in which Ezra pursued God.  And each are required for a close and intimate relationship with the LORD. And Ezra had that.  His life was centered around the word of God.

 

I want to take a look at each of the ways Ezra pursued God –

 

But first, I want to consider the phrase – Ezra had “set his heart”. This is significant because it tells you from the get-go something very important about Ezra and something very important about pursuing God’s word. 

 

Pursuing God involves the will.  It’s an intentional act of the heart.

 

A couple Wednesday’s ago we talked a bit about the heart.  The heart is the seat of our desires.  Our will. that which drives and motivates us.  And many times, it’s that which controls us.  That is certainly true in the world.  Man does whatever he feels.  He’s under the dominion of self.  Unable to serve anything but his own passions.  The result is chaos and unrest.  Pride and self-centeredness reign.  But in Christ, our heart is changed.  We became obedient from the heart. There was a surrender that took place, and in Christ we have been granted freedom from the control of self, freedom to direct our hearts to serve Another. This is a gift. It is an ability granted to us from God, and something that we will touch on later on as well.

 

Even though we have been granted freedom in Christ to submit and obey there is still a struggle that goes on.  This sort of power struggle between the flesh and the spirit.  Bringing our desires and our will under control can be a daily battle. 

 

Ezra had control of his heart.  It says he “set His heart”. He directed his desires and his will to focus completely on the LORD and His word. He determined where and with whom his affections were going to be attentive.

 

This is absolutely critical when it comes to pursuing God.  

 

To “set” even carries with it this idea of preparation.  It is that place our heart needs to be if we are to pursue the LORD. It’s a place of submission, a place where we are ready and willing to take in what the LORD has to teach us.

 

When David is in despair in psalm 27:7 he says, “Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice,

And be gracious to me and answer me.” – verse 8 – God’s answer to Him is pursue Me. And how does David respond? “When You said, “Seek My face”, my heart said to You,

“Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”

 

David responds with his heart. He doesn’t just acquiesce with his mouth – his whole being says, “I will”.  Pursuing God requires complete submission, because it is then that we are in a place to listen and receive what God has to reveal to us. This is the first thing David does in obedience to God’s directive. And it is a directive. “Seek My face.”

 

We have the responsibility to respond with our heart. To set it determinedly on the LORD. 

 

And if you are God’s child you have been called to pursue Him.

 

This is not something special reserved for Ezra, or for some elite Christians.  This is the responsibility of all those in Christ. 

 

Hebrews 3:1 – “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;”

 

Matt 6:33 – “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”

 

Amos 5:6 – “Seek the LORD that you may live.”

 

Ps 105:4 – “Seek the LORD and His strength;

Seek His face continually.”

 

These are not suggestions.

 

God has given us freedom to direct out hearts; what are we doing with it? I’ll tell you what Ezra did with it – 

 

“For Ezra set his heart to study the law of the LORD.”

 

He determined that this was going to be so.  He intentionally directed his heart to know the LORD more. 

 

How?

 

Study – or Seek, inquire

 

This is the first way he pursued the LORD.

 

Studying Gods word has a purpose.  It’s the act of seeking something, searching for something.  

 

Seeking what?

 

In Psalm 78 we have a record of God being faithful to Israel despite their disobedience.  It says they forgot the LORD, so God judges them and puts many of them to death

 

“When He killed them, then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.” 

Ps 78:34-35

 

God’s judgement turns their attention back to Him, and they seek Him – same word that is translated ‘study’ in our passage. They inquire of Him – why is this happening, what have we done.

 

Then it says ‘they returned’.  I think you could use the word repent here.  They turned back to the LORD and away from what it is they were doing…and searched diligently for God.  

 

This word search is a little different, it has the same idea of this seeking, but it is done in earnest and with diligence. Their sights are set on something and they’re going all out in pursuit of it.  

 

It’s in this pursuit that they remember that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer.

 

You see this progression take place in their lives that starts with seeking God, inquiring of Him then responding to what He reveals, with repentance and a deeper pursuit of Him, and culminates in a greater knowledge of who He is. 

 

This is what it means to ‘study the law of God’. It’s the act of seeking God – inquiring of Him, asking Him, what does this mean? – and responding to it. That doesn’t always mean we are seeking to know what it is we did wrong.  There are many things we can inquire about. 

 

It’s communion. Studying is communion. The point is, there’s an exchange taking place in which we are anticipating a response, and we don’t leave without it. 

 

Back to the question – what does studying God’s word seek?

It seeks a response, to know. To know God’s word and to know Him.  It seeks this communion

 

When you sit down to study God’s word – do you realize that you are communing with the Most High?  It’s through His word that He reveals truth to us, teaches us, convicts us and sanctifies us – there is nothing more sacred.  

 

When we open the word of God we are opening a channel to the very being of Almighty God.

 

I have to confess just feeling greatly convicted by this.  Taking the time, I spend in God’s word for granted and not seeing it as truly sacred as it is. 

 

Studying God’s word is the act of seeking Him – 

 

This seeking after God is not something we have always been able to do, it’s a grace of God.  It something that has been granted us.  God declared in the Psalms when He looked down from heaven He saw no one who understood and no one – who sought after Him. 

 

Being able to seek after God is a result of salvation, a result of God’s working change in our hearts.  The natural man cannot do this.  They do not have the ability to seek after God.  

 

Even in the passage in Psalm 78 – communion is not achieved until Israel repented. 

 

Sin has to be dealt with first.  It is a prerequisite to communion with a holy God. 

 

Which goes back to the heart. 

 

So, Ezra studied the law of the LORD – he communed with God regularly. He sought Him and God answered. 

 

Then it says that He practiced it.