Ezra 7:6 And Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses…
I had another birthday recently, and I’m always amazed at just how unprepared I sometimes feel. When I was a young guy, I thought that when I got to be a full-blown adult I would have all the answers, all the ability, and be ready for life. Now I realize just how needy I still am. Maybe you feel that way, like you have been preparing your whole life, but you are just not quite ready to take action. I am all for education, I think it is important, but I think a lot of times people are lingering around their college town getting a Master’s and then another Master’s, not because they need more knowledge or wisdom but because they just need the courage to do something with what they already know.
I was talking to a friend recently who works with us here at Bill Rice Ranch about the need to reach Deaf people for the Lord Jesus, something we have done since 1953. He was talking about how there is so much more knowledge about deaf culture than there was in 1953, but people now are less inclined to take action to do anything to reach the Deaf simply because they don’t feel “ready.” Now I’m not for going off half-cocked, but I do think we are living in a day where people are increasingly less willing to take action and more willing to give an alibi for why they are not.
Ezra was a man who knew things, but who took action on what he knew. Ezra 7:6 says, “And Ezra went up from Babylon; and was a ready scribe in the law of Moses.” Ezra went back with those who had been allowed to return from captivity to Jerusalem, to rebuild the temple, and to reestablish the worship of God Jehovah in that place. It was a brave thing that he did. The Bible describes him as “a ready scribe.” “Ready” means “to be quick, skilled, or ready.” You learn from Ezra that results come to those who are ready. They are quick to take action. They may be skilled in the actions they take, but they just have a willing mind and heart. That is something you find throughout this chapter, the idea of a willing heart and of being ready, quick, and taking action.
For instance, in verse 10 it says, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it.” He didn’t just know the law, he was willing to teach it and to take action on what he already knew. Sometimes we keep waiting until we know something more or have more ability when we just need to take action on what we have now. To those who act, God will give more. To those who sit on what they have, nothing will be accomplished.
Artaxerxes the king gave a decree that Ezra and others be helped in this endeavor of going back to Jerusalem. He basically says, “The law shall require of you to be helpful and that it be done speedily.” In verse 23 the king makes a proclamation “by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done.” The emphasis is on action and doing. He continues, “And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily.” So, taking action is emphasized in this story.
Also, the aspect of having a willing heart is emphasized. The king made a decree of those who were “priests and Levites in my realm, who were minded in their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.” And he gives this idea of freely offering and freely giving toward the work of God Jehovah back in Jerusalem.
So, you learn from this that results come to those who are ready. In the first place, you need to have knowledge. Ezra was a ready scribe. Being a scribe means that he knew God’s Word. He knew the ancient scriptures. So he was quick in the sense that he was bright. He knew something.
Secondly, he took responsibility. He was quick not just in the sense that he was bright but also he was brave. He knew what was right, and then he did it.
Then, you see this aspect of the providence of God. In verses 6, 23, and 27 you find the king himself, a king whom you would not expect to be helping such an endeavor, helping God’s people. Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers,” Ezra says, “which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was murdered by the Nazis’ in the closing days of the war, once said, “Actions spring not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.” That statement has been convicting to me because I don’t have patience with people who don’t think through what they are doing. We should think about what we are doing. But, thought alone is not enough. We need people who know what is right and then take action. Sometimes we use preparation as an alibi for inaction. We need to be prepared and prepared to take action. We need both.
My dad has often prayed, “God, give me the wisdom to know what is right, and please give me the courage to do it.” That well summarizes the prayer and attitude of Ezra, and I want that to be my ethic as well because results come to those who are ready, who know what they need to know, who take responsibility for what they do know, and rely on the providence of God to take up what lacks.