Ezra 7 - Me? A teacher?

Bear with me here, OK? (Grin)
I promise that you will understand my title by the end of the week!

Does anyone else find it really interesting that now, in the seventh chapter of the book that bears his name, we finally meet Ezra? Seriously! I'd like to encourage you to read the seventh chapter very carefully . . .  this is our introduction to Ezra, a man blessed by God.
And I'm going to task you with looking for something while you read . . . . pay careful attention to the times that the Bible talks about "the hand of the Lord."
Ready?
I'll stay right here until you get back, OK? Read the seventh chapter and come right back!

(Humming)
Oh, here you are! You're quick!
Did you see that there were three parts to the chapter?
First, we were introduced to Ezra; then we read Artaxerxes' letter; then Ezra concluded the chapter for us.
There are a number of men and women in the Bible whom God blessed. Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David, and more are men whose stories reveal the blessing of God. Abigail, Ruth, Deborah, and others are prominent examples, too. Ezra may not be as well known as some of the others, but he is also a man whom God blessed.
When we meet him, we realize that there's been a 57-58 year gap between the events of chapter six and our focus passage, chapter seven. The altar had been raised and the temple rebuilt under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, assisted by the preaching and exhortation of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.  The exiles who had first returned to Israel during that first wave were either dead or very old by now. They'd settled into the land and in many cases had begun to blend together with the pagans of the land. (Cue the ominous music here.) Seriously.  We will see that this was a very large problem.....
In addition, the walls of Jerusalem had not been built, and the city was vulnerable - open to attack. So, God raised up Ezra and Nehemiah to bring spiritual reform to His people. Notice that we didn't say He raised them up to build the walls. That's going to happen - but we will see some other changes first!
Now, both Ezra and Nehemiah were born in Babylon and had close connections with King Artaxerxes. They must have enjoyed comfortable living quarters, nice food, and a conflict-free life. But they were both troubled by the spiritual state of the exiles who had returned to the homeland. Both men were moved to sacrifice their comfortable situations in Babylon and endure hardship to bring reform to God's people.
But what an overwhelming task!
How are they going to accomplish this?
There are some clues in the chapter - that's why I asked you to read it first! (Grin)
There is a phrase that happens three times in this chapter. It's actually repeated another five times in the remainder of the book of Ezra and the following book, Nehemiah.
Here it is: God's hand was on these men. Here are the first three mentions:

this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him. (v 7)

He had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was on him. (v 9)

and who has extended his good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me. (v 28)

(If you want to scoot ahead and scout out the other locations, check out Ezra 8:18, 22, and 31. Also Nehemiah 2:8 and 18)
This phrase is another way of saying that God was blessing someone.
Do we want those blessings? Do we want the hand of God to rest on us?
I bet we can learn from these men's lives . . .
I saw something in verse 10 that explains why the "good hand of his God was upon him."

For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel. (v 10)

I pondered this for a while. I realize that there may have been other factors, too, but I think that there must be a correlation here. As I studied, I realized that there were even more instances where the connection between Ezra and God's Word was noted -- eight times in this seventh chapter!
The theme for this week is this: if we truly want to have God's hand of blessing on us, we must study and obey His Word . . . with a purpose. That purpose is to teach others and to glorify God for everything in our lives.

You may be thinking, "Well, Snoodles has gone totally off her crumpet this time! Me? A teacher? I don't have any skills, and besides, there's no one around for me to teach!"
This week, as we study, I shall endeavor to change your mind. (Grin)
Hang in there, and join me next time!