June 2nd, 2024
From The Series: When God Rebuilds…
Part 18 The Law of Christ
Ezra 7:1-10
Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church
Good
morning again. This morning’s message marks a milestone of sorts, we will finally
be introduced to the person who wrote the book we have been studying for the
past several weeks. In this chapter of the narrative of the rebuilding of the
temple in Jerusalem, the scribe and priest, Ezra finally appears on the stage.
We have moved along about 6 years in history since we were last together, and
about 81 years since King Cyrus issued his decree allowing the Israelites to
return to Jerusalem.
We
will see from the first few verses of today’s passage that Ezra came from a
long line of priests who served faithfully in the temple when they were able. When
there was a temple to worship in. Ezra was also a scribe and a prolific author.
Ezra authored the historical books of First and Second Chronicles as well as
the Book of Ezra. To be completely accurate, Ezra may not have authored the
entire Book of Ezra, but he is credited with compiling the written information
into its present form.
One
source put it this way, “Ezra was a skilled scribe and teacher with extensive
training in the Books of the Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy). After his return to Jerusalem, he apparently did a lot of work on
the Hebrew Bible of that time, modernizing the language, correcting
irregularities in the transmitted text, and updating and standardizing
expressions in certain passages.[1]” Ezra even refers to himself as a skilled
scribe twice in his own book, (Ezra 7:6, 12 ESV).
Ezra
was the man that the people needed at that time. Someone who could gather the
faithful and regroup them around God’s Law to bring them back under God’s
blessings through their obedience. Ezra is not a prophet, but he is a wise and
learned scholar, teacher, and priest. He is passionate about what God’s Word
has to say. He is bold enough to stand against the prevailing opinions of
culture and to call God’s people back to a life of faithfulness and blessings
under God’s care.
All
of the events that we will be learning from in the final chapters of the Book
of Ezra occur in the first year of Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem which was about
458 BC.
Let’s
turn to today’s passage and together let us see what God’s Word has to say to
us. Please open your Bibles or turn on your devices to the Book of Ezra, to
chapter seven and I will begin at verse 1 with the reading.
READ EZRA 7:1-10
PRAY
We
see in the first verse that we are still under the rule of King Artaxerxes of
the Medes-Persian Empire. Ezra must have found favor with the King because he
was tasked with returning to Jerusalem. Along with any Israelites who desired
to return. Ezra was sent by the king and his seven advisors, to inquire about
Judah and Jerusalem with regard to the Law of your God. What exactly was Ezra’s
mission? It appears that Artaxerxes and his court was concerned that the people
of Jerusalem may or may not have been following the teachings of the Law of
Moses.
Why
would that have been a concern of the king? It's not like the king was a devout
follower of Yahweh himself. Well, there is a practical reason for these
inquiries from the king. We don’t have time to turn there today, but in 2 Kings
chapter 18, it is recorded that when the Assyrians were advancing on the
Northern Kingdom of Israel, King Hezekiah had a relationship and dependence on
the Pharoah of Egypt for military support. Earlier, Hezekiah had also sent
mercenaries to Egypt to fight there as well.
We
learned last week how the Medes-Persian Kings of the Achamenian Dynasty had
problems of their own with Egypt. Artaxerxes may have been using the excuse to
check on the religious practices of the Jewish people in Jerusalem as a pretense
to send Ezra to ensure that they were remaining faithful, not just to Yahweh,
but also to Artaxerxes. Next week, we will notice how Artaxerxes places an
emphasis on the Law and Ezra is tasked with appointing magistrates and judges
to administer justice in the land of the Trans-Euphrates.
This
emphasis on justice is one of the stabilizing influences of a society. When we feel
that justice is being equally dispensed to all, then there is a great sense of
stability. We feel like there is a measure of control on the chaos that life
seems to present to us from time to time. When injustice is seen, then
political unrest is easily stirred among the people.
Just
look at what has happened in the US with the conviction of Donald Trump this
past week. The impartial legal pundits will tell you that even if Trump paid
this hush money during his first political campaign, it is not illegal to do
so. In the US it is seen as a contract between two people and therefore
permitted. It may not be ethical, but it is legal. The problem former President
Trump gets into is whether or not the funds were paid from his campaign account
and if they were properly documented. If they were paid from that account and
improperly documented, it is a misdemeanor charge, yet this district attorney
and this judge had the charges elevated to the level of a felony. The
instructions to the jury by the judge when they were sent off for deliberation
were also incorrect, so there are multiple grounds for a successful appeal.
I
say all of that, just to point out, that within 24 hours of the verdict, enough
ordinary people were motivated by a sense of injustice that the Trump Campaign
broke a single-day record for small donor contributions to any campaign in
history. What that means is that enough people were moved and motivated to send
in $20, $30, and $50 at a time. They raised 53 million dollars in the 24 hours
after the guilty verdict came out. There were so many donations that the
campaign website crashed. A sense of injustice can cause political unrest in
the population.
This
may have been the practical reason that Artaxerxes sent Ezra to install
magistrates and justice, but we know that God works all things out for
the purposes of His plans. We will see, that God will use Ezra in a mighty way
to call His people to a posture of repentance for their sinful ways.
Turn
back with me to today’s text. Look at the genealogy listed in verses 1 to 5. I
won’t read the entire list of names again, but I will point out a few relevant
facts from some of the more significant names listed. Seriah was the chief
priest who was in charge of the temple when it was destroyed by the Babylonians
some 130 years earlier. Seriah is listed in 2 Kings 25:18.
We
also see Hilkiah mentioned and he was the priest who found the Book of the Law
in the dilapidated Temple under the efforts of King Josiah to repair the temple
and have the people of Israel return to the LORD. We read about those
efforts in 2 Kings 2:2. Poetically, you can read in Nehemiah 8:1 that when the new
governor Nehemiah arrives, he asks Ezra to do the same thing as Ezra’s ancestor
Hilkiah did and read the Book of the Law to the people of Jerusalem.
The
2nd Azariah mentioned in the list was the chief priest to King
Solomon and is listed in 1 Kings 4:2. Finally, we see Ezra traces his lineage
all the way back to Aaron through Aaron’s son Eleazar who replaced Aaron as
Chief Priest to the Israelites as recorded in Numbers 20:26. Now if you were
paying really close attention, you would have noticed that the Book of Ezra
skips several generations of the same genealogy listed elsewhere in the Bible.
This was a common occurrence and probably done to highlight specific
accomplishments of one’s lineage or maybe simply to save time.
Ezra
records all that lineage just to establish his credentials when he arrives in
Jerusalem. We will see next week that Ezra also arrived with a letter of
introduction and authorization from King Artaxerxes.
Look
with me at verse 6, “6 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.” Once his genealogy had been established, Ezra goes on to establish that
he is to be respected in his right as a teacher who was well-versed in the Law
of Moses. We see in verse 10 that Ezra repeats this fact to doubly establish
not only his credentials, but I also think, to establish his mission for this
trip to Jerusalem. Verse 10 says, “10 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.” As a reward for this careful study and teaching of the
Law, Ezra mentions twice that “the hand of God was on him”.
This brings us to our first
point this morning: The Old Testament Law was given to the Nation of Israel. To
the nation of Israel, the Law was so much more than just the Ten Commandments
that Yahweh gave Moses. The first five books of the Bible are collectively
known as the Law and contain over 600 commands for the people of Israel.
Why did Yahweh give
these instructions to His people? We have to keep in mind that God had
delivered them from some 400 years of slavery and oppression under the
Egyptians. There had to have been massive amounts of assimilation into the
Egyptian culture by the Jews, despite their best efforts to remain a separate
people.
We had this discussion
the other night at our young adult Bible study: why did the Israelites make a
golden calf while Moses was on top of the mountain receiving instruction from
God? Why make an idol of a calf? Well, many of the Egyptian gods were fashioned
after bulls as those animals represented strength and fertility. Two attributes
that would be admired by a culture dependent upon agriculture for survival.
Yahweh was doing a
mulligan with His people. A do-over, if you will, where they needed to reset their worldviews to
bring their focus back onto God. We need to do much the same thing in our Western
culture today. We have drifted so far from the values and teachings of God,
that it will take a mighty work of the Holy Spirit and faithful teachers of
God’s Word to bring His people back to Him.
So we see that some of
the laws were to reveal to the Israelites how to obey and please God. The Ten
Commandments, for example. Some of the laws were to show the Israelites how to
worship God and atone for sin. These would be the laws of the sacrificial
system. Some laws were intended to make the Israelites distinct from surrounding
nations and cultures. The food and clothing rules were examples of this. Some
laws established a complete judicial system for an entire population. Examples
of legal settlements, fair rental agreements, how to handle debt among the
people, and suitable punishments for specific crimes established sentencing
guidelines.
I feel that the reason
for the chosen people to spend 40 years wandering in the wilderness, was so
that an entire generation or two that had been corrupted under Egyptian rule, could
die off and new habits of depending on Yahweh could be established.
Turn
with me to the Book of Numbers Chapter 11, starting at verse 1. We see the
people of Israel being protected by and cared for by Yahweh. They are nomads at
this point, they have no opportunity to plant crops and raise their food, so
God provides manna falling from heaven with the dew. Many of you have gone
through the hard work of preparing and planting a garden these past few days,
wouldn’t it be nice to just go out and pick a substance described as coriander
seed and when cooked it tasted like something made with olive oil.
Look at what Numbers 11 has to say, “1 Now the
people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger
was aroused. Then fire from the Lord
burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.” Stop there for a
moment. We see that God is frustrated with these people, and in His righteous
anger He punished them immediately and openly. This was done not just to punish
those complaining, but also to teach those remaining, that they should
appreciate what the LORD has given. Aren’t you glad that God does not deal with
us like that presently? Romans 3 tells us that we all have sinned and fallen
short of the Glory of God.
Then the ungrateful
people have the nerve to run to Moses to seek intervention on their behalf. Look at verse 2, “2 When
the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord
and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called
Taberah, b because fire from the Lord had burned among them.
This example
of punishment was still not enough for some people, Once
again, trouble begins to brew, “4 The rabble with them began to crave other
food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat
to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also
the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now we
have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” How
selective were the memories of the rabble? “The fish we ate at no cost”. What
do you mean at no cost? Sure the food was free, but that was because they were slaves.
This type of
mentality is common among those who have been incarcerated for long periods.
Some people who have been in jail for decades can not handle the freedom they have
when they are let out of prison. They often commit another crime just to get
caught and sent back to prison because they have become institutionalized and
at least in prison they get “three hots and a cot”.
Those are some
of the various reasons why Yahweh gave the Law to the Nation of Israel.
This brings us
to our second point of the morning: The Old Testament Law is not binding for
Christians, but it is beneficial. What do I mean by that statement? There are
obvious laws that do not apply to those outside the Jewish faith, most notably
the dietary and clothing laws. These were meant to establish a separate and
distinct culture from those pagan cultures which were surrounding Israel.
Because of the
atoning work of Jesus on the Cross, we are no longer under the sacrificial
system. The laws concerning sin and burnt offerings do not apply to us. The
sacrificial system was just a foreshadowing, a pointing forward to the work of
Jesus. What exactly was that work?
Two thousand
years ago, a member of the Trinity took it upon Himself to temporarily give up
some of His godly attributes and power and He entered into His own creation
through the birth of an infant to a virgin mother in a small backwater town
named Jerusalem. This child then went on to live a perfect and sinless life,
observing all of the more than 600 commands that are found in the Law. This
child, when he entered into manhood and the age of accountability then
faithfully observed all the religious feasts and festivals that were required
of Him. Jesus even resisted three great temptations from Satan when He began
the task that Jesus came to accomplish.
All of this
perfection is important to remember because that is what made Him the suitable
and only acceptable sacrifice to atone or pay for, our sin debt that was and is
owed to the Father because of how mankind constantly and consistently rebels
against God and His teaching. All sin is rebellion and a rejection of the
teaching of God to His people.
Sometimes I
get this statement from people, perhaps you have heard it as well. It is
usually from someone who has trouble accepting the authority that God has on
their lives and they will often lash out by rejecting the teaching of God
contained in His Word. They will say something along these lines, “I can’t
worship a God who sends people to hell”. What this person fails to recognize is
that ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, we were all destined for
hell.
When we were
studying together the fourteenth chapter of Mark, we also examined what Luke
had to say about the events surrounding the plotting of the priests against
Jesus and how Judas approached them and agreed to betray Jesus. Luke adds this
statement, “3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of
the Twelve.”
When we dug a
little deeper into this passage we found a corresponding verse in James that
helps to balance and explain the actions of Judas. James 1:113-15 says, “13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is
tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but
each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and
enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
The Bible is
clear, mankind has no one else to blame. It is the evil desires of our own
hearts that draw us away from the righteous life that God calls us to live.
When we give in to those temptations, it leads to death. Sometimes it is
physical death such as a drug overdose or disease from alcohol abuse, but every
time it is a spiritual death that results in an eternity spent apart from God.
But good news
for us who are bound for hell. God has made a way for us to be reconciled back
into a right relationship with Himself. This right relationship is not based on
anything we have done or could do. Rather it is based solely on the completed
work that the God-man Jesus Christ accomplished on our behalf as He hung
between two thieves on a Roman Cross. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God that had
been stored up for us and was waiting for us on the Day of Judgment. Instead,
our sins are covered by the imputed righteousness of Jesus. Imputed is a fancy
word that means that Jesus gave to us as a gift, something that we could never
earn on our own and we certainly do not deserve this amazing gift that we call
Grace. That is the Good News that we call the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So, with that good
news in mind, why should we pay any attention to the law at all? I mean Grace
is a get-out-of-hell-free card, isn’t it? Not exactly, and I’ll come back to
that in a minute.
There are two extremes
that Christians must avoid when it comes to handling the Old Testament Law in
their lives: legalism and antinomianism. In his fine book, “How Should I Live
In This World”, R.C. Sproul writes the following, “The continuum of ethics is
divided sharply by a fine line, the razor’s edge. This fine line of demarcation
is similar to what Jesus described as the “narrow way.” The New Testament makes
frequent reference to Christians living according to “the way.” Christians in
the first century were called “people of the way.” Jesus called His disciples
to walk by the narrow way and enter by the straight gate that leads to life,
while warning against the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew
7:13–14).
However, there is a
difference between a narrow way and narrow-mindedness. Narrow-mindedness
reveals a judgmental attitude, a critical mindset, which is far from the
biblical ideal of charity. Walking the narrow way involves not a distorted
mental attitude but a clear understanding of what righteousness demands.”[i]
Sproul goes on to warn against the extremes of legalism and antinomianism.
Legalism can take many forms. One way is to extract the text from the original
context. This is done when we see preachers and Christians zeroing in on one
verse in the Bible and extracting rigid rules to live by without ever examining
what other things the Bible may have to say about the same issue. Another
dimension of legalism is the divorcing of the intention of the law from the
letter of the law. This is seen in wooden interpretations of God’s Word and it
often results in a twisting of what Scripture says about a particular matter. God
is concerned with the heart attitude that one brings with him to the
application of the rules. Let me repeat that. God is concerned with the heart
attitude that one brings with him to the application of the rules. We must
check our attitude when dealing with the Scriptures that relate to the Law.
The other extreme and
dangerous handling of Old Testament Law is known by the theological term antinomianism. Antinomianism is the complete ignoring of
the Old Testament Law and its teaching. This is the incorrect thought that the
Law no longer applies to the Christian, therefore I can reject all of it and
live my life in a Grace-filled cloud of God’s love and forgiveness. Ignoring
the law deprives one of the benefits of following the law, and there are
benefits. For the Christian, the law can act as guardrails on our path that
prevent us from going off into the ditch. For example, if we ignore the law of
adultery, we usually destroy at least one if not two families through the hurt
of betrayal and loss of trust. Ignoring the commandment regarding you should
not covet, results living a life with a sense of dissatisfaction and constant
craving for more in life. Consumerism replaces contentment. Hoarding replaces
happiness. The constant ache for the next new thing never allows us to enjoy
what we already have.
These are
some of the pitfalls that we could stumble into when we ignore the practical
applications of God’s commands. So, Old Testament Law is not binding on the
Christian, but it is beneficial to the Christian way of life.
So, how is
the Christian to live? What are the laws that apply specifically to the
Christian? This brings us to our final point this morning: Christians are under
the Law of Christ.
First, let
me say that 9 out of the 10 Commandments are either repeated or confirmed in
the New Testament. So that is a good place to start.
The only
commandment that is not upheld in the New Testament is the fourth commandment: Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
There are many references to the Sabbath day in the New Testament,
including the assumption that Jews under the law in the time of Christ would be
observing the Sabbath. But there is no direct or indirect command for believers
in the church age to observe the Sabbath as a day of rest or worship. In fact,
Colossians 2:16 releases the believer from the Sabbath rule. Colossians 2:16
says, “16 Therefore do not let anyone
judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a
New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.” No, this does not absolve you from
attending church every Sunday. Worship is not excluded in this verse. Hebrews
tells us in 10:24-25, “24 And let us
consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not
giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging
one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
“A
Sabbath day” refers to the legalism that grew up around the day of rest that God
had instituted. We see that Jesus condemned the Pharisees for all that they
added to the observance of the Sabbath.
But
what is the Law of Christ? Two passages mention it by name but they fail to
define it directly in those same passages. Galatians 6:2 mentions it, “2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this
way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 9:21 also
mentions the Law of Christ, “21 To
those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not
free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having
the law.”
So,
those two passages name a concept called Christ’s Law but they fail to define
it directly. That does not mean that it is an undefinable concept. We simply
need to look to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark to understand. For the sake of
time, we will just look at the passage in Mark.
In
his gospel, Mark records the following from Jesus directly in Chapter 12 and
verses 28 to 31, “28 One of the
teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given
them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most
important?”
29 “The
most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Jesus
gives us two simple commands: Love God first, then love others as well as we
love ourselves.
One of the
distinguishing features of the true people of God is not legalism but fidelity,
trust, and obedience to God. Obeying the law to love God is not legalism.
Loving others is not legalism. How many of society’s problems would be solved
through the faithful obedience of these two simple instructions from Jesus? We
show our love through our level of obedience.
Complete obedience,
not an obedience built on cutting side deals with God in our prayer life. Telling
God that you will start obeying Him if He answers your prayer and gives you
what you are asking for, has the cart before the horse. It has the relationship
between God and man on its head. The request for obedience is going in the
wrong direction.
It is simple really,
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love others as you love
yourself.
CONCLUSION
For
the follower of Christ, the avoidance of sin is to be accomplished out of love
for God and love for others. Love is to be our motivation. When we recognize
the value of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, our response is to be love,
gratitude, and obedience.
We
have been freed from the burden of observing the sacrificial laws to obtain and
maintain our salvation. Jesus fulfilled the law. Galatians 3: 23-25 gives us
this instruction, “23 Before the coming
of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith
that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our
guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now
that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”
Romans
puts it even more succinctly in chapter 10 and verse 4, “4 Christ
is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone
who believes.” Jesus fulfilled the obligations of the law so that we could have
the freedom in Christ to live up to the Law of Christ.
When
we understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us and others, our response is to be
to follow His example in expressing love to others. Our motivation for
overcoming sin should be love, not a desire to legalistically obey a series of
commandments. We are to obey the law of Christ because we love Him, not so that
we can check off a list of commands that we successfully obeyed.
Pastor Paul’s
Points:
1) The OT Law was given to the nation
of Israel.
2) For us, the OT Law is not binding
but it is beneficial.
3) Christians are under the Law of
Christ!
Questions to
meditate on this week:
1) How
do I handle the Old Testament Laws in my life?
2) Am
I living up to the Law of Christ?
3) Or,
do I live as if I am under the Law of Christ?
[1]
Ronald F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, and R. K. Harrison, Thomas Nelson
Publishers, eds., Nelson’s New
Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson,
Inc., 1995).
[i]
R. C. Sproul, How Should I
Live in This World?, vol. 5, The Crucial Questions Series (Lake Mary, FL:
Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009), 27–28.
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