Ezra records a crucial period in Israel's history. The historical books begin after Deuteronomy with Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, and continue through Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Ezra is traditionally associated with the chronicling of Israel's history, reviewing the kingdoms, the kings, the exile, and the return.

Today I want to carry us through several lessons from Ezra that will prepare us for the series ahead. Ezra writes about a time when God was doing what no one would have thought possible.

Years earlier, the Babylonians had invaded Jerusalem and Judah, destroyed the temple, and carried the people into exile in stages. Leaders were taken first, followed by skilled craftsmen and workers. God's people remained in Babylon for seventy years.

That number is interesting to me because I will be seventy years old this year. If I had lived in Ezra's day, I might have been born in Babylon and known Jerusalem only through the stories of my parents and grandparents. Many of the exiles had never seen the city or the temple.

Then everything changed. Persia conquered Babylon, and God placed Cyrus, a Persian king, on the throne. Cyrus began saying things no one would expect from a pagan ruler. Ezra tells us:

“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The Lord put it into the mind of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing.” — Ezra 1:1

The Eleven Lessons

1. Record and remember what God says.
2. Seek to know where God is at work.
3. Pray about your place in God’s work.
4. Trust God for the provision.
5. Encourage one another in the work.
6. Return to God what has been devoted to Him.
7. Put first things first.
8. Celebrate what God has done.
9. Discern opposition and stay on mission.
10. Trust God to overrule opposition, and finish strong.
11. Repent, forsake sin, and live ready for Christ’s return.

Lesson 1: Record and Remember What God Says

When God speaks to you through His Word or through a message, record what He says. I do not know why we remember things we should forget and forget things we should remember, but that is often how our minds work. Week after week, we receive a handout, hear Scripture preached, and write in the blanks. Yet many of those notes are left in the car, tucked into a Bible, or thrown away. God may have said something we needed, and we failed to retain it. If a pagan king had enough sense to receive a word, proclaim it, and put it in writing, we should learn from his example.

God wants us to retain what He says. Many people read large portions of the Bible but remember very little. It can be better to read a smaller passage, listen carefully, and carry one truth with you throughout the day.

I encourage the people I disciple to write one verse on an index card—the verse that seems to rise from the page and capture their attention. Put it in your pocket, carry it with you, and take it out during the quiet spaces of the day. Even a long traffic light can become an opportunity to meditate: “God, why did this verse stand out to me? What are You teaching me?”

Read the verse in context, then think about it. Meditation has become a lost art, but it should not be lost among God's people. When God says something to you, write it down and remember it.

God's people certainly should. When God says something to you, you need to write it down. And remember it. Ezra 1:1. He put it into writing what God had said to him.

Write this on your handout: “What God says to me, I need to record and recall.” Use both sides of an index card, then place the completed cards in a box. At the end of the year, look back over what God has taught you. It is a beautiful way to enter a new year remembering His voice and His faithfulness.

This is what King Cyrus says. The Lord, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth, given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has appointed me to build him a house in Jerusalem, in Judah. So what he's saying here is, I have to go build a house for the Lord God of Jerusalem, or who dwells in Jerusalem in Judah. And I have to build this. And whoever is among you of his people, may his God be with him, and he may go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.

Lesson 2: Seek to Know Where God Is at Work

Cyrus was essentially saying, “God has given me this assignment, and I am not even one of His covenant people. Where are the people of God who will return and build with me?” When we recognize that God is doing a work, we should ask, “Does God want me involved, and where do I fit?” We should seek to know where God is working and be willing to join Him there.

Lesson 3: Pray About Your Place in God’s Work

There is a great deal of ministry activity today. We plan, promote, perform, and pay for it. But what is missing? Those four actions are like four fingers without a thumb. The thumb is essential, and the essential thing we often leave out is prayer.

And that's the one we leave out. You know what that stands for? Prayer. If we pray and plan, if we pray and promote, if we pray and perform, if we pray God will give us the money to pay for it, and who gets the glory when it's all done? God, not us.

Lesson 4: Trust God for the Provision

Do not let the question of provision keep you from obeying God. Times may be difficult and costs may be high, but God is not broke. When He assigns the work, He is able to supply what is needed. Our responsibility is to pray, obey, and trust Him.

And then he announces to the people who are in exile, some who remember that distant homeland, though they've been in Babylon for 70 years, they remember it, some of them do, or they remember grandpa told us about it, or they told us often that that's our home, that's where we belong, we don't belong in Babylon. Well, then, when the idea comes about that the king is going to send people, well, how are we, what are we going to do? We're not able to take this journey. This is about a four-month journey that they have to take to get to Jerusalem from Babylon. And then how are we going to make it?

Lesson 5: Encourage One Another in the Work

We need to find the people who have heard their assignment and are committed to the work. Spend time with people who cannot stop talking about what God is doing. A God-sized plan requires God-sized faith, and believers must strengthen one another to remain focused and engaged.

But, you know, there is a way that seems right in man, but the end thereof are the ways of death that doesn't bring life. So we need to encourage one another. I mean, I could even ask you this morning, have you been living with discouragement? Has anyone come alongside and say, you know, God sent me to encourage you. I don't know if anybody's told you this.

We ought to take time to encourage someone personally. Before you leave today, you could tell someone, “I want you to know how much you mean to me.” You do not know what that simple statement might do for a discouraged heart. A handwritten card can be especially meaningful because it represents time, thought, and personal care.

Lesson 6: Return to God What Has Been Devoted to Him

King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods. That's what Nebuchadnezzar did. When kings would take over kingdoms, they would go into their places of worship. The defeated enemy had a place of worship where they worshiped their God, and of course, they'd been in there many times praying for victory in the battle. The kings would go in after they conquered a people and they'd go into their places of worship.

Let me ask you a question: Have you ever given something to God and then taken it back? Perhaps you promised, “God, I will give You an hour each day,” but gradually that hour was given to something else. The time had been devoted to God, and it needs to be returned to Him.

Give it back to Him. That is what the returning exiles were commanded to do: take the things devoted to God and restore them to their rightful place.

Lesson 7: Put First Things First

Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, and the priests along with Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel's God in order to offer burnt offerings on it as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. Where are they going to get all this information of what should be done when we're going to build this house to the Lord? Where are we going to get all the information of what to do? Well, we have Ezra. Ezra is a priest.

The priority was not the temple first; it was the altar first—the devotion of their hearts to God. Then came the temple, the teaching of God's Word through Ezra, and finally the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls under Nehemiah.

And what do we do next? Last of all, we build the walls around Jerusalem, and that's what Nehemiah is going to come in to do. So we have, first of all, the altar, Zerubbabel, and Jeshua. Secondly, the Word of God in reestablishing our faith. Ezra comes in to do that.

Some might ask whether the walls should have been built first to provide security. That sounds reasonable. But the order declared their faith: “We will seek God first, and He will protect us.” God was their security before stone walls ever surrounded the city.

Lesson 8: Celebrate What God Has Done

There was a time, especially when the temple, the foundation of the temple was laid, there was a time for them to celebrate. How many of you like to celebrate? I can tell by the looks on your face, you are celebrating people, I can tell you that. I pastored a church just outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 18 years, the last 18 years of my ministry. And of course, this was LSU territory.

Lesson 9: Discern Opposition and Stay on Mission

Do not be surprised when opposition appears just as the work is moving forward. Jesus warned about wolves in sheep's clothing—people who look and sound like the flock while their hearts and intentions are very different.

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the leaders of the families and said to them, Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to him since King Esar-haddon of Assyria brought us here. But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the other leaders of Israel and the families answered them, You may have no part with us in the building of the house of our God, since we alone must build it for Yahweh. the God of Israel, as King Cyrus of Persia has commanded us. So number one, we don't think you're genuine. Number two, we've got orders from the king. You don't have any orders to be involved.

Jesus said we would know people by their fruit. A genuine follower of Christ should increasingly display the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Spiritual fruit matters when we discern who should influence or lead the work of God.

Lesson 10: Trust God to Overrule Opposition—and Finish Strong

King Darius ordered a search of the royal archives, and a scroll containing Cyrus's decree was found. The decree commanded that the temple be rebuilt, that its expenses be paid from the royal treasury, and that the sacred articles taken by Nebuchadnezzar be returned to Jerusalem.

I am glad to be living in this time. There is trouble throughout the world, but God has a plan. I want to be part of it, and I want to encourage others who are part of it. God's sovereign work is not only global; it is also local and personal.

Dallas, North Carolina, is my assignment. I believe I will run the last lap of my race here. God did not bring me merely to live near my family; He brought me to join you in a work beyond what we could imagine—His people discerning His direction, praying together, believing together, and watching Him act.

I am not crawling toward the finish line; I intend to run to it. I want to say with Paul, “I have finished the race.” It is not about winning against someone else; it is about finishing the course God assigned and finishing strong.

Lesson 11: Repent, Forsake Sin, and Live Ready for Christ’s Return

There was also a serious problem that both Ezra and Nehemiah had to confront. During and after the exile, some among God's people entered marriages that drew them into idolatry and away from covenant faithfulness. The central issue was not ethnicity; it was worship and allegiance to God.

Solomon provides an earlier warning. Although he was wise in many areas, his political marriages brought the worship of foreign gods into Israel. He eventually built places of worship for those gods and refused to tear them down. His compromise helped set the stage for the kingdom's division after his death.

Ezra knew that history. Scripture itself shows that outsiders such as Rahab and Ruth were welcomed into God's people when they turned in faith to the Lord. The problem was not a person's background; the problem was an allegiance that introduced idolatry and pulled God's people away from Him.

The lesson is clear: when God convicts us of sin, confession must be joined by repentance. Forsake the sins you have confessed, and do not keep returning to them.

God wants His people to have pure hearts dedicated to Him. If something is pulling you away from God, put it to death. Addictions, secret compromises, and repeated patterns must be confessed as sin and surrendered. God's grace is not merely available to forgive us; it is also available to help us walk in freedom and obedience.

Both Ezra 9 and Nehemiah 9 contain prayers of repentance. The church must recover the courage to call God's people to repent, put sin away, and return wholeheartedly to Him—because we have work to do.

I challenge you to let God's Word be recorded and recalled. Keep what you wrote today and remember it, because God is working—even when the movements of nations and leaders seem confusing. His sovereign hand is bringing history toward His purposes.

So what do we do? The final chapter of Revelation teaches the church to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.” The church is supposed to look for Christ's return and live in expectation of it.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Come now. If we do not genuinely expect His return, we should ask God to renew that hope in us.

What if Jesus returned today before you reached your car? His return is part of the gospel: He died, was buried, rose again, ascended to the Father, and He is coming again.

The church should cry out, “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.” Read the final chapter of Revelation and begin living as though this world is not your permanent home. That expectation changes the way we worship, obey, serve, repent, and finish our race.

While you are carrying that Scripture card and waiting at the traffic light, pray, “Lord, before I come back to this light, I would be glad for You to come and take Your church home.” Live ready. Remember what God has said, join what He is doing, and finish strong.

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