Gary Gleans

There are times when we are called to face danger in the work that the Lord calls us to do.  How we face that danger is what demonstrates our level of trust in the Lord.  Ezra was given the task of leading another large group of the exiles back to Jerusalem and to carry back with them large amounts of gold, silver and the items that had been taken from the temple.  It was a long journey and it could have been a very dangerous one.  However, God protected them and they arrived safely at their destination and were able to complete their mission.  It is important that we do not allow our fears of potential danger to keep us from doing the work to which the Lord has called us. EZRA’S PREPARATION OF THE PEOPLE: Ezra’s first task was to gather the group of people who were to return with him.  There were representatives from the different tribes, clans and families that were desirous of going.  However, when he gathered the people together, he noticed th...

God restores the nation of Israel to the land that He had promised to them.  God had used the king of Babylon to punish the children of Israel for their sin and idolatry.  They were taken captive and made to serve as slaves for seventy years.  During those seventy years the kingdom of Babylon was overthrown by the kingdom of Persia.  We can see God moving in the hearts of these Persian kings to allow the people to return to their lands, rebuild the temple and the city and the Persian kings paid for all of this building from the treasury.  Now God is using King Artaxerxes to send Ezra and others back to Jerusalem to teach the people and assure that the obeyed the Law of the Lord.  Not only did Artaxerxes permit them to return; he paid for their trip and made financial provision for sacrifices as well as maintaining the needs of the spiritual leaders.  We can clearly see that God not only knows how to use nations to discipline His children; He also know...

The providence of God for the work that He desires is an astounding thing.  No matter how much opposition there may be, when the people of God persevere in His work; He provides all that is needed and more.  We must never doubt the ability of God to meet our needs.  This is true in times of abundance, but it is also true in times where the resources are scarce and we do not have all that we think we need.  The truth is that, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we always have everything that we need.  If God has seen fit to withhold some blessing or provision it is because He has determined that it is best for His kingdom and our eternal good to allow us to go through this.  We must learn contentment in the God’s providence. GOD GAVE THE PEOPLE ALL THEY NEEDED TO FINISH THE WORK: When King Darius made a search for the authorization of King Cyrus, he discovered that not only was the work on the temple authorized but that the bill was to be paid by the...

Perseverance is fundamental to the accomplishment of any task.  We often mistakenly think that the work of the Lord will go smoothly and be easy to accomplish.  The truth is that difficulty is a common companion of ministry.  The world in which we live is opposed to the work of the Lord.  Satan is diametrically opposed to purposes of God.  Unfortunately, our own sinful hearts are often set against the desires of our Lord.  We must come to expect suffering, persecution and discouragement in our service and then be determined by God’s grace to persevere.  The leaders of the people who returned to Judah had been deterred from their job due to the interference of the other surrounding nations.  However, they did not quit; after letting the dust settle, they started up construction once again. THE PEOPLE WERE CONSISTENT IN THEIR DETERMINATION: The people had returned to Jerusalem with a clear mandate from the king and from God.  This was not ...

Opposition is always to be expected when the work of the Lord is being accomplished in this sin cursed world.  It comes in many forms and in many ways, but we can be sure that it will come.  The work of rebuilding the temple started with great joy, determination and unity of purpose.  However, this was not an easy or a quick task.  The reality of the situation was that it was a long, difficult and dangerous job that the other inhabitants of the region did not want to happen.  Whenever we set out to serve the Lord, we must recognize that there will be opposition.  We are serving on enemy territory and Satan will always do all that he can to distract us, threaten us, discourage us and put an end to all that we are trying to accomplish.  In many ways, opposition should encourage us, as it is an affirmation that we are doing the right thing for the glory of the Lord.  We see two distinct strategies that were used to oppose Ezra and the work he had co...

Priorities are fundamental for us to establish in our lives and ministries.  They determine both what we do and how we serve.  As the families return to Judah from the captivity, they have several different priorities that need to be taken care of.  They need basic shelter for their families but they also need to keep in mind that they had come back for the purpose of building the temple.  It is easy for us to become distracted from the task at hand by our own personal comfort.  The leaders were not going to allow this to happen.  The people built temporary shelters for their families and then started to do the work for with they had come. THE PEOPLE BUILD AN ALTAR ON WHICH THEY CAN WORSHIP: The first priority that the people had was for them to build and altar on which they could offer sacrifices for their sin and gather for worship.  The temple was not the first priority, worship was.  The people realized that they could have a place of sac...

Details are important to the Lord.  There are times when I wonder why there are so many details recorded in Scripture that seem to be meaningless to us today.  As we read through the list of the number of sons of the families of Israel that returned from exile, we recognize far less than half of them and we really don’t care a whole lot about how many from each family returned.  That may be just the point.  God does know every name on this list and every name of the forty two thousand people represented in those numbers.  Not only does God know all those names and numbers, He also cares deeply about every single one of them.  He also knows and cares about every single one of us.  That is the wonder of knowing and serving our sovereign and loving Lord. THE FAMILIES OF ISRAEL RETURNED TO THE LAND: There are many names listed in this chapter of many families and the number from each family who decided to return.  However, it is important to reme...