With this money, therefore, you are to buy as many bulls, rams, and lambs as needed, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem. With this money, thereforeThis phrase indicates a specific purpose for the funds provided. The Hebrew context suggests a sense of responsibility and stewardship. Historically, this reflects the Persian king's support for the Jewish temple, highlighting the providence of God in using even foreign rulers to fulfill His purposes. you are to buy with diligence
"Diligence" implies careful and persistent work or effort. The Hebrew root suggests a conscientious approach, emphasizing the importance of using resources wisely and with integrity. This reflects a broader biblical principle of stewardship and faithfulness in handling what God provides. bulls, rams, and lambs
These animals were integral to the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. Each had specific roles in various offerings, symbolizing atonement, dedication, and fellowship with God. The choice of these animals underscores the importance of following God's prescribed methods of worship, which pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. along with their grain offerings and drink offerings
These offerings accompanied animal sacrifices and represented the worshiper's dedication and thanksgiving to God. The grain offering, often made of fine flour, oil, and frankincense, symbolized the fruit of human labor dedicated to God. The drink offering, usually wine, was poured out as a symbol of joy and fellowship. Together, they illustrate a holistic approach to worship, involving both material and spiritual dedication. and offer them on the altar
The altar was central to the sacrificial system, representing a place of meeting between God and man. Offering sacrifices on the altar was an act of obedience and worship, acknowledging God's holiness and the need for atonement. This act foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, who offered Himself once for all. of the house of your God in Jerusalem
This phrase emphasizes the significance of the temple as the dwelling place of God among His people. Jerusalem, as the chosen city, holds a special place in biblical history and prophecy. The temple was not just a physical structure but a symbol of God's covenant relationship with Israel, pointing to the future reality of God's presence with His people through Christ. Persons / Places / Events 1. EzraA scribe and priest, Ezra was a leader of the Jewish exiles returning from Babylon to Jerusalem. He was tasked with re-establishing the Law of Moses and proper worship in the temple. 2. ArtaxerxesThe Persian king who issued a decree allowing Ezra and other exiles to return to Jerusalem. He provided resources for the temple sacrifices. 3. JerusalemThe holy city where the temple of God was located. It was the center of Jewish worship and the place where sacrifices were to be offered. 4. Temple of GodThe central place of worship for the Israelites, where sacrifices and offerings were made according to the Law of Moses. 5. Sacrifices (Bulls, Rams, Lambs)These animals were part of the sacrificial system established in the Law of Moses, symbolizing atonement and worship. Teaching Points Faithful StewardshipEzra was entrusted with resources to be used for God's purposes. We, too, are called to be faithful stewards of what God has given us, using our resources to honor Him. Worship and SacrificeThe emphasis on careful preparation and offering of sacrifices reminds us of the importance of sincere and wholehearted worship. Our lives should be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Obedience to God's CommandsEzra's adherence to the instructions for sacrifices underscores the importance of obedience to God's Word. We are called to live according to His commands, trusting in His wisdom and guidance. God's ProvisionThe provision of resources by a foreign king demonstrates God's sovereignty and ability to provide for His people in unexpected ways. We can trust God to meet our needs as we seek to do His will. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Ezra's role as a leader and scribe influence the way we view spiritual leadership today? 2. In what ways can we practice faithful stewardship of the resources God has entrusted to us? 3. How does the sacrificial system in the Old Testament point to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ? 4. What are some practical ways we can ensure our worship is sincere and wholehearted? 5. How can we trust in God's provision in our lives, especially when it comes from unexpected sources? Connections to Other Scriptures Leviticus 1-7These chapters detail the various offerings and sacrifices required by the Law, providing context for the types of offerings mentioned in Ezra 7:17. 2 Chronicles 36:22-23This passage describes the decree of Cyrus, which is similar to Artaxerxes' decree, allowing the Jews to return and rebuild the temple. Hebrews 9:11-14This New Testament passage connects the Old Testament sacrificial system to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, highlighting the fulfillment of the law. People Aaron, Abishua, Ahitub, Amariah, Artaxerxes, Azariah, Bukki, Eleazar, Ezra, Hilkiah, Israelites, Levites, Meraioth, Phinehas, Seraiah, Shallum, Uzzi, Zadok, ZerahiahPlaces Babylonia, Beyond the River, Jerusalem, PersiaTopics Altar, Bring, Bullocks, Bulls, Buy, Care, Cereal, Diligence, Diligently, Drink, Drink-offerings, Grain, Jerusalem, Lambs, Libations, Male, Mayest, Meal, Meal-offerings, Meat, Meat-offerings, Money, Oblations, Offer, Offered, Offerings, Oxen, Presents, Rams, Sacrifice, Sheep, Speedily, Sure, TempleDictionary of Bible Themes Ezra 7:17 7302 altar Ezra 7:1-21 7464 teachers of the law Ezra 7:11-17 7468 temple, rebuilding Ezra 7:12-18 4333 gold Ezra 7:12-20 7505 Jews, the Ezra 7:15-17 5415 money, uses of Library Appendix. The Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament.
1. The Greek word Apocrypha, hidden, that is, hidden or secret books, was early applied by the fathers of the Christian church to anonymous or spurious books that falsely laid claim to be a part of the inspired word. By some, as Jerome, the term was extended to all the books incorporated by the Alexandrine Jews, in their Greek version, into the proper canon of the Old Testament, a few of which books, though not inspired, are undoubtedly genuine. Another designation of the books in question …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the BibleReading the Law with Tears and Joy
'And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. 2. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. 3. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate, from the morning until midday, before …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Rome and Ephesus
Corinth as portrayed in the Epistles of Paul gives us our simplest and least contaminated picture of the Hellenic Christianity which regarded itself as the cult of the Lord Jesus, who offered salvation--immortality--to those initiated in his mysteries. It had obvious weaknesses in the eyes of Jewish Christians, even when they were as Hellenised as Paul, since it offered little reason for a higher standard of conduct than heathenism, and its personal eschatology left no real place for the resurrection …
Kirsopp Lake—Landmarks in the History of Early Christianity Authorship of the Pentateuch.
The term Pentateuch is composed of the two Greek words, pente, five, and teuchos, which in later Alexandrine usage signified book. It denotes, therefore, the collection of five books; or, the five books of the law considered as a whole. 1. In our inquiries respecting the authorship of the Pentateuch, we begin with the undisputed fact that it existed in its present form in the days of Christ and his apostles, and had so existed from the time of Ezra. When the translators of the Greek version, …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Of Antichrist, and his Ruin: and of the Slaying the Witnesses.
BY JOHN BUNYAN PREFATORY REMARKS BY THE EDITOR This important treatise was prepared for the press, and left by the author, at his decease, to the care of his surviving friend for publication. It first appeared in a collection of his works in folio, 1692; and although a subject of universal interest; most admirably elucidated; no edition has been published in a separate form. Antichrist has agitated the Christian world from the earliest ages; and his craft has been to mislead the thoughtless, by …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Brave Encouragements
'In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, 2. Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 3. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? 4. Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture General Account of Jesus' Teaching.
^A Matt. IV. 17; ^B Mark I. 14, 15; ^C Luke IV. 14, 15. ^a 17 From that time Jesus began to preach [The time here indicated is that of John the Baptist's imprisonment and Jesus' return to Galilee. This time marked a new period in the public ministry of Jesus. Hitherto he had taught, but he now began to preach. When the voice of his messenger, John, was silenced, the King became his own herald. Paul quoted the Greeks as saying that preaching was "foolishness," but following the example here set by …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Section Chap. I. -iii.
The question which here above all engages our attention, and requires to be answered, is this: Whether that which is reported in these chapters did, or did not, actually and outwardly take place. The history of the inquiries connected with this question is found most fully in Marckius's "Diatribe de uxore fornicationum," Leyden, 1696, reprinted in the Commentary on the Minor Prophets by the same author. The various views may be divided into three classes. 1. It is maintained by very many interpreters, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Formation and History of the Hebrew Canon.
1. The Greek word canon (originally a straight rod or pole, measuring-rod, then rule) denotes that collection of books which the churches receive as given by inspiration of God, and therefore as constituting for them a divine rule of faith and practice. To the books included in it the term canonical is applied. The Canon of the Old Testament, considered in reference to its constituent parts, was formed gradually; formed under divine superintendence by a process of growth extending through …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Appendix v. Rabbinic Theology and Literature
1. The Traditional Law. - The brief account given in vol. i. p. 100, of the character and authority claimed for the traditional law may here be supplemented by a chronological arrangement of the Halakhoth in the order of their supposed introduction or promulgation. In the first class, or Halakhoth of Moses from Sinai,' tradition enumerates fifty-five, [6370] which may be thus designated: religio-agrarian, four; [6371] ritual, including questions about clean and unclean,' twenty-three; [6372] concerning …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Historical Books.
1. In the Pentateuch we have the establishment of the Theocracy, with the preparatory and accompanying history pertaining to it. The province of the historical books is to unfold its practiced working, and to show how, under the divine superintendence and guidance, it accomplished the end for which it was given. They contain, therefore, primarily, a history of God's dealings with the covenant people under the economy which he had imposed upon them. They look at the course of human events on the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Influences that Gave Rise to the Priestly Laws and Histories
[Sidenote: Influences in the exile that produced written ceremonial laws] The Babylonian exile gave a great opportunity and incentive to the further development of written law. While the temple stood, the ceremonial rites and customs received constant illustration, and were transmitted directly from father to son in the priestly families. Hence, there was little need of writing them down. But when most of the priests were carried captive to Babylonia, as in 597 B.C., and ten years later the temple …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament Ezra-Nehemiah
Some of the most complicated problems in Hebrew history as well as in the literary criticism of the Old Testament gather about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Apart from these books, all that we know of the origin and early history of Judaism is inferential. They are our only historical sources for that period; and if in them we have, as we seem to have, authentic memoirs, fragmentary though they be, written by the two men who, more than any other, gave permanent shape and direction to Judaism, then …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Ezra 7:17 NIVEzra 7:17 NLTEzra 7:17 ESVEzra 7:17 NASBEzra 7:17 KJV
Ezra 7:17 Commentaries
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