TREASURES OF THE BIBLE, Week of July 10 to 16, 2023, "Ezra's way of acting put the name of Jehovah on high", Prepared Speech.

TREASURES OF THE BIBLE, 10-16-July-2023, "Ezra's way of acting put the name of Jehovah on high", Prepared Speech. 

“Ezra's way of acting raised up the name of Jehovah” (10 min.)

For the vast majority of people, keeping their name or that of their family in a prominent place is very important. So much so that many young people nowadays depend a lot on their parents' surname, they use it to obtain some personal advantages, but in the long run they are also required to keep said surname up. That is earning a good reputation, or a good name.

All of us as servants of Jehovah have this same opportunity. We have our heavenly father, we are Jehovah's Witnesses, therefore we too are expected to make an effort to maintain excellent conduct among people. And it is that the way we act will put Jehovah in the place that belongs to him.

If we act correctly, if we do his will, that reputation we have will exalt the name of our God. And we are going to talk about this in this section of treasures of the Bible with the title: "Ezra's way of acting put the name of Jehovah on high."

What is known of Ezra? We know that he was a priest descended from Eleazar and Phinehas. He was a skilled copyist of great learning, as well as a teacher of the law and an expert in both Hebrew and Aramaic. It seems that Ezra's family was interested in him having a good preparation in God's law, an interest that would be shared by himself.

That is to say, this work was not done out of obligation, but because I felt a deep love and respect for Jehovah's law. He was an outstanding researcher, he not only wrote the book of Esdras, it is thought that he also wrote the two books of chronicles, he did the same. What's more, he did so much research that he possibly cited some 20 sources of information. 

What was the key for Ezra to leave the name of Jehovah in such a high position? He didn't just have to do with the family he came from, nor certain natural abilities. If we look here at the book of Ezra 7:10, how he managed to deeply love Jehovah and his law, the biblical text says: 

WE ARE GOING TO READ EZRA 7:10. 

Ezra had prepared his heart to consult Jehovah's law, put it into practice, and teach its regulations and judicial decisions in Israel. 

With this expression that we find in this verse, Ezra teaches us with his excellent example that he was a diligent student and a good teacher of the word of God. Following the model that he had been taught, when he went to consult the law of Jehovah, he first prayed to prepare his heart to put it in the correct state, to assimilate what he was going to read and of course understand, to transmit this information to others and apply it. Of course in your life.

This preparing the heart could be compared to a farmer who, before planting the seed, has to prepare the ground, put it in the appropriate conditions so that the seed can easily germinate and become what he wants, a plant or a tree.

Ezra thus prepared his heart by prayer, for he tried to have an inclination to Jehovah's teaching. So if we want to leave the reputation of a servant of God as a Jehovah's Witness very high, we need to have the habit of reading the word of God, but before doing so, prepare our hearts.

That is, pray to Jehovah so that in a humble way we can understand and accept his will, and of course be willing to put it into practice. Why is it important to apply what we read from the Bible? Let's go back please to Ezra chapter 7 verse 25 says:

WE ARE GOING TO READ EZRA 7:25.

And you, Ezra, using the wisdom your God has given you, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the inhabitants of the region west of the Euphrates River, all who know the laws of your God. Furthermore, you must teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.

Let us carefully examine some details indicated here in the biblical text that we have just read. He says here: "And you are using the wisdom that your God has given you." Who is addressing these words to Ezra? He is King Artaxerxes. He directly sent a letter to Ezra outlining his abilities gained from serving God.

This King, having personally realized how he acted thanks to the spirit of Jehovah, was giving authority to appoint judges, to judge all the inhabitants who were under the jurisdiction of Artaxerxes, and of course to teach those people the law of God because he saw the good results in Ezra's own life.

From just this Biblical verse, we realize that Ezra's way of acting was exalting the name of Jehovah. Imitating this example, we can realize how in our power we have the name of Jehovah before others.

If we see in our activity guide we can observe a brother who works in a mechanical workshop and apparently a superior to him is possibly congratulating or commending him for being a good leader worker respectful of work time to do a good job to be honest And how many more things that will undoubtedly open opportunities for the brother in his workplace to magnify the name of God to teach others how is the correct way to behave not only by word but also by your conduct.

That is why we have the question here in the activity guide: Do I earn the respect of non-witnesses by living according to God's standards? And it is that like any family member, his name, his last name can be placed high or recognized as of great value, as well as being trampled on by the actions of that person. 

Ezra helped others to realize God's wisdom in himself. We can also do exactly, copy that same example. However, even though the wisdom of God had been recognized in Ezra and he being from the family of priests, he could have taken pride in proving that he was better than others. 

However, he kept his rightful place. As in a family, the son has a surname, but he does not belong to him, he got it from his parents or from other relatives. We too, as servants of Jehovah, have not earned this reputation because we are like that, but because our father Jehovah has taught us.

For this reason, here in Ezra 8:21-23, let us observe the conduct that Ezra maintained despite all the recognition he had obtained, the Biblical text says: 

LET'S READ EZRA 8:21-23.

Then I ordered that there, next to the Ahavá river, a fast be made in order to humble ourselves before our God and ask for his guidance for the trip that we would make with our children and all our goods. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies along the way, for we had told him, “The gracious hand of our God is with all who seek him, but his strength and fury are against him. all who forsake him.”23 So we fasted and asked our God for help on this matter, and he heard our prayers.

Words that indicate humility and absolute trust in Jehovah. We want to imitate this example of Ezra. We have not achieved what we are due to innate abilities, it is because Jehovah has taught us with his word the correct way to behave and that is why we want to continue letting ourselves be guided by him.

May Jehovah protect us and help us make good decisions, and may that motivate others to continue magnifying the name of Jehovah. It is in our hands to put the name of God in such a high place that it belongs. Let's make every effort because this is always the case, in all aspects of our lives.