A Gospel View of Ezraنموونە

Faithfulness

We learned yesterday that God will fulfill (the first F) whatever promises He has made to redeem and restore us. The second F is faithfulness. Ezra’s story shows us that it’s Christ, through the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to demonstrate faithfulness in the work God has assigned to us, and Ezra’s faithfulness to his God-appointed role points us to Christ’s faithfulness to His role: restoring lost and sinful human beings back to a relationship with God.

This messianic foreshadowing shows up in many Old Testament figures. The writer of Hebrews compares the faithfulness of Moses with the faithfulness of Christ (Hebrews 3:5–6). Jesus was also the true and more faithful Abraham, who answered the call of God to leave the comfortable and familiar and go out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8) to create a new people of God. From the story of David, we discover that Christ is the true and more faithful David, whose victory becomes His people’s victory, though they didn’t lift a stone to accomplish it for themselves. From Joseph’s story, we learn that Christ is the true and more faithful Joseph, who, at the right hand of the king, forgave those who betrayed him and used his power to save them.

Ezra was a faithful priest and scribe (Ezra 7:10) – studying, interpreting, teaching, and applying God’s Word. His faithfulness to live the truth and encourage others to do the same again points to Jesus, who would become our greater and more faithful high priest (Hebrews 4:15), whose perfect one-time sacrifice of Himself on the cross forever secured our forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Jesus would also become our quintessential scribe: the living Word of God (John 1:14).

Under the Old Covenant, Ezra taught God’s decrees and laws to His people (Ezra 7:10). Under the New Covenant, God has put His laws in our minds and written them on our hearts through Jesus the living Word (Hebrews 8:10). As we read scripture, the Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out. God’s truth changes our attitudes and actions, and so in His strength, we can be as faithful as Ezra was in his role. Consider the role God has given you to play, in this season of your life, and what restoration might look like in your circle of influence.

Ezra’s humble obedience to God reflects the faithfulness of Jesus and is an example to us. Let’s celebrate that where our own strength fails us, we can draw daily on the strength of Jesus. God is perfect in faithfulness, and He calls us to be faithful too: faithful in our devotion to Him, and faithful to serve Him in the world.