Ezra 7:10: “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.”
Something I always admired about the Jewish rabbis is that they always prepared their hearts for prayer and for worship. They did not just dive into prayer and worship like we Christians do. They spend time in preparation. They wear their tallit or prayer shawl over their heads to let everyone know they are in prayer and are not to be disturbed. It is a holy moment for them not a “Hey God, old buddy buddy, how ya doin pal of mine?”
When a husband wants to draw close to his wife, he prepares himself. He doesn’t come from work all sweaty and smelly, slap his wife on the back in front of the kids and say: “Hey gal, how about you and making a little whoopee?” Ok, maybe there are some of you out there that have this understanding with your mate, but for my money, if I had a wife and I wanted to have some quality time with her to peer into her heart, I would make sure I was first properly bathed, that is cleansed of all the defilements that she would find offensive. How many of us approach God in prayer and worship stinking to high heaven with the defilements of sin that we have been indulging in.
Then this husband who is seeking to enter his wife’s heart may present her with a little gift, a little token to express his love for her. This often comes in the form of flowers, but it could be something like, “Hey little one, why don’t you lie down and I will do the dishes, put the kids to bed, throw in a load of laundry or whatever.” All a gesture to show that he really does care. Of course our church services tend to have things a little backward. They collect the offering (gifts to God) after worship. Our founding fathers who established the order of a church service were no dummies. They knew that after a pleasant time experiencing the heart of God you would end up doubling the gift you intended to give.
Finally, after the kids are in bed, the dishes are done and there are no distractions then this husband and his little wife will snuggle up and talk about things that are on their hearts. They will most likely end up experiencing a deep intimacy that they both so desire.
You read about Ezra and find a man who loved God with all his heart, soul and might. He devoted himself to the Word of God, learning everything he could about the heart of the God he loved. Jewish tradition teaches that Ezra’s knowledge of the Torah was equal to that of Moses. Not only that he was determined to make sure he obeyed every letter of the law for he knew it would bring pleasure to the God he loved and that is what he lived to do to bring pleasure to God. He also made sure others followed the law as well as he could not stand to have the heart of His God broken. He was responsible for restoring the Jewish identity problem that developed during the captivity when Hebrew men married non-Hebrew women. He ordered the men to divorce these wives.
This simple scribe insisted on leading 5,000 Israelites back to their homeland with gifts and treasures of the King without a military to protect them. He insisted that their only protection should come from God.
It was this simple scribe and his incredible love for God that ushered in one of the greatest revivals in Jewish history. What made this scribe so great is found in Ezra 7:10, he prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and teach it. Now think on that a moment. He prepared his heart to seek the law.” This is where it all started, seeking the Word of God. For if you love someone you will seek to learn all you can about that person. I recall reading about a woman who fell in love with a writer. The writer was a famous science fiction writer. She hated science fiction, but she read every book and devoured every word in his stories of science fiction. She may have hated science fiction but she loved the man who wrote it and in his writings she would discover his heart.
As I surf the internet and listen to the wide range of teachings on, about and in spite of the Word of God, I am becoming convinced we are a nation that has become Biblically illiterate. We are almost like the nation of Israel at the time of Ezra. People were seeking out the latest fads in how God works. There was only a superficial knowledge of the Word of God. Teachers were teaching what other teachers were teaching. Very few teachers really did any independent study of the Word of God. Yet, there was a raging hunger to really know the Word of God and when one little Scribe arose and said he would prepare his heart to seek the Word of God, a mighty revival broke out.
I have no desire to lead a revival or to be another Ezra, but I do desire to do what Ezra did, i.e., prepare my heart to seek the Word of God. My desire is to know the heart of God and the secrets to His heart are found in the Word of God. So I need to examine this idea of preparing my heart. How do I prepare my heart? Is that really the correct English word to use here. The word in Hebrew that is used for prepare is kun which is found in a Hiphal (causative) form. So Ezra was caused to prepare his heart. His love and longing to know the heart of God caused him to prepare. There are many, many usages for the word kun. It could be steadfast, firm, fixed, fashioned and many others. Only the context will tell you which word to use for kun. Oddly, they all fit the context. There is no one English word that fits Ezra 7:10 for the word prepare. First you must really want to know God’s heart to prepare your heart. Look at old Jonah who ran from the presence of God because he did not want to hear God’s heart. He refused to go to Nineveh because he did not want God’s heart desire for Nineveh that they repent. Finally God took matters into His own hands to prepare Jonah to listen to His heart by sticking him in a fish’s belly. Suddenly Jonah became very interested in what God’s heart had to say.
Ezra was caused to prepared to seek the Word of God because he first was in love with God and when you love someone you will want to know their heart. Then he was actually able to enter this preparing process by confirming, being steadfast in his determination and hunger to know God’s heart. Once Ezra learned God’s heart through the study of His Word, he presented it to the people of Israel and they longed to know God’s heart and when they did a great revival broke out.
The book I am writing now is entitle: We Prayed for Revival and All We Got was a Hug. It is the story of the events of my first pastorate that led up to a revival in that church. It is also a story of how I ended up in the fish’s belly where God caused me to prepare for His Word.
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