# The Hand of the Lord

Key Passage: Ezra 7
Date: June 7, 2024

The Book of Ezra, the Book of Ezra, real quickly tonight, and that’s all right, the Book of Ezra. Help me with the review. We’ve got to get our minds going that way. The Book of Ezra, if you know the answer, just say it out loud, is about the temple, rebuilding the temple. It’s about rebuilding the temple.

Chronologically, the Book of Ezra starts, it begins at the end of 70 years of captivity. God brings this king on the scene, and he takes over Babylon and is very favorable to the Jewish people. He says, “Go back and rebuild it,” and gives them the gold and all those things. What was his name? Cyrus, Cyrus.

They go back from Babylon over to Jerusalem. It was thousands of people, just shy of 50,000 people. If you’re going all the way from Babylon back, just straight across as the crow flies, that’s approximately 500 miles. If you go up along the river there and down through the river there, it’s 900 miles. Everybody really believes that’s the way they went. They came back. They started the Feast of Tabernacles.

Very interesting. The twin book in many old manuscripts that were together was the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah. And Nehemiah, it says the wall was finished. And Ezra says the temple was finished. It’s the same chapter, same verse. Anybody remember that? Chapter number? Six, one, and put one number behind the one. Fifteen, six, fifteen, that’s it. Community effort, there it is, you got it.

They started building the temple, and opposition comes. What was the first tactic of the opposition? How did they try to stop it at the beginning? To try to join them. The devil’s crowd often does that.

Eventually, they wrote a letter back to the king at that time, and he stopped the building. He said, “You can’t build anymore.” Imagine that. All 50,000 people came, left their homes and traveled all the way over and started the new life to do this for God, and it was stopped by force—a very sad thing. They didn’t build.

These two prophets, God used these two prophets to really kickstart them and get them back into building. They preached a message to them. Anybody remember those two prophets’ names? Haggai. Anybody remember which one was the older one? Of course, Zechariah the younger. Haggai, just very down to earth, preached the message: Is it time for you to live in your sealed houses while the temple of God lies in ruins? You should go up to the mountains and get some wood and build, you know, just get started somewhere. Zechariah was a little bit more eloquent, if you will, but God used them to give us many prophecies about the coming Messiah.

The building had been stopped for about 14 years, most of the thing, and they started building again after those messages. Haggai, two months later, Zechariah starts preaching, and they start building the temple again. And, of course, opposition right off the bat. What did they try right off the bat this time? How did they try to stop them the second time?

Remember, it had worked the first time. Yeah, they wrote a letter. It had worked the first time. They wrote a letter back—a different king. Darius was king then. They began to look and say, “Well, was there really a decree from Cyrus to build?” And they found the decree this time. Anybody remember—you don’t have to remember the name—anybody remember where they found it? Best we can tell, in the summer palace. They said, “Well, there was a decree from Cyrus.” So he said, “All right, you better not touch them. Let them build that temple.” In fact, you’re going to use the taxes that’s on that side of the river to help support it and give them daily what they need—sacrifices and whatnot. If anybody messes with my decree, their house is going to be torn down, they’re going to be executed, and their house is made into the sewer system, really. That’s what’s going on.

They finished the temple, praise the Lord for that. Now we’re moving beyond; the temple is now completed. We’re going to be over in chapter number seven, Ezra chapter number seven.

It kind of starts a new era in the book of Ezra because the temple is finished now. We want to look at it. If you would, let’s stand, please, as we’ll read God’s Word together, Ezra 7. We’ll start in verse number 1, Ezra chapter number 7, verse number 1 of God’s Word. And the Bible says, “Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Surai, the son of Azari, the son of Hilkaya.” Now I’m not going to go down through verse two, but we’re going to pick it up in verse number five. He’s talking about the ancestors of Ezra. Verse number five: “the son of Abishua, the son of Phineas, the son of Iliazar, the son of Aaron, the chief priest.” So this Ezra, he was of the descendants of the priest of Aaron. Many think he should have been the high priest, right? But he was in that lineage, even from Phineas. And that’s what they’re explaining there in those verses.

Then verse number six: “This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses.” He had been studying, he had been preparing. They had the Law of Moses, the Pentateuch. In fact, some think he was the one that began to compile, even back then, the canon of scriptures. We didn’t have the New Testament at this time, but many of the books of the prophets we had. So he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given, and the king granted him all his request according to the hand of the Lord, His God, upon him.

Chapter 1 through chapter 6. Though Ezra is the one that penned it, he’s not mentioned. Ezra wasn’t there; Ezra was not part of that group of 50,000. He was in Babylon. We think he was getting prepared; he was already a scribe. Now the temple was finished, right? Now they need a priest to do the work of the temple, and Ezra was prepared. Ezra comes—we think he came with about 5,000, somewhere along there, nothing compared to the 50,000, but around 5,000. He brought this group of people. He kind of establishes order the way it ought to be with the temple and the children of Israel.

He’s a ready scribe. He’s been studying the scripture. He’s been studying the law of what we’re supposed to do. When God allows us to rebuild the temple, how are we supposed to worship God in it? And what are we supposed to do? He was a priest, maybe the high priest; we’re not sure of that. He was a little bit of a teaching or preaching priest. He’s a ready scribe, and he teaches them. Later on, we’ll find out a very good description of a platform and a pulpit, and how he stands and reads the Word of God, and it forces them to understand. That’s Ezra. We’re going to study about Ezra going through the last couple chapters of this book of Ezra. But I want you to notice something about this man. We’re going to try to just get one phrase about this man tonight and just kind of focus on it. I believe the Lord has focused on this one phrase about Ezra.

Look, I’m going to read a couple of verses, and I want you to try to find the phrase. When you find the phrase, you can just raise your hand and say, “Hey, this is it.” So let’s look at this, Ezra chapter number seven. We’re going to read verse number six again. Ezra 7 and verse number six. Look for the phrase. Here we go: “This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given, and the king granted him all his request according to the hand of the Lord, His God, upon him.” Now look down, if you will, to verse number nine: “For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon; on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.” Look down in verse number 28: “And hath extended mercy upon me before the king and his counselors, before all the king’s mighty princes, and I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord, my God, was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.” Anybody think they got the phrase? Talk about the hand of the Lord upon him. The words are just a little different, but the hand of the Lord. Look over in chapter number eight, verse number 18: “And by the good hand of our God upon us, and they brought us a man of understanding of the sons of Mahli, and the sons of Levi, and of Israel, Sherebiah with his sons and his brethren.” That phrase: “the good hand of God upon us.” The good hand of God was upon Him. The hand of the Lord, His God upon Him. The hand of the Lord, my God was upon me.

The Bible uses that phrase often or something similar to it. In fact, the hand of the Lord is mentioned in the Bible 39 times. Hand of the Lord. Hand of God mentioned 16 times. Hand of my God mentioned twice. Good hand of God or of the Lord mentioned three times. “Hands of the living God” one time.

Think about that. Sometimes the Bible uses “the hand of the Lord” negatively, when God’s hand is upon someone because they are sinning and God is bringing in judgment. But I want to use that phrase tonight a little bit in a positive way: God having His hand of blessing on you. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for you to get the good hand of the Lord upon you?

Some of our young people here—Emily and Destiny and Corrine or Drashon back there, or Grace, Brother Caleb, he’s in college, he’s going to be a junior—but he’s still young compared to us old people. Even at a young age, wouldn’t it be good to get the good hand of the Lord upon you? It wouldn’t hurt for us older people to get the good hand. Can you imagine just the Lord placing His hand on you? Elijah gets that; he’s young, but the good hand.

It’s interesting; I was not planning on preaching this tonight, but I went out Saturday after the men’s retreat, just went out somewhere in the woods to pray. The rain came while I was out in the middle of the woods, and I felt like a kid; I was playing in the rain again. It was on my heart, my mind: I need the good hand of the Lord upon me. I hope you have that heart desire in you, the good hand.

By the way, it’s for everybody. It’s not just for preachers. Every person here tonight, you can have that. Miss Jessica is about to have a little one. It wouldn’t hurt for moms to have a good hand of the Lord upon them. We all need it. God’s not a respecter of persons. God doesn’t favor Ezra more than He does these young ladies over here. They can have the good hand of the Lord upon them. You can. And by the way, it’s not just people. You say, “Pastor, I don’t have many years left.” Well, you really need the good hand of the Lord upon you then.

Can you imagine? The Bible mentions it often about the hand of God. Can you imagine God placing His hand over you? The Bible talks about that. God’s got a hand reaching down, and He puts His hand in somebody’s life. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for God to put His hand on you? By the way, I think you can lose it, and I think you can get it back. Ezra often said, “Look, the Lord’s got His hand on me.” The king gave him whatever he requested according to the hand of God. Ezra said, “God’s hand on me.” That’s a lot of confidence. You can have the hand of God where you know it’s there.

I’ll never forget as a boy in the invitation of church services, I remember his hand being on my head. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for God to put His hand on you? God likes to put His hand on people. He’s a loving God, He’s a giving God. The greatest giver that ever was is God. God so loved the world that He gave. God likes to put His hand on people. He said in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He likes to give you things. This saying about God’s good hand is not just for Ezra; it’s for Brother Richard, it’s for Ms. Barb, it’s for Brother Dylan. For all of us.

What does it mean to have the Lord’s hand on me? Look over in Ezra chapter 7, verse number 28. Let’s find out something it does. A couple of things very quickly tonight. Ezra 7 and verse number 28—y’all there tonight? Here we go: “And hath extended mercy unto me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty princes, and I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord, my God, was upon me.” Anybody out there need some extra strength? When God puts His hand on it, it gives you strength. When God puts His hand on you, it strengthens you.

School’s going to be starting before we know it. Wouldn’t it be good to go back to school with a little extra strength to stand, to be a good testimony? As you get a little older, you need a little extra strength. The good hand of God strengthens you. If I feel weak and tired and wearisome, I need some extra strength. God’s hand upon you strengthens you. You know that verse, Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Here’s a good thing: even if you get weary, if you don’t faint, you still can reap. Wouldn’t it be good not to get weary? How can I do that? Have God’s good hand upon you. That’s a great desire. How do you do that? Have God’s good hand on you. When God puts His hand on you, it strengthens you.

It’s interesting: Jacob, remember Jacob? It changed his name to Israel. He finally comes over into Egypt because Joseph, his one son, can nourish and take care of them. He’s about to die, and he’s talking to his sons about their lives. He’s talking about Joseph. Joseph was the boy that served God. God blessed him, though he had been sorely shot at. Jacob’s on his deathbed, and the boys are there, and he’s giving them blessings and talking about their lives. This is what Dad says about his son, Joseph. Let me read it for you. Genesis 49:24: “But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” Where did Joseph receive strength when his brothers hated him and sold him into slavery and lied about him? He ends up in prison because they lied about him, with fetters on his feet. Psalm 105 talks about how it bruised his feet and his legs. How could he stay strong through all that? The Bible says the hands of God made him strong. How can it be strong when I have physical problems? It’s tough when you have ongoing health issues. How do you stay strong? The hand of God on you gives you strength.

So what does it mean to have the Lord’s hand on you? When God’s hand comes upon you, it gives you strength. Let’s look at something else. Look over in Second Kings chapter number three. Three kings are going to go to battle, and things aren’t going well. They seek the advice of Elisha. Second Kings 3:15: “But now bring me a musician, bring me somebody that can play music. Good music, godly music.” And it came to pass when the musician played that the hand of the Lord came upon him. You are not going to have the good hand of the Lord upon you for listening to the wrong kind of music. When he started listening to good music, that’s when the good hand of God came upon him. What happens? Verse number 16: “And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches.” God gave him very specific direction and instructions when the hand of the Lord came upon him. When you have the hand of the Lord upon you, you have direction. You have instruction. You have the voice of God speaking to you. It can really bring peace to your life when you hear the voice of God. When’s the last time you heard very specific leading from God? You ought to have some leading from the Spirit of God every once in a while. This was not the typical instruction for this prophet to tell these three kings, “Make a valley full of ditches.” God said, “I know what to do.” It was incredible how God brought victory through that. When you have the hand of the Lord upon you, you have clear leading. This is what God wants. I have peace about that; God’s led me that way. We have clear leading about what we’re supposed to do: Wait on the Lord, stay faithful, keep winning souls, keep loving people, keep praying. When you have the good hand of the Lord upon you, you have direction for your life. When’s the last time God gave you a verse? When you had the good hand of the Lord upon you, you have His leadership in your life. Do you have that with your heavenly Father? Say, “I need some direction.” Does God speak to you? When the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha, he said, “I know what to do now. I got some direction from headquarters.” It brings peace when you hear the voice of God. I’m talking about your heart; it might as well be audible when God speaks clearly. When the hand of the Lord comes upon you, you have direction. I know this is what I’m supposed to do. I’m settled. I got peace. The world can go their own way, but I’ve heard from God. It’s what God having His hand upon you. When you have the hand of the Lord upon you, you get leadership from God, and it brings the peace that this old world can’t wipe out. Number one, we said when the hand of the Lord’s upon you, it gives you strength. Number two, when God’s hand is upon you, He gives you direction, instruction.

Let’s look at something else. Look over in Acts chapter 11. I hope you have a desire in your heart to get the hand of the Lord upon you. Everybody here tonight, you can have the hand of the Lord upon you. God likes to put it on you. Maybe it’s there already, but you say, “Preacher, I used to have it; I know what it’s like.” You can get it back. Acts chapter 11. These are the early church. They were persecuted, especially with Stephen, that first deacon who was killed, so they scattered all over. Let’s look and see what the Bible says. Acts 11:21: “And the hand of the Lord was with him. And a great number believed and turned unto the Lord.” How many out there say, “I would like to be able to influence other people for Jesus Christ”? Any grandparents say, “I’d like to influence my grandkids for the Lord”? Coworkers? Relatives? How can I have influence? It’s not going to be our technique, our charisma, or our Bible knowledge. When God puts His hand on you, the Lord’s hand working with you, you have an influence. You’ll be able to influence people for the Lord. We get so caught up in our way of doing things. No, get the Lord’s hand with you. It’s the thing that changes hearts, not you. The hand of the Lord was upon these folks who had scattered because of the persecution, which was part of God’s plan to get the gospel spread out. By the hand of the Lord was with him, and many people believed. A lot of people got saved because the good hand of the Lord was with him.

We have our fall soul-winning campaign starting up. We’re going to go to the Tennessee State Fair. We’re going to go up in Nashville this time. We’re going to have a booth up there, trying to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I’d love to see a great number of people get saved. How can we do that? The hand of the Lord working with us. That’s how you influence people: the hand of the Lord.

I have told you this story. I graduated Bible College and had been out of full-time ministry for several years. I remember going into work at Union Tank Car Company, East Chicago, Indiana—a dirty factory. Cursing all over, drugs all over, gangs, pornography in the locker room, you name it. It was a dirty place. I remember flipping down my welding hood, and all you could see was that arc, just you and the Lord. Tears were coming down, hitting that lens. I was saying, “Lord, are you done with me? You put me on a shelf?” The Lord gave me instruction. He said, “Paul, I want you to make this place your mission field.” This place? Lord, there are gangs in here! This is East Chicago! God seemed to put His hand on that ministry. We started a little Bible study in the locker room at lunchtime. God just seemed to put His hand on it.

I remember walking down the big, huge bay where they lift railroad cars up on cranes, and the siren would go off. Men were working at their stations, and I remember someone saying, “Hey, shh, stop talking like that. The preacher’s coming down the bay.” I was just a little fellow, not much of anything, but when God’s hand gets on there… I remember that same big room. On one side, they had platforms that would fold out on top of the tank. We’d weld things on the tank. I was up there welding, and a guy came over. He said, “Hey, you’re the one that has the Bible study in the locker room?” He asked when it was, saying he was going to come. Later on, I found out he had been sitting on another row of lockers behind, and he had been listening. God got a hold of his heart. He got saved, and the Lord put His hand on that ministry.

We moved from there and came down to Tennessee to start the church. I did not know it, but seven of those guys from that factory and one of their sons—eight people—were there Saturday night before our very first Sunday. My wife knew about it; she didn’t tell me. I went up to the pizza store in LaVergne to get a pizza, and those men were in the pizza store. I walked in there in Tennessee, and these guys from Chicago were there because God had touched me in that little Bible study. My very first Sunday, eight men at the very first service were from that little Bible study. Why? Because the hand of the Lord put it on that ministry. When the hand of the Lord comes, you can influence people. God puts His hand on your ministry, your work, your grandkids, your Sunday school class, your bus route—whatever. When God puts His hand on the thing, that’s what makes it special. That’s when you have influence for the Lord.

Let’s look at one other thing. Look over in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter number two. I’ve been reminiscing a lot today. Sometimes you think, I want to enjoy life. I want to serve God. I want God to use me. I like to enjoy it. Anybody with me out there? Look at Ecclesiastes chapter number two. Look in verse number 22: “For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and as to travail grief, yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night: this is also vanity.” He’s working day and night; he’s just not enjoying it. It’s empty. Look at verse number 24: “There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor.” This is very interesting. Sometimes it’s hard for me to do that. What does it say? “This also I saw that it was from the hand of God.” Sometimes you’re just working yourself and you’re just not enjoying it. How can I enjoy it? Get the good hand of God upon you. Just the fact that you enjoy life—that’s the hand of God. There are times I’ve had plenty, but I didn’t have joy. I wasn’t enjoying it. The hand of the Lord wasn’t upon me. And there are times I’ve not had much, and I’m just enjoying life. The problem is if they don’t have the hand of the Lord involved. I like to enjoy life. The hand of the Lord does it. We’re not doing it to impress other people. But just internal, you just got joy. You’re enjoying life. The hand of the Lord allows you to do that.

In our very first service, it was a get-acquainted service on Thursday night. I went out and bought a couple dozen donuts and coffee and orange juice. Seven o’clock, I think it started; nobody came. Just my wife, John (who was four), and Sarah (who was two). I said, “We’re going to have service. Let’s just have service.” You’ve heard me tell this, but I just can’t help telling this part because it’s the funniest part. John stood up, nervous, scared. Nobody was there but me and Tammy and Sarah and John. You say, “Man, y’all left discouraged.” But honestly, we had so much joy that night. We were just enjoying it. We had a ball. We had a lot of fun. We had more donuts for us! Honestly, we had a lot of joy that night. We went home as a family just having so much joy. That’s the hand of the Lord.

The hand of the Lord will give you strength. When you get the hand of the Lord, it brings you direction, instruction. And if you want to have influence, the hand of the Lord enables you to enjoy life. The hand of the Lord.

The coming weeks we’ll study about Ezra, the man that had the hand of the Lord upon him. And it’s exciting to see how God used him. We’ll be studying that out for the next couple weeks here. We’re going to pray and be dismissed. Good to have Brother Richard and Ms. Ruthie back with us tonight. That’s a blessing.

Original File: Ezra - The Hand of the Lord - Pastor Paul Chisgar 72419